Chen Xin stood in silence at the peak of Broken Heaven Ridge, the twin swords Merciless and Gu Jian sheathed across his back. The air had changed—thicker, denser, alive with anticipation. His footsteps felt heavier, not from exhaustion, but from the weight of something unseen.
Then it began.
The ground beneath him pulsed with light. Ancient runes carved into the stone blazed with energy, forming a glowing formation that encircled him. A voice—ancient and resonant—spoke from the sky itself.
"You have chosen the dual path: sorrow and solitude. But to carry two swords is to bear two truths. Only one soul may endure the weight."
From the mist rose a giant. A golem of obsidian steel, etched with spiraling sword marks, its arms thick as trees and its face blank save for two burning crimson eyes. Its weapon was a massive greatsword, nearly twice Chen Xin's height.
The golem took a step forward, and the ridge trembled underfoot.
Chen Xin drew both blades.
He did not speak. There was nothing to say. The sword would speak for him.
The golem struck first — a swing that tore through the air like a hurricane, forcing Chen Xin to leap backward. Wind screamed past his face, stones shattered under the impact.
He charged in.
Merciless slashed low, blocking the greatsword. Gu Jian followed, weaving high and striking across the golem's arm in a streak of precise light. Sparks danced along its armored body.
But the golem didn't flinch.
Another strike — horizontal, too fast to dodge. Chen Xin crossed both swords and took the hit head-on.
He was flung backward, body slamming into a stone pillar that cracked from the impact. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
He didn't rise immediately.
Instead, he sat for a breath, breathing slowly, sword arms steady even as his ribs ached.
"Balance... I'm trying to balance them... like two halves of me... but I'm not split," he muttered.
And then it clicked.
He wasn't meant to use the swords independently. He was meant to wield them as one whole truth. Not sorrow and solitude — but resolve born of both.
He stood again.
The next time the golem struck, Chen Xin didn't dodge. He stepped forward.
Gu Jian deflected the blow mid-arc, redirecting the greatsword upward. Merciless flashed like lightning, slicing through the exposed joint at the golem's elbow.
A crack. A howl. The arm fell.
The golem reeled.
Chen Xin didn't stop.
He moved like wind, like flowing steel — cutting across the knee, up the chest, until he stood above the collapsing titan. One final strike.
The golem's core — a pulsing red orb — cracked in two.
The entire creature shattered, dust blowing into the endless mist.
Chen Xin stood there, chest rising and falling, blades lowered.
From the broken ground, a silver lotus bloomed — a sign of recognition from the Trial Realm.
He bowed to it, then walked onward without a word.