At first, nothing changed.The Frost Pavilion carried on as usual — disciples sweeping snow from walkways, alchemists refining frost elixirs, cultivators meditating beneath crystal trees that sang faintly when wind passed through.
Yet Lin Xuan felt it.An imbalance too subtle for sight but sharp as breath — as if the very qi that flowed through the pavilion had begun to hesitate before touching him.
He stood at the edge of the refrozen lake, eyes closed, sensing the ripples of the world.The surface was calm, but beneath it, tiny tremors pulsed — unnatural, rhythmic.
Something is moving beneath the frost again.
The System flickered.[Residual corruption detected.][Origin: Pavilion Formation Web.][Progression: 3% systemic contamination.]
Lin Xuan exhaled slowly. So it begins.
Over the next two days, whispers spread.
A frost array malfunctioned during morning meditation, encasing an entire courtyard in solid ice. No one was injured — but the ice refused to melt, even under fire qi.
In another hall, spirit lanterns flickered black, shadows stretching against the walls like ravens in flight.
By nightfall, two disciples collapsed, their meridians filled with clashing cold and heat. Physicians claimed imbalance; Yue Shuang called it infection.
Lin Xuan watched one of the victims writhe as frost marks spread along her neck like veins.He reached out — and the System pulsed with alarm.
[Corruption strain confirmed.][Mutation Type: Soul-Thread Resonance.][Warning: Attempting manual purge may trigger network defense.]
He withdrew his hand.
"What's happening?" Yue Shuang demanded, her usual calm fraying.
"They're not being poisoned," he said quietly. "They're being… rewritten."
That night, Lin Xuan walked alone through the Pavilion's mirror corridor — the place where Yue Shuang had once tested him with reflections.
Now, the mirrors whispered.
Not words, but breaths — tiny, echoing, waiting.
In one reflection, his face turned a heartbeat too late.
He froze.
"Show yourself."
The reflection smiled.
Then the glass fractured, and from within it, a pale hand reached out — black veins crawling across its skin, nails tipped in frost.
Lin Xuan's spear flashed, shattering the mirror entirely. The fragments hit the ground, and the reflection dissolved — but the whispers did not stop.
They multiplied.
Every mirror in the hall began to hum softly, flickering with faint black feathers drifting through their depths.
[Alert: Corruption nodes multiplying.][Source signature: Darkfeather Pavilion — Mirror Vein Type.]
Lin Xuan turned, cloak flaring. "You've nested yourselves in reflections… clever."
He extended one hand. The Glacial Flame answered his will, spreading across the mirrors like green-blue wildfire. Each pane shattered, releasing bursts of ash and frost.
But even as they broke, the whispers continued — faint, mocking.
By morning, the entire Frost Pavilion was unsettled. Disciples whispered of seeing their reflections move differently.
Some spoke of hearing feathers brushing against glass.
The Frost Matron summoned all elders. Her composure remained unshaken, but the faint tremor in the air around her betrayed strain.
"The infection runs deeper than we thought," she said. "Our arrays themselves are turning against us. The Pavilion's very heart resists purification."
Yue Shuang's tone was razor-sharp. "We can't fight what we can't see. The corruption spreads through qi threads — intangible, invisible."
Lin Xuan stepped forward. "Then I'll trace it."
Elder Fang glared. "You? You'll taint yourself."
"Too late," Lin Xuan said simply. "The link was made when I touched the feather."
The Matron studied him silently before nodding. "Then you will not walk alone. Yue Shuang will accompany you. Should the link turn against you… she will end it."
Lin Xuan inclined his head. "Fair."
Yue Shuang's eyes flickered. "You say that like it's simple."
They began the tracing ritual beneath the central hall, where the Pavilion's formation core pulsed like a frozen heart.
Sigils glowed beneath their feet — circles within circles, each line a thousand years old.
Lin Xuan placed his palm on the cold stone. Frost crept up his arm immediately — black at the edges, whispering.
He let it in.
[Trace Protocol Active.][Following Corruption Thread – Target: Darkfeather Core Signature.]
A thousand visions flooded his mind — glimpses of frozen corridors, disciples walking backward, mirrors bleeding ink, black feathers embedded in the roots of the Pavilion's spirit trees.
And beyond that — a single corridor that shouldn't exist, buried deep beneath the mountain.
"Found it," he whispered.
They descended through an abandoned stairway hidden behind the Pavilion's library. The air grew colder with each step, the frost turning from white to gray.
Finally, they reached a door made of ice darker than night. Runes pulsed faintly on its surface — the same pattern as the crystal feather.
"This isn't Pavilion craft," Yue Shuang murmured. "It's parasitic — built through our formation, not by it."
Lin Xuan touched the door. The black frost hissed, retreating slightly.
[Corruption Source Node Located.]
He exhaled. "Let's end this."
Together, they unleashed fire and frost — perfect balance, twin currents spiraling into the seal.
The door cracked. Black mist poured out, carrying whispers that made even Yue Shuang's heart stutter.
Within the chamber stood an altar.And on it — a second feather.
It was smaller than the first, but alive.Each breath it took pulled frost inward, devouring the room's light.
Lin Xuan's head rang with voices.
"Balance belongs to us…""The world of mirrors will inherit the flesh…""Come home, child of flame…"
He staggered. Yue Shuang caught his arm, frost qi forming a barrier around him. "Stay with me!"
The System screamed in warning.
[Duality Link Resonance Detected.][External Entity attempting synchronization.][Countermeasure Required.]
Lin Xuan gritted his teeth. "If it's trying to synchronize—then I'll finish the link myself."
He thrust his spear into the altar. The black feather shrieked, shadows bursting outward.
Fire and frost exploded from his body, filling the chamber in luminous blue-green light.
When the light faded, the feather was gone — reduced to dust.
But Lin Xuan knelt trembling, half his body wreathed in faint black smoke that refused to fade.
Yue Shuang knelt beside him, pressing her palm to his back, channeling pure frost qi. "You burned part of your spiritual sea…"
He coughed, laughing hoarsely. "Then it's even now. I burned their link, too."
[Trace Complete.][Partial Purge Successful.][Warning: Residual corruption integrated.][Status: Stable – Dormant Contamination.]
He closed his eyes. Dormant, not gone.
When they returned, the Frost Matron waited by the lake, her veil stirring in the cold wind.
"The corruption is gone," Yue Shuang said softly.
"For now," Lin Xuan added.
The Matron's eyes glowed faintly. "You risked your soul to cleanse what even I could not touch. But the price you paid binds you further to that darkness."
"I'll bear it," Lin Xuan replied.
"Be careful," the Matron said. "Every light leaves a shadow behind it."
Her gaze softened slightly. "Rest, both of you. The world will not grant you many more nights of peace."
Far from the Frost Pavilion, Meng Zhao stood upon a cliff overlooking a black valley.
He smiled faintly as the air trembled — and from the void rose the echo of Lin Xuan's qi signature, faint but steady.
"So… he took the bait. How predictable."
Behind him, the hooded figure of Elder Lu bowed. "The link?"
"Alive. Dormant. Growing."
Meng Zhao turned his hand, revealing a third feather — perfectly white, pulsing faintly with green light.
"Let him believe he's purged it," Meng Zhao murmured. "He's building our bridge for us."
Back at the Frost Pavilion, Lin Xuan sat in meditation once more.The frost in the air shimmered faintly — peaceful, pure.
But deep within his dantian, something moved.A single black feather floated amid his golden qi, silent, waiting.
He didn't open his eyes. He already knew.
"Fine," he whispered. "Then stay. Watch. Learn."
The System pulsed softly.
[Unregistered Entity Detected.][Integration Tolerated.][Balance: maintained.]
Outside, the wind rose, carrying faint echoes of laughter — neither mocking nor cruel, but inevitable.