The moment Lin Xuan touched the second memory shard, the world warped again.
This time, there was no moonlight.
No soft breeze.
No laughter.
Only a cold stone platform, high above the mountains.
The sky burned crimson.
And the chains around his wrists glowed with divine suppression.
Lin Xuan recognized the scene instantly.
This was the day they executed him.
---
The Second Truth: Betrayal
He couldn't move.
Couldn't resist.
Dozens of robed elders stood in a circle around him—faces he once trusted. Some were from his sect. Others from the Celestial Assembly.
They looked down on him with contempt, fear… and guilt.
One stepped forward.
Grandmaster Qian Long—his former mentor. The man who taught him how to read the stars, how to condense qi for the first time, how to dream of greatness.
> "Lin Xuan," the Grandmaster said, "you have delved into forbidden paths. You have absorbed chaos essence. You have forsaken the Heavenly Order."
> "And for that, you must be severed from the mortal plane."
> "Your name shall be erased from the scrolls of heaven."
---
The Words That Killed
Lin Xuan tried to speak, but blood poured from his lips.
In this memory, he was weak. His cultivation had been sealed. His soul suppressed.
Yet he remembered everything.
The way they averted their eyes.
The way Yun'er had begged them to spare him.
The way she had been struck across the face when she refused to kneel.
> "You feared what I could become," Lin Xuan whispered, his voice breaking. "So you buried me before I could rise."
Grandmaster Qian Long's expression never changed.
He raised his hand.
> "Begin the severing."
---
Death
A hundred celestial blades appeared in the sky.
Each forged from judgmental qi—intended not just to kill, but to erase.
They descended like divine rain.
One by one, Lin Xuan's bones shattered. His core was splintered. His soul torn.
And yet—he never screamed.
Because what hurt more than death…
Was the betrayal.
The silence of those he once called brothers.
The nods of approval from those who once praised him.
And the final moment when Yun'er was dragged away, crying his name.
> "Xuan!"
Then—darkness.
---
The Chaos Core Awakens
But unlike the first time, Lin Xuan now stood outside the memory.
He watched it replay from a higher plane—his present self no longer helpless, but furious.
He stepped forward, into the memory—through the chains, through the blades—and faced the version of Grandmaster Qian Long locked in time.
> "You died believing you were righteous," Lin Xuan said. "But I lived long enough to see the truth."
> "You feared chaos because it was not yours to control."
> "Now I am chaos—and I am free."
---
He raised his hand.
And the memory shattered into black flames.
---
Shard Reforged
The second fragment of the Nexus Key appeared in his palm—dark red, cracked, but pulsing with soul-deep power.
A whisper came from the void:
> "Pain is a wound… or a weapon."
> "You chose the latter."
---
[Memory 2 of 3 Confronted: "The Pain He Buried"]
Progress: 2/3
New Skill Acquired: Soulfire Rebirth – Once per battle, upon soul damage or spiritual collapse, regenerate using chaos flame (Cooldown: 7 days)
Emotional Data Integrated: Rage, Clarity, Vengeance
Chaos Core: 99.9% → 100% – Fully Awakened
---
System Evolution – Chaos Core Complete
Core Name: Void-Stellar Chaos Heart
Effects: All chaos techniques gain +35% efficiency. Immune to standard qi deviation. Chaos energy may now infect divine weapons and laws.
New Ability: Chaos Domain (Locked – Requires Nexus Key 3 Complete)
---
Back in the Realm of Echoes
Lin Xuan opened his eyes, breathing hard.
The Watcher of the Grove nodded as the second shard hovered beside the first.
"You carry your pain like a blade," she whispered. "But the next memory… will test your soul itself."
She raised the third and final shard—pitch black with a flicker of violet at its core.
> "Now… you must face what you've become."