The fortress of Shen Lu stood at the center of the Duality Realm, an ancient citadel suspended in a void between light and shadow. Its walls breathed with power, woven from celestial iron and abyssal stone, the bones of creation and ruin. Ethereal rivers flowed through the halls, glowing with blue fire and silver mist. Statues of faceless gods lined the great corridors, each one cloaked in a shroud of silence and judgment.
At its heart lay the Sanctum of Balance, a vast chamber domed with skies that never changed. One half glowed like day, with sunlight spilling from nothingness; the other swirled with starless black, swallowing all that dared to look too long. The floor was a mirror, obsidian on one side, pale crystal on the other. The boundary between them shimmered constantly, never still.
And there, seated on a throne made of fused contradictions..of fire and ice, stone and wind, sat Shen Lu, the Duality.
His form was veiled in robes that shifted between black and white like the turning of time. One eye burned with celestial gold. The other, with void-blue coldness. Even in stillness, power radiated from him like a blade unsheathed.
But his expression was not one of peace.
It was of thought. Deep. Dark. Troubled.
The prophecy pulsed in the back of his mind like a wound reopened.
"From silence shall the voice rise…
From the forgotten shall the fate awaken…
And what was sealed in balance shall tilt once more."
For centuries he had ensured that prophecy remained shackled..its truth buried, its actors scattered. He had moved pieces in shadow, broken worlds, silenced names. All to prevent what now felt… inevitable.
A sudden tremor rolled through the chamber. A portal bloomed open like a tear in the fabric of space, and a man stumbled through it.
He dropped to one knee the moment he crossed the threshold, his breathing heavy, his robes stained with ash and blood. The flickering light of the sanctum caught the wildness in his eyes..anguish, desperation, fear.
"My Lord Shen Lu," he rasped, head bowed so low it nearly touched the polished floor.
Shen Lu did not rise.
His voice, however, struck like thunder:
"Where is Ling Xuan?"
No greeting. No ceremony.
Just the question.
The man swallowed hard. His voice cracked.
"...He's dead."
The air grew still. The light above flickered.
Shen Lu's fingers curled on the arm of his throne.
"The scroll," he said, immediately.
The man froze. And in that hesitation, everything collapsed.
Shen Lu's presence darkened. A wave of raw, suffocating pressure swept through the chamber. The dual skies above his throne began to twist.
The man's voice was small. Trembling.
"...It fell."
Silence.
"What do you mean, it fell?"
The words struck like a blade.
"I...during the fight,"the man stammered. "Ling Xuan was struck. The scroll was released. It slipped through the veil before I could catch it. I tried to follow, but the gate was sealed before I..."
Shen Lu rose.
And the chamber shivered.
He had not moved in an age, but now each step toward the kneeling man echoed like thunder through the walls of the fortress.
He could have gone himself. Of course he could have.
He was the Duality...the one who held both beginning and end in his palm. The strongest being bornwith all four energy systems, the master of balance between the four pillars of the world. No HeavenKeeper, no EarthKeeper, no divine heir could match his command.
And yet he had sent others.
He had thought them sufficient.
He was wrong.
He stopped before the man, who trembled visibly.
"Begin the search," Shen Lu ordered coldly. "Send word to the mortal realm. Dispatch scouts in silence. The scroll must be found." He paused. "Immediately."
The man nodded frantically. "Yes, my lord. Yes..."
Shen Lu continued, his voice quiet now. Quieter..and more dangerous.
"Not all must know of this failure. Not all are worthy of the truth. EarthKeepers and HeavenKeepers alike..only those with unshakable loyalty and vision may be informed. The rest..." His gaze drifted toward the mirrored floor. "Let them sleep in ignorance."
A long pause followed.
The man remained kneeling, barely daring to breathe.
Then Shen Lu turned his back and slowly returned to his throne. As he sat, the stars above seemed to still once more, but the tension remained.
That fear. That cursed fear that had haunted him for centuries.
The prophecy is awakening.
The balance is shifting.
The scroll... has fallen into the wrong hands. Maybe.
Different thoughts rallying in Shen Lu's mind.
And with it, the first threads of fate were beginning to unravel.
But fate, Shen Lu believed..still believed...could be forged anew.
He looked into the mirrored sky, into the heart of both his dominions, and spoke aloud to no one:
"Fate can still be changed."
Then his voice dropped to a whisper..one name, spoken with weight and dread..
"Also check…" he paused.
"Yanzhou.."
The man's eyes widened.
Even that name was not one to be spoken lightly. Not even here.
He bowed deeper, pressing his forehead to the cold stone floor.
"Yes, my lord."
And with that, he vanished, leaving Shen Lu alone in the shifting shadows of prophecy and fear.
---
The man who had delivered the grim news was Cao Ruo, one of the most trusted and formidable HeavenKeepers in the Duality Realm. His name had once struck awe into those who had heard of him..his power and influence among the highest of HeavenKeepers had earned him a position second only to the most revered of the Duality's elite, being born with three energy systems..Qi, Mana and Prana.
But now, as he knelt before Shen Lu, his once-proud form was bent under the weight of failure, trembling under the heat of Shen Lu's gaze. The lingering dread in his heart was palpable. He had let the scroll slip through his fingers...and with it, the very future of the realms seemed uncertain.
Even as Shen Lu issued his orders, Cao Ruo's mind swirled with images of what had happened, the regret tightening around his chest like a vice.
But now, there was only one task left... 'find the scroll, before it could change the course of the world forever.'