The sky of Ye Lin's inner world cracked like a giant egg. From the fractures, dozens of red-kebaya-clad hands reached down, each clutching a wooden baby doll with the exact face of young Ye Lin. His sister's voice echoed from all directions:
"Look, little brother... these are our children who never made it to birth."
Ye Lin stood before his magical sprout, now as tall as a man, its heart-shaped fruit pulsing and glowing gold. The butterfly tattoo on his arm melted into scalding metal, dripping onto the soil and forming ancient letters:
[CHOICE: EAT THE FRUIT OR BECOME MY NEW WOMB]
In the real world:
Ye Lin's physical body, lying in the ruins of the Venom Leaf Sect, suddenly burst into green flames. The fire did not consume flesh—it purified. From each wound, golden worms screamed as they were expelled and died.
A young cultivator approached with his sword drawn. "What the"
Before he could finish his sentence, a blood root from Ye Lin's body lashed like a serpent, piercing his forehead and flooding Ye Lin's mind with visions:
A delivery room, 25 years ago: Their mother died giving birth, but before her last breath, she drew the Boundary Keeper's symbol on the floor in her own blood.
The baby girl (the sister) was taken immediately by the Sect, while Ye Lin deemed "ordinary"was left alive.
That blood symbol was a legacy a "curse" ensuring that every female descendant in their bloodline would serve as an incubator for gods.
Back in the inner world:
The heart-fruit suddenly fell into Ye Lin's hands. Its skin cracked open, revealing a pair of human eyes inside. They blinked, then spoke in his mother's voice:
"Lin'er... you must eat me before she comes..."
From within the fruit, a small bone knife emerged, its surface inscribed with glowing text:
"To Sever the Umbilical Cord of Fate"
Meanwhile:
The wooden babies in his sister's hands began to wail—their cries like nails scraping across glass.
The inner world's soil birthed miniature versions of Ye Lin at various childhood ages, rising like memories from the ground.
The family photo on the hut's wall now had the sister's face blotted out by a black stain.
Then the sister stepped through the dimensional crack. Half of her face was now living wood, the other half still looked like Ye Lin.
"You think you can fight destiny?" she whispered, placing a hand on the fruit in Ye Lin's grip.
The touch triggered an explosion of memory:
It was revealed that all three of them mother, sister, and Ye Lin were fragments of the First Boundary Keeper, shattered and reincarnated.
The Venom Leaf Sect was merely a tool the true war was between three souls within one bloodline.
The heart-fruit screamed in Ye Lin's hands:
"Cut the cord now!"
Ye Lin raised the bone knife
just as his sister embraced them both.
"Welcome to the second womb, little brother."
Everything turned white.