Ashen Sky Sect – Disciplinary PeakThe sun had barely risen when two black-robed disciples arrived at Li Shen's hut. They didn't knock.
"Li Shen. By order of Elder Qian, you're to be brought to the Disciplinary Hall. Now."
No one else in the outer sect looked up. Most thought he'd finally be punished—or worse. But Li Shen rose without hesitation. He had expected this.
The climb to Disciplinary Peak was quiet.
Fog clung to the stairs. The statues of long-dead sect ancestors watched in silence. The Disciplinary Hall was built at the mountain's edge, carved into the cliff like a judgment carved into fate.
Inside, Elder Qian sat behind a wide table of stone, fingers steepled. His expression unreadable.
"You've made enemies," the elder said. "More than a few."
Li Shen stood still.
Qian's eyes narrowed. "You shattered a Foundation weapon. You command energy that no scroll, technique, or bloodline records. You have no root—but clearly, no limit either."
"I didn't ask for this power," Li Shen said quietly.
"And yet you wield it."
The elder turned, lifting an ancient scroll wrapped in silver thread.
"There is a place within our sect's oldest grounds. It was sealed three generations ago and only reopened during rare trials. Mirror Lake Pavilion. A pocket realm once used to test a disciple's truth. Many fail. Some... don't return at all."
He paused.
"You will enter it."
Li Shen's eyes flickered, but he gave no objection.
"If you survive three days inside, I will consider you a disciple of the sect. Truly. Not a rat in the outer walls."
"And if I fail?"
Qian looked him in the eye.
"Then you'll be erased—by the lake, or by me."
The Mirror Lake GatesAt sunset, under the gaze of a half-circle of watching elders and inner disciples, Li Shen stood before the stone archway leading to Mirror Lake.
The portal shimmered like oil on water, reflecting nothing.
"Why even send him?" someone whispered. "He'll die in minutes."
"He's not even at Qi Embodiment…"
But Elder Qian raised a hand. "Let him walk."
Li Shen didn't hesitate.
He stepped forward—and vanished into the mist.
Inside the Trial – Lake of LiesSilence.
Then fog.
Then the world opened like a wound.
Li Shen found himself standing on a wooden dock that stretched over an endless black lake. Not a ripple moved. No wind touched it. Above was no sky—only darkness that stared back.
At his feet, the lake reflected his face perfectly.
But something was wrong.
The reflection blinked before he did.
Then it smiled.
Trial One: The Reflection of DoubtThe water surged upward. A copy of Li Shen rose from the lake, made of light and shadow, shaped by memory and fear.
"You're nothing," it whispered. "They abandoned you because they saw it first. Weak. Empty."
The clone stepped forward, each footstep silent as death.
"I am the Li Shen you would have been—if you had roots. Talent. Honor."
The two clashed.
The reflection moved like lightning—perfect, practiced. It used the same Void energy—but coldly. Efficiently.
Li Shen was slower, uncertain. But as the blows exchanged, he realized: his copy was strong, but it wasn't alive. It had no will.
"You know technique," Li Shen said, panting. "But not pain."
Then, he waited.
The copy struck.
Li Shen raised his palm.
Void Technique: Shadow Reversal Palm.
The attack recoiled mid-strike, twisting into the clone's own chest. It screamed—then shattered like a broken mirror.
Trial Two: The Forest That DevoursThe lake vanished. Li Shen now stood in a black forest.
No sound. No birds. Just a steady hum—like something breathing through the trees.
A hulking creature appeared.
No eyes. No scent. Its face was a mirror.
It charged.
But Li Shen didn't move. Instead, he focused inward.
He silenced his energy.
He erased his presence.
He erased his reflection.
The beast stumbled past him—blind, hunting only what it could see.
He passed the trial without a strike.
Trial Three: The Eye of HeavenHe now stood in a field of glass, under a burning sky. At its center floated a massive eye—gilded with light and judgment.
"You are a flaw," it said, voice deeper than thunder.
"You do not belong in the weave of destiny."
"I am not part of your weave," Li Shen replied. "I am the blade that cuts it."
The Eye opened wide.
Flames fell. Lightning tore across the sky. The world began to collapse.
Li Shen reached within—not for power, but for emptiness.
Not to strike.
Not to block.
But to devour.
The Void opened in his chest, and all the sky's fury vanished into it.
The trial ended.
Outside the Mirror LakeThree days later, the portal flared open—and Li Shen stumbled out, pale, shaking, but alive.
The mist around the lake dissipated. The elders stared.
Qian stood from his seat.
"I did not expect you to live."
Li Shen looked up, eyes quiet and cold.
"Neither did Heaven."