Year 11 of the Mirror-Zero Project · Mist Valley Frontline
The first time Lin Nian met Lu Yuan, it was on a fog-drenched night near the core formation of the Spirit Mirror Array.
He wore a torn military coat, covered in dust, yet his gaze was calm as mountains and water. That night, she was severely injured and temporarily assigned to assist in structural repairs. And that was when he emerged—step by step—from the ruins of a broken tower, tall and lean, carrying two pieces of crystallized Gray Domain residue in his hands.
"Give these to your team," he said. His voice was hoarse, but warm in a way that allowed no refusal.
No one knew which battlefield he had crossed to get here, and no one asked.
In the seven days that followed, he worked alongside her to rebuild three spiritual cores, redrew two fate sigils, and fought off a tide of corrupted spirits alone at midnight to protect a nearby village.
He never spoke much, but everything he did was precise.
Lin Nian sensed early on that he was unlike the others.
He didn't command with flashy techniques or demand leadership.
But every time a spiritual collapse struck, every time the mirror array fractured—
He was always the first to step forward, calmly and resolutely, using his soul-chain to close the breach.
After one particularly violent rupture, she lost consciousness for three days.
When she awoke, she found a strange soul-ring wrapped around her core—shielding her.
It was his.
"Why did you protect me?" she asked softly.
"You weren't meant to die yet," he replied.
That was all he said.
In the days that followed, they stood side by side more and more.
They began sharing intelligence during late-night shifts, occasionally arguing over the rhythm of formation scripts.
He would hand her warm water when she returned covered in mud.
She would finish drawing a secondary sigil for him when exhaustion made his hands tremble.
They never said what they were becoming.
But everyone saw it.
Beneath the chaos of war, two souls were slowly, quietly converging.
Then came the day.
The Gray Domain Core appeared.
The entire spiritual front collapsed.
The sealing plan was initiated: a primary soul must be sacrificed to construct the Zero Sequence Platform—a structure capable of anchoring the dimensional veil.
Lu Yuan was the only candidate with full compatibility.
When Lin Nian saw his name on the classified directive, her vision went black.
She stormed into the council chamber, demanding an explanation again and again, even offering her own soul in exchange.
But her chain structure was incompatible. She couldn't bear the "origin lock."
"I'll go with you," she said.
"You can't," he answered, meeting her eyes.
His voice was gentle—but firm.
"If you don't remain, no one a hundred years from now will remember I ever existed."
On the day of the sealing, thunder rolled through the valley.
The heavens turned upside down.
He stood atop the array, clothed in battle-marked soul sigils.
Before stepping into the light, he turned once to look at her.
"If you're still alive a century from now—
come find me."
"Not for war."
"But for—you."
He didn't say goodbye.
But she remembered for the rest of her life.
And she truly waited.
A hundred years later, after the world was rebuilt, she changed her name and took a silent post beneath the ruins of the old seal site.
There, she watched.
Until one day, a boy arrived.
His name was Lu Feng.
His eyes reminded her of the man who had once walked out of her dreams.
She said nothing.
Only stood from a distance, watching him step into the array, grasp the chain of fate, his gaze clear and unwavering.
She closed her eyes, and a single tear slipped down her cheek.
"You remembered... our promise."