The mirrors cracked before the roar came.
A hairline fracture shot across the entire palace, slicing through floating mirrors like lightning. Reflections warped. Edges bent. Silver dust drifted downward like falling snow.
Lin Qing didn't move.
His newly awakened Mirror Heart Lotus pulsed behind his heart—quiet, cold, impossibly sharp—expanding his perception outward like a bubble of thought.
His Mirror Domain shifted into Stage II.
His mind wasn't just awake now.
It was surgically precise.
Every mirror in the palace hummed.
Every echo of intent vibrated at a frequency he could now sense.
And the thing crawling from the largest mirror… he sensed that too.
It was hatred.
Ancient, starved hatred that had been caged for thousands of years.
A creature of fractured glass and mirrored limbs dragged itself into the void, its shape continuously shifting—sometimes humanoid, sometimes beastlike, sometimes nothing but a screaming silhouette. Its face was a broken reflection of the Mirror Emperor, twisting with agony, fury, and obsession.
Lin Qing exhaled.
"So this is the second trial."
The creature answered with a distorted, choking voice—like fifty reflections speaking at once:
"FINISH… WHAT… I… COULD… NOT."
The beast lunged.
Lin Qing's mind reacted before his body did.
The Mirror Domain tightened into a perfect sphere.
The beast's mirrored claws hit the edge and bounced off violently as if punched by its own strike.
Li Chun would've screamed.
Yin Luo would've narrowed her eyes.
Tian Ke would've drawn his sword.
None of them were here.
This trial belonged to Lin Qing alone.
He stepped backward, letting the Domain absorb the impact. The beast shrieked as the mirrored plates on its arms shattered, reflecting fragments of its own anger back into its core.
Lin Qing watched calmly.
"So you're a mental construct… fueled by obsession."
The beast staggered, then lunged again, this time splitting into three overlapping forms, racing at him from different angles.
The Mirror Domain flickered.
A new ability awakened:
Intent Echoes.
He could see their "real" trajectory a heartbeat before they moved.
Lin Qing sidestepped.
All three illusions missed, slamming into one another and exploding into shards.
He blinked.
"That's… kind of useful."
The beast reformed instantly.
This time it didn't attack.
It opened its chest.
Inside, dozens of mirror shards spun at impossible speeds—each one flashing a single moment from the Mirror Emperor's final battle.
Seven silhouettes in the sky.
Worlds shattering.
A throne breaking.
A crown cracking.
A final scream swallowed by the heavens.
The beast's voice trembled:
"ASCEND… ASCEND… ASCEND—
THEY… WOULD… NOT… LET… ME…"
Lin Qing frowned. "The Immortal Clans."
The beast froze.
As if the words hit something deep inside its core.
Lin Qing continued, speaking slowly, evenly:
"You're made from his last thought. His last obsession. His anger at dying without reaching Immortal Ascension."
The beast shuddered, mirrors vibrating like exposed nerves.
"ASCEND…
ASCEND…
ASCEND…"
Its body expanded, doubling in size. The palace shook under its rage. The mirrors around them darkened, bending inward like they were being pulled toward the center.
Lin Qing braced himself.
This strike would crush a True King mind instantly.
Except, his mind realm wasn't at Spirit Sea anymore.
Not in the mental path.
He could feel it clearly now.
The Mirror Heart Lotus had pushed his mental cultivation to:
Heart Mind Realm – Peak Stage
≈ Equivalent to Peak Spirit Sea Realm in physical cultivation
His eyes widened slightly.
"So mentally… I'm basically at the peak of my physical realm too."
A quiet, satisfied thought followed:
Good.
Because the beast gathered its entire body into one giant mirrored blade—
—and swung.
Lin Qing didn't dodge.
His Domain thickened around him, condensing like liquid silver.
The blade hit.
The Domain rippled.
It reflected the attack entirely, sending the mental force crashing back into the beast with twice the strength.
The creature shrieked as its entire chest caved in.
Shards flew everywhere.
The mirrors in the air rang like struck bells.
Lin Qing stepped forward, raising a hand as his Domain reshaped into a narrow, focused point—a spear of thought sharper than any physical blade.
"Rest," he said quietly.
He thrust the mental spear into the beast's core—
into the swirling cage of mirror shards that represented the Mirror Emperor's last obsession.
The beast froze.
Cracks spread across its body.
Its distorted voice softened—
no longer screaming.
Almost relieved.
"…walk… farther…
than I… did…"
Then it shattered.
The entire palace dimmed, mirrors turning still.
A final shard drifted down gently into Lin Qing's hand, warm and pulsing faintly with stored thought.
A notification flickered through his Mirror Domain:
[Trial Two Complete]
[You have inherited the Mirror Emperor's Last Shard of Will]
– Grants immunity to mental illusions below True King
– Enhances Mirror Domain clarity
– Stores one mental "strike" capable of injuring even higher realms
Lin Qing closed his hand around the shard.
"Two down," he murmured. "How many more?"
The palace answered with a slow rumble.
A third door appeared in the void.
This one was cracked—like someone had tried to hide it, not reveal it.
Lin Qing narrowed his eyes.
"…What were you hiding, Mirror Emperor?"
He stepped toward it.
The door opened.
Bright light flooded out.