Overdraw the future and become a peerless martial god

Chapter 196 Reflection Steps

[Recognizing...]

Chu Ning's consciousness jolted violently, and a jumble of whispered words rang in his ears:

"You...you're not from here..."

"The Soul Chain has been implanted in the outer seal... Origin unknown... Beacon drifting..."

"Source identification error... Unable to locate... Force parsing?"

The sound was like a blade, striking straight at the soul.

Chu Ning frowned sharply, his soul consciousness retreated instantly, and he forcibly mobilized the power of his sea of ​​consciousness to build a defensive barrier. A lightning-patterned soul screen appeared in his mind, attempting to block the scrutinizing voice that pierced his spiritual consciousness.

But the next moment, a bone-chilling pressure suddenly pierced through his sea of ​​consciousness.

"Shh-!"

The lightning-patterned soul barrier was torn apart like paper, and his sea of ​​consciousness seemed to be pried open, with a will that did not belong to any known living being surging in like a tide.

There was no language, no logic, only pure probing and tearing, as if he were nothing more than a fish on a stone table.

"what!"

He let out a low growl as excruciating pain exploded within him, and his consciousness abruptly shifted.

The screen began to collapse.

Instead of a linear unfolding of memory, it is fragmented, visually distorted fragments:

—A hand pressed against the cold mirror surface, which did not reflect light but "recorded" his fingerprints and soul breath;

—Some kind of inscription is being etched into the skin, causing excruciating pain that burns through the bone marrow, and a blurry, distorted spell pattern emerges in the blazing light;
—The distant star system collapsed, and the entire sky seemed to be torn apart by some kind of superdimensional structure, with billions of rays of light falling like broken swords;

—A voice murmured in my ear, its tone mechanical and deep, mixed with irregular noise, each word like a nail hammering into my nerves;

—A figure raised its head in the sealed soul pod, its face blurred by high-frequency interference, leaving only a pair of eyes swallowed by lightning.

Chu Ning couldn't understand.

He couldn't even stand up straight.

The soul was constantly being washed away, and waves of excruciating pain followed one after another, as if someone was cutting away every inch of the boundaries of consciousness with shattered lenses.

He knelt heavily on the ground, a short, muffled groan escaping his throat. His hands braced against the ground, the veins in his palms turning bluish-black, his soul lock throbbing wildly.

"Stop...!"

But the censors simply wouldn't listen.

It has no emotions, no intentions—it simply "identifies," simply "analyzes," simply—negates.

[Inconsistent understanding of origins]

[Identity refused to match]

[Marked as: Exogenous Fragment]

Immediately afterwards, a cold line of text appeared on the tattered page of the Soul Gate:
[Projection loading]

A fragment of his deepest consciousness was forcibly awakened.

The next moment, a scene "that does not belong to this world" appeared before my eyes.

It was a sky woven from metal and light. A huge boundary mirror slowly descended, inscriptions burned, and lightning and fire pierced through the body. A certain youth, in an almost sacrificial manner, pressed his entire source of consciousness into the core of his own soul lock.

[Loading interrupted]

[Source frequency corrupted, projection incomplete]

The scene suddenly shattered, and Chu Ning's soul sea almost collapsed. He coughed up a mouthful of soul blood, sweat pouring down his forehead, and nearly fainted.

He braced himself on the ground, his pupils constricted, his jaw clenched, and lightning energy continuously dissipated from his fingertips, causing the Soul Lock to tremble uncontrollably.

After a long while, the oppressive feeling subsided like a receding tide.

He finally slowly raised his head, his gaze vacant for a moment before gradually refocusing.

There was only one thought left in my mind:
"It refuses to acknowledge me."

But it was precisely because he refused that he was truly "recorded" by this relic.

He was no longer an observer, but the "variable" that had intruded.

[The next level boundary symbol appears]

[Coordinates being reconfigured]

He slowly stood up, lightning flashing, blood dripping from the corner of his lips. He did not turn around.

"Then let's see what you want me to see next."

Chu Ning passed through the end of the Soul Bridge, where the staircase formed from the fragments of the "Echoing Gate" slowly closed behind him.

The stone path beneath their feet suddenly trembled, as if the entire space had been perceived by some consciousness. A barely perceptible luster of runes seeped from the ground, illuminating layer by layer.

An ancient platform appeared ahead, its steps made entirely of dark gold soul rock, each step engraved with fragments of ancient script.

Three gilded characters are prominently displayed on the boundary marker:

"Reflecting the Steps"

He was jolted as soon as he stepped onto the first step.

A strange sense of peeling came quietly, as if a layer of the membrane of will within the body had been torn open by an invisible force, exposing it to the core "screening mechanism" of this space.

The ancient inscriptions on the steps suddenly began to move, as if sensing his soul, flickering, contracting, and intertwining erratically, as if some remnant consciousness was scanning, analyzing, and sifting through his existence.

The air has changed too.

No longer empty and cold, but thick, oppressive, and irritating, as if the remnants of his past battles were being "extracted" from this area and permeating back into the arena.

An unprecedented unease welled up in his heart.

It's as if something is being "peeled out" little by little.

He instinctively clenched his fist.

move on.

As he stepped onto the last step, the Soul Lock trembled slightly, and the surrounding space suddenly sank a layer.

He looked up and suddenly realized that there was a person standing at the end of the steps in front of him.

Their appearances were exactly the same; the Soul Lock levels, expressions, and even the details of the cape on the severed arm were identical.

But he suddenly felt an indescribable sense of disgust and familiarity that pierced his guard almost immediately.

The feeling wasn't like looking at a reflection in a mirror, but rather like having a part of him that he never dared to look at exposed to the light of day.

He felt a sharp pain in his stomach, and his soul became briefly unstable.

Chu Ning looked into his eyes.

Icy.

Hollow.

But in the next instant, a near-mad killing intent flashed across his face.

"..."

Chu Ning remained silent.

The "self" didn't speak, but slowly raised its hand, and the Soul Lock instantly erupted.

The four markings lit up simultaneously, and violent lightning burst forth from his palm, containing an attack stance that Chu Ning had never used before—uncontrolled release, a soul-burning explosion.

"...!"

Chu Ning dodged the lightning strike to the side, but felt a chill the moment his foot touched the ground:
"He anticipated my reaction."

"It's not about imitating me, but about knowing what I'll do next."

“…I see.” He murmured.

“It’s not a ‘mirror image,’ but rather, it’s a ‘materialization’ of my deepest fighting instincts, stripped of rationality.”

“This is the true… ‘Reflection of Body Rank’.”

The Soul Lock trembled again, and the person opposite him moved like a lightning shadow, attacking without any set moves, each strike aimed directly at vital points, completely disregarding the consumption of his own soul consciousness and not considering the preservation of his remaining strength.

It's him.

But it wasn't him.

It was that version of myself, deep down, who once wanted to "shatter the world in one battle," who once wanted to "stop life with killing," and who once wanted to "crush all destinies."

That was a fighting instinct forged by desire, unbound by reason and unrestricted by pity.

Chu Ning flipped out his right palm, and the Four-Patterned Soul Lock surged, with a lightning barrier opening in the air to block the close-range heavy blow.

But just as the battle was about to begin, Chu Ning, who was standing there, revealed a sly smile and whispered a sentence:
"You once thought: as long as I kill them, the world will be quiet." Chu Ning's expression hardened.

That sentence was a thought that slipped out of his mouth during a nightmare—a dark impulse that he himself had forgotten.

"...So you're still here."

He responded in a low voice, and lightning slowly gathered on the Soul Chain, no longer entirely on the defensive.

"That's fine too."

"Today, I'll leave you here."

The light and flames reignited, and the two "Chu Ning" figures collided violently in the dim light. The entire Soul Wall of the Body Reflection trembled, the earth patterns shook violently, and the black soul flashes were forcibly lengthened.

After the close combat, lightning tore through space, and the two figures intersected, creating several loud bangs amidst the shattered staircase patterns.

Chu Ning retreated steadily, his soul light in his palm weaving a triangular spiral slash. His soul intent twisted, and the arc of light did not directly target his body and mind, but instead slashed diagonally, cutting off the expected path of his attack.

“You are not ‘instinct’, you are just the version of yourself that has been repeatedly tested and missed.”

He whispered, took a step inward, moved closer, pointed his sword at the Soul Lock track, and launched a counterattack.

However, Ying Shen had no intention of dodging at all; it had no tactics and was not afraid of being injured.

The figure, resembling him, suddenly unleashed a roar almost like a beast's howl. His soul energy surged, lightning crackled, and he raised his hand to deliver a Soul-Splitting Slash. The force was so brutal that it almost shattered Chu Ning's "thinking space."

Each move was like a beast that had been trapped for too long, tearing itself out from its deepest "survival instinct".

It is mindless, yet its oppression is as vast as the sea.

Chu Ning was forced to retreat several steps, his breathing became disordered, and his mind was shaken.

At that moment, he finally understood:
The other party did not come to "kill him".

It comes—to completely devour him with his most untamed side.

Meanwhile, at Jingyunzhai.

Lei Jingjing suddenly opened her eyes.

The soul ring on her left wrist suddenly became scorching hot, as if needles were piercing her blood vessels. She gasped and pressed her wrist, cold sweat pouring down her forehead.

The blue crystal soul ring was now showing a very faint golden vein.

It wasn't the activation of the soul runes, but rather the awakening of some kind of extremely deep-seated sense.

"here we go again……"

She murmured softly, her breathing slightly disordered.

This is the second time the Soul Ring has acted strangely, but this time, it's not just pain.

Rather, it was an indescribable sense of familiarity.

It's as if this ring once recorded vibrations from somewhere, and now, it's being forcibly resonated with, awakening that remaining memory circuit.

"Boom."

Without any warning, a subtle yet sharp burning sensation suddenly emanated from the inner wall of the ring, as if an invisible needle had pierced the most sensitive part of the nerve.

Lei Jingjing suddenly opened her eyes, her pupils contracting.

The Soul Ring was trembling almost imperceptibly, and a crack that had never appeared before surfaced deep within the blue crystal.

As fine as a hair, yet it stirred up a thunderous echo in the soul.

She instinctively reached out and pressed her wrist, her palm instantly becoming soaked with cold sweat.

This is not due to external interference.

It's a kind of resonance.

A vague, intertwined resonance of soul consciousness that transcends space.

It was as if some force, from the depths of another world, called out and touched her "roots".

She stared blankly at her wrist for a long time before slowly uttering a sentence:

"Chu Ning... what are you risking your life for?"

The voice was so soft it was almost inaudible, yet it carried a deep worry and a subtle tremor.

Her brows furrowed deeper and deeper, and she closed her eyes again, but her mind could no longer find peace.

—The dim crack deep within the Soul Ring was still slowly expanding, as if some "dormant circuit" was being silently awakened.

Outside the Soul Map Pavilion, the mirror world's afterimages are synchronized.

Yu Xingshui suddenly looked up at the projection of the broken stele in the Soul Map Pavilion. His soul light dimmed abruptly, and the mirror talisman in his hand trembled uncontrollably.

"...The Mirror of Boundaries cannot simulate his combat structure."

"—Is he fighting against his own primal combat skills and will?"

Her gaze faltered, and she whispered:

"That soul lock is indeed something we can't deduce."

Chu Ning's arm trembled violently, and lightning burst forth instantly. He retreated rapidly in the light and shadow, his steps light and unsteady, leaving several deep marks on the soul steps.

His chest heaved violently, and lightning flashed in his eyes, but he did not take advantage of the situation to pursue.

And the "reflection" stopped moving at that moment, stood at the end of the steps, and chuckled softly.

The laughter was like iron nails scraping against a stone slab, dry and harsh, but without any hostility.

It looked at Chu Ning, then suddenly spoke, its voice hollow and distant:

"...You've come too early."

"Before the true nature of things is fully revealed, we must inquire about their origins."

"You think you're looking for your 'past'?"

It raised its fingertip and gently touched Chu Ning's heart:

"You've simply... stepped into someone else's memory."

The next instant, the heavens and earth shook violently.

The "Reflection" suddenly exploded into countless fragments of light, the thunderous aura dissipated, leaving only a thin, knife-like soul pattern on the spot, like a memory thread that had been deeply cut open.

[Second stage passed]

[Understanding the Source, Reflecting the Echoes]

[The third ring mechanism, the Realm of Severed Memories, is about to open.]

The platform shattered, and a crack snaked down from the bottom of the platform, revealing a semi-transparent soul vein passage.

Within the soul vein, the shadowy "soul mirror floating points" slowly rotated, like the nodes and veins in the memory seal, extending into the dark domain below.

Chu Ning stared at the floating soul line for a long time with a complicated expression, until the fourth soul lock trembled again, guiding his direction.

He stepped down.

Lightning flashed beneath his tattered sleeve, yet remained silent.

The moment his footsteps landed in the "Memory Severance Domain," in an unknown area deep within the entire Lock Source Ruins, a boundary marker that had been sealed and dormant for a long time appeared.

suddenly--

A slight movement.

The once silent boundary marker was first covered with countless fine cracks. From these cracks, bluish-purple light threads seeped out. These threads moved and converged like living things, eventually condensing into the character "宁" with great difficulty, stroke by stroke.

The moment the words were written, the light suddenly shone brightly and then quickly receded, as if it had exhausted its strength.

At almost the same moment, deep within the Mirror Abyss Archives at the Soul Map Pavilion, a martial artist in charge of investigation suddenly realized that an old scroll had automatically popped out, revealing a blurry black outline.

— He looks like a teenager.

But its form was obscured by the heavy aura of lightning; the only thing clearly visible was that one beam of light:
The four-patterned Soul Lock is embedded in the left palm.

The soul meridian passage was deep and silent, its light as still as water.

Chu Ning slowly stepped in.

The stone bridge beneath our feet is made of translucent soul crystals, with faint gray-white patterns all over it, as if it has been constantly washed by time, revealing layers of interwoven "memory marks".

Above them was a collapsed void, like a starless night, where even the soul's senses became dull and chaotic.

The lightning breath could not be fully released; the soul lock seemed to be wrapped in a thick membrane of death, only able to vibrate but unable to perceive what lay ahead.

—It was as if the entire space did not belong to the "present".

Rather, it lies on the edge of a certain memory.

(End of this chapter)