Echoes of the Hollow Domain

The world unfolded.

Beneath his feet, Yao Abyss was no longer a sealed ruin.

It was a kingdom.

Vast.

Silent.

Majestic.

The sky fractured like broken glass.

Black seas spilled into the cracks.

Nine colossal figures descended.

Becoming nine pillars —

pinning Guiyao between the tear in the world.

Shen Jin stood on a crumbling shore.

All around him —

the low hum of a dying kingdom.

He saw Guiyao.

Pinned.

Expressionless.

His eyes hollow.

Divine blood dripping from his wounds.

Stitching the world's rift like a curse sewn into flesh.

Around him, the emissaries of the Nine Gods chanted the sealing incantation.

Shen Jin tried to run to him.

But something blocked him.

An invisible wall.

No matter how far he moved —

he could not step into Guiyao's domain.

Then.

Guiyao lowered his head.

For the first time.

He looked at Shen Jin.

Or through him.

Past him.

At someone who wasn't there.

And then —

Guiyao's voice.

Soft.

Inside his mind.

"Keys…

do not open me.

Keys…

end me.

…Keybearers…

are executioners."

Shen Jin froze.

He understood now.

Why the stele showed him this.

Keys were not saviors.

They were knives.

—

Outside the Old Mirror Tower.

Luo Qinghan leaned against a broken wall.

She drew a spirit pill from her sleeve and treated the cut on her palm.

Yet —

the place where the mirror-fire touched her blood still throbbed.

She lowered her gaze.

Her palm pulsed faintly —

as if something had marked her.

She frowned.

Prepared to seal her breath.

Regain balance.

But beneath her feet —

the broken mirror stirred.

A thin, near-invisible thread of spirit seeped upward.

It licked at the blood on her palm.

Slid into her veins.

Too fast.

Her mind jolted.

— Dragged into a dream.

But not hers.

Around her, the fractured world of Yao Abyss rose.

She stood high.

Looking down.

At Shen Jin.

Alone.

Surrounded by shattered gods and bleeding skies.

She opened her mouth.

No sound came.

She tried to reach him.

But the distance —

never closed.

As if a mirror stood between them.

Impossible to break.

Her breath caught.

"This isn't an ordinary dream."

She realized.

The stele had pulled her into —

Shen Jin's dream.

—

Shen Jin walked.

In the dream.

Through Yao Abyss.

Toward the pillar where Guiyao's corpse hung.

His steps —

mechanical.

Like a puppet.

Luo Qinghan watched from afar.

She called out.

But her voice echoed only inside herself.

Never reaching him.

She whispered:

"Stele…

you're forcing him."

Gritting her teeth, she invoked the Water Mirror Sect's Heartline Invocation.

A thread of spirit stretched across the dream —

reaching Shen Jin's fractured mind.

She heard him muttering:

"Keys…

are executioners?"

She steadied her breath.

Spoke softly:

"Shen Jin.

Wake up."

His steps faltered.

He looked up.

Finally.

Their eyes met.

He opened his mouth.

But then.

The stele's will crushed down like a cold wave.

The dream quaked.

A colossal shadow of stone fell between them.

Cutting them off.

The stele whispered:

"No waking.

Until the end is seen —

no retreat."

Luo Qinghan was pushed back.

The dream twisted.

Her voice torn apart.

Shen Jin trembled.

He could only watch as her image was devoured by the falling stone.

He looked down.

Murmured:

"…I don't want to be the one…

who ends things."

The stele gave no reply.

From the depths of the dream —

Guiyao descended.

—

In the depths of the dream.

Guiyao descended.

He did not speak.

He only opened his dead eyes.

Shen Jin's mind cracked.

A roar inside his spirit.

He knew —

the stele would not let them linger.

Its will fell like a blade.

Cold.

Unyielding.

Tearing the dream apart.

Luo Qinghan's image fractured.

Shen Jin was dragged out.

—

In the chamber.

Shen Jin gasped.

As if drowning.

His palm cold.

Spirit lines chaotic.

His mind still echoing with Guiyao's whisper:

"Keybearers…

are executioners."

He lifted his hand.

His fingers trembled.

Outside the door,

Luo Qinghan stood silently.

Expression flat.

Her scroll unopened.

She looked at him.

Voice steady.

But tired:

"You're awake?"

He looked at her.

Wanted to speak.

But paused.

Then lowered his gaze.

"…Awake."

But he knew —

This wasn't waking.

The stele had dragged them out.

But Guiyao's dream —

Had not ended.

It had only begun.

—

Lingyuan Division.

Council Hall.

Spirit mirrors floated high.

Eight arrays aligned in solemn order.

Representatives of the Five Orders and Eight Sects took their seats.

Still.

Unmoving.

Today —

Lingyuan opened its inner council.

But this time —

they did not come merely to observe.

They were invited to speak.

Unprecedented.

Luo Qinghan sat beside Shen Jin.

Watching.

Feeling.

From the moment they entered, the air —

no longer Lingyuan's.

Five Orders and Eight Sects brought their own currents.

Arrays.

Hidden.

They called it observation.

It stank of dominion.

Shang Luhan of Taijing Sect spoke first:

"Elder Qi Ming Heng.

Yao Abyss remains sealed for a hundred days.

No progress.

Perhaps…

you owe the Five Orders an explanation?"

His words polite.

Tone —

sharp.

Ruan Linghe of Tianshu Palace fanned himself.

Chuckling:

"Secrecy…

Perhaps afraid the Keybearer's title won't stand inspection?"

Mingjue Chan of Kuliansi murmured sutras.

His tone —

cold.

"Seals left too long…

invite corruption."

Ling Chuzhou of Yunxiu Sect remained silent.

But sword will flickered —

quiet.

Deadly.

Luo Qinghan's breath caught.

This wasn't about Yao Abyss.

Not just.

They wanted more.

Much more.

Qi Ming Heng finally spoke:

"The seal is bound by our laws.

The Keybearer is here.

The council will judge."

His voice soft.

But it rang like iron.

Luo Qinghan knew.

This was no debate.

This was a hunt.

—

The chamber grew heavier.

Shang Luhan turned to Shen Jin.

Voice soft.

"Keybearer… Shen Jin?"

"Never in any Five Orders or Eight Sects records.

His origin — unknown.

Perhaps Lingyuan should explain?

Or are you crafting gods behind your sealed doors?"

The chamber trembled.

Ruan Linghe fluttered his fan.

Chuckling:

"If the Keybearer's lineage is clouded —

who dares trust the seal over Yao Abyss?"

Mingjue Chan sutras.

His voice —

cold:

"False keys.

False paths."

Ling Chuzhou spoke few words:

"Keys cannot be false."

Luo Qinghan frowned.

She rose.

Shang Luhan's gaze silenced her:

"Luo Qinghan.

You are but a clerk.

And your ties to him…

color your words."

Shen Jin sat still.

Unmoved.

Shang Luhan smiled.

Lifted the Fracture Mirror Rod.

A silver-blue beam streaked toward Shen Jin:

"A Keybearer must face the world's judgement.

If you dare —

block it."

The beam split the air.

The space fractured.

A blade to peel the soul.

Shen Jin moved not.

The stele's breath rose.

Gray.

Cold.

It met the rod.

— BOOM.

The chamber shattered into black and white.

Arrays cracked.

Even the sect leaders' seats fractured.

The air froze.

Shen Jin's fingers bled.

But he did not falter.

The rod recoiled.

Shang Luhan's face flickered.

But his sneer remained.

"A fine reaction.

But tell me…

Was that you?

Or the stele inside you?

If the Keybearer is but a vessel—

does he still belong to the mortal realm?"

Luo Qinghan lowered her gaze.

Her scroll trembling.

Shen Jin —

silent.

The air turned to knives.