For a heartbeat, there was silence.
Then — chaos.
The first of the Mirror Souls lunged. Its blade hissed through the air like lightning, cutting a ribbon of energy that exploded against Lin Dong's guard. The impact threw him backward across a floating shard of rock, sparks raining into the void below.
He staggered, gasping. The void responded like a living thing — the ground pulsed beneath his feet, rippling outward as if the world itself were breathing.
All around, his reflections advanced. Dozens of Lin Dongs — each carrying a different memory, a different emotion — hatred, fear, arrogance, despair. They moved as one, a tide of him that filled the infinite dark.
"You can't defeat what you refuse to face," one said — the voice dripping with scorn.
"You're still that trembling boy from Qingyang Town," another sneered. "Fighting ghosts while your enemies grow stronger."
"You think power will save you," hissed a third. "It will hollow you out."
Their words pierced deeper than their blades. Each voice echoed a secret thought — fragments of doubt Lin Dong had buried and forgotten.
He raised his sword. His hands were shaking.
"You're not real."
"We're the only thing that is real," they chorused. "We're what the Seal saw when it chose you — the weakness behind your strength."
The largest reflection stepped forward — taller, older, wearing armor of obsidian light. Its eyes burned gold.
"You don't deserve the Heavenly Talisman," it said. "You're just a child playing with gods."
Then it struck.
The blow was so fast Lin Dong barely saw it. The impact sent him crashing through two floating stones, shards scattering into the abyss. He hit the ground hard, gasping as pain tore through his ribs.
He looked up — and froze.
The other Lin Dong had not stopped. It stood above him now, pressing its blade to his throat.
"Give up," it said. "Let us take control. You'll never bear the burden alone."
The words crawled through his mind like poison. For a moment — he almost believed them. The faces around him blurred into memories: his father's tired smile, Qing Tan's laughter, the cold arrogance of Lin Langtian, the contempt of the clans that looked down on him.
He clenched his fists.
No.
"I may be weak," he whispered, his voice shaking. "But I don't run anymore."
He slammed his palm against the ground. The Heavenly Seal mark flared — so bright the void itself seemed to recoil.
Energy burst outward, golden and violent, forming a shockwave that sent the Mirror Souls scattering. The runes carved into the floating stones ignited in response, rising into the air like constellations.
"You are me," Lin Dong said, standing now — his eyes burning with defiance. "But I decide what I become."
He raised his sword again — and leapt.
The fight that followed was chaos and beauty combined. Every strike painted the void with streaks of gold and shadow. When blade met blade, time seemed to fracture — the echoes of each clash stretching into infinity.
One by one, the Mirror Souls fell, dissolving into dust and light. But each one that vanished whispered a parting word — anger, fear, longing — fragments of himself returning to the whole.
When the last reflection fell, silence returned.
Lin Dong stood in the center of the void, trembling, drenched in sweat. The mark on his chest glowed faintly — no longer wild and untamed, but pulsing in rhythm with his heartbeat.
The voice of the Stone Dragon returned, softer now — solemn.
"You faced the storm within."
From the darkness ahead, the vast silhouette of the dragon emerged once more — now formed entirely of light.
"You are not yet whole, Lin Dong. But you have learned the first truth of power — that mastery begins where fear ends."
The dragon lowered its head, touching its glowing snout to Lin Dong's chest. The mark burned brighter — fusing into his body until it became part of him, no longer foreign but familiar.
"Carry the Seal. But remember — every power demands its price."
The light surged — and the world collapsed.
Lin Dong gasped as he shot upright, water splashing around him. He was back in the cavern. The pedestal was still glowing, though faintly now, and the dragon statue's eyes had gone dim.
Li Yan was kneeling beside him, gripping his shoulders.
"You were gone for almost an hour! I thought—"
He blinked, dazed. "An hour…?"
The air shimmered. On the pedestal lay a small crystal orb, pulsing with the same light that had burned in the dragon's eyes. Inside, faint shapes moved — fragments of a rune, alive and shifting.
"The Dragon Spirit left this," Li Yan whispered. "It's… beautiful."
Lin Dong picked it up. The moment his fingers touched the orb, a faint tremor ran through the cave — not destructive, but like a breath exhaled by the mountain itself.
Somewhere deep within, he felt it — a presence stirring, ancient and watchful, acknowledging him.
He looked up toward the waterfall beyond the cavern.
The journey was far from over — but something fundamental had changed. The Seal no longer fought against him. It had accepted him, at least for now.
"Let's go," he said quietly. "We've only just begun."
They stepped back through the waterfall, light spilling across their faces. The sun had already begun to set — turning the cliffs to gold, the mist to fire.
Behind them, the Stone Dragon's eyes flickered once, faintly — as if watching.
And far away, beyond the mountains, a tremor ran through the spirit lines of the land — awakening things long thought dead.