The path to Observatory Peak was unlike any Su Chen had walked before.
Winding through veils of cloud, it spiraled around a mountain untouched by time. Ancient trees with jade-colored bark leaned over the path like sentinels. Every breath of wind carried whispers—not from men, but from memory.
He felt them on his skin.
Echoes of cultivators long since gone.
Specters of intent, longing, regret.
By the time Su Chen reached the final step, he was no longer just an inner disciple.
He was Su Chen—summoned by a Watcher of Fate.
The summit was silent.
No guards. No formations. No defenses. Just a platform paved with starlight stones, glowing faintly beneath the mist. Seven orbs hovered in orbit, each pulsing like a distant world.
At the center stood Elder Lanyu.
Her silver hair flowed like a waterfall, robes stitched with constellations that moved with every breath. She didn't look old.
She looked eternal—as though she'd been there when the first prayer was whispered into the void.
Her eyes met his.
Colorless. Not blind—but burdened. Like they saw too many timelines at once.
"Su Chen," she said, her voice a forgotten verse. "You brought the Mirror back to life."
He bowed. "The Mirror chose me, Elder. I only listened."
Her lips curved faintly. "Humility and cleverness in one sentence. Promising."
She gestured to the platform. "Come. Let us see whether fate has merely nudged you… or marked you."
As Su Chen stepped into the circle, the temperature dropped. The air thickened—not with Qi, but with something older.
Fate Essence.
It pressed against his soul like deep ocean pressure.
Elder Lanyu raised a single finger. The seven orbs pulsed.
> [Warning: Unknown Ritual Detected – No Hostility Identified]
[System Functions Temporarily Suppressed]
His breath caught.
The System—silent?
"Do not panic," she said calmly, without even glancing his way. "The Reset System is bound to your thread. But these orbs suppress all external interference. You must face what lies within you… alone."
"What am I facing?" he asked.
She gave no answer.
Only the stars replied.
The world inverted.
He fell—not through space, but time.
A sea of sand opened beneath him, scattered with shattered hourglasses. The sky overhead cracked like porcelain, silver rain dripping from its wounds.
He landed softly, barefoot, in a realm that echoed with every step—each footfall ringing with the weight of a thousand past lives.
Ahead stood three versions of himself.
One burned with rage, bound in red chains that hissed with flame.
One knelt, weeping, clutching a broken talisman.
The third smiled—serene, controlled. But his shadow twitched and writhed.
A voice echoed from nowhere and everywhere.
> "Which of these are you, Su Chen? Which path do you walk?"
He approached the first.
The chained Su Chen snarled. His eyes burned like coals.
> "They betrayed us. Killed us. Burned us. Reset after reset—still they take. Let's burn the world. Rebuild it in silence."
He turned away.
The weeping Su Chen whispered:
> "We fail. Every time. No matter how early we begin again, pain finds us. Let it end. Let us vanish."
Then, the smiling Su Chen stepped forward—gentle as a lover, cold as winter.
> "Why resist? Wear the mask. Use them all. Make them love you while you tear the heavens apart. Break fate and call it destiny."
Su Chen closed his eyes.
Three pieces of himself. All true.
Then he spoke, voice steady.
"I am all of you."
Lightning cracked.
The dream realm trembled.
"But I choose none of you."
He raised a hand.
With one breath, the illusions shattered—chains breaking, talisman dust, smiles erased.
"I forge my own path. Not rage. Not despair. Not lies."
When he opened his eyes, only one Su Chen remained—the one who had died and lived again. The one who remembered everything…
…and still believed in his own future.
He awoke gasping, knees trembling. Sweat drenched his robe.
Elder Lanyu stood before him, gaze softened.
"You passed."
He looked up, voice hoarse. "What… was that?"
"A glimpse," she replied, "of the threads trying to bind you. The Mirror stirs because your fate twists in ways even we cannot read. Even the heavens squint when they look at your path."
She reached into her sleeve, withdrawing a black token etched with seven stars and a coiled serpent.
"Take it. You are under my protection now… and my watch."
He accepted it with shaking hands. Bowed low.
"Thank you, Elder."
"You will not thank me later," she murmured. "Fate is not kind to those who walk ahead of time."
Then, almost as an afterthought:
> "You have three weeks. The Outer Heaven Trials begin then. Be ready."
As Su Chen descended from Observatory Peak, the air lightened. The wind returned.
So did the interface.
> [System Reconnected]
[New Fate Affinity Acquired: "Threadbreaker – Tier 1"]
Effect: +20% resistance to fate-bound suppression and prophecy-type restrictions
Su Chen's lips curled.
The pieces were moving.
But this time, he wasn't playing their game.
He was building his own board.