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Chapter 186: The Mirror of the Eternal Sky
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Act I: A Chamber of Vastness
The Gallery opened into a chamber where the ceiling stretched endlessly, painted with stars, clouds, and shifting horizons.
Ne Job stepped forward, Twinkle buzzing softly, its hum rising like wind across open air.
Ao Bing muttered, "This place… it feels infinite."
Taiyi Zhenren scribbled quickly. "The mirror here does not confine. It expands."
At the center stood a mirror vast and luminous, its surface reflecting both day and night, storm and calm.
It spoke in a voice wide and resonant:
> "I am the Mirror of the Eternal Sky. I hold what is boundless, what endures above, what carries all beneath."
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Act II: The Weight of Vastness
The interns gazed into its surface.
Visions unfolded, showing truths carried by the sky.
- Ao Bing saw battles fought beneath stars, courage rising with each dawn.
- Taiyi Zhenren saw scrolls written beneath heavens, wisdom preserved in constellations.
- Ne Job saw miracles soaring upward, inscribed into the Registry like clouds drifting eternal.
Twinkle pulsed brightly, resonating with the expanse.
The mirror whispered:
> "To guard me, you must embrace vastness without fear."
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Act III: The Mask's Intrusion
From the shadows, the Mask of Misrule hissed.
> "Skies are mine to corrupt. I will twist vastness into emptiness, and emptiness into chaos."
The Mirror of Endless Deception flickered, shards gathering again.
The Mask reached toward Eternal Sky, trying to fracture its expanse into despair.
Ao Bing staggered. "The horizon swallows me!"
Taiyi Zhenren trembled. "My scrolls vanish into the void!"
Ne Job steadied them. "Sky is not emptiness. It is boundless truth."
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Act IV: The Trial of Sky
The Mirror of the Eternal Sky spoke:
> "Intern, to protect me, you must rise."
Ne Job gazed into its vast surface.
He saw himself faltering, afraid of being lost in infinity.
He whispered:
> "I rise. Even when horizons stretch endless, I endure. Even when stars fade, I carry forward."
The mirror glowed brighter, its expanse steady.
Twinkle pulsed strongly, harmonizing with the sky.
Ao Bing's fists steadied.
Taiyi Zhenren's scrolls aligned.
The Mask recoiled, his corruption faltering.
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Act V: The Clash
The Mask screamed, hurling shards of deception.
Illusions tried to twist sky into emptiness, scattering the interns into despair.
Ao Bing staggered. "My courage fades in infinity!"
Taiyi Zhenren trembled. "My wisdom dissolves in the void!"
Ne Job stood firm. "Sky is not emptiness. 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, Endless Oath, Eternal Memory, Eternal Threshold, Eternal Light, Eternal Shadow, Eternal Balance, Eternal Dawnfire, Eternal Storm, Eternal Ocean — joined with Eternal Sky.
Their glow struck the Mask's illusions.
Emptiness became clarity.
Deception dissolved.
Twinkle hummed, resonating with the Miracle Registry.
Ao Bing laughed, fierce and kind.
Taiyi Zhenren footnoted every horizon restored.
Ne Job stood firm, sky and truth united.
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Act VI: The Mirror's Gift
The Mirror of the Eternal Sky calmed, its surface shimmering with radiant expanse.
It whispered:
> "Intern, sky is not chaos. It is vastness eternal. Guard it well."
Ne Job bowed.
Twinkle pulsed softly.
The Gallery shimmered, stable once more.
The Mask of Misrule retreated into the shadows, his voice echoing faintly:
> "You may resist sky today. But void always waits."
The Gallery fell silent.
The mirrors glowed.
And Ne Job walked on, ready for what lay ahead.