"Some souls are torn in two—One half left to live,The other… left behind to await a single soul who dares to awaken it."
Ancient Glacial Grounds – Realm Beyond the Heart
After awakening from the dream of his ancestor, Lâm Mạc felt the blood in his veins quake and burn.A strange, frigid aura pulled him northward—To a land once scorched by the final battle of the First Primordial, now sealed beneath ancient ice.
He arrived.
Before him stood a frozen tomb, cold as eternity.Etched upon the gates were eight foreboding characters:
"Those with Primordial Blood—Enter and perish.Refuse to enter—Still perish."
Inside, no corpses, no miasma of death.Only a lotus pond, buried beneath layers of ash and frost.And at its center, a woman in white robes, sitting in silent meditation—As if she had slept since time first wept.
The moment Lâm Mạc stepped in, his blood ignited.His heart began to tighten, as though remembering something it was never told.
"You've come…I've waited… so long…"
The voice echoed from the deepest chambers of his soul.
Her eyes opened—Not with tenderness… but with a cold that pierced bone.
Once violet and warm, her gaze now burned gray, like dying embers.
"Who are you?""Why does your aura… resemble that traitor's?"
Lâm Mạc froze. For a fleeting moment, he saw a shadow—his own, yet not.A version of himself from another lifetime—One who had slaughtered an entire realm to save her from the Heavenly Tribulation.
"I don't remember you…But my soul trembles when I see you.""What were we… to each other?"
She was not fully awakened.Within her warred two wills:
One—the woman who once loved Lâm Mạc across lifetimes.
The other—a sovereign empress, betrayed by his very blade in the pursuit of Dao.
Their conflict roared within her.
Lâm Mạc stepped closer, placed his palm upon her frozen heart—And offered a fragment of his ashen soul.
He did not know if she would remember.But he chose to wager everything.
"If I betrayed you…You may take my life.""But if I defied the heavens for you—Then awaken… and tell me why."
The ice cracked.
She collapsed into his arms.Not to embrace.Only to look up at him… quietly.
"I remember now…""You were the only one…who ever called me… human."
Tears fell from her eyes.
"You still live…Then perhaps… our Dao is not yet extinguished."
At the chapter's close, Lâm Mạc turned and walked away,leaving her to rest beneath the withered lotus altar.
Far in the distance, the Ancient Divine Temple stirred.
"One who walks the Primordial Path has awakened.""Begin preparations… for the Fate-Seizing Rite."