A spiral of light twisted upward into the stormy void above, like a thread pulling them through the fabric of dimensions. Around them, the sky shifted color with every step—green mist became blue stars, silver clouds whispered like memory-echoes. Each step on the spiral bridge felt like walking through someone's dream.
Wind coiled around their ankles but offered no resistance—only the illusion of motion. The path didn't climb. It descended, though it curled upward. The sensation turned stomachs and bent reason.
"We're walking through memories," Liu Erlong murmured, eyes narrowed.
Xiao Wu leaned close to Ning Rongrong and whispered, "I swear I just heard my mother's voice…"
"Don't say creepy stuff like that!" Ning Rongrong hissed, clutching her sleeve.
Meng Yiran chuckled softly. "You two scared?"
"Of illusions? Nah," Xiao Wu said, flipping her braid back. "Of what they mean? Maybe."
Li Wei remained silent, eyes on the horizon. Each twist of the bridge took them deeper into something not physical. His spirit sensed it.
Liu Erlong paused mid-step. "This spiral… it's not just a bridge."
"It's a knot," she said, softly.
"It more like a maze," Li Wei agreed. "A maze made of threads."
And at its center, the test might be waiting them.
__________________
Before them sprawled a vast, endless labyrinth—its walls shifting with every blink. Threads of glowing silk formed corridors and veils, like the inside of a divine spiderweb spun from spirit energy. The air shimmered with the hum of countless vibrations—emotions straining across invisible lines.
Then came the voice, deeper now, laced with warning:
[Trial Two: Bonds. Trust frays under pressure. Paths diverge. Only unity finds the way.]
The threads began to shift.
Not physically—but in their minds.
Suddenly, the others were gone.
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Xiao Wu blinked. The labyrinth was gone. She stood in a courtyard beneath a tree in spring.
She saw Li Wei—his back to her. Walking forward, hand in hand with Zhu Zhuqing.
"Wait!" she cried. "Wait for me!"
But he didn't turn around. Didn't even flinch.
Zhu Zhuqing glanced back once. Her expression was calm. As if this was natural.
Xiao Wu clenched her fists. She know that this is fake. Why does it feel so real? Why does it hurt so much?
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Ning Rongrong stood in a sea of mirrors. Each reflected Li Wei, fading into darkness. One by one.
She ran to them, screamed his name.
None answered.
She saw herself—crying, powerless, small. "You couldn't help him," her reflection said. "You never could."
No, she thought. I've changed. I've grown stronger… haven't I?
But the silence was deafening.
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Meng Yiran stood on a battlefield. Zhu Zhuqing lay fallen. She stood victorious.
Her cane sparked with triumph.
And yet... her heart trembled.
This isn't right. She hadn't wanted this. Not like this.
Zhu Zhuqing opened her eyes and said, "Is this what you really wanted?"
Meng Yiran backed away. "No… I…"
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Zhu Zhuqing stood at the edge of a cliff.
Below, it just contain mist, endless and gray.
Li Wei voice echoed behind her, then slowly faded.
She turned.
He wasn't there.
No one was.
She was alone again.
Just like before.
Her chest tightened. I fought so hard to leave this behind… why does it feel like I'm back at the beginning?
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Even the teachers weren't spared.
Flender saw himself watching students die, unable to act.
Liu Erlong saw Yu Xiaogang walking away—again—and every time she reached, her hands passed through him.
Zhao Wuji saw his fists crushing more than enemies—saw terrified faces. Children. Oscar. Ma Hongjun. Tang San.
Their bonds, once a foundation, twisted into shackles of regret.
_________________
Li Wei opened his eyes into silence.
No illusions. No sound.
Only void.
No sky. No ground. No sensation.
Not even pain.
He breathed—and there was no air. Only thought.
"Am I the only one…?"
No voices. No memories. No fears.
At first, the emptiness felt like a reprieve.
Then the coldness seeped in. The kind that whispered: You were always alone.
Li Wei closed his eyes.
And remembered.
Zhu Zhuqing's gaze when she trembled but stood tall.
Xiao Wu laugh hiding pain.
Ning Rongrong clenched fists when others called her spoiled.
Meng Yiran stubborn pride covering insecurity.
Their threads—he saw them all now. Woven together, stretching between hearts.
His heart surged.
"No," he said. "They're not gone."
He reached into his coat.
The Diendriver gleamed.
He drew cards—one, two, five, ten.
Riders surged out in streaks of light. Echoes. Beacons.
Each Rider streaked through the maze, guided not by power—but by Li Wei's heart.
Each spoke his words as they neared a teammate.
"You're not alone. Walk toward me."
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Zhu Zhuqing opened her eyes.
There it was—a Rider holding out a hand.
Blue light flickered. It didn't speak—but her heart responded.
She reached forward.
And heard it: His heartbeat. Faint. Far.
But hers matched it.
She ran.
___________________
Xiao Wu saw a streak of orange light descend—a Rider she barely recognized, but she didn't care.
"Li Wei sent you?"
No answer.
But she grinned anyway. "Fine. I'm not done yet."
She followed it.
"I'll chase you too," she whispered. "But not for your sake… For mine."
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Ning Rongrong felt the warmth first.
Then a gentle light—like a hug.
"Idiot," she muttered. "You knew I'd doubt myself, didn't you?"
She wiped her tears and stood straighter.
"I'm not useless. And I won't lose you to darkness."
___________________
Meng Yiran stared at Zhu Zhuqing across a clearing—each emerging from opposite ends.
Neither spoke.
Yiran stepped forward. So did Zhu Zhuqing.
Their hands brushed briefly.
Acceptance passed between them.
_______________
The light thickened as the maze unraveled thread by thread.
All eight reappeared at the center—standing in a circle.
One by one, their illusions dissolved.
Flender was first to speak. "You all… came through it too?"
Zhao Wuji gave a quiet grunt. "Barely."
Liu Erlong looked at Li Wei, eyes softened. "You held us together."
Zhu Zhuqing stepped beside him, eyes not leaving his.
"I never doubted," she said.
He met her gaze, voice low. "Neither did I."
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A golden tremor shook the sky.
The threads around them lit up—golden, silver, radiant. Then unraveled into wind.
The maze dissolved.
In its place: a single thread of light, stretching forward.
The voice returned, no longer cold. Almost warm:
[Those who walk alone will be able to reach far. But those who walk together… can even reshape the path.]
The bridge ahead shimmered—no longer spiral, but a single golden line.
Threads converged into unity.
Their steps echoed as one.
________________
No one spoke at first.
They walked, the silence heavy—not from pain, but reflection.
Closer.
Stronger.
Together.
Li Wei looked at the others—saw the threads between them, invisible but real. Not chains. Not illusions.
Bonds.
Real bonds.
He smiled faintly.b"Threads pulled taut can snap. But threads woven together… can carry the world."
Ahead stood a massive crystalline gate, carved in mirrored glass.
Above it, words blazed:
[Trial Three: The Enemy Wears Your Face.]