The world around Yun felt like it was made of soft glass—thin, fragile, shaking every time he breathed. He didn't even know if he was still in Layer 9 or Layer 10 or somewhere in between. Shen Yu had warned him that the deeper layers start bleeding into each other, like dreams that refuse to stay inside their own borders, but Yun didn't expect it to be this confusing. Even the air tasted wrong, like metal and burnt dust.

He wiped sweat off his forehead. It felt real. Too real.

"Where… where even is this place now?" he muttered to himself, voice cracking a little. He pretended it didn't bother him but his hands were shaking slightly. "Seriously, this temple guy was insane. Daiost Brush Master had way too much free time why make illusions that bully children?"

The ground shifted under his feet. Again.

This time the world re-formed into a huge valley, but everything was… wrong. The mountains had veins of silver pulsing through them, the sky flickered like a broken lantern, and the trees grew upside down, their roots waving above like hunting tentacles. Yun swallowed. Hard.

"Okay," he whispered. "This is fine. Not fine. But fine-ish…"

A figure stepped out from the silver mist.

A boy about Yun's age — maybe a little older — with sharp eyes, sharp eyebrows, and an even sharper grin.

"Finally caught up to you," the boy said, cracking his neck casually. "Took me forever to reach this layer."

Yun blinked. "Wait—who are you? Are you another illusion? If you're another 'evil version of myself,' I swear I'm going to throw a rock at someone."

The boy snorted. "Do I look like you? No. I'm real. Sort of. My name is Rui. The illusion brought my consciousness here. Guess our fates gonna cross or something."

Yun stared. "Rui? Fate? What?"

Rui scratched his head like explaining things bored him. "We're both chosen for stuff. Big stuff. Cosmic-level stuff. And apparently the illusions are testing our compatibility. So we meet here. Nice to meet you, I guess."

Yun's brain almost melted. "Wait wait—your consciousness is inside the illusion? Like… from outside world? From the higher realms?"

"Yeah." Rui smirked. "You're slow."

Yun inhaled sharply. "I will pretend you didn't say that."

But deep down it made a weird sense. The illusions weren't just illusions they were a training ground made by a being far beyond normal limits. Of course they could pull in other chosen people. Of course the universe wasn't playing fair.

Before Yun could ask more, the mountains suddenly screamed.

Not metaphorically — they literally screamed.

The silver veins burst open and poured out massive humanoid shapes made of light and shadow tangled together. Their heads had no faces, just swirling emptiness that roared like storms.

Rui cracked his knuckles. "Ah, illusion guardians. Finally."

Yun didn't feel "finally" at all.

He felt danger.

Massive, horrible danger.

The first guardian lunged, its arm stretching like a whip. Yun dodged but only barely — the air behind him sliced open like someone cut the world itself.

"These things cheat!!" Yun yelled.

Rui was already fighting, leaping forward with speed Yun couldn't even track. Every punch he threw left holes of darkness behind, like he was striking through reality. The guardian howled as the blow tore off its shoulder.

Yun clenched his teeth. "Okay. If this kid can do it… I can too."

He inhaled sharply, felt the bloodline inside him pulse. It hurt — like a star waking up inside his ribs — but he didn't stop. Silver light burst around his arms, swirling like small galaxies.

Then, suddenly:

BOOM

His power exploded outward, cracking the ground for miles. Even Rui stopped fighting for a moment.

"Whoa. Didn't think you had that in you," Rui muttered.

Yun almost fell to his knees. "I… I didn't either."

The guardian rushed again. Yun closed his eyes for one second — and remembered Shen Yu's words:

"Your power is a constellation. A pattern. Think before you strike."

This time Yun moved deliberately. He traced a shape in the air not random instinct, but a star pattern he half-remembered from dreams.

A crescent arc of silver light formed.

Yun slashed.

The guardian split cleanly in two, dissolving into glittering dust.

Yun opened his eyes. His breath was shaking, but his face was steady. Straighter. Sharper. Colder.

Maybe the illusion was changing him.

Rui whistled. "Okay, yeah, we'll get along."

Yun didn't smile. "More are coming."

Dozens of new shapes crawled out of the mountain cracks. Hundreds. Their eyes flickered like dying stars.

Rui grinned. "Then let's go wild."

Yun nodded, his expression calm like frozen iron.

Inside his chest, his bloodline awakened again deeper, older, much more terrifying. Like something ancient was remembering itself inside him.

Far away in the cosmos…

Scene in the Celestial Ice Palace (Yun's Parents)

Empress Yueran suddenly stood, her aura bursting like a storm of petals.

Lianxing grabbed her arm. "You felt it too?"

"His… seventh awakening." She whispered, voice trembling between pride and fear. "He is growing too fast. Faster than we ever predicted."

Lianxing stared at the endless starfield outside.

"The Hunters will sense him soon."

Then quietly:

"But maybe… he will be ready."

Back in the Illusion Realm

Yun and Rui stood side by side, surrounded by enemies so large the sky dimmed.

Yun's face didn't show fear.

Just determination.

"I choose to survive," he whispered.

A choice that would change the future.

And the illusion trembled.

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