**Cloud Vein Sect – Next Morning**
The sky was pale with a strange mist. The elders had announced a new test — the next phase of evaluation for treasure seekers: an ancient location just outside the sect, sealed for over 400 years.
Its name was whispered even by instructors.
**Mirror Hollow.**
An elder explained:
> "Inside it lies a Dao Mirror. Every disciple must step before it. It will show who you truly are — not who you pretend to be."
> "You cannot hide from it."
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**Outer Sect – Departure**
Zeravon walked with the rest of the selected disciples toward the Hollow. No one spoke to him. Not out of fear — but simply because **he felt distant**, like a traveler walking through a dream no one else could enter.
Yueyin glanced at him once but said nothing.
Even she didn't understand what she had seen that night under the moon.
---
**The Mirror Hollow – Entrance**
A cave formed of white crystal stood ahead, pulsing faintly with old runes. Elder Ming led the group.
> "Only one at a time," he said.
> "You enter. You stand before the mirror. You leave. That's it."
> "Do not speak. Do not resist. If you are weak… the mirror will show you just how small you really are."
The first disciple entered.
He came out ten minutes later, pale and trembling.
The next screamed.
Another burst into tears.
Even the most talented hesitated.
Then it was Zeravon's turn.
---
**Inside the Mirror Hollow**
He stepped into a silent chamber.
It was wide, hollow, echoing. In the center stood the **mirror** — tall, ancient, with a surface that rippled like calm water.
Zeravon stood before it.
Waited.
Nothing.
He tilted his head.
Still… nothing.
No reflection.
No shadow.
Just… silence.
---
**The Mirror Responds**
Suddenly — a sound.
**Crack.**
But not from the mirror.
From the **air behind it**.
Then, the mirror shimmered and did something no one had ever seen before.
It turned **black**.
And Zeravon heard a voice — not loud, not soft.
Just true.
> *"You have no self to reflect."*
> *"Because you are not part of this Dao."*
> *"You are the question the Dao fears to ask."*
Zeravon blinked. A faint pulse beat inside his chest.
The rune on his hand flickered — but the **mirror instantly shattered** into dust.
A scream echoed across the cave — but it wasn't Zeravon's.
It was from the Dao Mirror itself.
---
**Outside the Hollow – Elder Ming Reacts**
The moment the mirror broke, the elders standing outside were shaken.
Elder Ming clutched his chest.
> "The Dao Mirror… just rejected someone?"
> Instructor Wei narrowed his eyes. "No… it *feared* someone."
The crystal entrance began to crack. Runes exploded into sparks.
And then — Zeravon walked out, completely calm.
No emotion.
No glow.
Just… a stillness that made the wind hesitate.
---
**The Reactions**
Other disciples looked at him like he was cursed. Some took a step back. Yueyin clenched her jade pendant — her Upper Realm senses warning her:
> *"This boy doesn't have a reflection… because he might not be from this reality at all."*
---
**Later That Night – Zeravon's Room**
He sat in silence.
A part of him trembled. Not from fear — but from something… deeper.
Something **trapped**, almost ready to rise.
And then…
He whispered,
> *"If the mirror couldn't reflect me…"*
> *"Then what… am I?"*
---
**Far Above – Echoed Thrones, Forbidden Hall**
The oldest being of the council — the one who had never spoken in all the arcs before — finally moved.
It raised its ancient eyes.
And said only one thing:
> **"He has reached the Mirror Point."**
> **"The next name… will try to awaken."**
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🔮 **Next Chapter Preview – Chapter 51: "Whispers From the Seal"**
Zeravon will start hearing **dream fragments again** — but this time, they won't be visions… they will be **commands**. Something sealed inside him is trying to speak — and the next time Zeravon sleeps, **he may not wake up alone**.
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