The entrance of the Celestial Under-Hall swallowed them like the throat of some giant world-serpent. Yun felt the temperature drop first. Then the light vanished. Then… something else vanished too—like the air tasted thinner, the space shorter, and his heartbeat slower but louder at the same time.

"Don't panic," Shen Yu said ahead of him, voice echoing oddly, like it came from a faraway well instead of a few steps away. "The Under-Hall bends time. It doesn't respect the rules outside."

"I'm… not panicking," Yun muttered, but his voice cracked embarrassingly.

Zhen snorted behind him. "You always panic."

"I don't!"

"You do," Mu Qing added with her usual emotionless tone.

Great. Three voices judging him already.

The passage widened suddenly, and soft blue fire lit along the walls. The floor was carved like some ancient beast's spine, each segment etched with symbols Yun didn't recognize—except one. One symbol pulsed faintly, like it was breathing right beside his foot.

He stepped closer

And the hall shuddered.

Shen Yu instantly grabbed Yun's collar. "Don't touch runes unless you want to get flung into the Distortion Layer."

Zhen blinked. "What's that?"

Mu Qing answered, "A place where you can die before being born. Or be born after dying."

"…Oh," Zhen whispered. "I'm good. I'll behave."

Yun swallowed. Hard.

THE FIRST UNDER-HALL TRIAL BEGINS

A massive circular chamber opened before them, cracked pillars rising like broken fangs. In the center floated a stone platform, spinning slowly, covered in ink strokes older than the Celestial Sky itself.

Shen Yu muttered, "Brush Master… you really didn't hold back."

Before Yun could ask what that meant, the chamber roared awake. A voice—not loud but impossibly old—vibrated straight into their bones.

"THE PATH OF NO-SELF BEGINS."

The floor liquefied into ink. The ink rippled, rose, shaped itself into—

Yun gasped.

A copy of him.

Not perfect. Not whole. But close enough.

Its face calm. Too calm. Its eyes… empty.

"This is the No-Self Trial," Shen Yu whispered. "Fight the version of you that never feared anything… because it never cared about anything."

Yun's throat tightened. "That's— That's creepy"

Mu Qing stepped back. Zhen slowly raised his fists. Shen Yu simply folded his arms.

And the Ink-Yun moved.

Fast.

A blade of ink formed in its hand, aimed straight for Yun's neck. He barely ducked—no, he didn't duck, Shen Yu yanked him by the collar again.

"Focus!" Shen Yu snapped. "Don't freeze!"

Yun summoned his silver energy, hands trembling. His bloodline pulsed once—then again. The ink blade clashed with his silver blade, sparks flying.

The clone didn't flinch. Didn't react. Didn't breathe.

It just attacked, smoother, cleaner, more perfect.

"This thing is stronger than me," Yun muttered through gritted teeth.

"It's not stronger," Shen Yu corrected. "It's what you thought you needed to be."

Yun's eyes widened.

Not scared. Not emotional. Not uncertain.

A version of him that never hesitated.

Never doubted.

Never cared.

Yun's breath hitched painfully. "I don't want to be like that."

Shen Yu's tone softened for a moment. "You don't have to. You just need to beat it."

Yun roared, bloodline flaring, silver whips of energy spiraling from his arms. The Ink-Yun raised its blade

And Yun struck first.

A silver arc tore across the chamber, ripping the clone apart. For one second, Yun thought he won

But the ink reformed. Again. And again.

"THE SELF ENDURES," the ancient voice said.

"THE FALSE SELF ENDURES LONGER."

Yun's heart pounded. "Damn it… okay… okay…"

He changed tactics.

Used the Brush Master's footwork Shen Yu taught him.

The cunning twists, the deceptive angles.

He moved wrong on purpose—then struck from the blind angle.

The Ink-Yun finally cracked.

Silver light exploded. Ink splattered everywhere, dissolving into the floor.

Yun collapsed to his knees, panting, trembling, wiping sweat from his forehead.

Zhen rushed over. "Bro you good? You look like a rotten pear."

"Thanks… I think," Yun coughed.

Mu Qing silently handed him a water flask.

But Yun barely heard them.

Because something else was whispering to him.

A voice he'd felt since he was a child.

A voice calling from beyond even the Celestial Sky.

"Little one… deeper… come deeper…"

His bloodline pulsed.

Hard.

He didn't know if it was alive or if something inside the bloodline was awake—but it answered.

Shen Yu snapped instantly. "Yun! Ignore the calling. Not now. Not here. The Under-Hall reacts to desire."

Too late.

The next trial activated.

The floor broke.

Reality twisted.

The chamber darkened into a swirling vortex pulling Yun inward.

He reached out to Shen Yu and grabbed his arm

But something else grabbed Yun from inside the vortex.

A presence older than mountains.

Older than star systems.

Smooth. Calm. Ancient.

Like a god who forgot it was a god.

"Child… you finally arrived."

Yun's breath froze.

IN THE INFINITE VOID

Somewhat in the infinite void,Emperor Lianxing shattered three Hunters with a single sweep of his blazing arm, but a fourth pierced his shoulder with a spear made of collapsed timelines.

He groaned but didn't fall.

Empress Yueran unleashed a storm of starlight, ripping apart a Hunter so strong it carried a dead galaxy on its back.

But more came.

Too many.

Lianxing spat blood. "They're accelerating. They must have sensed… him."

Yueran's eyes trembled. "He's inside the Under-Hall… the calling must have reached him…"

Both parents exchanged a look.

Fear.

Pride.

And something like resignation.

Lianxing whispered, "Hold on, my son. You will either rise from this… or the universe will break around you."

BACK IN THE UNDER-HALL – THE SECOND TRIAL BEGINS

Yun was suspended in a black void.

Stars blinked in and out like dying fireflies.

A single platform formed under his feet.

A throne materialized ahead—cracked, ancient, covered in ink vines.

And on it sat

A man with long black hair, his face half-erased, like the world hadn't finished drawing him.

Yun's jaw dropped.

He couldn't breathe for a moment.

"You're the one calling me," Yun whispered.

The figure slowly stood.

"I am the Bound Brush, the last echo of the Daiost Brush Master," he said calmly. "And I called you… because you are the only one left who can finish what I began."

Yun's skin prickled.

The man raised a hand, and the illusion around them rippled.

"Face me, boy."

"This is the Trial of Becoming."

"The next step toward the world that fears your birth."

The man smiled slightly—sadly.

"And if you survive… I will give you your first companion."

Yun's eyes widened.

Zhen?

Mu Qing?

Or someone else… someone waiting inside the illusion?

He tightened his fists.

"…Then let's do it."

The figure's grin widened.

Ink flared.

Stars cracked.

The trial began.

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