Lin Yue's POV
"Twenty-nine days left," Shen Yifeng said, watching me collapse after my hundredth sword strike practice. "You're pushing yourself too hard."
"Not hard enough." I forced myself back to my feet despite my screaming muscles. The corrupted mark on my arm pulsed with dark energy, spreading another inch toward my shoulder. Every day it grew. Every day I got weaker. "The trials won't care if I'm tired."
We were in the Northern Wastes' training grounds—a massive courtyard where demon cultivators practiced their techniques. Shen Yifeng had cleared everyone out so I could train without interruption. For three weeks straight, I'd done nothing but practice, meditate, and study every scrap of information we could find about the Celestial Jade Palace trials.
The information was terrifyingly sparse.
"There has to be another way," Shen Yifeng said for the hundredth time. He approached me with a water flask, his red eyes filled with worry. "Maybe if we gathered enough high-level healers—"
"We've been through this." I drank gratefully, then handed back the flask. "Death energy from a Soul Devourer can only be cured by celestial power. Nothing else works. I either do the trials or I die."
"Then let me come with you," he pleaded. "Even if I can't enter the trials themselves, I can at least be outside, waiting—"
"No." I touched his face gently. "If I fail, if my soul gets trapped forever, I need you out here. Living. Being happy. Not spending eternity waiting for someone who'll never return."
His jaw clenched. "Don't talk like you've already lost."
"I'm being realistic." I looked at my corrupted arm. The black veins had spread to my shoulder now, creeping toward my chest. "The old woman failed these trials, and she was powerful enough to summon a Soul Devourer. What chance do I have?"
"Every chance," a new voice said.
We both spun around. Standing at the training ground entrance was Mei, along with someone I never expected to see again—Chen Hao.
"What are you doing here?" I demanded, my hand instinctively moving to my sword.
Mei rushed forward. "Don't be mad! I know you said you didn't want to see anyone from Azure Cloud Sect, but Chen Hao came to me three weeks ago. He's been researching the trials nonstop. He found something important."
Chen Hao stepped forward carefully, like approaching a wild animal. He looked terrible—thin, exhausted, with dark circles under his eyes. "Lin Yue, I know you hate me. You have every right to. But please, just listen for one minute."
"Why should I?" My voice came out cold. "You chose to betray me. You don't get to help me now and pretend it makes up for anything."
"I know that!" His voice cracked. "I know nothing I do will ever make up for what I did. But that doesn't mean I'm going to stand by and let you die when I might have information that could save you!"
Shen Yifeng moved between us protectively. "Speak quickly. You have thirty seconds."
Chen Hao pulled out a ancient scroll from his robes. "I broke into Azure Cloud Sect's forbidden library. This scroll describes someone who actually survived the five trials—a cultivator named Zhang Wei, one thousand years ago. He left notes about what each trial tests."
Despite my anger, curiosity won. "What do they test?"
"The trials aren't about power," Chen Hao said urgently. "They're about truth. Each trial forces you to face a fundamental truth about yourself that you've been avoiding. The first trial tests truth about your past. The second tests truth about your fears. The third tests truth about your desires. The fourth tests truth about your relationships. And the fifth..." He paused. "The fifth tests truth about your future—what you'll become if you continue on your current path."
Ice ran through my veins. "The old woman said the trials show you your worst fears and regrets."
"She was half right," Chen Hao said. "They don't just show you fears. They make you live through them as if they're real. Zhang Wei wrote that in the first trial, he lived seven years as if his greatest failure had actually happened. Seven years of suffering compressed into what felt like moments outside. By the time he escaped, he'd almost forgotten his real life."
"That's why most people fail," Mei said softly. "They get lost in the illusion and can't find their way out."
I sat down heavily, my mind racing. "How did Zhang Wei survive all five?"
"He wrote that the key was acceptance," Chen Hao said, reading from the scroll. "Not fighting the truth the trials showed him, but accepting it fully and then choosing to move forward anyway. He said, 'The trials break those who deny themselves. They forge those who embrace themselves completely, flaws and all.'"
"Embrace yourself completely," I repeated. That sounded simple but felt impossible. How could I embrace the truth about being the Heaven-Defying Empress? About all the terrible things I'd done in my past life?
"There's more," Chen Hao said hesitantly. "Zhang Wei wrote something else. He said... he said the trials are specifically designed to break cultivators with trauma and regret. They feed on shame and guilt. The more you hate yourself, the stronger the illusions become."
I laughed bitterly. "Well, I'm doomed then. I have two lifetimes of trauma and regret."
"No," Shen Yifeng said firmly. He knelt beside me, taking my hands. "You also have two lifetimes of strength. Two lifetimes of surviving impossible situations. The trials may feed on shame, but you've already survived being shamed and broken. You know how to endure."
"He's right," Mei said, sitting on my other side. "Lin Yue, you survived ten years of being treated like nothing. You survived having your Golden Core almost stolen. You survived betrayal by everyone you trusted. If anyone can survive trials designed to break people, it's you."
I wanted to believe them. But doubt gnawed at me. "What if I'm not strong enough? What if I get lost in the illusions and forget who I am?"
"Then we'll remind you," Chen Hao said quietly. "Before you go, we'll make sure you have an anchor. Something to hold onto when the illusions try to drown you."
"What kind of anchor?"
He looked at Shen Yifeng. "A soul bond. If you strengthen the soul contract between you two before she enters the trials, she'll always be able to sense him, even in the deepest illusion. It won't pull her out, but it'll remind her what's real."
Shen Yifeng's eyes widened. "Strengthening a soul bond requires a blood oath. It's permanent. If one of us dies, the other dies too. If she gets trapped in the trials, I'll be trapped with her."
"I know," Chen Hao said. "But it's the only way to give her a constant connection to reality."
"No," I said immediately. "I won't risk your life like that—"
"Too bad," Shen Yifeng interrupted. "I'm doing it whether you agree or not. I told you—I'm not losing you again. If you get trapped, I'll find a way to break us both out. And if we die, we die together. That's better than living centuries alone."
Tears burned my eyes. "You're an idiot."
"Your idiot." He smiled, that rare genuine smile that transformed his terrifying face. "Forever, apparently."
Chen Hao handed him a jade knife. "Use this. It's enchanted for blood oaths. You'll need to cut your palms, join hands, and speak the binding words together."
As Shen Yifeng took the knife, Mei suddenly gasped. "Wait! Lin Yue, your arm!"
I looked down. The corruption had spread to my chest now, black veins crawling toward my heart. It was moving faster than before.
"That's not right," Chen Hao said, alarmed. "According to your timeline, you should have four more days before it reaches your heart."
"The Soul Devourer's death energy is accelerating," Shen Yifeng said grimly. "Her body is weakening faster than expected. We need to do the blood oath now and get her to the Celestial Jade Palace immediately."
"But she's not ready!" Mei protested. "She hasn't finished training—"
"There's no more time," I said, watching the black veins pulse toward my heart. I could feel it now—the corruption eating at my life force. "I have maybe two days left. Three at most."
Shen Yifeng grabbed my healthy hand. "Then we do the oath now. Chen Hao, what are the binding words?"
Chen Hao read from the scroll: "Both of you must say together: 'By blood and spirit, by soul and truth, I bind my fate to yours. Where you go, I follow. When you suffer, I bleed. If you fall, I fall. From this moment until the stars die, we are one.'"
"That's... extremely permanent," I said weakly.
"Good." Shen Yifeng cut his palm without hesitation, then held the knife out to me. "Your turn."
I took the blade with shaking hands and cut my own palm. The pain was sharp but brief. Shen Yifeng pressed his bleeding palm against mine, our fingers intertwining.
The moment our blood mixed, I felt it—a surge of connection so intense it drove me to my knees. His emotions flooded into me: fear for my safety, desperate love, determination to protect me no matter the cost. And I felt my own emotions flowing into him: terror of the trials, grief for my two broken lives, but also hope that maybe, just maybe, I could survive this.
"Say the words," Chen Hao urged.
Together, Shen Yifeng and I spoke: "By blood and spirit, by soul and truth, I bind my fate to yours. Where you go, I follow. When you suffer, I bleed. If you fall, I fall. From this moment until the stars die, we are one."
Light exploded from our joined hands—silver from me, crimson from him, swirling together into a brilliant pink that shot up into the sky like a pillar. The light branded itself onto our skin, leaving matching marks that glowed faintly. Mine on my healthy arm, his on his left.
When the light faded, everything felt different. I could sense Shen Yifeng's presence like a warm thread connecting our souls. Even with my eyes closed, I knew exactly where he was, what he was feeling.
"It worked," Mei breathed. "The soul bond is complete."
I looked at Shen Yifeng. "I can feel you. Inside my heart."
"And I can feel you." He touched my face. "No matter how deep the illusions go, we'll always have this. You'll never be completely alone."
Chen Hao cleared his throat awkwardly. "There's one more thing. Zhang Wei's final note. He said the fifth trial is the worst because it shows you two possible futures—one where you give in to your darkest impulses, and one where you sacrifice everything for others. The trial makes you choose which future to embrace. Most people freeze because both futures look equally terrible."
"What did Zhang Wei choose?" I asked.
"He chose neither." Chen Hao looked at me intensely. "He chose to create a third option. He rejected both futures and forged his own path, even though the trial said it was impossible. That's how he won."
Create a third option. Reject the impossible. Forge my own path.
That sounded exactly like something the old Lin Yue could never do—but maybe the new me could.
"I need to leave now," I said, standing up. The corruption had reached my collarbone. Soon it would touch my heart, and then nothing could save me. "Where is the entrance to the Celestial Jade Palace?"
"Mount Tianzhu," Chen Hao said. "The highest peak in the Eastern Territories. The entrance only appears under the full moon."
"Tonight is the full moon," Mei added. "You need to leave immediately."
Shen Yifeng pulled me close. "I'm flying you there myself. Hold on tight."
He swept me into his arms, and we shot into the sky, moving faster than I'd ever flown before. Below us, the Northern Wastes became a blur. Mei and Chen Hao disappeared from view.
As we flew, I felt the corruption crawling closer to my heart. Each pulse sent pain through my chest.
"Stay with me," Shen Yifeng murmured. "Just a little longer."
"Tell me something," I said, trying to distract myself from the pain. "In our past life, what was the happiest moment we had together?"
He was quiet for a long moment. "There was a spring festival. You dragged me away from important sect business to watch fireworks. I pretended to be annoyed, but secretly I loved seeing you so carefree. You laughed at something—I don't even remember what—and in that moment, I thought: 'I would burn the world to keep her this happy.'" His voice cracked. "I should have burned the world. Maybe then you wouldn't have died."
"Hey," I touched his face. "No regrets. We got a second chance, remember? That's more than most people get."
"If you fail these trials, there won't be a third chance. Your soul will be trapped or destroyed."
"Then I won't fail." I said it with more confidence than I felt. "I have you as my anchor. I have two lifetimes of survival instinct. And most importantly—" The corruption touched my heart, sending searing pain through my chest. I gasped, my whole body convulsing.
"Lin Yue!" Shen Yifeng held me tighter, pouring his own spiritual energy into me to slow the corruption. "We're almost there! Hold on!"
Through blurry vision, I saw Mount Tianzhu rising ahead—a impossibly tall peak that pierced the clouds. At its summit, under the full moon's light, a doorway of pure white light had appeared.
The entrance to the Celestial Jade Palace.
The entrance to trials that would either save me or destroy me forever.
"Most importantly what?" Shen Yifeng asked desperately as we landed at the summit. "You didn't finish. What's your most important advantage?"
I smiled despite the pain. "Most importantly, I'm too stubborn to die. I've survived two lifetimes of people trying to break me. These trials don't stand a chance."
He kissed me then—deep and desperate and full of every emotion he couldn't put into words. When we pulled apart, tears ran down his face.
"Come back to me," he whispered. "No matter what those trials show you, no matter what truths you have to face, come back."
"I promise." I touched our matching soul bond marks. "I'll always come back to you."
I turned toward the glowing doorway. The corruption had reached my heart now, wrapping around it like a vice. I had minutes left at most.
Taking a deep breath, I stepped toward the entrance.
The moment I crossed the threshold, the world dissolved into white light. I felt myself falling, tumbling through space and time, until—
I opened my eyes.
I was standing in a familiar place. Azure Cloud Sect's main hall. But something was wrong. The hall was destroyed—walls crumbled, roof collapsed, blood everywhere.
And standing in the center of the carnage, surrounded by hundreds of bodies, was me.
Except this version of me had silver hair and silver eyes that glowed with cold power. She wore the empress robes I'd seen in my past-life memories. Blood dripped from her hands.
She turned to look at me and smiled cruelly. "Welcome to the first trial. Let me show you who you really are beneath all those pretty lies about compassion and growth."
She gestured to the bodies. I recognized faces—Mei, Master Qingfeng, sect disciples I'd once served alongside. All dead. All killed by her—by me.
"This is your truth," my other self said. "This is what happens when you stop holding back. When you embrace your full power and stop pretending to be weak. You become exactly what they always feared—a monster who destroys everyone around her."
"This isn't real," I said, but my voice shook. "This is just an illusion."
"Is it?" She walked toward me, her footsteps squelching in blood. "Or is this a vision of the future? The inevitable result of your path? You already killed the old woman. How long before you decide others deserve death too?"
I wanted to deny it. To insist I was nothing like this cruel version. But looking at her—at myself—I saw the truth.
She wasn't that different from who I was becoming. Just a few wrong choices away. A few more betrayals. A few more moments of rage.
"The first trial tests truth about your past and who you really are," the Empress said. "And the truth is: you're me. You've always been me. And deep down, you're terrified that no matter how hard you try, you'll become me again."
She was right.
That was exactly what I feared most.
And as the illusory Empress reached for me with blood-stained hands, I felt the trial closing in like a trap, ready to show me seven years of becoming the monster I swore I'd never be again.