Chapter 10: The Dance of Blades and Truths

The sun dipped below the blood-red horizon of Skydusk Plateau, its waning light casting golden veins across the cracked ground. Whispers of fate hummed through the air like a symphony of ancient strings plucked by the gods themselves.

Ashen stood at the center of the trial ground, surrounded by hundreds of disciples-in-training, all cloaked in the blue-and-silver robes of the Sky Temple Sect. A vast arena of spiraling runes beneath their feet flickered to life.

"Candidate Number Thirteen," the cold voice of the Grand Examiner echoed, as if carved from mountain wind, "Face your Trial of Truth."

Ashen took a step forward.

The moment his foot touched the rune circle, the world turned. Reality blurred.

Ashen found himself standing in an endless void. Before him hovered three mirrors, each with its own aura:

The Mirror of Desire, glowing golden, showing Ashen sitting upon a throne of stars, galaxies weeping at his command.

The Mirror of Fear, shadowed, showing his lifeless body surrounded by ruins, his family lost, his soul erased.

The Mirror of Truth, silent, dull, and grey.

He took a breath, remembering the voices of those who guided him: Elder Rain's teachings, Yae's laughter, and… the silent gaze of the war god statue that still lingered in his mind.

Ashen stepped toward the grey mirror.

Pain seared through him.

Visions stabbed into his heart memories he never lived. Wars on distant stars. A white dragon bleeding in his arms. A girl with nine tails, watching him from across time.

The mirror cracked.

His own reflection emerged not as he was, but as he was meant to become: cloaked in divine winds, eyes like dying suns, a fan of eternity in one hand and a broken sword in the other.

He opened his mouth, and his reflection spoke:

"The one who devours stars must first devour himself."

The void shattered.

Back in the arena, silence hung like thunder held back.

Ashen stood motionless. Blood trickled from his nose. The rune circle had turned completely gold.

Gasps spread like wildfire.

"Perfect Truth resonance!" someone cried.

The Grand Examiner rose to his feet. "Record this. Mark it in the Celestial Archives. In ten thousand years, no one… has awakened the Star-Eater Path. Until now."

Ashen blinked.

The world, once again, had changed.