The stairwell descended into silence deeper than death, thicker than stone. The torches they lit didn't burn with fire, but with soulflame, a pale white that cast no heat, only memory.
Li Fan and Yan Mei walked side by side, the Twin Manuals secured in Qi-bound scroll cases. Neither spoke. Their bodies still hummed from the resonance test. Not just spiritual. Not just physical. Something deeper.
The final step opened into a wide chamber carved into a dome. It was unlike the tomb above warmer, alive. Curtains of crimson silk hung from unseen hooks above, swaying in a windless room. The air carried the scent of amber and crushed orchids. In the center was a pool of still water, reflecting not their bodies… but their emotions.
Yan Mei froze.
"This is a spiritual resonance trial," she whispered.
"How do you know?" Li Fan asked.
She didn't answer.
Instead, she stepped forward. The moment her boot touched the silk carpet laid before the pool, the curtains caught fire. But they didn't burn.
Instead, the flames twisted through the silk dancing, floating and with every pass, more of her robes dissolved.
Li Fan blinked. "This isn't a normal flame…"
Yan Mei's outer robe was already reduced to ash, yet her skin bore no mark. "It burns spiritual defense, not flesh."
"Of course," Li Fan said, eyeing the formation circling the pool. "A cleansing ritual meant to strip illusions, lies, barriers... clothes included."
She turned her gaze toward him. "And we're both in it now."
Li Fan looked down. Sure enough, a line of fire had trailed up his side, unraveling his sleeve thread by thread.
The formation flared around them. Ancient glyphs lit up on the walls.
A disembodied voice echoed from above: "Only those who walk without shame shall enter the Chamber of Union."
Li Fan's brow furrowed. "This isn't just a trial of body. It's of vulnerability."
Yan Mei's jaw tightened. "It wants to see if we can bare more than our skin."
Li Fan dropped his sword.
Then, one by one, he peeled off his damaged outer robes until only his inner spirit layer remained. Across his skin were etched dozens of ancient inscriptions, inked in his own blood.
Yan Mei stared. "You inscribed those into yourself."
He nodded. "Some techniques... require pain to understand."
For a moment, something flickered in her gaze. Not lust. Not pity. Respect.
She removed the last remnants of her robe.
Now they stood bare-armed, stripped not just of protection, but pretense. The trial reacted.
The water stirred. Two glowing specters rose from the pool mirror images of themselves, distorted and snarling.
"They're us," Li Fan muttered. "But broken."
The specter-Yan Mei screamed and lunged at her real counterpart, twin blades slicing air.
Yan Mei caught both on the flat of her sword, gritting her teeth. "It fights like I do... but angrier."
Specter Li Fan raised a quill and unleashed a barrage of soul chains. Real Li Fan ducked, rolled, and drew his curved blade.
"This is a combat reflection," he said. "They're formed from our internal fears. Guilt. Desire."
He clashed with his double blades meeting in bursts of spiritual heat.
Yan Mei drove her specter back with a fierce downward strike and called out, "We have to accept them!"
"What?"
"It's not a fight to win it's a fight to unify!"
Li Fan understood instantly. On his next parry, he let the blade falter and whispered: "I see you."
His specter froze. For one heartbeat, they stared into each other's eyes.
Then it shattered into mist returning to his core.
Yan Mei lowered her weapon. "I accept you," she said simply. Her double faded in kind. The pool calmed. The burning silk vanished.
In its place stood a narrow stone bridge, leading to a massive sealed door etched with twin sigils.
Li Fan looked over, breathing hard.
Yan Mei's voice was low. "I've walked thousands of miles to kill men stronger than you."
"I've bled a thousand times to understand truths no one else sees," he replied.
They stepped onto the bridge together.
---
Far above, in the Celestial Citadel, the masked observer stared into a burning mirror.
"They passed the Burning Silk Trial," he whispered.
A female voice behind him rasped: "Their bond is stabilizing."
He didn't turn.
"Activate the next fail-safe. If they reach the Mirror Tomb, it may trigger his sealed memory."
A pause.
"And if it does?" the woman asked.
He closed his eyes. "Then… I'll have to kill my little brother myself."