Heaven Dou City – Jade Crescent Pavilion, Late Morning
The Harmonization Chamber had grown quiet. No longer exhibited the light from the previous iteration.
Technicians recorded streams of spiritual data while runes across the walls flickered faintly. Still lying side by side at the center, Li Wei and Zhu Zhuqing slowly sat up—sweat-drenched, yet more clear-eyed than anyone in the room.
Zhu Zhuqing breathing evened out first readying her heart. "That wasn't just... a spiritual resonance. It's something more than that"
Li Wei nodded, his voice quiet, steady. "It was entanglement. Our soul imprints… overlapped."
The supervising instructor approached cautiously, expression unreadable. "I've never seen a sync rate exceed 30%. You two peaked at 71.2%."
Ning Rongrong gasped from the observation deck above. Xiao Wu leaned against the railing, eyes wide. Even Meng Yiran—stoic and composed—tightened her grip on the edge.
"Is that dangerous or is that something good?" Xiao Wu called.
The instructor hesitated. "It's not even supposed to be possible for this kind of result to be even existed."
Zhu Zhuqing eyes narrowed. "Then what is the Harmonization Crystal really meant for actually?"
He flinched.
Li Wei stood, helping Zhu Zhuqing to her feet, their fingers lingering a second longer than necessary. "Tell us."
The instructor sighed. "The crystal is a relic—retrieved from a ruin beneath Spirit City decades ago before it was scattered as people excavated it and scatter throughout the land. Spirit Hall refined it, but its original function was unclear. Harmonization was… a side effect."
Li Wei eyes sharpened. "You're saying this thing predates Spirit Hall involvement."
"Yes. It belonged to a vanished sect—the same one that built the underground network beneath the city. Old records referred to it as the 'Axis Core.' Some believe it was used to select twin cultivators for… war."
Zhu Zhuqing glanced at Li Wei. "Soulbound warriors."
He nodded. "Weapons forged through emotional and spiritual fusion. More like an artificial martial spirit fusion. I wonder what our martial spirit fusion will be." He look toward Zhu Zhuqing while murmured that.
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Elsewhere — Underground Complex, Beneath the Spirit Couriers Guild
The serpent-eyed man stood again, cloak shimmering with faint serpentine scales as he reported before a massive half-buried statue—its hands cradling a shattered crystal.
"The Diendriver user and the Hell Civet girl," he said. "Compatible. Nearly resonant." He knows about what happen as the spy that he had plant at that place report to him about what happen.
Around him stood eight figures cloaked in violet, each wearing half-masks with animal motifs: fox, bat, jackal, lizard, crane, moth, bull, and owl.
From the center, the Owl, oldest and tallest, replied. "The Harmonization Crystal awakened… even in a controlled state. That confirms our theory."
The Bat chuckled, her voice airy and cruel. "So the Axis design is intact. Two hearts beating in fusion. A perfect testbed."
The Lizard, thickly muscled and sharp-eyed, folded his arms. "But can they be controlled?"
"Not yet," said the Owl. "But the boy's soul is partially fractured. There's something inside him that differ from the normal standard."
The Fox, young and sharp-featured, leaned forward. "The Rider martial spirit. The gun. It's alive."
The serpent-eyed man spoke again, slower now. "The girl… she grounds him. If we separate them, the backlash could fracture him. But together—"
"They are stable," the Owl finished.
"And therefore… useful."
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Back in the Pavilion — Garden Outside the Chamber
Li Wei and Zhu Zhuqing sat beneath a flowering tree, wrapped in silence that needed no filling. Their breathing was calm now, no longer synchronized—but still aware of the other.
Zhu Zhuqing spoke first. "I saw the night you killed that rogue Douluo. The way you regretted it. That day also the day that I thought that I will lost you forever." Her palm turn into a fist as she. Remember that times.
"I saw you too," he replied. "When you ran into Dai Mubai the first time you arrive here. When you hesitated at the Shrek gates."
"I hated myself then."
He turned to her, voice low. "You were just try to survived back then. And you made it through. Stronger than before."
She looked away, a faint blush coloring her pale cheeks. "I didn't expect it to hurt. To feel your pain as if it were my own."
"I didn't expect to see my own soul… and not be afraid."
They sat in silence again.
"Zhuqing."
"Mn?"
He hesitated, then reached out—gently taking her hand. "Thank you. For letting me seen your soul."
She didn't answer with words.
Instead, she leaned gently into his shoulder, just enough that he'd know she was there.
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Inside the Couriers Guild — Later That Night
The serpent-eyed man moved through the shadowed halls of the guild's deepest level. A new chamber was being excavated, ancient runes chiseled clean and humming softly.
A girl stood waiting for him. Younger than the rest of the animal-masked elites. No older than fourteen, with silver-white hair and dull crimson eyes. Her presence felt off, like her existence wavered.
"They harmonized," he said.
The girl blinked slowly. "Then they will hear it soon."
"Hear what?"
"The Axis Voice," she said dreamily. "Once two become tethered by the soul, the Axis begins to speak. Not to reason. To command."
"And will they obey?"
She tilted her head. "No. That's why it will hurt."