Yu Xuan and the other Yu Xuan locked eyes. No words were needed, they both knew this would be the final clash. After this, win or lose, their bodies would be too broken to continue.
Both let out a guttural war cry and surged forward.
The air between them scread as their auras collided, and then—
BOOM.
A thunderous shockwave ripped through the plain, then silence.
Yu Xuan now stood inches away from his opponent. Pain blood in his chest, the fake’s hand was buried deep within, the blood red aura burning a hole straight through his body.
The fake Yu Xuan, however, was not unscathed. His other arm, which had caught Yu Xuan’s blade, hung limply before dropping to the ground. Across his chest, a single shallow slash bled slowly... yet behind it, Yu Xuan’s sword had kissed his heart.
Both coughed blood, the sound wet and ragged. The fake gave a small, almost knowing smile, his indifferent eyes flickered with emotion for the first ti.
"...Freaking monster," he murmured, his voice fading.
The red aura around his embedded hand flickered, then vanished. A heartbeat later, his body split diagonally from shoulder to waist, the upper half crumpling to the ground.
Yu Xuan’s tension finally broke. His knees buckled under the crushing wave of ntal exhaustion. His vision blurred, he collapsed into a seated position.
There was a gaping hole in his chest, a sword lodged in his right abdon, and his right arm was gone entirely. Before him lay the unmoving form of his other self.
"Cough cough..." He spat blood, grimacing.
’Where’s that damned golden light that heals all wounds when you need it?’
His thoughts drifted, darkness closed in, and Yu Xuan surrendered to unconsciousness.
***
When Yu Xuan’s eyes finally closed, the body of his fallen opponent, his other self — dissolved into countless motes of light, scattering like fireflies in the night before vanishing entirely.
And then, just as he had wished monts earlier, a golden radiance descended upon him.
It wrapped around his battered form in a warm, weightless embrace.
His wounds knit together, the gaping hole in his chest sealed, and even his missing arm reford, every bone, vein, and muscle weaving back into place.
The golden light was more than healing, it baptized him, tempering flesh and bone until his entire body was strengthened.
The plain dissolved, and Yu Xuan found himself once more in the vast hall where the murals lood on the walls.
Ti slipped away unnoticed until his eyes fluttered open. He scanned his surroundings first, then let out a slow breath.
Only after confirming he was alone did he turn his attention inward. His body felt whole again — stronger, even. Testing his cultivation, he realized he’d advanced: Qi Condensation, eighth layer.
"I still prefer cultivating peacefully under a tree over fighting for breakthroughs," he muttered, shaking his head.
He still liked this fight, now he knew his weak points.
His opponent was himself, a slightly stronger version but he identified the problem his slightly strong self struggled with.
Now he just hope the rewards would be worth it, he gave his all because he knew he would not die here and even if he was injured his injuries would be healed.
Then he checked his dallion for ti.
"Holy shit!!" Yu Xuan muttered, after checking he found out that two days had passed. Apparently the ti outside the tower and inside were synchronized.
’So I was sleeping for two days straight’, that was a new record for him.
Across the empty space, glowing words began to form in the air.
Calibrating performance...
Excellent.
Issuing recomnded reward...
A parchnt materialized before him. It was unlike anything he had ever seen — inscribed with symbols that defied language, geotric patterns that shifted between symtry and asymtry, lines and shapes that seed to exist in two, three... perhaps even four dinsions at once. Staring at it for too long made his mind ache.
New words appeared.
Reward: Chance to form a contract with Exotic Divine Life of Heaven and Earth.
Challenger Yu Xuan, drop your blood on the parchnt.
Those last words carried a weight that was almost... ominous.
Still, "Exotic Divine Life of Heaven and Earth" had a nice ring to it, and opportunities like this didn’t exactly co with a "try again tomorrow" option.
Yu Xuan pulled a dagger from his space ring, made a quick cut across his palm, and let a drop of blood fall onto the hovering parchnt.
The parchnt blazed with light, blinding, alive, before its surface rippled like water.
A shape began to take form in three dinsions, its edges shifting too fast for him to recognize. This wasn’t like the trial’s illusions; it felt real.
Then, without warning.
[Skill: Fated Encounter — Activated.]
The forming figure flickered violently, as if sothing unseen had reached in and twisted the process.
The transmission’s path flung sowhere... else.
Far beyond the heavens, in folds of the void that could shred immortals to dust, there stood a colossal, ethereal blue tree.
It didn’t grow from the void, it commanded it and its very presence was a treasure that defied existence.
Signs of life stirred within its boughs, but not ordinary life.
Each presence here radiated enough power to shake worlds, yet none bore the will to destroy.
Their forms drifted like illusions — vast, shimring butterflies, their wings bending reality as easily as wind bends grass.
At the tree’s highest reaches rested one far greater than the rest.
A butterfly whose beauty was terrifying, whose power was far worse. Its gaze rested on three enormous eggs, each cradled in woven strands of light birthed by Heaven and Earth themselves.
One egg pulsed with a soft, oceanic glow of blue and white. Another throbbed with the heavy, cold rhythm of death. And the central one shimred with, life and death braided into one heartbeat.
The great butterfly’s antennae twitched. Its head turned slowly, as if it had just felt sothing.
And it was looking straight in Yu Xuan’s direction.
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