---
The moment Li Tianming opened his eyes, the world split.
Not in sound.
Not in pain.
But in layers.
The Raven Abyss faded from view, and instead, he stood in a broken world made of half-remembered truths — where time stuttered, and color dripped from the sky like paint.
> [Chaos Memory Activated: Fragment – "Tower of Chains"]
[Viewing through World-Bleed Vision – Duration: 300 seconds]
He looked around.
A vast wasteland stretched in every direction.
But at the center…
A tower loomed.
Impossible in size. Blacker than void. Wrapped in chains the size of cities, glowing faint red with runic bindings.
Each chain held a world, and each world screamed.
Tianming whispered to himself, "This… isn't just memory. This is imprisonment."
He stepped forward.
With each step, his skin burned with echo. Time folded.
Suddenly, he was in the past.
---
[Timeline View: 113 years before the Collapse]
The tower stood whole, fresh. No cracks.
A procession marched toward it — thousands of Chaos Seeds in full armor, led by twelve golden-armored figures. At their head, a man knelt — eyes blindfolded, body radiating unimaginable energy.
He was shackled with Chaos Runes carved into bone.
> "Is that… him?" Tianming asked.
The system answered, faintly.
> [Identity: Unknown. Codename: First Lord.]
[Status: Nullified. Mind-Split Protocol Engaged.]
One of the golden soldiers turned to the man and spat.
> "You gave them hope. You gave us chaos."
The First Lord didn't respond.
But Tianming felt something — as if the man could still see him, even through memory.
Suddenly, the vision shifted again — pulling him upward, toward the tower's peak.
At the top… there was a mirror.
A silver-framed monolith floating in black air.
Inside it — a reflection of Tianming, except older… and smiling like a monster.
> "So you're finally looking," it said.
Tianming froze.
> "You're not just a tool anymore," the reflection continued. "You're the crack in the cage."
> "Which means… they're going to hunt you differently now."
The mirror shimmered, and the reflection changed — it now showed the Tower burning, the chains breaking, and a figure stepping free from the core. But it wasn't Tianming.
It was the girl with silver eyes — Yue Xian'er — except… her eyes were now black.
> "They're grooming her."
> "To become the second Lord."
> "Unless you get there first."
Tianming clenched his fists.
> "What is this place really?"
The mirror rippled.
> "The Tower holds every Lord who failed."
"Or was erased."
"You're not the first. You won't be the last. But maybe—"
The voice faltered.
> "Maybe you'll be the one who remembers how to unseal it."
Suddenly—
A shriek tore through the void.
The tower shook.
The chains glowed red.
And the vision collapsed.
---
[Raven Abyss – Present]
Tianming gasped awake — chest heaving, Chaos Seal burning across his back like fire. The system pinged in a frenzy.
> [Chaos Eye – Origin Layer Stabilized]
[New Memory Fragment Locked: "The Tower Mirror"]
[New Trait Unlocked: Reflective Dissonance]
– Once per day, reflect a mental/spiritual attack and copy its technique for 3 seconds.
He looked around.
The Abyss was still. Silent. The Seeds were gone. The Mother was dust.
Only a single chain, half-submerged in the stone, remained.
He walked to it.
Engraved along its surface were twelve names, each one scratched out.
Except the last.
> "Li Tianming"
He stared, stunned.
> "How… is my name already here?"
The system replied quietly.
> [Time is no longer linear for you.]
> [Be careful what you touch next.]
---
[Elsewhere – The Land of the Rising Sun, Shrine Sector 7]
Yue Xian'er stood under falling sakura petals, holding her blade beneath a frozen waterfall. Her mentor — a blind woman with soul-tattoos on her face — stepped from the mist.
> "He saw the tower," Yue whispered.
> "Then his path is open," the elder replied.
"And so is yours. But remember…"
She pressed her finger to Yue's forehead.
> "Only one can survive the final chain."
---