The shattered sky burned silver.
Qi Shan Wei exhaled slowly, steadying his heartbeat as he held Drakonix close.The little dragon's scales flickered with embers that didn't belong to this realm.His breathing was shallow—overexerted from protecting Shan Wei during the collapse.
Shan Wei gently brushed soot off his scales.
"You protected me again," he whispered."We'll get through this."
"Fwee…"A weak but confident sound.
Only then did Shan Wei look fully at the moon-masked girl.
She stood barefoot on cracked celestial stone, the wind weaving through her loose hair as if reluctant to touch her.Her aura was faint — frighteningly faint — yet it carried a weight…A strangeness.A familiarity that prickled at the edge of instinct.
Her silver eyes didn't blink.
"You're calmer than most who arrive here broken and alone."
Shan Wei straightened.
"I'm not alone."
His grip tightened on Drakonix.
"And I don't break."
The girl's eyes warmed slightly behind the mask.
"Good."
She stepped closer — gliding, not walking — until she stood within arm's reach.
Shan Wei felt no killing intent.But he felt layers of something else:
Hidden sorrowSoft amusementDeep… recognition?
He raised his guard regardless.
"Name," he said. "Yours."
She blinked once.
"…I am called Yue Lian."
His brow twitched.
"Yue… Lian?"
She nodded.
"Written with the 'moon' radical and the 'linked fate' radical. A poetic name, I suppose."
Shan Wei narrowed his eyes.
"Who gave you that name?"
The girl's gaze softened.
"A woman who once saw your future."
A Silence That Cut Cold
Everything froze.
The wind.
The drifting blue feathers of light.
The pulsing vines beneath the stone.
Shan Wei's voice lowered.
"…What did you say?"
Yue Lian tilted her head.
"Qi Shan Wei, do you truly believe the realms only began watching you after you awakened Drakonix?"
Her silver eyes glowed faintly.
"You've been watched…since before you could walk."
Drakonix stirred weakly, tail wrapping around Shan Wei's wrist.
Shan Wei didn't move.
"Who. Saw. My. Future?"
Yue Lian clasped her hands behind her back.
"She has many names."
She moved closer — close enough that her breath brushed his collar.
"But you will know her soon."
The air around them shimmered.
"She is the one who sent me."
The Test of the Moonlight Steps
Yue Lian placed one finger on Shan Wei's chest.
A soft tap.
A bell-like chime echoed.
The ground beneath them cracked into glowing lines.
Shan Wei tightened his hold on Drakonix.
"What did you—"
"Relax."She stepped backward."The test won't harm you."
"Test?"
Yue Lian nodded.
"Every outsider forced through a broken gate must undergo the Moonlight Evaluation."
Her expression turned serious.
"This realm is not safe.The Heavenly Conclave controls access tightly.Especially after… that mark appeared."
She looked toward the horizon.
Where the Calamity Heir's sigil still burned faintly.
Shan Wei's jaw clenched.
"So what do you want me to do?"
"Survive," she said simply.
The stone beneath them lit up.
A circular formation—old, powerful, humming with harmonic resonance.
Runes activated in sequence.
A dome of silver light sprang up around Shan Wei.
Drakonix growled softly.
"Fwee…"
Shan Wei raised his qi defensively.
"What happens now?"
Yue Lian smiled beneath her mask.
"You walk forward."
"…That's all?"
"Yes."
"…And if I refuse?"
Yue Lian blinked.
"Then the test will still begin.It is already bound to your prismatic aura."
Shan Wei sighed.
"Fine. I—"
The formation erupted.
BOOOOOOM—!!
Light flattened the air.Shan Wei staggered backward, boots skidding on fractured stone.
Suddenly—
The world vanished.
A Realm of Silver Shadows
Shan Wei found himself standing in an infinite silver void.
No sky.No ground.No horizon.
Just depthless luminescence.
Drakonix was gone.
Yue Lian was gone.
The world was gone.
Shan Wei instantly expanded his senses.
Qi — suppressed 60%Movement — alteredSpiritual sense — distortedFlame affinity — irregularPrismatic resonance — stable (barely)
A test, indeed.
A voice echoed.
Not Yue Lian's.
Not a spirit's.
Not a beast's.
Something older.
"WALK."
Shan Wei clenched his fists.
"Fine."
He stepped forward—
And something stepped with him.
A silhouette.
Human-shaped.Perfectly identical.Prismatic eyes, silver hair, seven-fold aura.
Shan Wei stared.
"…Me?"
No.
Not him.
A voice whispered behind his ear:
"The version of you who breaks."
The silhouette lunged.
Shan Wei blocked the strike — barely — and the impact sent him sliding back.
It wasn't supernaturally fast.It wasn't overwhelmingly strong.
It was worse.
It was him.
His habits.His timing.His instincts.His weaknesses.
Perfectly mirrored.
Shan Wei exhaled slowly.
"This test is pointless."
He dodged a punch.
"You can copy my movements—"
He parried a kick.
"And my techniques—"
He ducked under a sweep.
"But you—"
His foot cracked the ground, sending shockwaves through the void.
"—can't copy my growth."
He unleashed Heavenstep Flash—
His afterimages split into seven overlapping trajectories.
His clone hesitated—unable to predict which was real.
Shan Wei struck.
CRAAACK—!!
The silver impostor shattered like glass.
Fragments turned to mist.
Yue Lian's voice whispered around him.
"Very good."
Shan Wei inhaled deeply.
"That was the first test?"
"No," she answered."That was the warm-up."
The Second Trial — The Weight of a Crown
A throne appeared.
Tall.Monolithic.Carved from a single piece of moonstone.
A crown hovered above it.
A crown of seven colours.
Shan Wei's footsteps echoed as he approached.
"What is this?"
"The throne tests worth," Yue Lian said, her voice growing clearer."The crown tests truth."
Shan Wei paused.
"Truth?"
"The truth of whether your heart can withstand leadership."
He stepped closer to the throne.
The crown's glow intensified.
Pain stabbed his chest.
A whisper filled the void.
"Will you sacrifice them?"
Shan Wei froze.
The voices multiplied.
Xueya's soft voice:
"…If you must choose… choose the path that leads forward…"
Qingyue's fierce tone:
"Don't you dare hesitate, Qi Shan Wei—"
Lan Qingyue's calm steadiness:
"Decisions carve destiny."
Qi Longye's old, tired voice:
"Boy… the world is cruel. Leading means losing."
And Drakonix's tiny, trembling whisper:
"Wei… don't leave me…"
His breath caught.
His heart felt like it was ripping open.
He snarled through clenched teeth:
"I will NEVER sacrifice them."
The crown dimmed.
But the throne spoke:
"Then you are unfit."
The pressure hit like a mountain.
Shan Wei fell to one knee.
Blood dripped from his nose.
The throne's voice roared:
"AN EMPEROR WHO REFUSES LOSS CANNOT CARRY A REALM!"
Shan Wei pushed against the weight.
"No—"
His arms trembled.
"I won't accept that."
The throne pressed harder.
"You WILL."
Shan Wei roared—
And his prismatic aura exploded outward.
It wasn't Prismatic Overdrive.It wasn't rage.It wasn't desperation.
It was conviction.
Unshakeable.
He forced himself upright.
"Listen carefully," he growled, staring into the throne's void-like face.
"I don't become strong to sacrifice them."
His energy flared brighter.
"I become strong so I NEVER HAVE TO."
The throne cracked.
His aura surged again.
"I don't walk toward power."
More cracks.
"I walk toward responsibility."
A fracture appeared down the crown.
"And if fate demands sacrifices—"
The throne shattered violently.
"I WILL SHATTER FATE."
The crown exploded into light.
The void broke.
And Shan Wei collapsed to one knee, panting for breath.
Return to Reality
Silver peeled away.
Sound returned.Wind.Stone.Sky.
Shan Wei gasped and caught himself before falling.
Drakonix darted into his arms instantly.
"Fwee??"
Shan Wei hugged him tight.
"I'm okay."
Yue Lian stood a few steps away, watching with unreadable eyes.
"…Interesting."
Shan Wei stood shakily.
"That test…"He exhaled. "Who created it?"
Yue Lian hesitated.
Then answered:
"…Her."
Shan Wei's chest tightened.
"Your master."
"No," Yue Lian corrected softly."Not my master."
Her eyes turned distant.Sad.Warm.Terrified.
"My… Empress."
Shan Wei's expression locked.
"Empress…?"
Yue Lian stepped closer.
"She has waited centuries for you, Qi Shan Wei."
Shan Wei felt his heartbeat thunder.
"And now—"Her voice trembled slightly."You have entered her domain."
He swallowed.
"What does she want from me?"
Yue Lian's eyes softened with something dangerously close to pain.
"Everything."
Shan Wei stiffened.
"Why me?"
She reached out, almost touching his cheek—but withdrew her hand at the last second.
"…Because you are the one fated to stand beside her."
Shan Wei froze.
And Yue Lian whispered:
"The Empress of the Lunar Fate Court…is already in love with the man you will become."
Thunder roared across the floating sky.
Shan Wei didn't breathe.
Not for a long, long time.
To be Continued
© Kishtika., 2025All rights reserved.