The entrance to the Hall of Origins was hidden behind the third waterfall on the eastern cliff of the Heaven's Gate Sect—a place most disciples didn't even know existed.
Su Chen stood before it now, holding the black-and-gold scroll the Sect Master had given him. The mist from the crashing water soaked his robes, and the roar of the fall drowned out all thought. But he could feel it—a strange pull in the air, like invisible threads tugging at his soul.
With a deep breath, he stepped forward.
The waterfall parted like silk.
Behind it was a smooth wall of jade, inscribed with a single glyph: "Origin."
As Su Chen raised the scroll, the glyph lit up in pale silver light, and the jade wall melted into a swirling vortex.
> [System Warning: Unknown Plane Detected – Anchor unavailable during trial]
[Proceed?]
"Yes."
He stepped through.
Darkness.
Not the kind that came from the absence of light—but a dense, oppressive void that pressed against his skin like fog. For a moment, he couldn't feel his body. Couldn't hear his heartbeat. Couldn't even be sure he was breathing.
Then…
Light.
A flickering torch. A stone corridor. Cracked tiles beneath his feet.
Su Chen blinked. He was standing in an ancient hallway, surrounded by shadows that moved without a source.
This wasn't the Sect anymore.
This was something older.
> [Trial of Origins Initiated]
Objective: Witness your past and survive your truth.
Note: Your enemies may walk here too.
A sound echoed through the hall. Drip. Drip. Drip.
He turned a corner.
And froze.
There—at the far end of the corridor—stood himself.
Or rather, who he used to be.
The Void Sovereign. Regal. Cold. Dressed in flowing robes of dark cosmos and burning silver. His long hair shimmered with strands of starlight. His eyes… no longer mortal.
Su Chen felt his chest tighten.
He was looking at the peak of his old power. The version of himself that had stood unchallenged in the Ten Thousand Realms. The one who had nearly ascended before the betrayal.
And standing before that version… were his betrayers.
Lian Xue, his sworn sister. Blade Saint Jin Hao, his blood-brother. And Celestial Priestess Yu Mei, the woman he had once loved.
They stood united in a circle, glyphs glowing beneath their feet—forming the Heaven-Slaying Seal.
Su Chen's breath caught. He remembered this moment. But watching it again… hurt more than dying.
"You were too powerful," Yu Mei said, voice trembling. "You stopped being human."
"You became a force," Jin Hao added. "One we couldn't control."
"Your path would've destroyed all realms," Lian Xue said, tears streaming down her face.
The Void Sovereign—Su Chen's past self—laughed.
Not cruelly. But… sadly.
"I would have broken the chains of fate," he said. "And you feared freedom more than you feared the heavens."
And then, they attacked.
The Heaven-Slaying Seal activated. Threads of divine light wrapped around the Void Sovereign like nooses, dragging him into a void cage.
Su Chen watched in silence as his former self screamed—not in pain, but in fury. Power beyond comprehension exploded—but it was too late.
The betrayal was complete.
The scene shattered like glass.
Su Chen stumbled forward into another memory.
He was now standing on a battlefield strewn with the corpses of gods. Mountains had crumbled. Skies were torn. The Void Sovereign, moments from death, floated in the sky—bloodied, defiant.
A golden spear pierced his chest.
The final blow.
Darkness swept over the sky.
And then… silence.
Su Chen found himself kneeling in a dimly lit chamber.
No more memories. Just… reflection.
Until a voice spoke from the shadows.
"You hate them, don't you?"
He turned.
A figure emerged. Hooded, featureless, but unmistakably… familiar.
Su Chen narrowed his eyes. "Who are you?"
The figure smiled. "A version of you. One you locked away."
> [System Alert: Cognitive Construct Detected – Identity: 'Shadow Self']
"You were born of betrayal," the figure said. "But you still hesitate. You still seek control, reason. Mercy."
Su Chen clenched his fists. "Because I don't want to become what they feared."
"Yet they feared you anyway."
The shadowspulsed.
"Let me help," the voice whispered. "Let me guide your next reset. No more mercy. Only domination."
Su Chen stood tall. "I'll rise again—but on my terms."
"Then prove it," the voice snarled. "Survive me."
The chamber twisted.
Swords rained from the ceiling. Chains shot from the walls. The shadow surged forward.
And Su Chen fought.
Not with rage—but with resolve.
He shattered the chains, dodged the swords, and landed a blow directly into the shadow's chest.
Light burst from within.
The figure screamed, shattering into motes of light.
> [Trial Complete – Core Memory Stabilized]
[Reward: Memory Seal Broken – Void Flame Sovereign Skill Unlocked: Starfire Rebirth (Tier I)]
[System Expansion: Anchor Memory Storage – Now Available]
Su Chen gasped as light engulfed him again.
He awoke at the waterfall's edge, soaked, breathing hard.
The scroll in his hand had dissolved. His Qi… surged wildly, like a seaunchained.
But deeper than that was the clarity.
He no longer feared his past.
He had faced it—and conqueredit.
High in the Sect's tower, Bai Yu opened his eyes.
"The Hall accepted him," he murmured.
The crimson-robed woman beside him smiled. "Then our gamblebegins."