*Chapter 45: The Labyrinth of Regret**
The labyrinth's walls pulsed with the Magic Emperor's qi, veins of molten gold threading through black stone. Li Tian led the alliance into the heart of the sanctum, the Celestial Mirror's light barely piercing the oppressive gloom. Behind him, the sects' breaths echoed like whispers of doubt.
"Stay close," Li Tian warned, his spatial staff scraping the floor. "The Emperor's traps are alive here."
Ahead, the corridor split into three paths, each marked with glowing runes:
1. **The Path of Blades**: Echoes of clashing steel and the stench of iron.
2. **The Path of Flames**: A distant roar of fire, air shimmering with heat.
3. **The Path of Whispers**: Silence, broken by the faint sound of weeping.
Lady Ruolan's war orchid trembled. "Illusions. The Emperor loved his mind games."
General Kael scowled. "Or a quick death. I'll take Blades."
Li Tian shook his head. "We split. The labyrinth preys on fear—face yours alone, or it consumes you."
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**The Path of Blades**
Kael's mechanized legion marched into a hall of grinding gears and suspended swords. The Iron Citadel's artillery fired, but the walls absorbed the blasts, redirecting them as spectral warriors.
"Fall back!" Kael roared, but the exit sealed. A shadowy replica of himself emerged, wielding a blade of void-steel. "Pathetic. You've always been second-best."
The duel was brutal, mirroring Kael's deepest insecurity—his predecessor's legacy. Only when he shattered the replica's core with a point-blank cannon blast did the path relent.
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**The Path of Flames**
Lady Ruolan's disciples withered in the heat, their spores combusting mid-air. The Verdant Lotus matriarch faced a towering inferno shaped like her mother, who'd burned their village to ash.
"You failed them," the flame hissed. "Just as you'll fail here."
Ruolan's vines lashed, but fire consumed them. In desperation, she fed the blaze her own qi, purging its corruption with blightbane venom. The flames died, revealing a seed of pure light—the first hint of the Emperor's artifact.
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**The Path of Whispers**
Li Tian's path was coldest. The walls dripped with memories: Xiaoling's laughter, her screams, her silence. The Mirror's light dimmed as a figure materialized—a younger Li Tian, holding the knife that had doomed his sister.
"You let her die," the illusion sneered. "You'll let them all die."
Li Tian's staff trembled. "I'm not that boy anymore."
The illusion morphed into Xiaoling, her chains rattling. "Aren't you?"
He shattered it with a spatial tear, but the blow fractured the Mirror further.
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**The Heart of the Sanctum**
The paths converged at a chamber where the Emperor's statue loomed, its hand outstretched over a pedestal holding the *Aeternum Core*—a pulsating orb of condensed qi. Shadows coiled around it, whispering promises of power and ruin.
Kael and Ruolan arrived bloodied but alive. "Where's the Frostbite?" Li Tian asked.
"Gone," Ruolan said flatly. "The desert took them."
Before Li Tian could react, the statue stirred.
*"Prove your worth,"* it boomed, its voice the Emperor's. *"Claim the Core… or become its slave."*
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**The Trial of Aeternum**
The Core's energy lashed out, binding the alliance in chains of light. Kael's mechanized arm short-circuited; Ruolan's vines blackened. Li Tian fought the pull, the Mirror's cracks spreading as it absorbed the onslaught.
"You can't save them," the Sovereign's voice slithered through the chamber. Xiaoling's form materialized, her hands fused to the Core. "Free me… or watch them burn."
Li Tian's staff clattered. "I won't choose."
Xiaoling's eyes flooded with void. "You already did."
The Core erupted, its energy searing Li Tian's meridians. When the light faded, the Core floated in his grip—and Xiaoling was gone.
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**The Cost**
The alliance emerged from the ruin at dawn, the Core's power humming in Li Tian's veins. His steps faltered; the artifact's weight drained him, his qi fraying at the edges.
Ruolan eyed him. "Well? What now, *hero*?"
Li Tian collapsed, the Core's light dimming. "Now… we survive."
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