The door rumbled shut behind him.

Aaryan stood still, eyes adjusting to the dim, quiet expanse ahead. The chamber wasn't massive, but it felt like it held weight—not just in stone, but in memory. Ancient memory.

Near the centre, a tree grew from the cold floor—its bark the colour of old moonlight, its roots like veins etched into obsidian. The fruits hanging from it looked unearthly: glowing faintly, shifting colours like the sky just before dawn. They hovered slightly, swaying in a breeze that didn't exist.

But Aaryan's eyes drifted past it—to the far end of the room.

There lay a stone coffin. Weathered yet imposing. In front of it, a pedestal. And on that pedestal, suspended just above its surface, floated a golden orb, pulsing gently like a beating heart.

Curiosity tugged stronger than caution, for once, and he moved toward the tree. A fruit shimmered as he drew near, beckoning like a whisper.

He reached out.

A step closer.

And—nothing. Not pain. Not force. But resistance. As though the air had turned thick, refusing to let him pass. Like the tree simply… didn't acknowledge him.

Aaryan frowned. Took another step. Still nothing.

"Alright, that's fine," he muttered, folding his arms and eyeing the fruit. "Stay there. Rot for eternity for all I care. I didn't want your cosmic apple-pear hybrids anyway."

He exhaled sharply, letting the snarl cool off his slight embarrassment. Turning away, he walked toward the stone coffin. The closer he came, the quieter everything felt, as if the very air around the tomb's owner demanded stillness.

He stopped before the coffin and lowered his head.

"I don't know your name," he said quietly, "but you were strong. And even in death, you're still teaching. So… thank you."

It wasn't rehearsed. It wasn't dramatic. Just genuine.

Then he looked to the orb.

It pulsed brighter as he approached, hovering above its pedestal like it weighed nothing. Treasure? Key? Or something else entirely?

He reached out.

Whump.

His palm slammed into empty air. The orb didn't budge. A shiver ran through the invisible barrier, humming softly with restrained power.

Aaryan groaned, rubbing his wrist. "Right. Of course. Tomb hates me."

He stepped back, eyeing the orb, then the tree, then the entire chamber with growing suspicion.

"Is this a test? A moral lesson? A divine punishment because I didn't buy into your whole 'we are same' recruitment ad?"

He threw up his hands. "What's next? I get smited for not crying during the dramatic statue monologue?"

A laugh echoed through the chamber.

Not loud. Not mocking. Just… amused.

Aaryan froze mid-grumble. "What now?" he whispered, glancing around.

The sound didn't bounce from walls. It slipped in like smoke—weightless, but inescapable.

"So typical of you," a voice said, warm with dry sarcasm, "to jump to the worst conclusion. And with such confidence, too."

Aaryan spun.

Where there had been nothing—only shadow and stone—there was now a figure. Half-draped in flowing robes of deep silver and black, he stood a few paces from the tree, as if he'd always been there, just waiting for the right moment to be noticed.

The man's face was familiar.

Not identical to the statue in the earlier chamber—but close. The same piercing eyes. The same sharp cheekbones. But younger. Harsher. Alive.

Aaryan instinctively reached toward his ring to retrieve a dagger—then paused. If this man could appear in a sealed chamber and make mocking banter out of nowhere, a fight wasn't going to go well.

"…You're not the guy from the statue," Aaryan said slowly. "Too expressive. Too alive. Unless death's done wonders for your sense of humour."

"I'll take that as a compliment," the figure said. He stepped forward, hands behind his back, gaze sweeping over the orb, the tree, the coffin. "He was my brother."

Aaryan blinked.

"Wait. The tomb owner?"

The man inclined his head. "The very one."

He looked at Aaryan then, really looked—and there was something like curiosity in his eyes. Something searching.

"That voice…" Aaryan narrowed his eyes. "You're the one who walked out of the wall, in that chamber full of shadows."

"I am," the man said. "I've been watching. You're entertaining, I'll give you that. Stubborn. Reckless. Always assuming the world's out to trick you—but still loyal, even when it burns."

Aaryan scratched his neck, uncomfortable under the gaze. "So, What is this, then? A reward? A warning? More cryptic riddles about legacy and destiny?"

The man smiled faintly. "Maybe a bit of both."

He gestured toward the orb. "You want answers? You want this? Then ask the right question."

"So, mystery man who isn't a ghost—mind telling me what's going on here? Who are you? What's with the floating fruit, the shiny orb, the invisible walls, and the death-trial-aesthetic theme park I just stumbled through?"

The man let out a quiet breath that might've been a laugh.

"Fair questions."

He turned slightly, facing the tree as its fruit pulsed faintly, shifting colours with a slow, hypnotic rhythm.

"My brother and I came from a distant land. Far beyond anything you've seen or heard of in this corner of the world. We were born into a powerful lineage. Our father led the family—respected not just for his strength, but for the pride he took in his sons."

A pause. A shadow flickered in his expression.

"In the beginning, things were simple. We trained together. Laughed together. Dreamed of walking the heavens side by side. But cultivation… Favours few. And the heavens are not fair."

He paused. "I had more talent. So, I was given more resources. More attention."

Aaryan's lips twitched, but he said nothing.

"My brother tried. Harder than anyone. But the more he gave, the wider the gap grew. No one saw what it did to him. Or maybe they did, and just didn't care. He became quiet. Bitter—not just toward our family, but toward the world. He stopped trusting anyone. Not even me."

The man looked down at the pedestal. The orb still pulsed with life.

"I tried. Gave him my time, my resources. I reminded him of who we used to be. But maybe that just made things worse. Made him feel smaller. One day, he left. No warning. He'd heard whispers of a cultivation technique—something ancient and dangerous. He went after it. Alone."

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Aaryan was still now. The snark had drained from his eyes.

"I followed when I found out. But I was too late. Cultivators had gathered, eager to seize the technique. They had surrounded him but I fought my way to him."

The man's voice dropped, low and heavy.

"He was dying."

Silence stretched in the chamber like mist.

"In those last moments… he smiled. The first real smile in years. It was like we were children again. Like all the bitterness had burned away at the edge of death."

He didn't speak for a long while.

"I held him as he died. Then I killed every last one of them."

Aaryan swallowed.

"I returned home, but everything was hollow. The halls. The sky. Even the stars. So, I made this tomb. Not just to honour him—but to search."

Aaryan's voice was soft. "Search for what?"

"For someone like him. Someone with his flaws. His fury. His brilliance. But someone who still had the chance to choose differently."

He looked at Aaryan.

"This tomb appears every few centuries, in different corners of the world. Thousands have entered. Brave ones. Cowards. Saints. Monsters. But none of them reached this chamber. None walked through the wall of shadows."

Aaryan blinked. "So, the upper room—the six scrolls, the chaos—that was all a setup?"

"Not a trap," the man said. "A stage. A filter. From the moment someone steps into the tomb, I can observe their choices. The trials before the scroll chamber test nature, not strength. And only those with echoes of my brother's spirit—those clever, driven, and burdened—are allowed to attempt the path here."

He gestured around them.

"But no one ever passed. Some were too naïve. Some, too greedy. Others cracked under their own pride. In ten thousand years, you are the first."

Aaryan exhaled. "Right. No pressure, then."

The man chuckled, not unkindly.

Aaryan hesitated. "I passed. Why?"

The man tilted his head.

"As I said, I look for those like my brother: resourceful, intelligent, suspicious by nature. Isolated. Distrustful. Need me to go on?"

Aaryan's lips twitched. 'So, this is what being read like a book feels like.'

"And you're an interesting one," the man added. "I can observe everything in this tomb, and yet… I couldn't see you when you were in the pond."

Aaryan tensed. 'The Egg.'

'The dragon said it wouldn't be seen if it didn't want to," he muttered. "Didn't think that meant this powerful…'

'What if he wants the egg? What if—'

The man raised an eyebrow, clearly enjoying Aaryan's internal panic.

"Again, leaping to the worst-case scenario."

Aaryan gave a sheepish grin.

"Enough of your questions," the man said. "Now answer one of mine. Why are you the way you are?"

Aaryan went quiet. He stared at the orb, then back at the man.

"Why am I the way I am? You mean suspicious, annoying, and incredibly charming?"

He smirked—but it faded just as quickly.

"I grew up knowing no one was coming to save me. No parents. No friends. No hand waiting to pull me up. Just me—and a hundred ways to lose before noon."

He took a slow breath.

"When you live like that, you figure something out: survival isn't about strength. It's about control. Control over your path. Your risks. Your fate."

His gaze flicked back to the orb.

"I don't trust fate. Or legacy. Or destiny. All that ever meant to me was someone else deciding I wasn't worth the effort. So, I made a rule—if I fall, it'll be because I jumped. Not because someone else pushed me."

The man nodded slowly, a quiet smile in his eyes.

"An interesting way to live."

"No ancient wisdom to counter that?" Aaryan asked.

"Not yet."

Aaryan frowned at the orb. "So, what now? Do I get a fruit? A glowing ball? A cryptic riddle and a pat on the back?"

The man tilted his head. "If I believed you were destined to follow my brother's path, I'd give you the orb and send you on your way. But you… I want to see where you go. What heights you can reach."

Aaryan narrowed his eyes. "So… another trial?"

The man sighed theatrically. "Enough sulking. Fine. A reward first. Then the test."

Aaryan grinned. "That's more like it."

The man's smile faded into something calmer, more serious. "Sit. Calm your mind. Let your thoughts settle like dust."

Aaryan tilted his head. "This isn't some spiritual scam, right?"

"Sit."

"Alright, alright, no need to glare." Aaryan folded his legs and dropped into a training position, hands on knees, back straight. He sucked in a breath, trying to push down the buzz of excitement humming through his limbs.

The man stepped closer. "Don't resist," he said quietly, and tapped a single finger against Aaryan's forehead.

In an instant, it felt like the world shattered.

Aaryan's eyes shot open as an overwhelming tide of energy surged into him. Heat—blinding, brutal—roared through his veins like molten lava He gasped, body trembling, teeth on the verge of cracking. It was like being dipped into the core of a star, every cell screaming at once.

Then, something clicked.

The Purification Sutra.

It activated on its own, like a reflex, a shield woven from habit and desperation. The pain dulled—not gone, but no longer unbearable. The energy flooded in, refining, sharpening.

He hurriedly closed his eyes and calmed his mind.

His cultivation tore through the third and fourth stages, landing squarely in the fifth and still kept rising. Aaryan's mind reeled. 'What the—this is insane!'

The energy spent to go from 3rd stage to 5th was laughable compared to the surge flooding his body. He'd poured his soul into climbing one stage before—and now he was breaking through levels like a hot knife through tofu.

From the side-lines, the man watched silently.

Then his expression shifted. He sighed. And shook his head.

Mid 5th. Peak 5th. 6th. 7th. 8th. 9th stage Body Tempering—Peak.

Aaryan felt the bottleneck of the Qi Condensation Stage tremble beneath the weight of power swelling inside him.

'I might break through right now!'

Excitement burst in his chest like fireworks. 'Qi Condensation. I'll be at the level of inner sect disciples. No—stronger than them, equal to elders. I'll punch that smug Shivul in the face. In the soul, even.'

But then—

WHUMP.

A sudden pull yanked from somewhere in his body. A chill swept through him, cutting through the heat.

"Wha—what the hell?!"

His cultivation began to drop.

Late 9th. Mid 9th. Early 9th.

'No no no NO—'

8th stage.

The suction was unmistakable now. Aaryan's face twisted. He could feel it—like a baby leech, only way worse.

'The egg.'

"You little freeloader! Stop! Bad egg! BAD!"

He imagined it lounging inside him, sunglasses on, sipping all the spiritual juice like it was a spa day.

'Oh wow, thanks Aaryan, I was just parched. You didn't need that power, right?'

"YES. YES, I DID."

From the side, the man blinked. His brows lifted slightly, caught between surprise and amusement.

Aaryan was wailing inside his mind. "It's robbing me! This little unborn thief is robbing me blind!"

He could practically hear the egg humming with satisfaction. Hoo boy, tasty-tasty energy! Five stars.

After a few more moments of tragic energy embezzlement, the process slowed. Aaryan's eyes fluttered open. He stared at his hands, flexed his fingers… then groaned.

Early 8th stage Body Tempering.

He'd advanced five stages—a monstrous feat by any standard—but he still looked like someone had just cancelled his birthday.

"I feel like I was given a divine inheritance and then mugged by my own kidney," he muttered bitterly.

Aaryan sat cross-legged, arms limp at his sides, his face the picture of betrayal. He stared at the floor like it had personally insulted him.

From the side, the man burst into laughter. It was a deep, knowing laugh, filled with amusement and just a hint of mischief. "You just leapt five whole stages in a single sitting. Most would be weeping with joy, and here you are—looking like your dog ran off with your spirit stones."

Aaryan scowled. "It's nothing."

"Oh?" The man's grin widened. "Then what's with that look of someone who just got pickpocketed by fate?"

"I said it's nothing, alright?" Aaryan replied quickly, waving him off. 'Not like I can tell him a parasitic cosmic egg freeloaded my entire power-up buffet...'

The man chuckled again, then folded his arms. "So, you're wondering about the test, aren't you?"

Aaryan perked up. "Wait—that was the test?"

"You passed."

"…Huh?" Aaryan blinked. "That was the test? But—how? My cultivation shot up like a drunk goose on a rocket. I didn't do anything! There was no fight, no puzzle, no challenge! That was just a gift!"

The man raised an eyebrow. "You think resisting temptation is not a test?"

Aaryan's brows furrowed in confusion. The man continued, voice calm but pointed.

"It's easy to walk away from food you've never tasted. Like in the trial—when the treasures appeared but you never knew their true power, so the temptation was distant, unknown, you gave them up, since you had no idea about their worth." He stepped forward. "But what if the plate is right in front of you? Sweet, warm, just one bite? Then what?"

He gave a slight smirk.

"It's easy to say no to wine if you've never drunk. Harder when it's on your lips."

Aaryan's breath caught.

"If you had used all the energy given to you," the man said, "you would've broken through to the fifth or sixth stage of Qi Condensation. Easily."

Aaryan's eyes widened.

"But your future would've ended there. That path burns fast—and burns out faster. Your foundation would've been bloated, brittle. The ones who came before you made that mistake. They feasted, thinking they'd been blessed by the heavens. And they shattered later, long before reaching Core Formation."

"I—" Aaryan struggled for words. "You said… I was the first to enter this chamber in ten thousand years."

The man gave a dramatic shrug. "Well, I'm not as cunning as you or my brother, but I do know a thing or two about misleading words."

Aaryan gave him a flat look. "So, you lied."

The man grinned. "If one believes they're special, they tend to lose their grip on reality. They stray. They get lazy. I've seen too many prideful geniuses walk into ruin thinking the heavens owed them something."

Aaryan stared, thoughts reeling. "What happened to the others? The ones who came before?"

"They broke through to Qi Condensation here. Then were sent out." His tone grew cooler. "Without the orb. Without memories of me. Or the trials leading to this chamber."

A chill danced down Aaryan's spine.

"They believed they had simply found a lucky inheritance, surged in power, and left—none the wiser that they had failed."

The man walked over and tapped the floor with his foot. "To pass this test, you had to show restraint in the face of pure greed. Since you showed restraint, I was going to help you expel the excess energy, keeping just enough to safely strengthen your foundation."

He glanced sideways. "But you didn't need my help. Which is… interesting."

Aaryan tensed. "I, uh, have my ways."

The man studied him for a moment longer, then chuckled. "Doesn't matter. You passed. That's what matters."

Aaryan smiled weakly.

'Thank you, Egg. You absolute gluttonous parasite, thank you.'

In his head, a full comedic monologue spun to life.

'You little cosmic sponge, you energy-chugging loaf! You saved my future! You didn't even ask, just barged in and slurped down my destiny like it was soup—but I forgive you! This once!'

He let out a breath and nodded to himself.

'Still gonna curse you later, though.'

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