Silence.
Not the silence of still air, nor of meditation — but the kind that comes before creation itself.
When Feixue opened her eyes, the world she knew was gone. The Azure Flame Mountains, the sect, the stars, even Heaven's laws — all had vanished.
She stood alone in a vast void of pale light.
There was no wind, no ground, no time — yet her steps echoed as if the void remembered her presence. Each ripple of her movement stirred colors unseen by mortal eyes, fragments of forgotten ages blooming briefly before fading again into nothingness.
She realized she wasn't truly here.
Rather — she had returned somewhere older than existence itself.
---
Feixue looked around.
At first, the space seemed empty. But then she noticed… faint outlines. Mountains made of light, rivers of stars, trees whose branches carried entire constellations.
A place without form, yet filled with the essence of all things.
> "So this is it…" she whispered. "The Origin Field."
It was said in the oldest myths that before the Heavens were born, before Yin and Yang took form, there existed a single boundless realm — a mirror where everything that could ever be was merely dreamed.
And Feixue felt it — the familiarity of it all.
As if this emptiness once cradled her.
---
Then, a voice spoke.
Soft, echoing from every direction — warm, sorrowful, timeless.
> "You return at last, Daughter of Stillness."
Feixue turned sharply.
From the horizon — if such a thing could exist in this realm — a figure approached, cloaked in light so pure it blurred reality.
As it drew closer, she saw its form: a man of graceful bearing, his hair a flowing blaze of gold and crimson, his eyes holding the first fire ever born. His aura radiated warmth, yet the air trembled under its weight.
Feixue's eyes widened slightly. "You are…"
The man smiled faintly.
> "You once called me Solure, the First Flame. Your twin."
Her breath caught.
Images flashed through her mind — stars being born, light splitting darkness, two figures standing side by side, their hands weaving reality from nothingness.
One of fire.
One of frost.
He continued, his tone bittersweet.
> "We were the balance of creation. I gave birth to existence through motion. You gave it form through stillness. Together, we created the first cycle — and then, the Heavens rose from our breath."
Feixue's voice trembled for the first time. "Then why… don't I remember?"
Solure's gaze darkened. "Because you gave your memory to protect what we made."
---
He lifted his hand, and the void rippled.
Scenes appeared around them — fragments of long-forgotten ages.
Feixue saw herself, radiant and divine, weaving galaxies with her fingertips. She saw beings of light kneeling before her, calling her Origin Sovereign. She saw Solure, laughing beside her as they shaped the first suns.
Then, she saw war.
Countless divine entities tearing the cosmos apart — creations of their own will rebelling against their makers.
Among them, the one called the Heavenly Emperor, burning with ambition, severing the Origin and creating the "Heavenly Law" to contain existence.
And in the end, she saw herself, sealing her own essence into the cycle of rebirth.
> "I wanted to remember what it felt like to be human," she whispered.
"I wanted to understand what they became… even if it meant forgetting who I was."
Solure's eyes softened. "And now, your memory awakens. The balance begins again."
---
But before she could speak, the void trembled violently.
Cracks spread across the horizon of light, and a voice — harsh, mechanical, divine — echoed through the realm.
> "Unauthorized consciousness detected. The Origin Field must remain sealed."
Heaven's mark had found her.
The Heavenly Seal, forged by the Immortal Emperor himself, tore open the void like a wound. Chains of pure law erupted from nothingness, wrapping around Solure and Feixue both.
Feixue raised her hand, summoning frostlight — but the chains resisted even her stillness. They were woven from her own forgotten laws.
> "You sealed yourself from this place," Solure said, straining against the chains. "Only you can break them!"
Feixue's eyes flared. Power surged through her veins — time and space bending, dissolving.
> "Then I will remember everything!"
Her aura exploded. The void shattered, flooding with silver and blue light. The chains dissolved into mist. The Heavenly Seal cracked, its voice fading into static.
When the light dimmed, the realm grew quiet again.
But Solure was fading — his form flickering.
> "No…" Feixue whispered.
He smiled gently. "Don't mourn me. I was never truly alive without you. My flame is your reflection. As long as you exist, I remain."
He placed his palm against her forehead. A spark passed between them — a memory, a gift.
> "Remember this, Feixue: Heaven fears you not because you can destroy it, but because it knows you created it."
The last of his light scattered into the void.
---
Feixue stood alone again. But now, the air around her pulsed with quiet power.
The frost in her aura shimmered with threads of flame.
Time flowed backward and forward at her will — the laws of Heaven trembling at her breath.
For the first time, she whispered her own name with certainty.
> "Feixue — the Mirror of Origin. The Mother of Stillness."
Her body began to fade, the Origin Field releasing her back to the Immortal Realm.
> "Heaven will come again," she murmured. "Then let them. This time… I will not hide."
---
Back in the Celestial Palace, the Immortal Emperor felt the tremor. His throne cracked under his palm as a pulse of ancient energy reached even his core.
> "Impossible," he hissed. "The Origin Field was sealed by my own decree!"
Seraphis, standing behind him, hid her expression. Deep inside her chest, she felt something awaken — the same warmth, the same frost, the same remembrance.
> Feixue… you are awakening us all.