Timo Yang’s physical body writhed in agony as his spirit form was wrenched back into flesh. A deafening roar tore from his throat.

  “Impossible! A mortal vessel—awakening? No human possesses such strength! Aid me—quickly!”

  Panic laced the voice sustaining the Trial Realm.

  Timo staggered amid swirling energy currents, eyes blazing with blinding white light. He whipped his gaze toward the darkest corner of the field—where a hazy white silhouette hovered.

  Without hesitation, he surged forward like lightning. A spiritual blade coalesced in his hand, thrusting straight at the figure—the Realm Breaker.

  At the brink of impact, two more shadows materialized. Overwhelming energy stabilized the turbulent field; the silhouette vanished.

  The binding force intensified. The realm solidified. Timo’s consciousness blurred once more, enveloped in invisible energy, sinking into silence.

  The world spun again.

  Timo jolted awake on the opulent bed in the lavish chamber.

  The Realm Breaker had transformed into a perfect likeness of Yan Tang in his healthy prime—now disguised as the elderly servant, standing respectfully outside the door, eyes sharp and watchful.

  “Sis… how is she now? No—this is all illusion. I have to return. Save her. Get out of here!”

  The desperate thought hammered at him. He struggled upright.

  The princesses clustered around the bed. The leader in cyan—face eerily resembling Lulu Gan—wore deep concern, yet kept her distance.

  “Lulu? Lulu Gan? Is everyone… all right? If the Elders learn I survived—thinking me the Son of Darkness—would they…”

  Memories crashed back. Shock gripped him—then the sea demon’s fanged maw and Yue Yang’s thunder-scarred trial flashed vivid and raw.

  “Don’t come near!” Timo warned sharply, voice trembling faintly.

  At his awakening, the jewel-bedecked princesses in resplendent gowns hurried forward with curtsies. Concern melted into rivalry.

  “Young Master,” the red-gowned princess purred, voice laced with heat. “I am princess of the Fire Kingdom. Choose me as queen, and the seat of Five Alliances Overlord is yours alone.”

  “My Lord,” the blue-gowned one said coolly, eyes gleaming with ambition. “My clan commands endless seabed riches. A mere overlordship? Choose me—all this and more belongs to you.”

  “My husband,” the brown-gowned murmured demurely, gaze calculating. “My people forge the world’s finest armor and weapons. Choose me—unbreakable might to fulfill every grand design.”

  “My husband…”

  Sweet voices sharpened into quarrel. Essence flickered around them; killing intent chilled the air.

  “Enough! Silence—all of you!”

  A splitting headache surged. Timo roared, essence amplifying the sound. Shockwaves rippled through the chamber; embedded glass windows cracked with sharp reports.

  The princesses recoiled, clutching ringing ears, faces pale.

  The disguised Realm Breaker—Yan Tang’s form—maintained servile poise while weaving the illusion tighter.

  Yet Timo’s mind churned in fury and chaos. He ignored every word. The visions—beautiful, maddening, achingly real yet utterly false.

  “Get out—all of you!”

  The princesses withdrew sullenly.

  “Timo… bad dream?”

  A voice—unmistakably tender, achingly familiar—sounded from the doorway.

  Timo’s body shook violently. He looked up.

  Yue Yang stood there, clad in ornate palace robes.

  Yet the badge at her breast—the five twisted rings encircling a sixth sinister symbol—was the unmistakable mark of The Sixth Element.

  Timo’s pupils contracted. His voice turned ice-cold with disbelief.

  “Sis… why are you wearing the Sixth Element?”

  “Sixth Element?” The apparition tilted her head in confusion, still radiating indulgent affection. “What are you talking about? It’s just an ordinary badge.”

  “Badge?!” Timo’s tone sharpened with accusation. “That’s the Sixth Element symbol—I remember it perfectly!”

  “You designed this badge yourself,” she smiled, as if soothing a willful child. “Though… ‘Sixth Element’ does have a nice ring. It suits our Spirit Taming Cult quite well.”

  Timo reeled as though struck by lightning. He had never spoken such words.

  He fought the shock, probing further. “Sis—where’s the Purifying Spirit Eye Mom and Dad left you? Why aren’t you wearing it?”

  “The Purifying Spirit Eye? Something so precious—I can’t wear it all the time.”

  Her answer came too smoothly.

  The apparition mirrored his sister’s every mannerism. Timo’s taut nerves eased fractionally; the tearing headache dulled.

  Meanwhile, in the real world—the Watch Legion’s ice prison…

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  Yue Yang meditated in silence when the Purifying Spirit Eye at her chest flared without warning.

  A profound, blood-bound throb pierced the void. She snapped her eyes open, hand clutching the artifact, staring in disbelief at her trembling fingers.

  “What… is this? A dream? Or…”

  “Open the ice cell!”

  A commanding, frigid voice echoed outside the frozen passage.

  The guarding ice cultivators channeled essence; frost dissipated. The heavy door swung wide.

  The Tianjiao Elder entered, expression impassive. Her presence plunged the already bitter cold deeper.

  “You know your crime?”

  Yue Yang suppressed the turmoil and rage, meeting the Elder’s gaze. “Pray tell, Elder—what crime has Physician Yue Yang committed? Speak plainly.”

  “Your brother was the Son of Darkness. You shielded and abetted him. To this day, you remain unrepentant.”

  The Elder’s sharp eyes traced the faint red thunder markings on Yue Yang’s face and hands—not with pity, but faint satisfaction.

  “Timo is my brother.” Yue Yang drew herself tall, voice steady and resolute. “A thousand times over, my choice would stand. I answer for my actions—but I will never apologize for protecting family.”

  “Well said. Such deep sibling devotion.”

  The Tianjiao Elder clapped slowly, stepping close. She seized Yue Yang’s chin, forcing eye contact.

  “That fire… just like your mother’s. I hope you cling to this ‘pride’ forever. The Prophet’s Eye has spoken: you will wed as alliance princess to the Fire Essence prince.”

  “What?!” Yue Yang’s eyes widened in shock.

  “For the sake of ancestral blood, I grant you freedom.” The Elder released her, voice cutting like frost. “Otherwise—this cell becomes your eternal tomb.”

  Yue Yang wrenched free. Blood trickled from her lip, healed imperceptibly by the Purifying Spirit Eye’s faint pulse.

  Her gaze dimmed, spirit sinking. “My brother leaped from the judgment platform to prove his innocence. You know better than I what abyss lies below. Is this truly the ‘ancestors’ will’—or mere vengeance from you, the Yang clan’s ‘illegitimate daughter’? You know the truth.”

  “Insolence!”

  The words illegitimate daughter struck like daggers. The Tianjiao Elder’s face twisted in rage. Her hand cracked across Yue Yang’s cheek in a resounding slap.

  Yue Yang’s face swelled instantly; fresh blood spilled from her mouth.

  - - - -

  “Even if I have severed ties with the Yang bloodline, I remain your elder. How dare you show such disrespect!”

  The Tianjiao Elder’s fury blazed. Her gaze flicked to the faintly glowing Purifying Spirit Eye at Yue Yang’s chest—wariness and greed flashing in her eyes. She reached to seize it.

  Her fingertips nearly brushed the cool crystal when she forcibly halted, expression flickering between shadows.

  “How convenient,” a voice laced with mockery cut in. “The esteemed Elder finds time to ‘stroll’ through the ice prison while the front lines strain. Quite the leisurely life.”

  Air rippled like water at the entrance. Ge Bai stepped through a spatial rift with calm grace.

  The Tianjiao Elder drew a steadying breath, masking her rage behind regained poise.

  “Enough. I came only to deliver the Prophet’s Eye decree. In three days, you depart with the Fire Essence envoy.”

  She issued the cold command to Yue Yang, then turned to Ge Bai, tone brooking no argument. “Since Deacon Bai harbors doubts, protocol demands a deacon witness the oracle. Follow me.”

  She waved a hand; a spatial rift yawned open. She stepped through first. Yue Yang exchanged a glance with Ge Bai and followed.

  Light flashed. The three stood in the Elder’s austere, oppressive stone chamber.

  Almost simultaneously, the hum of a magical engine died outside. Deacon Lin Gan and Deacon Feiying Lan hurried in.

  “Deacon Gao and Deacon Wu oversee the front. Three deacons suffice as witnesses,” the Tianjiao Elder said impatiently, approaching the central platform. She pressed her palm to the hovering obsidian Prophet’s Orb.

  A low hum.

  Black light surged from the orb. Moisture in the air condensed into a vivid holographic vision: Yue Yang in bridal robes completing a wedding rite with a dashing Fire Essence prince.

  “Any objections?” The Elder withdrew her hand; the image faded. Her piercing gaze swept the three deacons.

  Deacon Lin Gan bowed first. “Lin Gan obeys the ancestors’ will.”

  Deacon Feiying Lan followed. “Feiying Lan obeys the ancestors’ will.”

  Ge Bai stared at the vanished vision, doubt lingering. Yet before an “ancestral oracle,” she could only sigh deeply and lower her head. “Ge Bai… obeys the ancestors’ will.”

  “Deacon Bai,” the Tianjiao Elder said, eyes fixed on her, tone unreadable. “As elder and head of physicians, you command deep trust. I commend your caution. Let all learn from Elder Bai—serve diligently, discern right from wrong.”

  “Ge Bai dares not accept such praise.” She kept her head bowed, hearing the veiled barb. With the entire physicians’ department behind her, she endured in silence.

  “Dismissed.” The Tianjiao Elder waved wearily, eyes averted. “I am fatigued.”

  The heavy stone door sealed behind them.

  Ge Bai opened a rift and pulled Yue Yang back to the physicians’ department.

  Meanwhile, in the shadowed wilds beyond…

  Fei Yuan rode his loyal gray-feathered thunder eagle, Batian, circling high above the treacherous expanse known as the Sea of Forgetting.

  A powerful energy surge pulsed from the churning mists below—heart-stopping in its intensity.

  Yet that sea was infamous as a sea demon bandit lair—mists impenetrable, waves treacherous. Legion tales warned: enter, never return.

  “Captain Yuan—don’t risk it!” Deputy Zhi Zhao’s urgent voice crackled over the communicator. “Those cursed fish demons are sly as ghosts in the fog. We can’t root them out!”

  Fei Yuan’s brow furrowed; he offered no reply, only patted Batian’s steel-gray neck firmly.

  The intelligent eagle shrieked, summoning furious wind essence. It streaked downward like gray lightning, plunging into the mist.

  The fog clung like living slime. Batian fought through—only to burst out the other side, disoriented, feathers dripping cold vapor.

  Unwilling to yield, Batian beat powerful wings skyward—straight into roiling black thunderclouds. Jagged bolts rent the heavens.

  A cavernous maw lined with fangs lunged from the clouds, snapping at Batian.

  A piercing cry—Batian twisted at the limit of instinct, grazing the teeth, and fled with Fei Yuan, hearts pounding.

  “Boss! Captain Yuan! The wilderness anomaly—it’s back!”

  Zhi Zhao’s excited shout exploded over the comms.

  Fei Yuan followed the call. From the demon encampment, a blinding pillar of light tore through the gloom without warning.

  The grotesque fish demons shrieked in terror, scattering in panic.

  At the light’s heart, a hazy human silhouette sharpened. Ignoring the chaos, it strode through the routed horde into a deep cave beyond.

  Fei Yuan’s eyes flashed. Without hesitation, he urged Batian into a dive. The eagle tore through air, hurtling toward the pillar.

  He landed heavily—yet the cave that had swallowed the figure vanished like mirage, as if it had never been.

  “High-tier beast illusion? Or… spatial secret art?” Doubt clouded Fei Yuan’s mind, yet excitement burned hotter. “If captured and studied, it might push me to tri-elemental ahead of schedule.”

  “Boss—forget it,” Zhi Zhao urged as the team emerged from cover. “Mission stalled. Head back. Your lady… Physician Yue Yang’s waiting.”

  Fei Yuan inhaled deeply, swallowing reluctance. His gaze drifted to the distant forest depths, where the Watch Legion’s towering watchtower loomed faintly in twilight.

  He vaulted onto Batian’s back, voice resolute. “Regroup. Home.”

  Meanwhile, deep in the trial…

  In the opulent, illusory palace, Timo Yang remained ensnared.

  The apparition of Yue Yang coaxed with honeyed words, urging him to follow “rite and law.”

  The false reunion’s warmth nearly melted his resolve—yet a voice screamed within: Illusion! The true home smelled of herbs in the Watch Legion!

  “Sis—this isn’t home. Our home is the Watch Legion!”

  The vision of Yue Yang wore majestic black-gold robes, golden threads glowing faintly, lending her an aura of sanctity and authority.

  She sighed indulgently. “Silly boy—what nonsense. The legion is merely an ally. Look at Lulu.”

  She gestured to the cyan-gowned princess standing respectfully aside. “Daughter of the legion’s leader—most worthy to be your queen, aiding your destiny. Stop this stubbornness.”

  At her words, Lulu curtsied and approached once more.

  Timo’s gaze swept the scheming princesses at the door, settling on the disguised Yan Tang in servant’s guise.

  He forced calm: The energy void and Realm Breaker were no dream. That space had reshaped his spiritual core… The Breaker said overcome lust and greed—find an essence cultivator’s true calling—to break through.

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