Inside the soul of the God of Yang… the first decision begins.
☯ The System's Whisper
[System Triggered: Trial Realm Constructing…]Dreamspace Initiation: Memory-TetheredCore Emotion Detected: Conflict of AffectionTrial Mode: Severance Protocol 01 – Choose One, Burn the Rest
Chen Ming fell into sleep like a stone cast into still water.
But his soul awakened in fire.
Heat licked at his feet, yet there were no flames—only darkness, endless and ancient, stitched with veins of gold and silver that pulsed like dying stars. He stood barefoot on a bridge of smoke and memory, suspended in an eternal void. The air was weightless, but each breath felt like swallowing glass.
And all around him—whispers.
His own voice.
But not quite.
Twisted. Echoed. Corrupted.
"They want different versions of you.""They'll tear you apart.""Choose. Cut the thread."
Before him, the bridge split into three radiant paths.
Each one glowed with meaning.
Each one, a truth that demanded sacrifice.
🌙 Path One: Moonlight and Chains
The first path shimmered in silvery luminescence, paved in moonlight, soft and radiant. At its end stood Ye Yue.
She wore silks the color of midnight frost, her pale hair loose around her shoulders, her eyes brimming with something ancient—sorrow, longing, prophecy. Her beauty was untouched by time, but her posture sagged beneath invisible weight.
And behind her, golden chains shimmered—binding her, binding him.
"I love you," she said quietly. "But my love comes with prophecy."
Her voice trembled, not with weakness, but with devotion wrapped too tightly around destiny.
"I saw you before you were born, Chen Ming. You're mine. You always were."
She took a step forward, her moonlight tugging at him like gravity. Not violent. Not forceful.
Just inevitable.
"If you stay… I will make you a god.""If you leave… I will break."
The chains behind her clinked softly, a lullaby of power and imprisonment.
❄️ Path Two: Snow and Blood
The second path crunched beneath his steps—ice and frozen petals underfoot. Cold mist kissed his skin. At its end, Lanmei knelt in a ruined garden of snow and thorns.
Her hands bled where they'd gripped rose stems too tightly. Behind her, her blade lay half-buried in the frost. Forgotten. Unnecessary.
"I don't know how to love," she murmured, not looking up. "But you… made me want to learn."
Her voice was raw. Untrained. Honest.
When her eyes met his, there was no prophecy in them. No chains. Only pain, and choice.
"If you choose me, I'll fight beside you.""Burn beside you.""But I won't beg. And I won't follow."
The wind howled through the dead trees. Her path smelled like danger. And freedom.
And truth.
🌌 Path Three: Stars and Smoke
The final path led to nowhere. Just a mirror of fractured starlight hovering above the abyss.
The Envoy waited there, his jade mask floating above a robed form barely tethered to reality. Behind him: void. Infinite. Terrifying.
"You're not bound by love, Chen Ming," the Envoy said. "You're bound by potential."
His voice was smooth. Almost gentle. Almost kind.
"Choose me… and I'll raise you beyond gods. Beyond mortals. No more playing lover, or pawn. No more being chosen."
The stars behind him pulsed with futures, each more blinding than the last.
"But you'll lose everything that made you human."
He held out a hand. A constellation curled around his fingers like a leash.
Power. Pure. Unfiltered.
But cold.
🧠 Within Chen – His Truth Awakens
Each path tugged at him.
A scent. A whisper. A touch. A kiss.
Each thread anchored by a different kind of love.
Prophecy. Freedom. Power.
His pulse thundered in the silence.
Then—
[System Alert: Path Integrity Compromised]System Override Detected…Choice permitted:
— Choose One— Burn the Rest— Or...
The system faltered.
Chen's flame roared to life in his chest, and for a moment, the void around him recoiled. As if his soul—his will—no longer fit within the bounds of this trial.
He clenched his fists.
"I won't sever them."
The fire in him flickered. Then surged.
"If love means choosing just one… then love is broken."
The bridge trembled beneath his feet. Threads cracked. Paths wavered.
"I'll choose none. And I'll choose everything."
Let the gods rage.Let the system glitch.Let fate burn.
I am the God of Yang.And I forge my own damn path.