---
The journey east took two days through scorched mountains and corrupted fields.
Li Tianming walked alone, wrapped in a tattered cloak, blade across his back, Chaos Eye partially sealed to avoid detection.
But the system still pinged every hour.
> [Host Trail: Being Tracked]
[5 Surveillance Pings Detected – Origin Unknown]
[Recommended Action: Temporal Concealment Unavailable]
> "Let them watch," Tianming muttered. "They'll find nothing but ash."
By the time he reached the edge of the Azure Crown zone, stormclouds had already begun to spiral above — glowing with soullight and electric red thunder.
What once floated high above the world was now collapsed into the earth like a meteor crater.
Steel towers twisted sideways.
Temple spires lay broken.
The Crown itself — a golden disc once suspended in orbit — now hung half-buried in black stone, humming like a dying engine.
> [Welcome to Azure Crown – Chaos Cataclysm Site #07]
[Threat Level: Relic Class]
[Detected: Residual Divine Energy]
[Target: Chaos Memory Core II – Location Unknown]
Tianming stepped into the ruins.
Immediately, the air changed.
He heard voices. Echoes.
> "It's burning—"
"Don't touch the mirror—"
"The Crown is bleeding—"
"I don't want to become one of them—"
His Chaos Eye pulsed. A memory unfolded.
---
[Flashback – 411 Years Before]
The Azure Crown stood whole, bathed in morning gold. Skyborn cultivators flew between floating pagodas. Aerial libraries, cultivation domes, and celestial spirit pools all shimmered with light.
In the center — a glass palace. Inside it, the first God Mirror spun above a black altar.
A young man stood before it — long silver hair, robes of pure light. He raised a hand, and the mirror showed...
Li Tianming.
> "He is the fracture," the man whispered.
"The one who escaped deletion. We must seal the Crown before he reaches it."
---
[Present – Azure Crown Ruins]
Tianming snapped back to reality — gasping.
> "They saw me before I was born…"
The Chaos Eye pulsed again — sensing something alive deeper in the ruins.
He followed the pull through broken shrines and fallen reactors, into a spiral descent beneath the Crown's main platform.
The air grew colder.
The system pinged again.
> [Divine Artifact Detected: God Mirror Frame – Broken]
[Chaos Memory Core II Located – 184 meters below]
[Warning: Area guarded by Sub-Divine Entity]
A faint, melodic hum echoed through the corridor.
Tianming stepped into a chamber of shattered glass and bone.
Floating in the center was a humanoid figure — slender, ageless, with a crown of crystal vines around its head and no face. Its body flickered like data-glitch, phasing in and out of visibility.
It spoke without words — its voice felt like memory.
> "You're not him.
But you carry his breath."
Tianming raised his blade.
> "Who are you?"
> "I am what remains of the Skyborn King.
I chose to guard the second Core.
And now… I must judge you."
Without warning, it attacked.
---
Boss Battle: The Skyborn Echo
The entity's fingers snapped — and the mirror shards on the walls came alive, forming six mirror-clones of Tianming with warped features, each wielding a twisted version of his sword.
> [Skill: Mirrorbind – Clone your target's worst intentions and give them form.]
Tianming moved fast — slicing through the first clone with Echo Pulse, disrupting its soul.
The second stabbed him — but he deflected it using Reflective Dissonance, forcing the attack back at double force.
> [Remaining Clones: 4]
The entity flew forward, it
..
Ye...,s body trailing glitch-light, and struck Tianming with a touch to the forehead.
And suddenly —
Tianming was somewhere else.
---
[Mind-Field Triggered]
He was back in the Dragon Empire's lab.
Only this time — he wasn't in the pod.
He was outside it. Watching.
And inside the pod...
Was Yue'er.
She looked terrified.
He watched as scientists engraved a fake Chaos Seal onto her soul — a seal meant to link her fate with his. Not out of love. Out of control.
> "She was never chosen," a voice said behind him.
"She was programmed to love you."
He turned.
It was the Skyborn King — wearing a human face now.
> "How much of your heart is real?"
"How much of you is still you, Chaos Lord?"
---
[Back – Azure Crown: Real World]
Tianming roared — slicing through the final two clones with a soul-empowered strike that left his blade glowing blue.
The King stumbled back — phasing rapidly — and for a moment, smiled.
> "Good.
You still fight for your own mind."
It crumbled into light.
And at the chamber's core, a black shard floated.
> [Chaos Memory Core II: Secured]
[Trait Unlock Available: Choose one]
🔹 Option 1: "True Chaos Vision" – Expand Chaos Eye to view alternate decisions in real-time (Combat Prediction +15%)
🔹 Option 2: "Bloodline Override" – Gain 1 random trait from a defeated enemy per day (low chance)
Tianming whispered:
> "Give me both."
> [Access Denied. One Only.]
He clenched his fists.
Then selected: Bloodline Override.
> [Trait Gained: Kuro-Yue's Memory Leech – Partial]
[New Skill: Soul Thread – Steal and anchor up to 3 memories from an enemy per battle]
[Warning: Thread may cause emotional feedback]
---
[Far Above – Dominion Sky Vault]
The Empress of Chains stood in her glass temple, staring at the dark horizon.
> "He's unlocked two memories.
And now he remembers Yue'er."
She turned to her masked generals.
> "Send the Leviathan Host.
And tell the Architects…"
> "The game is ending early."
---