1. Two Halves, One Step
The sky groaned as Lee Haneul and Lee Haeun stood side by side for the first time in the Realm of Life.
Not twins.Not brothers.But mirrors.
Haneul's aura was sharp—quiet, coiled, ancient.Haeun's was wild—flickering, pulsing, unstable.
And yet their energy synced like heartbeat and breath.
"What took you so long?" Haneul murmured.
Haeun rolled his neck. "You think I wanted to get yanked into a spiritual afterlife dimension mid-nap?"
Despite the tension, they both smirked.
Then the Proxy moved.
Fast.
It launched a strike toward Haeun—but Haneul caught it mid-air.
They rotated in perfect flow.One blocked. One redirected.Like they'd trained together for centuries.
They hadn't.
The Realm had.
"Dual Form: Mirror Bloom."
And they struck together.
A shockwave hit the Proxy so hard, its glitching form spat out time itself.
2. The Cult Watches from Afar
In the cult's shadow temple outside the Realm of Life, chaos erupted.
The high priest slammed his staff into the floor, trying to stabilize the projection. But the image kept blurring.
"Why is he there?"
"They're not supposed to be together!"
"This breaks the prophecy!"
The eyeless woman staggered, blood leaking from the corners of her eyes.
"They've begun to resonate."
"If they speak the Code—███ ████ ██—we won't survive it."
"Even the Proxy won't."
The tattooed man screamed, "THEN KILL THEM NOW—"
But the projection collapsed.
Because the Realm of Life had decided they didn't get to watch anymore.
3. The Pressure Breaks Everything
Back inside the Realm, the sky began to burn.
Not fire.
But script.
Golden script, like divine law etched into clouds. Thousands of lines of ancient cultivation languages, all saying the same thing:
SILENCE IS THE LANGUAGE OF GOD.
The golden eye above them blinked once—
And then it spoke.
4. The Voice
The sound was not a sound.
It was a vibration inside every soul present.
The trees cracked open. The rivers reversed. The land buckled.
The Proxy clutched its chest, glitching violently.
Haeun dropped to one knee, bleeding from his nose, the ⟡ on his back glowing like a brand.
Haneul stood, but barely. His Spirit Core sparked and flickered.
And across the world, cultivators—even in the Lower Realm—paused mid-training, breath stolen, chests tight.
"...YOU..."
The voice folded time inward.
"...ARE FRACTURED..."
"...YET YOU STAND..."
"...AGAINST THE SCRIPT I BURNED INTO EXISTENCE..."
5. The Eye Knows the Code
Haeun gasped.
"It knows…"
The ⟡ symbol pulsed, then burned itself deeper. The fourth Dantian—the Hidden Core—briefly shimmered in his spirit body.
And in Haneul's chest, the Mind and Life Cores began rotating around each other.
Not in sync.
In orbit.
The Eye lowered slightly.
"...IF YOU SPEAK IT...""...THE WORLD WILL SPLIT AGAIN...""...AND THIS TIME, NO ONE ASCENDS..."
6. A Final Stand
The Proxy tried to move—but now, it couldn't.
Even it—crafted from godless techniques—bowed involuntarily.
And yet, Haneul lifted Haeun to his feet.
Both bled. Both cracked. Both still standing.
"You ready?" Haneul whispered.
Haeun nodded, voice hoarse.
"I'll never be. But I'm here."
Together, they stared at the sky.
The Eye narrowed.
Waiting.