The sky above the Central Plains had changed.Once blue and wide, it now hung gray and cracked, as though the heavens themselves had grown weary. Qi flowed unevenly through the land—mountains trembled, rivers whispered verses no human tongue could form.
In a hidden valley surrounded by willows, Li Shen meditated atop a flat stone. The air around him shimmered; every breath drew light and shadow in equal measure. Across from him sat Mei Lian, repairing her blade with quiet focus.
For three weeks they had wandered after leaving the Nameless Sea, avoiding every sect patrol. But peace, as always, was only illusion.
Mei Lian broke the silence. "You've stopped sleeping again."
Li Shen opened his eyes. "The fragments are restless. They speak of a Thirteenth Verse—one that was never written."
"The Codex has twelve," she said. "You've sealed four. What would a thirteenth even be?"
He shook his head. "I don't know. But each night I dream of a gate—thirteen pillars of light, and something waiting behind them."
Before she could answer, the wind shifted. Leaves froze mid-fall. A ripple of Qi passed through the valley like the exhale of a beast.
They've found us, Li Shen thought.
From the mist emerged six figures wearing bronze masks and black robes embroidered with silver eyes—the Order of the Mirror Heaven. Once scholars, they had become hunters of forbidden arts. At their head walked Grand Seer Xuanyin, blindfolded, her staff crowned with an unblinking mirror.
"Li Shen of no sect," her voice rang like glass, "by decree of the Alliance, you are to surrender the fragments of the Void Codex. Your existence threatens balance."
Li Shen rose slowly. "Balance died the moment men began measuring power with fear."
"Then let fear judge you," Xuanyin replied.
She struck her staff once; the mirror blazed, reflecting not light but possibilities. Instantly the world fractured—seven reflections of Li Shen appeared, each performing a different motion, each real. The valley warped under the weight of mirrored time.
Mei Lian darted forward, petals of light slicing through illusions. "Go!" she shouted. "I'll hold them—"
But Xuanyin's staff caught her mid-step, freezing her inside a prism of shifting glass.
Li Shen's pulse flared. The mark on his palm ignited with dark lightning. "Release her."
"Prove you can," Xuanyin said calmly.
He drew his sword. The air screamed silently as the Void answered. Every reflection of him turned its blade together, merging into one strike.
The mirror cracked. Xuanyin staggered, blood trailing from beneath her blindfold. The remaining disciples leapt in, weaving mirrored Qi to bind him, but their reflections betrayed them—each chain they formed snapped back, strangling its maker.
When the mist cleared, only Xuanyin remained standing. She smiled faintly. "As the prophecies warned… the Void does not obey."
Li Shen lowered his sword. "You knew this would happen."
"Yes," she said. "Because I saw the Thirteenth Verse in dream."
Mei Lian gasped as the prism dissolved. "Tell us."
Xuanyin's voice weakened. "It is not a verse written in ink or blood. It is the moment when the Codex reads you. When the fragments reunite, the world will become the final page."
She pressed her mirror into Li Shen's hands. The surface had gone black, reflecting nothing. "Seek the Valley of Echoes in the northern wastes. There the verse waits to be born."
Then she stepped back, bowing once before dissolving into a cloud of silver dust.
That night, camped beneath hollow stars, Mei Lian spoke softly. "Do you believe her?"
Li Shen stared at the mirror lying beside the fire. Its surface pulsed faintly with his heartbeat.
"I believe the Codex is almost awake," he said. "And when it wakes, it will need a name to remember the world by."
Mei Lian looked at him through the firelight. "Then we'll give it one that's worth remembering."
He smiled faintly—his first in days. "Peerless optimism, as always."
But far beyond them, unseen, the sects of the continent were already gathering. From the Azure Petal Sect to the Iron Monks of Longxu Temple, alliances were forming. The sky trembled with approaching omens: twin comets of black and white descending toward the north.
And in the ruins of the Crimson Valley, among the ashes of the dead, a single ember glowed again.A burned hand reached out from beneath the stones—Yan Rui, alive, his eyes burning with a new flame.
"Li Shen," he whispered. "You sealed the Void once. Let's see if you can seal me."