The moment Lin Qing stepped into the Reflection Marsh, the world rippled like a pond struck by a stone. Cold air wrapped around him, thin as silk and sharp as ice. Liquid mirror qi clung to his skin as if testing whether he belonged.
Yin Luo and Tian Ke followed behind him with calm precision. Li Chun hesitated at the threshold of warped reality, then yelped and dove in before the entrance could close.
The Marsh swallowed them whole.
Every step echoed twice—once from their feet, and once from somewhere behind them. Every exhale repeated a heartbeat too late, like a ghost was imitating them badly.
Li Chun's voice shook. "Heir Lin Qing… this place feels wrong."
"That makes two of us," Lin Qing said.
They moved carefully. The world was a maze of warped trees, polished stone, and pools so reflective they looked like holes leading into another sky. Everything shimmered slightly, as if reality itself was breathing.
Mirror qi pressed against Lin Qing's skin. Not hostile. But curious.
They reached a silvery lake, smooth as steel. Their reflections appeared instantly—then blinked on their own.
Li Chun stumbled back with a shriek. "H-Heir Lin Qing! Our reflections are alive!"
Lin Qing didn't move. He studied his mirrored counterpart, whose eyes glowed faint red.
"That's definitely not my best angle," he muttered.
The reflections smiled—just slightly wrong—before melting into mist.
A group approached from the fog. Radiant Dawn Holy Land. Their golden robes glowed even through the haze, sunlight dancing around them like small flames. Yan Yue led them, composed as always.
"I expected you to hesitate," Yan Yue said calmly. "The Marsh isn't gentle to first-timers."
"I get along with incompetence," Lin Qing replied.
Yan Yue took that in stride. "There's no reason to clash here. The Marsh responds poorly to violence."
Lin Qing gave a faint nod. "I prefer walking to dying, yes."
Yan Yue's gaze lingered on him for a moment—curious, assessing—before he turned away and led his group deeper into the labyrinth of fog and mirror light.
When they were gone, Li Chun finally exhaled.
"Heir Lin Qing… he looked like he wanted to fight you."
"He always looks like that."
Yin Luo gave him a look. "You've met him twice."
"And he looked like that both times."
They resumed walking, following a faint path of qi that only Lin Qing seemed able to sense. The Mirror Blood Scripture hummed faintly, guiding him deeper.
As they proceeded, the terrain twisted into winding corridors of glass-like walls and translucent vines. The Marsh reacted to the sincerity of their steps—when one hesitated, the path bent away; when one lied internally, the ground shimmered dangerously.
They entered a narrow passage where reflections showed memories instead of their surroundings.
Li Chun's reflection displayed him getting scolded by his grandmother for stealing buns.
Tian Ke's showed a battlefield littered with bodies.
Yin Luo's reflection showed her alone under the Blood Moon, blade drawn, facing an unseen adversary.
Lin Qing waited for his own reflection to manifest.
It showed him sitting in his old Earth apartment, slurping noodles in front of a webnovel on his laptop while ignoring a stack of deadlines.
He stared at it.
"…I would like a refund."
Li Chun peeked. "That's your—?"
"No," Lin Qing said quickly. "Absolutely not."
The Marsh shifted again, laughing without sound.
The walls cracked open, mirror qi surging outward and forming a tall silver figure with hollow eyes. A Reflection Sentinel.
The Heavenly Insight Divine Body activated immediately. Lines, diagrams, and weak points overlaid themselves across the Sentinel's frame. It swung its sword-like limb.
Lin Qing caught the blade between two fingers.
Li Chun screamed wordlessly.
The Sentinel froze, then adapted, reshaping its body instantly. It tried again, faster.
Lin Qing didn't bother analyzing this time. He placed his hand on its chest. The Mirror Blood Scripture pulsed once.
The Sentinel shattered like glass touched by a soft breeze.
Mirror qi surged into Lin Qing, spiraling into his dantian. A faint ring of translucent light appeared behind him for an instant before fading.
Li Chun fell to his knees. "Heir Lin Qing… you broke it just by understanding its structure."
"I didn't understand it," Lin Qing said. "It understood me first."
"That… doesn't make this any less terrifying."
They continued deeper into the labyrinth, but the air shifted again. A cold aura rolled through the fog—smooth, venomous, familiar.
Nie Xuan stepped out, serpent shadows coiling behind him, eyes colder than before.
"I hoped the Marsh would slow you," he said. "It seems I was mistaken."
Lin Qing didn't stop walking. "Not the first time."
Nie Xuan matched his pace beside him. "Don't misunderstand. I won't fight here. The Marsh punishes pointless killing. But once we reach the Reflection Pools…"
He didn't finish.
He didn't need to.
Yin Luo shifted subtly closer to Lin Qing. Tian Ke rested a hand on his sword.
Nie Xuan walked past them with silent confidence. "Try to keep up, Blood Mirror Heir."
He vanished into the fog.
Lin Qing watched the last hint of his shadow disappear. "I officially hate this place."
No one disagreed.
The Marsh walls bent around them, watching silently. Something deeper—older—stirred beneath the surface, as if waiting for him to go further.
Waiting for him to reach the place the Mirror Emperor left behind.
Waiting for him to remember what wasn't yet his.