Heaven - Sundered Path

Scene 1 — Quarterfinals Announced

The sun rose over Crimson Lotus Peak as bells chimed eight times — signaling the quarterfinals.

Disciples flooded the viewing platforms. Only eight competitors remained now, each a cultivator whose fame would ripple through the sect regardless of the final outcome.

On the central jade slab, names floated in glowing script:

Match One: Lin Xun vs. Li Zhenye

Gasps and murmurs spread immediately. No one knew who Li Zhenye truly was — but many had felt it.

He didn't walk. He glided.

His eyes were too still.

His breath didn't fog.

Scene 2 — The Challenger: Li Zhenye

Li Zhenye stood calmly on Platform One. His hair was silver, tied with black silk. His robe bore no sect insignia — only a single symbol:

A shattered moon reflected in a black mirror.

"That's the sigil of the Soul Mirror Sect," muttered Elder Hai Chen in the judging booth. "But they were… purged a hundred years ago."

When Lin Xun stepped onto the platform, he immediately felt it — an unnatural pressure. Not like physical Qi or spiritual force.

This was heavier.

"Your mind is cracked," Li Zhenye said softly. "Let me help you see what hides in the break."

And the world changed.

Scene 3 — Mirror Realm

Lin Xun blinked — but the sky was now violet. The ground was liquid silver. Countless mirrors hovered in the air, each reflecting not his face… but a different version of himself.

One stood crowned, drenched in celestial blood.

Another lay weeping beside a burning mountain.

A child stood barefoot and terrified, shackled by golden chains.

"These are all you," Li Zhenye's voice echoed around him. "The yous that were… and could be."

"Look deeper."

One mirror cracked.

Lin Xun turned — and suddenly, he was standing in a stone hall. Blood pooled at his feet. An altar before him held a young girl's corpse.

He recognized her instantly.

"Su Ruyan…"

His childhood friend.

Dead by his hand.

Scene 4 — Breaking the Illusion

Pain surged through him. The illusion struck his soul, not his body. His Qi faltered. Breathing grew shallow.

"She died in the Soul Crucible because you chose ascension over mercy," Li Zhenye's voice whispered. "Again and again. In this life, in the last. The heavens rejected you."

Lin Xun knelt. Hands trembling. The mirror before him showed Xu Tianheng — the warlord, the tyrant.

He reached toward it.

But then…

The jade pendant glowed at his chest.

A voice echoed in his mind — calm, deep, resolute.

"You are not him. Not entirely. And not anymore."

The pendant pulsed. The mirrors cracked. The world shattered like glass.

Scene 5 — Return to Reality

The illusion broke.

Back on the platform, Li Zhenye staggered, stunned.

Lin Xun stood tall, blood dripping from his eyes — but soul intact.

"You invaded the wrong mind."

He formed a seal with both hands.

"Crimson Bone Pulse — Fourth Gate: Skyflesh Ascension!"

A storm of heat burst around him. His veins glowed with crimson-gold fire. He moved like lightning — and struck with the weight of ten mountains.

Li Zhenye didn't dodge.

He couldn't.

One blow. Clean. Final.

The illusion master was thrown from the platform, landing hard.

"Winner — Lin Xun!"

The crowd erupted.

Scene 6 — Reflection and Aftershocks

Back in the healing halls, Lin Xun meditated, heart still beating fast.

He had touched something deep — the Fourth Gate had opened, but it had awoken memories not just from Xu Tianheng's life…

…but from in-between. From when his soul had wandered before rebirth.

"The Soul Crucible… The girl… That wasn't only illusion."

His cultivation had advanced again.

He was now firmly at Peak Foundation Establishment, body and soul both tempered.

Scene 7 — Elders' Private Chamber

In the upper reaches of the sect, behind curtains of spirit light, three elders met in secret.

One held a silver thread taken from the shattered mirror realm.

"His soul thread resonates with celestial bindings."

"You mean… he was sealed once?"

"Worse. He was reborn."

Final Scene — Yan Qiruo's Warning

As night fell, Lin Xun stood alone in the training forest.

Yan Qiruo approached silently.

"You faced the mirror," she said.

"What did you see?"

"Myself," he replied.

"No. You saw a fragment. There is still a door deeper."

She handed him a slip of jade.

"Don't lose in the semifinals. The next one is worse."

"Worse than that illusion?"

"He doesn't use mirrors. He uses demons."