The ancient temple in Celestial Sky was still half-broken, half-silent, and honestly a bit creepy even in broad daylight. Yun stood there breathing hard, his clothes torn in three places, hair messy like he went through a storm backwards. Layer 8 of the illusion had just ended, but its aftertaste still clung to him like smoke in a kitchen.

His heart still beat too fast, the kind that made your chest hurt a bit. But there was a strange calm too, like the part of him that used to panic had gotten tired and just… gave up.

Shen Yu watched him quietly from the side. "You didn't die this time. That's already improvement."

"That thing almost ripped my face off," Yun muttered, wiping blood off his cheek with the back of his sleeve. "You could at least pretend to care a little."

"I care that you didn't die. That counts." Shen Yu shrugged.

Yun glared, but he didn't argue. He was too tired. Also, the glare wasn't very scary since his eyes kept blinking like someone poured sand into them.

The illusion formation flickered again, glowing lines crawling over the broken stone floor like silver insects finding their way home. Yun swallowed hard. The next layer was coming. He could feel it.

But before the light swallowed him again, everything froze.

Literally.

Like time hiccuped.

A breeze stopped mid-air. Dust stopped falling. Even Shen Yu's sleeve was stuck in half-movement.

Then a voice, soft but impossibly vast, echoed in his bones:

"My son…"

Yun's breath caught. The world around him cracked like glass.

And suddenly

A COSMIC VISION

He was standing in nothingness.

And everythingness.

The floor was made of stars and the sky was a swirling sea of galaxies.

At the center stood a woman with long silver hair flowing like the Milky Way, and a tall man whose eyes looked like suns behind storm clouds.

Yun knew even if his mind screamed that it wasn't possible his parents.

Or a fragment of them.

An echo.

A tiny sliver they had risked sending.

His mother's voice trembled, "Yun… forgive us. We can't come… not yet. You must grow. Faster."

His father's voice boomed even though he barely spoke. "The Hunters found a new path. Their Envoy approaches your world. If you are weak, everything dies."

Yun's chest tightened painfully. "I—I'm trying. But everything's too big. Too much. Why me? Why all this—"

His father stepped closer. The universe itself seemed to bow.

"Because the light you carry… is older than gods."

The stars behind him flared, forming a gigantic shining sigil Yun didn't recognize but felt deep in his blood like a long-forgotten lullaby.

But then

The vision cracked.

Something dark scratched at the edges.

A monstrous silhouette tried forcing its way into the vision, snarling like a beast tearing through sky and soul.

His mother's voice grew sharp with fear, "They've traced this projection!!"

The vision shattered.

Just like that.

BACK TO THE TEMPLE

Yun stumbled backwards, gasping like someone punched the air out of him. The formation burst to life again, but different angry, unstable, hungry almost.

Shen Yu blinked, confused. "What happened? You look like you saw a demon, two ghosts, and a tax collector at the same time."

"I… think… my parents talked to me."

Shen Yu froze hard enough he almost turned to stone. "That's not good."

"Why?? Isn't that good??"

"If THEY contacted you personally…" Shen Yu rubbed his forehead, "then things are far worse than I thought."

Before Yun could ask

THE NINTH ILLUSION LAYER OPENED

It hit Yun like falling into boiling water and freezing wind at the same time. His body vanished from the temple floor, plunging into another world.

ILLUSION LAYER 9 – THE BLADE'S REGRET

Yun stood in a battlefield full of broken weapons.

He didn't know where he was.

He didn't know when either.

But he could feel everything.

A million voices cried out from the ground.

Weapons stabbed into the soil pulsed with leftover hatred.

Even the sky was red with smoke.

And in the center of it

A boy stood.

A boy who looked like him.

Same eyes.

Same hair.

Same stubborn jaw.

Except older.

And drenched in blood up to the elbows.

Yun froze. "W-wait… is that— me?"

The older Yun turned around slowly, his expression cold as winter stone.

"You're weak," the older version said. "You cry too easily. You hesitate. You pity enemies. Do you want everyone you love to die?"

Yun's throat dried up. "You're not me."

"I am who you will become… if you stop pretending to be soft."

The older Yun lifted a blade—

A massive star-forged sword.

The kind legends whispered about.

And then he pointed it at Yun.

"Fight me. Survive me. Or disappear."

Yun barely had time to breathe before older-Yun blurred forward, slicing through the air with a speed that made the ground scream.

Yun dodged clumsily, rolling so poorly he ate dirt. His shoulder burned from a near miss. His heart felt like a drum being beaten by a drunk giant.

But then

Something snapped inside him.

All the fear

all the pressure

all the expectations

all the danger

everything

It twisted into something sharper.

Yun wiped his mouth, stood up straight, and smiled.

Not a kind smile.

Not a scared one.

A thin, cold, determined smile.

"Fine," Yun said, lifting his hand as his bloodline shimmered awake. "If you're me… then I'll beat myself first."

BACK IN THE TEMPLE (BRIEFLY)

Shen Yu stood outside the illusion circle, squinting.

"…why do I feel like Yun just became slightly dangerous?"

Beside him, someone walked out of the shadows

the first of Yun's future allies.

A girl about Yun's age, robes torn, aura faint but ancient.

"Because," she said softly, "Layer 9 is where the weak die, and the strong begin to change."

Shen Yu sighed. "Well… he's changing. Way too fast.

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