Back in the Mortal Realm, the sky had turned a dull silver-gray. Lightning flickered silently behind the clouds, like something breathing just beyond sight.
Yue Yun stood on a rocky cliff with Ao Xuan beside him, but his mind was elsewhere.
He hadn't spoken much since the fight with the masked figure.
One phrase kept repeating in his head—
The Primordial Seal.
If Ao Xuan's power came from something even older than the gods…
Then what else had been hidden from him?
What else had they never told him?
—
Lan Zhi approached quietly, carrying a bundle of herbs for the sick.
"You haven't rested," he said gently.
"I can't," Yue Yun replied without looking away from the sky. "Not when I don't even know who to trust anymore."
Lan Zhi sat beside him.
"You still trust your sister?"
Yue Yun paused.
"…Always," he said slowly. "But even she is surrounded by silence."
—
Far above, in the Celestial Realm, a figure stood at the edge of the Mirror Cloud Tower.
Her robes shimmered like mist and pearl, and her eyes reflected starlight.
Divine Lord Mingzhu — the Tenth Divine Lord.
Calm.
Wise.
And now… deeply unsettled.
In the Sky Mirror Pool before her, she watched.
Yue Yun.
The Mortal Realm.
Ao Xuan's awakened mark.
And the corruption spreading like a pulse through the lower world.
She turned slightly to her assistant, a High Immortal dressed in black and white.
"Do the others know?"
"Only whispers," he replied. "But if Yue Yun continues to awaken memories of the Primordial Era… the other Lords will not stay quiet for long."
Mingzhu's voice lowered.
"Then it has already begun."
"He is no longer just undergoing a trial."
"He is stepping into something we buried long ago."
—
Back on the cliff, Yue Yun suddenly looked up.
His expression changed.
Something shifted in the air.
He felt it—
Eyes.
Watching.
Not mortal.
Not demonic.
Divine.
From far above the clouds.
He turned to Ao Xuan.
"If they lied to me once… they can do it again."
Ao Xuan's voice rumbled softly.
Then what will you do, Yue Yun?
Yue Yun clenched his fists.
"I will finish the trial. I will protect these people."
A pause.
"But when I return to the Celestial Realm…"
His eyes sharpened.
"I won't bow to anyone until I know the truth."