The Trial Ground had not fallen silent even after the Mist Wolf Spirit was shattered.
The mist thickened once more, curling through the forest like serpents, pressing down on the disciples' chests until it felt hard to breathe.
Li Shen stood in the middle of the clearing, his chest heaving, his hands trembling. The echoes of light and darkness still roared inside him, threatening to tear him apart. Around him, the disciples whispered, their faces pale.
"He… really controlled both."
"That's against the laws of the heavens…"
Admiration and fear swirled together.
But one face was darker than the mist itself—Zhao Wei. His jaw was clenched so hard that blood dripped from his fist. To see Li Shen stand where he should have fallen was a humiliation he could not accept.
Without warning, the mist whirled into a vortex at the center of the forest. The ground quaked. From within the storm of fog, something rose: a colossal mirror, taller than three men, its surface rippling like liquid silver.
Gasps filled the air.
"The Soul Mirror…" one of the elder overseers outside the ground whispered, his voice shaking.
"So it truly awakens for this generation…"
The disciples exchanged fearful looks. Everyone had heard the legends—how the Soul Mirror stripped away every facade and forced one to confront the truest self hidden within.
One by one, disciples were pulled forward by beams of mist.
Some wept when the mirror revealed their selfish greed, or the betrayals they tried to bury. Others screamed in denial as their weaknesses were laid bare for all to see.
Then came Zhao Wei.
He strode forward with pride etched on his face, his steps radiating arrogance.
"I have nothing to fear," he declared.
But as the mirror rippled, his confidence faltered. Reflected in the glass was not the young prodigy he boasted to be, but a man standing over him—his father, the sect's branch elder—eyes sharp, full of cold judgment.
"You are nothing without my name," the figure said, voice echoing from the mirror.
Zhao Wei's face drained of color, then flushed red with fury. "Silence!" He struck the mirror with his Qi, but the silver surface only shuddered, reflecting his humiliation back at him.
Whispers spread among the disciples. Some laughed quietly, others sneered. Zhao Wei stumbled back, eyes burning with shame.
The mist pulsed, and this time Li Shen was pulled to the mirror's front.
A heavy silence fell. Every gaze locked on him—some with hatred, some with curiosity, some with awe.
The mirror trembled violently. Fog gathered, twisting into two towering silhouettes.
One was a shadowy figure, its crimson eyes blazing.
"Kill… destroy… only strength gives you worth," it hissed.
The other was a radiant form of light, its voice calm yet cold.
"Restrain… obey… bind yourself to discipline or fall into ruin."
Both forms loomed behind Li Shen, tugging at him, dragging him toward their sides. His blood boiled, his vision blurred.
Inside his skull, the voices clashed.
"Unleash me!"
"Control yourself!"
The mirror shook harder, cracks forming in the earth beneath his feet.
"He's… he's being torn apart!" a disciple gasped.
Li Shen's knees buckled, but he slammed his fists into the ground to steady himself. His voice was hoarse, trembling, yet filled with resolve.
"I… am not a puppet of light or darkness…" He raised his head, his eyes blazing. "I am myself!"
The mirror erupted. The two silhouettes surged out, manifesting as real beings—one of pure shadow, one of searing light. Both struck at him with the full force of heaven and earth.
The ground split, trees shattered, the disciples fled in panic.
Li Shen was caught between their blows, his body thrown and blood spilling from his lips. His right arm wrapped in shadow's flame, his left engulfed in dazzling brilliance. Each strike he blocked felt like it would shatter his bones.
"This is impossible," an elder watching from outside muttered. "If he fails, his body will explode and his soul will scatter!"
But Li Shen refused to yield. Step by step, staggering yet unbroken, he fought against his own extremes.
The world rejects me… the sect despises me… but I will not fall here.
With a roar that shook the air, Li Shen raised both arms. Shadow and light swirled together, clashing, then spinning into a single spiral of harmony.
The explosion that followed turned night into day. The two phantoms screamed, their forms shattering into fragments that were drawn back into his body.
The mist settled. The mirror stood still, its surface blank once more.
Li Shen staggered, nearly collapsing, but Mei Lin rushed to catch him.
"Li Shen! Are you alright?" Her voice trembled with worry.
He forced a faint smile, though blood dripped from his chin. "I'm alive… and I am no longer their puppet."
The disciples stared in stunned silence—some fearful, others awed.
Zhao Wei's face twisted, teeth grinding. No… I will never allow him to stand above me.
Among the overseers, one elder muttered under his breath:
"This boy… he could become a disaster… or the very salvation of the sect."
And in the distance, the Soul Mirror pulsed faintly—its surface hiding secrets yet to be revealed.