The Broken Dao Bridge

The blue gate shimmered behind him, and Xu Shen stepped into a void unlike any he had seen in this life.

There was no sky.

No ground.

Only space—fractured like cracked glass—and a bridge floating in endless blackness.

Its stone slabs hovered in shattered rows, some whole, most broken. Each section pulsed faintly with runes older than time, glowing with pale gold.

The Broken Dao Bridge.

He had heard of it only once—in a hidden memory fragment from life #117. An ancient trial once used by celestial sects to test gods-in-training.

Few ever returned.

A voice echoed across the void.

[Trial Two: The Broken Dao Bridge]

"Cross the bridge. Face your True Self. Should your will falter, your soul shall break."

[Warning: This is not a test of strength. Only self-mastery may lead forward.]

Xu stepped onto the first platform.

Boom.

The air grew heavy.

His breath hitched.

Each step forward magnified the pressure—not physical, but internal. Guilt. Rage. Fear. Echoes of ten thousand lives crashing into his heart all at once.

"You think you've accepted your past, Xu Shen?"

A second voice now.

His voice.

"You haven't. You've just buried it."

He reached the sixth platform.

The light above him turned dark.

And then—he was no longer alone.

Standing across the bridge was another Xu Shen—older, cloaked in black flame, eyes burning red.

His 4,903rd life.

The Ash-Walker.

This version of him had once slaughtered an entire realm—consumed sects, destroyed cities, erased reincarnated souls not unlike Bai Ren.

He had embraced the Devourer completely.

"You're weak," the Ash-Walker said, stepping forward. "You're afraid of becoming me."

Xu Shen raised his saber.

"I don't fear you."

"Liar."

The Ash-Walker lunged.

Clash.

Their sabers met in midair—sparks scattering across the void. Xu Shen stepped back, blocked again. The Ash-Walker's movements were erratic, wild, merciless. He didn't care about defense. He struck like one who had nothing left to protect.

Xu gritted his teeth. Parried. Countered.

But each blow whispered truth:

"You abandoned them in life #93."

"You let her die in #1,044."

"You broke your vow in #78."

"You promised to never kill again. Then you burned a temple in #6."

His mind trembled.

The saber in his hands slowed.

"Why do you pretend you're any different?"

Xu dropped to one knee.

He stared at the void, chest rising and falling.

Then—

He laughed.

Quietly at first. Then louder.

The Ash-Walker paused mid-strike.

Xu looked up. "You're right."

He stood.

"I've failed. Lied. Killed. I've been selfish. I've run. I've done everything I swore I wouldn't."

"But that's why I won't become you."

"Because I remember everything. And I still want to be better."

He raised his saber again.

Not to strike.

But to devour.

[Devourer Core: Mirror Soul Detected]

[Consume Fragment?]

Yes.

The Ash-Walker roared as black tendrils burst from Xu Shen's chest, wrapping around him, pulling him in.

Screams. Flame. Memory collapse.

The saber shattered.

The fragment burned.

Xu fell to one knee again, gasping, sweat pouring from his skin.

The path ahead lit up with golden light.

[Trial Complete: Dao Bridge Crossed]

[Soul Integrity: Reinforced. Devourer Fragment Stability +3%]

A new gate appeared before him.

He stood slowly.

"I'm not done yet."

🌓 Somewhere beyond the trial…

A group of cloaked cultivators watched a mirror surface ripple.

One of them trembled. "He consumed a Mirror Soul…"

Another hissed. "That shouldn't be possible—not without full inheritance."

The tallest among them clenched his fists.

"Then the Devourer's Path… is awakening completely."