The flames of the fourth floor faded.
Only a long staircase remained,
Stretching deep into the tower's core.
The fire was gone.
In its place—
A damp, chilling air.
Xiao Chen stood at the base of the stairs.
He didn't ascend immediately.
Instead,
He looked up at the seemingly endless steps.
He took a deep breath.
His gaze heavy.
He knew—
With each level,
The trials tested not just body and will,
But the past he hadn't faced,
And obsessions he hadn't resolved.
He stepped forward.
This time—
No flames.
No drums.
Only silence.
His footsteps echoed
In the boundless air.
He thought his heart had become still—
Like water.
But something stirred.
That figure from his dreams—
Holding a broken blade,
Wounded,
Yet standing firm in the wind—
Was that…
Him?
"If that was me…
Then who was she?
The woman who kept appearing in my dreams…
Her eyes—
So familiar…"
The steps continued.
The surroundings dimmed and brightened in turns—
Like walking through a corridor of muddled dreams.
With each step,
The mist thickened.
Thousands of grieving voices seemed to cry beneath his feet.
Finally—
The space trembled.
The world shattered like broken glass—
And reformed.
The illusion began.
His heart wavered.
A terrifying thought surfaced:
"What if…
We've been reliving the same fate
Over and over?"
And with that thought,
A nameless sorrow
Sank into the depths of his soul.
Mist rose silently from beneath his feet.
His vision blurred.
The space twisted like stirred water.
Then—
A black chain tore through the air.
It struck his spirit.
He dodged instinctively—
But realized the chain had pierced from behind,
Binding him to a shadowy prison.
"What… is this illusion?"
Before he could react,
Figures emerged from the mist—
Circle after circle,
Surrounding him.
He held his breath.
He recognized them.
His father, Ni Linhai—
From the fragment of soul in the spirit jade.
Though broken,
That will had left an indelible mark on his soul.
Beside him,
A stern elder with similar features—
His grandfather,
Sect Master of Startrace—Ni Xingsi.
And beside them,
A quiet young woman.
She said nothing—
But met his eyes.
In that moment,
A surge of bloodline resonance struck his heart.
Her gaze matched the one from his childhood dreams.
He didn't need proof.
She was his mother—
Liu Xinhui.
He had hoped—
Even if they were illusions—
That one of them might smile.
Just one.
But none did.
Every gaze
Was judgment.
His grandfather.
His father.
His mother.
His caretaker, Old Liu.
His master, Suan Wu Yi.
His guide, Han Bo.
Even Mei Renyi—whom he had killed.
And her—
From a past life.
Their eyes—
Like blades.
Like ice.
No warmth.
No joy.
Only coldness.
And disdain.
Ni Linhai spoke, voice heavy:
"Before you were born,
The Startrace Sect was destroyed.
You are the calamity of fate."
Liu Xinhui whispered,
Her voice soaked in sorrow:
"If not for you…
We might not have died like this."
Ni Xingsi glared at him:
"A century of legacy—
Ruined by you.
You came to continue our line—
But became its end."
Old Liu stepped forward,
His voice dry and bitter:
"I didn't stop believing in you…
But if you'd avenged me sooner,
I wouldn't have died in regret."
Mei Renyi sneered:
"You didn't kill me for justice.
You wanted to take my place.
You're more greedy than any of us."
Suan Wu Yi looked at him with disgust:
"You were born under a cursed star.
Look—
Even before birth,
You disrupted fate
And destroyed your legacy."
Han Bo sighed,
His voice like judgment:
"You knew defying fate was wrong—
Yet you did it anyway.
You dragged the whole village into ruin."
He thought he had learned to endure.
But in this moment—
He was crushed.
Then—
She appeared.
The one who had whispered to him
In every trial.
But now—
Her face was pale.
Her gaze cold.
Gone was the gentle voice.
Gone was the warmth.
"In that life—
I fell, wounded.
And you left me."
Her voice was icy.
"You say you don't remember me—
But your heart chose selfishness.
The resentment you sowed—
I've carried it for lifetimes."
Xiao Chen opened his mouth—
But no sound came.
He wanted to explain.
To say it wasn't his choice.
To say he had hurt.
Had regretted.
But the words were sealed.
As if even fate
Refused him a defense.
He could only watch
As every familiar face
Cast blame and hatred upon him.
The air froze—
Like a deep lake.
Heavy.
Unbreathable.
This—
Was the fifth floor.
Not his anger toward others—
But their resentment toward him.
The longer he endured,
The heavier his heart became.
Until he stood before her.
Her face—
So familiar.
Yet now speaking cruel, unfamiliar words.
He could no longer hold back.
His hands trembled.
He reached out—
Grasped her shoulders.
His eyes reddened.
His heart twisted.
In that instant—
All his suppression,
Doubt,
Regret,
And loss
Exploded within him.
Still—
No sound.
But his heart
Was breaking.
His chest tightened.
Blood burst from his lips—
Splattering across her face.
She trembled.
Xiao Chen collapsed to his knees.
Darkness overtook him.
—
He sank.
Into a silent, lightless lake.
The water around him
Was thick.
Still.
He couldn't move.
His thoughts scattered.
Familiar faces.
Familiar words.
Pierced his memory like needles.
He asked himself—
Was I never meant to exist?
Was I wrong from the start?
"If fate is real…
Then what am I?"
In the sea of his soul,
Mist rose in layers.
Past choices.
Regrets.
They tore at him like shadows.
He didn't want to admit it—
But the pain of being blamed,
Of being denied—
Was too real.
Too deep.
His consciousness sank.
But in that silence—
A voice emerged.
Hers.
The real her.
Soft as wind.
Passing through the storm of resentment.
"I've always believed in you…
Always known—
You're the one who never breaks a promise."
"I never blamed you.
Never resented you.
If fate truly exists—
Then I'll defy it with you."
Her words echoed in his heart.
"If fate truly exists—
Then I'll defy it with you."
Thunder rumbled in his soul.
One thought
Broke through the fog.
A gentle golden light
Wrapped around him—
Driving away the mist.
He slowly opened his eyes.
He stood at the center of the trial.
The illusions remained—
But they could no longer shake him.
He rose to his feet.
His gaze calm.
And he spoke softly:
"My fate is mine—
Not heaven's."
"If heaven dares defy me—
Then I will defy heaven."
As the words fell,
He let out a roar.
He struck the ground with a single punch.
Not to break the formation.
Not out of rage.
But to prove—
He would no longer be bound
By the resentment of others.
—
The fate-mark trembled.
As the illusions shattered,
And the embers faded—
Xiao Chen felt something shift within him.
His spiritual breath remained unchanged.
His strength did not surge.
But something deeper than spirit—
A pattern within his soul—
Began to emerge.
The fate-mark—
Transformed from breath to form.
Not gained through cultivation—
But born from a single thought.
He had endured the weight of a thousand resentments—
And remained unmoved.
In that instant—
Fate and form
Finally left their true imprint upon him.
"Fate-mark transformed.
Form-mark revealed."
The earth rumbled.
Illusions collapsed.
The space was swept by a storm of wind.
Dust scattered.
All returned to silence.
Within the tower,
The elder's voice echoed once more.
Lower.
Slower than before.
"Obsession remains.
Resentment still burns.
This tier…
Barely passed."