---
Chapter 287: The Mirror of the Eternal Tower
---
Act I: A Chamber of Ascending Heights
The Gallery opened into a chamber where radiant towers rose endlessly, each shimmering with light that reached toward the heavens. The air was lofty yet solemn, as though every breath carried the weight of ambition.
Ne Job stepped forward, Twinkle buzzing with a resonant hum, its rhythm echoing the pulse of ascent.
Ao Bing muttered, "This place… it feels like everything here is striving upward."
Taiyi Zhenren scribbled quickly. "The mirror here does not fall. It rises."
At the center stood a mirror framed by luminous spires, its surface shimmering with eternal ambition.
It spoke in a voice firm yet inspiring:
> "I am the Mirror of the Eternal Tower. I hold what rises, what endures in aspiration, what carries truth into height."
---
Act II: The Weight of Aspiration
The interns gazed into its surface.
Visions unfolded, showing truths carried by towers.
- Ao Bing saw battles where courage meant climbing higher even when storms raged below.
- Taiyi Zhenren saw scrolls preserved in lofty archives, wisdom safeguarded in places unreachable by decay.
- Ne Job saw miracles rising in silence, inscribed into the Registry as towers eternal.
Twinkle pulsed brightly, resonating with the chamber's ascent.
The mirror whispered:
> "To guard me, you must rise without fear."
---
Act III: The Mask's Intrusion
From the shadows, the Mask of Misrule hissed.
> "Towers are mine to corrupt. I will twist ambition into arrogance, and height into despair."
The Mirror of Endless Deception flickered, shards gathering again.
The Mask reached toward Eternal Tower, trying to fracture its spires into ruin.
Ao Bing staggered. "The tower collapses beneath me!"
Taiyi Zhenren trembled. "My scrolls scatter into falling stone!"
Ne Job steadied them. "Tower is not arrogance. It is aspiration."
---
Act IV: The Trial of Tower
The Mirror of the Eternal Tower spoke:
> "Intern, to protect me, you must rise."
Ne Job gazed into its towering surface.
He saw himself faltering, afraid of heights too fragile to endure.
He whispered:
> "I rise. Even when shadows collapse, I endure. Even when despair waits, I carry forward."
The mirror glowed brighter, its towers steady.
Twinkle pulsed strongly, harmonizing with aspiration.
Ao Bing's fists steadied.
Taiyi Zhenren's scrolls aligned.
The Mask recoiled, his corruption faltering.
---
Act V: The Clash
The Mask screamed, hurling shards of deception.
Illusions tried to twist tower into arrogance, scattering the interns into despair.
Ao Bing staggered. "My courage fades in collapsing spires!"
Taiyi Zhenren trembled. "My wisdom dissolves in falling stone!"
Ne Job stood firm. "Tower is not arrogance. It is truth carried eternal."
The awakened mirrors — Patience, Friendship, Courage, Sorrow, Endless Paths, Forgotten Names, Silent Echoes, Shattered Promises, Hidden Truths, Eternal Doubt, Living Light, Boundless Hope, Unbroken Unity, Eternal Harmony, Final Resolve, Infinite Resolve, Last Question, First Dawn, Endless Return, Forgotten Future, Silent Dawnfall, Eternal Song, Endless Silence, Forgotten Flame, Eternal Return, Eternal Choice, Hidden Dawn, Eternal Oath, Eternal Memory, Eternal Threshold, Eternal Light, Eternal Shadow, Eternal Balance, Eternal Dawnfire, Eternal Storm, Eternal Ocean, Eternal Sky, Eternal Flameheart, Eternal Songfire, Eternal Silenceflame, Eternal Starfall, Eternal Horizon, Eternal Root, Eternal Crown, Eternal Gate, Eternal Anchor, Eternal Bridge, Eternal Labyrinth, Eternal Flame of Truth, Eternal Spiral, Eternal Compass, Eternal Lantern, Eternal Seed, Eternal River, Eternal Mountain, Eternal Tree, Eternal Star, Eternal Dawn — joined with Eternal Tower.
Their glow struck the Mask's illusions.
Arrogance became clarity.
Deception dissolved.
Twinkle hummed, resonating with the Miracle Registry.
Ao Bing laughed, fierce and kind.
Taiyi Zhenren footnoted every tower restored.
Ne Job stood firm, tower and truth united.
---
Act VI: The Mirror's Gift
The Mirror of the Eternal Tower calmed, its surface shimmering with radiant aspiration.
It whispered:
> "Intern, tower is not chaos. It is height eternal. Guard it well."
Ne Job bowed.
Twinkle pulsed softly.
The Gallery shimmered, rising once more.
The Mask of Misrule retreated into the shadows, his voice echoing faintly:
> "You may resist towers today. But collapse always waits."
The Gallery fell silent.
The mirrors glowed.
And Ne Job walked on, ready for what lay ahead.