The morning sun poured gently over Dao Xuanzhen Academy, its golden light painting the training fields and courtyards with a calm brilliance. The breeze carried faint traces of sandalwood incense and freshly tilled earth from the herbal gardens. On the surface, it was another peaceful day — students bustling, elders instructing, spiritual energy swirling like invisible currents in the air.
But for Polyfalls Yen, tranquility was an illusion.
He sat cross-legged beneath a quiet pavilion behind the Health Division Hall, eyes closed, steadying his breath. Within him, his spiritual essence stirred uneasily — as if something foreign had taken root. The talisman's pulse had not faded completely. Ever since his encounter with Ming in the spiritual realm, faint crimson flickers would surge beneath his skin whenever he tried to meditate.
Two marks. One fate.
Those words haunted him.
His gaze lifted toward the horizon where mist met the academy walls. "Someone else bears the same mark…" he muttered. "Who are they?"
The sound of approaching footsteps broke his thoughts. He turned slightly and saw Wutong Shen swaggering toward him, holding a paper fan and wearing that same crooked grin that had already earned him plenty of scolding from the female disciples.
"Brother Yen!" Wutong waved dramatically. "You've been hiding again. What are you plotting this time? Enlightenment? Or some new way to terrify the teachers?"
Polyfalls frowned. "Meditating. Not plotting."
"Same thing," Wutong said with a smirk. "Meditation is just plotting against your limits."
Before Polyfalls could retort, a familiar voice called from nearby.
"Wutong Shen, don't bother him."
Meilin Xue approached from the garden path, her white robes swaying lightly, her long hair bound in a jade clasp. Her expression was calm, but her tone carried warning.
"Ah, Meilin!" Wutong turned dramatically. "Still guarding your precious cultivation partner like a fierce spirit beast?"
Her eyes narrowed. "Better a guardian than a nuisance."
The air tensed between them — a mix of irritation and mischief. Students passing by slowed their steps, sensing another argument about to unfold.
Wutong flicked his fan lazily. "You wound me, Lady Xue. I'm simply trying to be friendly. Surely even your cold-hearted companion here could use a friend or two."
Polyfalls exhaled slowly, trying to ignore them both, but his mind wasn't at peace. The mark beneath his hand tingled faintly. His senses sharpened without intent — qi threads in the air, students' heartbeats, even the subtle emotions between Meilin and Wutong.
The mark reacts… to people?
Ming's words echoed faintly in his mind: Beware the mark that answers your soul.
Wutong took another step closer, resting his arm lazily on a nearby pillar. "Anyway, I heard something interesting from the Pill Pavilion this morning. A few outer disciples collapsed during refinement. Their souls burned from the inside out."
Meilin's expression tightened. "Burned? You mean soul fire?"
Wutong nodded, eyes glinting. "Exactly. The elders say it's connected to a forbidden talisman one of them found near the southern lake. They think it carries demonic essence."
Polyfalls froze. His hand subconsciously clenched.
A talisman… near the southern lake?
He stood abruptly. "Where exactly?"
Wutong blinked. "Eh? You're interested?"
Meilin's tone was firm. "Polyfalls, don't. If it's demonic, the elders will handle it. You've barely recovered from your last cultivation session."
But he was already walking away. "If it's connected to what I think it is, waiting will only make it worse."
Wutong and Meilin exchanged a quick glance before following him.
---
The southern lake of Dao Xuanzhen Academy was a serene place — lotus blooms spread across calm waters, and faint blue qi rose like mist. But as they approached, Polyfalls sensed the disturbance immediately. The spiritual currents were twisted, distorted — like an unseen whirlpool under the surface.
Near the water's edge, an ancient stone formation glowed faintly with red symbols.
Wutong crouched beside it, eyes wide. "Looks like a containment array, but it's barely holding together."
Meilin's hand moved to her waist, summoning a defensive charm. "This wasn't made by academy alchemists. The formation lines are inverted."
Polyfalls knelt before the stones, his gaze locking on the crimson mark pulsing faintly in the center — identical to the one that had appeared beneath his skin.
His heartbeat thundered.
"It's the same…" he whispered.
Before anyone could react, the mark blazed. A beam of red light shot upward, and a faint silhouette emerged from it — human in shape but blurred, flickering like smoke.
Wutong stumbled backward. "What in the heavens—?!"
The shadow turned its head slowly, and for an instant, Polyfalls saw eyes — eyes identical to his own.
The voice that followed was both distant and near:
> "So… you're the other one."
The air froze.
Meilin's qi flared instinctively, forming a defensive barrier, while Wutong's fan snapped open, summoning weak spiritual winds. But the apparition didn't attack. It simply looked at Polyfalls, as though studying him.
> "The seal weakens," it murmured. "Soon, we will be one."
Then it vanished into thin air, leaving only ripples on the lake's surface and silence that pressed like weight on their chests.
Wutong broke it first. "All right, I officially hate talismans."
Meilin turned to Polyfalls, concern in her eyes. "That thing… it looked like you."
Polyfalls said nothing. He simply stared at the fading runes, his expression unreadable.
Inside, though, he felt it — the mark beneath his skin pulsing in response, as if whispering secrets his mind could barely contain.
Ming was right… but this isn't just another bearer.
It's me.