Pain. Indescribable pain. Lin Ye writhed across the cold, dusty stone floor, both hands clutching his head so tightly his nails dug into his skin, leaving red marks. He curled and rolled back and forth, as if thrashing his body could shake free the agony tearing his consciousness apart from within. It felt as though two heads occupied one skull—two minds, both alive, both demanding control, clashing in every corner of his awareness. One voice was his own: filled with fear, confusion, and rage. The other—cold, calm, calculating, and steeped in unshakable arrogance—was Valerius. "Calm yourself, young one," Valerius’s voice resonated, soft yet piercing, as if whispering right beside his ear. "Resistance only prolongs your suffering. We are no longer separate. We are one now. Your mind is mine, and my power is yours. Imagine what we could achieve together." "Get out! Leave my head!" Lin Ye shouted—not aloud, but with a cry purely within his mind, hoping to push the presence away. "I

Three days of journeying through the wilderness, avoiding roads and people, finally brought them to the shore of Mirror Lake. The water was so perfectly still, without a single ripple, as though its entire surface had been coated in flawlessly polished glass. The grey sky reflected there so clearly it was hard to tell where the heavens ended and the waters began. In the midst of that vast expanse, hidden behind a curtain of ever-thick mist, lay the faint outline of a small isle—the place no one dared approach. The Forbidden Isle. There was no boat. No bridge. The lake was guarded by a terrifying belief: whoever crossed it would never return. Shen Kui stood beside him, still panting, his face pale with unhealed wounds. He shook his head gently as he looked toward the water. "I cannot fly such a distance. My body is not yet strong enough." Lin Ye nodded. He felt another presence within his consciousness—waiting, watching. "Grant me control for a moment," Valerius’s voice sounded cal

The heat radiating from the black jade intensified, as if the stone meant to melt its way straight through Lin Ye’s chest. Valerius—still in full command of the body—stepped swiftly from the laboratory ruin, his gaze sweeping the surroundings with sharp, unyielding vigilance. The night wind shifted, carrying a scent that had no place on this desolate isle: expensive lavender perfume mixed with sweet tobacco smoke. “Who dares set foot upon this hallowed ground of death?” Valerius growled, his voice low and dangerous. From within his mental prison, Lin Ye tried to piece it together. That scent… he knew it. It lingered in the VIP chambers of the Azure Sky Academy, where the elite gathered. But who would follow them here? Merchant Chen? No—Chen was too cowardly to venture into a Void radiation zone alone. Viper? Perhaps, but Viper favoured poison and ambush, not such a direct approach. “To the lakeshore,” Valerius commanded himself. He broke into a run—his movements fluid, efficient, f

The sun rose over the Forbidden Isle, painting the sky in gradients of blood-red and deep violet. The morning light offered no warmth; it cut sharp, revealing every detail of ruin and decay across the island. Lin Ye sat cross-legged on the red-brick tower floor, eyes closed, breath steady—yet within his chest, a civil war raged. Shen Kui still slept in a corner, his breathing heavy but stable. His wounds were sealing, thanks to the medicine Su Mei had given them. Lin Ye was grateful the girl’s heart remained true, even amid a crumbling world. “You cannot hide your hatred forever,” Valerius’s voice echoed, sounding weaker than before. Morning sunlight weakened the Void link, giving Lin Ye a temporary advantage. “Hatred is poison. It kills the host first.” “Let it,” Lin Ye replied inwardly, his tone calm yet deadly. “If this poison kills me, it kills you too. We sink together.” He opened his eyes. His brown irises now bore a thin violet ring around each pupil—sign of deepening assim

Merchant Chen’s head rolled slowly across the cold black stone floor, stopping directly before Lin Ye’s feet. Its wide, staring eyes gazed vacantly at him, as if the man’s spirit remained trapped there, watching in horror. Fresh blood dripped slowly from the severed neck, mingling with hot vapours rising from the white magma pool to create a sickening stench—rusted iron sharp with ozone. Julian stood before them at his ease, as if he had merely set down a calling card rather than presenting his former ally’s head as a token of friendship. Beside him stood Viper, his poison-slick whip coiled tight around his arm, ready to strike at any moment. A wooden mask concealed his face, yet every muscle spoke of high alert—poised to lunge or evade. Behind them, crowded in the gloom, dozens of Hollow Ones hissed softly, their needle-teeth glinting faintly in the pool’s glow, their featureless eyes fixed hungrily upon Lin Ye and Shen Kui. “What is your true purpose, Julian?” Lin Ye asked, his vo