Where the first trial tested the body, the second would strip bare the soul.
Xie Lan stood at the edge of the Lotus Mirror Lake, where spirit mist curled like dragons along the surface. Behind him, the other contenders waited, ninety-nine of them, cultivators and royals alike, each having survived the Thousand Flame Labyrinth. Now they faced the true crucible: soul resonance.
Above, on a high pavilion, the Emperor watched with the Empress by his side. The Crown Prince stood at attention. And Li Meiyan... smiled faintly.
> [System Notification: Trial Parameters Updated]
Objective: Pass the Soul Weaving Ritual Risk: High — Failure may result in permanent soul fracture or death
A shiver passed through the group. Even Zhao Heng, still bandaged and bitter, said nothing.
The lake stirred.
A line of monks dressed in twilight-colored robes emerged from the mist, their palms aglow with silver qi. The one in the center raised his staff.
"The soul must face its mirror. Its truth. Step forward, Seventh Prince."
Xie Lan did.
He walked barefoot into the lake. The water clung like glass. Every step sent ripples through the veil between realms.
"Focus on your heart. Let the soul's memory unfold."
He closed his eyes.
---
A World Within
Darkness first. Then a whisper.
> You are not meant to exist.
The voice was his mother's. Dying. Crying. The day he was born, and the curse sigil branded his skin.
Then the face of the Emperor, turning away from him.
Li Meiyan smiling… as she drove the blade into his chest.
Xie Yan whispering, "You were always the expendable one."
> [System Alert: Host's Soul Thread Unstable — Deploying Defense Protocols] Shadow Lotus Technique (Level 1) — Active
But the memories kept coming.
His childhood, locked doors, bruised arms, ignored pleas.
The single kind hand of a servant girl who was later executed for speaking kindly to a prince.
The taste of ash. The sound of chains.
The moment he realized he was utterly alone.
> [Soul Thread: Reinforcing...]
"No," he whispered. "Not alone. Not anymore."
His past self rose before him, bloodied, weak, on his knees.
Xie Lan approached him.
"Stand."
The younger version looked up, lips trembling.
"You failed."
"I learned."
"They killed you."
"And I came back."
He extended his hand. The broken version of himself took it.
> [Soul Thread Resonance Achieved — Integrating Trauma and Identity]
Trait Acquired: Unyielding Spirit (Increased resistance to illusion, mental assault, soul manipulation) Villain Points +15
The world within shattered.
---
Back in the Lake
Gasps echoed from the monks as dark flames spiraled around Xie Lan.
The water boiled. A lotus of black petals bloomed beneath his feet.
From the viewing pavilion, the Emperor stood.
"He carries the Shadow Flame," he murmured. "Just like... her."
The Empress's hand clenched the fan until it cracked.
Xie Yan narrowed his eyes.
Li Meiyan's smile vanished.
---
One by one, the other participants stepped forward. Some screamed. Others collapsed. A few passed, but none emerged transformed.
Only Xie Lan walked back from the lake's heart with fire in his eyes and power singing in his soul.
---
That night, in the shadows of his quarters, the system pulsed.
> [Soul Weaving Complete — Cultivation Base Stabilized at Core Foundation Peak Stage]
New Ability Unlocked: Soulflame Warding (Immune to low-tier soul curses) Next Trial Begins in 3 Days
But before that… a visitor.
A figure in dark robes stepped into his room, removing her veil.
Li Meiyan.
"You changed," she said.
"So did you," he replied. "From a sister to a traitor."
Her expression flickered. "I warned you once. I did not enjoy hurting you."
"And yet you did."
She stepped closer.
"You're not the only one reborn."
A pause. A weight behind her words.
Then she was gone.
> [Secret Alert: Hidden Timeline Distortion Detected — Possible Dual Rebirth Scenario]
Xie Lan stared at the spot she left. If she had returned too… then everything just became far more dangerous.
He clenched his fists.
"Let the trials come. Let the Empire rot. I'll burn it down twice, if I must."
---
The cold morning air clung to the Imperial Martial Academy like dew to a blade. Smoke still lingered from the incense burned during the Soul Trial, trailing faintly through the pavilions. Yet it wasn't peace that settled over the grounds , it was silence, taut and watching.
The kind of silence that comes before a war begins.
---
Three Days Later – Inner Court
Within the Hall of Seared Judgments, built from black stone and ironwood, the surviving fifty-two cultivators gathered. They bore wounds from both blade and memory the kind that left no mark but carved deeply within.
Xie Lan stood at the far left, robed in midnight gray. His eyes were calm, but his soul still echoed from the revelations of the second trial. Not just because of what he had seen — but who he had seen.
Li Meiyan.
You're not the only one reborn.
He'd replayed her words again and again.
The implications were vast. Dangerous.
Did she retain her memories from the old timeline? How much did she know? Was she working for someone else… or for herself?
> [System Notification: Host Soul Resonance Level Improved.
Passive skill: Shadow Memory unlocked. Enables you to detect echoes of reincarnation in individuals with overlapping fate signatures.]
He hid his surprise. Good. The System, ever the cryptic ally, was adapting to the danger.
---
The hall doors opened with a boom.
A man in deep crimson entered.
His presence was like a furnace — radiant, suffocating.
Lord Commander Xie Jinlong, uncle to the princes, Warden of the Border Realms, and former heir to the throne before renouncing all claims. A legend wrapped in myth, said to have tamed the Infernal Beasts of Yanshan with his bare hands.
He looked over them once, and the air grew heavier.
"Today, you enter the House of Ash and Embers. A trial of survival. Strategy. And fire."
His eyes settled on Xie Lan for a breath longer than necessary.
"This isn't about who is strongest. It's about who is left standing."