The quiet stillness that followed Lin Sheng's victory at the Sect Gate Trials didn't last. Barely three days had passed since he was formally inducted into the Azure Lotus Inner Sect, and already, powerful ripples were forming across the realm. As he sat in the center of the Immortal Spring Garden, a place reserved for only the most gifted disciples, his heart beat in rhythm with the cosmos.
It was there that the system chose to speak again.
"Daily Sign-in Complete. Reward: Divine Soul Array Blueprint and Insight Scroll."
Before Lin Sheng could inspect the scroll, a presence flared nearby. An elder cloaked in layered violet robes, with silver hair flowing like a cascade of moonlight, appeared without warning. He descended from the air with the grace of a falling feather and landed soundlessly on the jade steps.
"Lin Sheng," the elder said with an appraising gaze. "You're not like the others."
Lin Sheng bowed. "Elder."
"My name is Elder Wuying," the man introduced, folding his arms into his sleeves. "I am the guardian of the Soul Pavilion, and I have come with an invitation... or perhaps, a challenge."
"I'm listening."
Elder Wuying's eyes gleamed with a strange light. "In three days, a secret realm will open: the Mirror Void. It's a dimensional pocket born of collapsing spatial ley lines. Only inner sect disciples and candidates chosen by the elders may enter."
"And you wish for me to attend?"
"No. I wish for you to survive it. The realm tests not strength, but truth—your truth. What you fear, what you desire... it will reflect all of it back at you. Many have entered and lost themselves."
Lin Sheng remained still. "Then I will find myself again."
Elder Wuying smiled faintly. "Very well. Prepare yourself. The Mirror Void awaits."
Three days later, the sect's disciples gathered before a shimmering gateway pulsing with chaotic light. The Mirror Void swirled like liquid crystal, and ripples echoed through the valley as cultivators stepped forward one by one, vanishing into the portal.
Lin Sheng stood at the edge of the gateway, his robe fluttering. Just before stepping through, he activated his system's interface.
"Activate: Star Ward Shield. Duration: 3 hours."
"System Alert: Buff Engaged. Good luck, Host."
As Lin Sheng stepped into the realm, the light swallowed him. He landed on a bridge of stardust, stretching over an endless ocean of shadows. In the distance, the echo of a heartbeat reverberated like a drumbeat of fate.
The moment he took another step, his surroundings shifted.
He was no longer in the void, but in a city.
Earth.
His past life.
He stood in the middle of a warzone, sirens blaring, smoke rising from broken buildings. And there—before him—stood a young woman, her eyes brimming with tears.
"Lin Sheng... you said you would come back."
He staggered. This was Mei, his fiancée from his previous life, her form etched deep into his soul.
She reached out to him, and for a brief moment, Lin Sheng moved forward. But his eyes narrowed. Something was wrong. Her face began to glitch, distorting like corrupted data. Her figure flickered, and the sky cracked like glass.
"Illusion," he whispered. "You dare mock her?"
He summoned Twilight Fang, and in one clean arc, slashed the entire illusion apart. The world shattered.
Now he stood in a field of mirrors—each one reflecting a different version of himself: cowardly, enraged, bloodthirsty, broken.
From behind one mirror stepped a version of him wearing demonic robes, eyes glowing red.
"You think you're righteous, Sheng? Without the system, you're nothing. You're just a boy who died like a dog on Earth."
"Maybe," Lin Sheng said softly. "But I'm not you."
The demonic version screamed and lunged, but Lin Sheng met him in kind. A storm of astral energy enveloped them as swords clashed. The real Lin Sheng unleashed his new technique—Cosmic Dominion—and imprisoned the dark version in a sphere of starlight. Within seconds, it collapsed.
One by one, the mirrors cracked and disintegrated.
The space around him pulsed.
"System Notification: Mirror Void trial complete. Awarding bonus: Soul Forging Core and 10,000 Exp."
He opened his eyes again—this time, back on the stardust bridge. The ocean of shadows had calmed.
Above him, an enormous eye formed in the sky—watching, sentient. It blinked once, as if to acknowledge his victory, then vanished.
The gateway reappeared.
He stepped through.
Back in the sect, Elder Wuying was waiting.
"You were in the realm longer than anyone else," he said. "And you came out whole. Impressive."
Lin Sheng simply replied, "I found what I needed."
But far beyond the Azure Lotus Sect, other eyes watched him now. A hidden prince in the Demon Realm clenched his fists. A snow-eyed maiden in the Northern Sky Temple whispered his name. And deep within the Celestial Dragon Court, an ancient emperor murmured:
"The Lord of Immortality has returned... and the world shall burn or bow."
To be continued in Chapter Eight...