⸻
[Scene: Entering the Time-Warped Chamber]
As the swirling portal stretched open, neither Max nor Lian Yue could fully gauge its depth.
"Ready?" Max asked, his fan loosely hanging in his hand, the golden tendrils of time glinting in his eyes.
Lian Yue nodded. "We step into what cannot be walked. A moment both forward and back."
They passed through.
Suddenly, they were somewhere… ancient.
A vast chamber opened before them—walls covered in runes older than mortal memory. Clocks without faces ticked backward. Floating islands hung suspended in the air, each containing snapshots of distant times.
Max immediately felt his Origin Eyes react violently—spinning, dilating, glowing fiercely violet.
"This… this is a temporal realm," he whispered. "We've entered something that exists outside normal cause and effect."
⸻
[Scene: Trial of Temporal Fracture Begins]
A voice echoed through the hall—not the previous guardian's, but something older, quieter.
"Only those who understand their past may survive their future."
Suddenly, Max was split into three versions of himself.
One was the child, clutching a broken wooden sword and bleeding from a cracked lip.
The second was the teen, standing at the gravesite of a teacher, fists clenched and teeth bared.
The third was the current Max, watching them both, confused.
Each fragment stood in its own circular formation, each surrounded by shifting shadows of memory.
⸻
[Scene: Internal Dialogue – Facing the Self]
The child looked up at the current Max.
"You never let me speak. You buried me under your ambition."
The teen sneered.
"You used me. Trained. Starved. You never cried when he died."
Max swallowed. "I… didn't have time to grieve. If I stopped, I'd fall apart."
The air shimmered. A voice—his own voice—replied:
"Falling apart is not weakness. Forgetting why you started is."
Suddenly, the Origin Eyes bled light, stabilizing the room. The fragments began to merge, coalescing into a version of Max with deeper clarity—stronger in spirit and calm in heart.
Lian Yue's voice broke through the trance.
"Max! You've got to see this!"
⸻
[Scene: Lian Yue's Discovery – The Ancestral Hourglass]
She stood near a pedestal where a massive hourglass hovered. Within it was no sand—but flickering moments: the sealing of ancient beasts, wars, love, betrayals.
As Max approached, the hourglass reacted to his presence. A single grain of shimmering time dropped from the top to the bottom—triggering a surge of energy through the chamber.
"Ancestral Library Coordinates Unlocked," the system voice echoed.
But that wasn't all.
A pulse of pain erupted behind Max's eyes as visions spiraled into him—cities floating in timeless zones, cultivators sealed within infinite loops, and… a temple with a symbol of Samsara scorched into its gates.
⸻
[Scene: Status Check]
As the surge faded, Max collapsed to one knee.
"Status…" he whispered, triggering the interface with sheer will.
⸻
#### Max - Status Window ####
Name: Max
Age: 19
Realm Category: Mortal Realm
Major Realm: Qi Initiation
Minor Realm: Fifth Minor Realm
Level: 46
Segment: Middle Stage
Lifespan Limit: 260 years
Eyes: Origin Eyes (Stage II – Enhanced Temporal Perception)
Constitution: ??? (Sealed)
Recent Insight: Temporal Flow Resistance Achieved
Notes: Access to Time Fragmented Realms temporarily permitted.
⸻
Lian Yue opened hers as well.
⸻
#### Lian Yue - Status Window ####
Age: 17
Realm: Qi Initiation – Fourth Minor Realm
Level: 39
Segment: Late Stage
Lifespan Limit: 230 years
Mental State: Stable
Insight: Memory Echo Resistance Achieved
She exhaled. "This place is changing us."
Max nodded slowly, watching the final ripple settle across the chamber.
⸻
[Scene: The Warning]
Just as they stepped toward the exit—a shimmer of mist twisted into shape.
It was a projection, no more than a flicker of intent.
A masked figure cloaked in infinite darkness.
"You've taken what was not meant to be remembered."
Its voice was emotionless.
"You step closer to something neither of you were meant to find."
A countdown began in the sky above them. Runes ignited in red.
[Countdown: 3 Days Until Sanctum Collapse]
Max clenched his jaw. "Then we've got three days to reach the library. No distractions."
Lian Yue stared ahead. "Let's see how deep this path truly goes."
⸻
#### System Notification ####
[Ancestral Library Access: Partial]
[Memory Echo Complete]
[You have advanced your Synchronization with the Eternal Path]
[Next Phase: Trial of the Sealed Flame]
⸻
End of Chapter 21