The wind howled above the Ruined Pinnacle.
Darkness churned in the clouds like a waiting storm, refusing to let even moonlight touch the ground below. The land was broken. Twisted. Entire mountain ranges bent sideways, as if gravity had thrown a tantrum. Trees grew in spirals. Rivers flowed upward. And dead things walked, singing songs with no mouths.
Lin Feng stood at the edge of this distorted world, cloak whipping around him.
Ruoxi stood beside him, twin blades crossed on her back, face set like steel.
Yue Lian leaned on her crescent blade, eyes flickering with memory and moonlight.
"The Seventh Gate lies beyond this point," Yue Lian said softly. "But no one who has entered… has ever returned."
Lin Feng cracked his neck. "That's because they weren't me."
Ruoxi grinned. "Good. I was starting to miss your arrogance."
"I don't do arrogance. I do facts with flair."
Together, the three of them stepped beyond the threshold.
---
The land changed instantly.
One step in, and the world went quiet.
No wind. No sound. Even their heartbeats felt muffled.
It was as if reality had been placed on mute.
Then, a voice.
"You've come, Xuanyin."
Lin Feng froze.
That voice… it didn't belong to the gods, nor to the Forgotten.
It belonged to himself.
---
They walked for hours—or minutes. Time warped and twisted.
Reality bent like a funhouse mirror. Lin Feng saw versions of himself: young, old, broken, crowned, dead. Ruoxi vanished for a moment, then reappeared screaming with blood on her hands. Yue Lian's skin turned to ash and rebuilt itself.
"This place…" Yue Lian whispered, "It's feeding on our souls."
"No," Lin Feng said. "It's testing them."
They pressed forward.
---
In the heart of the inversion field stood a temple.
White as bone, carved from the spine of a fallen god.
Floating above its steps was a key unlike any other—spinning, humming, radiating both light and void.
The Seventh Key.
But guarding it was a figure cloaked in shadows.
Not Forgotten. Not human.
"Who are you?" Lin Feng demanded.
The figure lifted its head.
It was… Lin Feng.
Older. Stronger. Colder.
The final version of what Lin Feng would become if he claimed all the keys and lost himself.
"I am what you are destined to be," the Shadow Lin said. "Unless you walk away now."
Lin Feng stepped forward.
"I don't walk away from myself."
"Then come," the shadow said. "Let us decide which of us deserves the throne."
---
What follows is a climactic, multi-phase battle between Lin Feng and his dark self:
Phase 1: Blade vs. Blade — matching speed, power, and memory techniques
Phase 2: Philosophical Duel — exchanging truths, lies, regrets, and fears mid-fight
Phase 3: Ruoxi and Yue Lian get pulled into distorted timelines where Lin Feng chose different paths (each tragic)
Phase 4: Lin Feng unites his present self, past regrets, and future hopes into a single attack: "Oblivion Nova"
With a roar, Lin Feng cleaves through his own fate.
The shadow disperses.
The Seventh Key descends.
And the temple begins to collapse.
---
"You did it," Yue Lian gasped.
Lin Feng held the final key. "No… we did."
Ruoxi elbowed him. "That's dangerously close to teamwork."
Lin Feng smirked. "Don't get used to it."
But deep down, he felt it—something new.
Not just power.
Peace.
For now.
To be continue...