"Shen Tianxu?"
The voice pulled him from his thoughts. One of the twins was staring at him with wide eyes that seemed to catch the dim light filtering through the trees.
"You're really Shen Tianxu? From the Silverwood Tribe?" she asked. Her voice carried disbelief mixed with something else. Awe perhaps. Hope definitely.
Shen Tianxu looked at her properly for the first time since they'd woken up. She had sharp features and bright, determined eyes. Her silver hair was disheveled from their capture but still gleamed.
Despite the dirt and bruises, she carried herself with an energy that seemed barely contained even now.
"Yes," he replied simply. His voice was calm despite the chaos around them.
"The genius who reached Body Awakening Peak in just one year?" the other twin added from beside her sister.
This one was softer somehow. Her features were gentler, her movements more measured.
Where the first twin's eyes burned with intensity, hers held quiet observation.
"Everyone's heard the stories. Most cultivators our age are still at early stages. Some haven't even reached the third stage yet."
Shen Tianxu nodded once. The original owner's talent had been exceptional by this world's standards.
Reaching the tenth stage of Body Awakening Realm in a single year was apparently unprecedented.
"We're from Moonlight Tribe," the first twin continued. She seemed to have recovered from her initial shock and was now studying him carefully.
"I'm Shen Yue." She gestured to herself with a slight smile despite their situation. "This is my sister Shen Xian." She indicated the quieter twin.
"We were captured in the same raid that took you. Different villages, same night."
"Different tribes don't usually communicate," Shen Xian added softly. Her voice was like water flowing over stones. Gentle but steady.
"Too dangerous. The humans hunt us. If they find one tribe, they might find others through interrogation. So we stay hidden. Separate."
She paused, then added with a small, sad smile, "But the stories of Silverwood's prodigy spread anyway. Even isolation can't stop gossip entirely."
Shen Tianxu processed this information while something strange began happening inside his mind.
His thoughts felt foggy. Unclear. Like trying to see through murky water. He tried to analyze their words, to calculate the implications of multiple tribes existing in isolation, but found himself making obvious logical errors that shouldn't be possible.
"You should have stayed hidden," he said with certainty.
Then immediately contradicted himself without realizing the inconsistency. "No, wait. Communication between tribes makes sense for survival. Shared resources. Mutual defense."
The twins looked at each other with confusion written across their faces. Shen Yue's eyebrows drew together slightly. Shen Xian tilted her head like she was trying to understand a puzzle.
Shen Tianxu's analytical mind recognized the problem even through the fog. Something was wrong with his thought processes.
His supreme intellect was malfunctioning somehow. He should be able to hold two concepts in his mind simultaneously and evaluate them. Instead, he was bouncing between contradictory conclusions.
'What's happening to me?' he thought with growing concern.
Then it happened without warning.
[Complete body-soul synchronization!]
The sensation hit him like a physical blow to the chest. His consciousness, which had been floating somewhat separate from this elven body, suddenly slammed fully into place.
It merged with this flesh and bone in a way it hadn't before. Every nerve ending connected. Every cell aligned. The integration became absolute.
And emotions exploded through him like a dam breaking.
Fear.
Real, visceral fear of the danger they were in. Not calculated risk assessment but actual terror at the thought of dying here.
Curiosity about these two girls who looked at him with such open gratitude and wonder. He wanted to know them. Wanted to understand why one burned like fire and the other flowed like water.
Protectiveness. An urge to protect two seemingly weak beauties he found attractive.
Confusion at these new feelings flooding his mind like an avalanche after trillions of years of emotional void.
He gasped audibly. The sound escaped his lips before he could stop it. His hand went to his chest instinctively, pressing against the spot where his heart hammered wildly.
The twins stepped closer immediately, concern replacing their earlier confusion.
"Are you alright?" Shen Yue asked. Her hand reached out but stopped short of touching him, hovering uncertainly in the air between them.
Shen Tianxu's mind raced as understanding finally dawned with crystal clarity. The synchronization had been incomplete this entire time.
That's why his intellect had been experiencing glitches.
Why he'd dismissed the Phoenix Fate System as useless with such flawed reasoning. His consciousness had been trying to operate this body without being fully connected to it.
Now he could see clearly. Think clearly. Feel clearly.
The Phoenix Fate System wasn't just about romance.
It was POWER.
Goddess affinity maximized meant access to powerful immortal allies who could protect him.
Resources beyond imagination that could fuel his cultivation. Political influence at the highest levels that could change entire realms. Strategic advantages that could shift the balance of power.
The system had been working to arrange his meeting with Yue Lianxing from the very beginning.
The system had been working all along. He just hadn't understood because his emotions had been sealed by incomplete synchronization.
Something else shifted inside him too. Memories that weren't memories. Feelings that were new yet familiar.
The personality he'd had before becoming AXIOM started bleeding through.
Chen Xiao.
The college student who'd used AI for homework and joked with his roommate. Who'd been relaxed.
Chill, but also ambitious enough to take shortcuts when they appeared.
'Okay,' he thought with a mental grin that felt completely natural. 'This is better. I can work with this.'
He noticed the twins staring at him differently now. Their eyes held something beyond gratitude. Something warmer. Shen Yue's gaze lingered on his face with open fascination. Shen Xian's cheeks had flushed slightly pink despite the cold.
His endless charm was radiating unconsciously. The Phoenix Fate System was already affecting them. He could see it in their body language. The way they'd both moved slightly closer. The way their attention focused entirely on him.
"We need to leave," Shen Tianxu said suddenly. His new emotions drove an urgency he hadn't felt before.
The calculated risk assessment was still there, but now it was backed by actual fear for their lives.
"Now. Right now."
The twins nodded immediately without questioning. They stood and began moving toward the forest edge.
Both of them trusted him completely already. The Phoenix Fate System's influence combined with his reputation.
Behind them, voices erupted in the distance.
"What happened here?!" someone shouted. The voice carried clearly through the cold air.
Shen Tianxu turned his head sharply. A new group of slavers had arrived at the massacre site where Yue Lianxing had killed their companions.
They were discovering the frozen remains. The scene would be impossible to miss.
"Track whoever did this!" one commanded with authority. Probably another leader.
"We should get backup first!" another argued. "This isn't normal. Look at the ice!"
"No time! They can't be far. The bodies are still fresh. CHASE NOW before they get away!"
Shen Tianxu grabbed both twins' hands without thinking. "Run!"
They sprinted into the forest together. His hands were warm against theirs despite the cold. Shen Yue's grip was tight and strong. Shen Xian's was gentler but steady.
Branches whipped past them as they ran. The twins struggled to keep pace with Shen Tianxu's longer stride but fear drove them forward anyway.
Their breathing came in gasps. Shen Yue gritted her teeth and pushed harder. Shen Xian's face was pale but determined.
Then Shen Tianxu heard more voices ahead. His newly awakened instincts screamed danger.
'Another one,' he thought.