426: Chapter 426 The Mirror World

Ye Tian's brows furrowed tightly.

This place was too eerie.

He tried to project his spiritual sense; it spread out without any hindrance, extending to its limit, yet it remained a greyish-white void with nothing there.

He couldn't even feel the sensation of his spiritual sense "hitting a wall" or "extending"; it was as if it had been thrown into a void.

"Don't move, everyone. Meditate and regulate your breathing right where you are," Ye Tian said in a low voice. "There's something strange about this place. First, we..."

Before he could finish, the greyish-white "ground" beneath their feet and the "walls" around them suddenly rippled like water!

Immediately after, smooth, mirror-like greyish-white "walls" rose and extended from all directions, instantly separating everyone!

"Watch out!"

Amidst the startled cries, Ye Tian felt his vision blur, and Shui Qingdie, Qin Pojun, and the others beside him vanished instantly!

He was trapped by a suddenly rising mirror wall in a small space only about two zhang square!

Above, below, left, right, front, and back—all six sides were polished greyish-white mirrors, reflecting countless silhouettes of himself, layer upon layer, extending to the end of his vision, making him dizzy.

"Senior Sister Shui! Brother Qin! Xiahou Ba!" Ye Tian shouted sharply. His voice collided and echoed within the mirrored space, creating a buzzing reverberation, but he received no response.

He tried to punch one of the mirror walls, but it didn't budge.

Chaos True Essence surged into his fist, and he struck out fiercely!

*Bang!*

The muffled explosion erupted in the small space, making his eardrums ache.

The mirror wall... remained perfectly intact, without even a single crack.

Instead, the counterforce sent his blood and Qi churning, aggravating his injuries and bringing a sweet taste of blood to his throat again.

Physical attacks were useless.

He tried to penetrate it with his spiritual sense, but as soon as it touched the mirror surface, it vanished without a trace, like a clay ox entering the sea.

sword unsheathed, and Sword Qi slashed against the mirror. Aside from leaving a fleeting glimmer of light, it was equally useless.

He was completely trapped.

Inside a mirror cage with only himself and countless reflections.

"Mirror... Abyss?" An ancient Formation term Dongfang Xinghe had mentioned before flashed through Ye Tian's mind, but the scene before him was far more bizarre than any described Formation.

He forced himself to calm down, sat cross-legged to regulate his breathing, and carefully observed the surrounding mirrors.

The "selves" in the mirrors sat down at the same time, their movements perfectly synchronized. Countless pairs of eyes stared back at him, making his skin crawl.

Time passed bit by bit—perhaps it was short, perhaps it was long.

In an environment that had completely lost all references to time and space, one's perception of time quickly became blurred.

Loneliness began to creep up silently, eroding his mind.

After staring at them for a long time, those reflections in the mirrors seemed to develop lives of their own; their gazes appeared to change, carrying mockery or indifference.

Ye Tian knew that this was likely the true "test" of this place.

Not swords, not Spells, but this absolute silence that could drive a person mad.

He closed his eyes, circulating the Illusory Sea Heart Sutra to guard his spiritual platform.

But his thoughts drifted uncontrollably.

He thought of Li Xuanxiao's bone-chilling sword strike outside the Flame Cave, the decisiveness with which he threw the fire element mark in front of the palace gates, the unconscious Ghost Girl, Shui Qingdie's worried eyes, and Qin Pojun and Xiahou Ba...

How were they doing now?

Were they also trapped in their own mirror cages like him?

Or... had they already met with misfortune?

Irritability began to brew.

He snapped his eyes open, and the countless versions of him in the mirrors did the same, their gazes seemingly carrying the same irritability.

"Something's wrong..." Ye Tian took a deep breath and closed his eyes again.

I can't panic.

The more I panic, the easier it is to be swallowed by this hellish place.

He tried to sink his mind into his Sea of Consciousness to communicate with the chaos bead.

The chaos bead floated quietly, its clear light flowing, seemingly unaffected by the external environment.

But when he tried to use the power of the chaos bead to sense the outside world, what he got back was still that despairing, boundless mirror-like void.

Just as his mind was gradually calming down and he began to think of a way to break the situation...

*Tap.*

An extremely faint sound suddenly rang out from the direction of the mirror on his left.

Ye Tian's eyes snapped open as he turned his head to look.

The mirror on the left was as smooth as before, reflecting his own alert figure turning his head.

The sound... was it a hallucination?

Or...

*Tap.*

Another sound.

This time, it was on the right.

Ye Tian gripped the sword tightly, every muscle in his body tensed.

It wasn't a hallucination.

*Tap, tap, tap...*

Sounds began to ring out from all directions, becoming denser and louder. At first, they sounded like raindrops, but they gradually merged together into a pitter-patter of rain, eventually sounding like the roar of a waterfall!

Yet the mirror surfaces remained smooth, without any trace of water.

Amidst the roar of this eerie "rain," Ye Tian stared fixedly at the mirror directly in front of him.

Suddenly, his pupils constricted!

In the mirror, among the countless reflections, the "him" that was "closest" turned the corners of its mouth upward against the backdrop of the overwhelming "rain."

A bizarre smile that he definitely hadn't made.

That smile made Ye Tian's muscles tense up, and cold sweat seeped from the palm gripping the sword.

He was certain he wasn't smiling, but the "him" in the mirror was.

The air froze.

Only that omnipresent, increasingly loud "rain" hammered against every inch of the space.

"Who are you?" Ye Tian spoke, his voice creating a brief echo in the sealed mirror cage before being swallowed by the sound of rain.

The curve of the reflection's mouth remained unchanged, but its eyes seemed to move.

Then, Ye Tian "saw" the reflection's lips move slightly. No sound came out, but a voice rang clearly in his mind.

It was exactly the same as his own, but the tone was flatter and colder: "I am you."

"Bullshit." Ye Tian suppressed the chill in his heart and sneered. "Playing tricks. What is this place? Where are my companions?"

"This is the Mirror Abyss. A place that reflects reality," the reflection's voice said without any emotion. "Your companions are in their own 'realities.' As for me..."

The reflection slowly raised its hand, its movements perfectly synchronized with Ye Tian's.

But Ye Tian saw clearly that he hadn't raised his own hand.

"I said, I am you." The reflection's finger lightly touched its own chest, and a ripple spread across the mirror surface. "I am the parts you dare not admit, the parts you are unwilling to face."

"Which parts?" Ye Tian stared at it, the Chaos True Essence in his body quietly accelerating its flow.

He tried to lock onto the reflection with his spiritual sense, but it was like a stone sinking into the ocean.

"Fear." The reflection spat out the word, the eerie smile on its face deepening. "You are afraid of death.

In the Flame Cave, facing that finger from the old Yuan Dan monster, you were so scared your bones were rattling.

In front of the palace gates, when Li Xuanxiao's sword was against your throat, you were so scared your blood ran cold. You were just pretending not to be afraid."

Ye Tian silence.

He cannot deny it.

Any human would fear death, and he was no exception.

But he simply gripped his sword tighter.

"Doubt." The reflection continued, "You wonder where the chaos bead came from and why it chose you.

You wonder why the remnant soul of Venerable Jiehuo latched onto you.

You wonder how many schemes are on this path, whether you are a chess piece, or... something else."

"And, anger."

The reflection's gaze changed, taking on a ferocity familiar to Ye Tian. "Anger at Li Xuanxiao's sneak attack, anger at the Nangong Family's bullying, anger at these never-ending tests of this damn Secret Realm.

You really want to kill people. You really want to plunge your sword into the chests of those who stand in your way, don't you?"

"Are you finished?" Ye Tian interrupted it, his voice returning to calmness. "Who doesn't have a bit of fear, a bit of doubt, or a bit of temper in their heart?

What are you trying to prove with just that?

That you are me?

Then if I want to slash this damn mirror right now, why aren't you moving?"

The reflection fell silent for a moment. Then, that eerie smile slowly faded, becoming expressionless, even... somewhat hollow.

"Is that not enough?" it murmured, as if asking itself. "Then... how about this?"