### **Chapter 3: Crucible of Souls**
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#### **1. The Price of Survival**
Chen Zhen floated in the void of his own mind, Shanggu Julong's words echoing: *"A crucible. A temporary home."*
Before him, the souls of Shanggu Feng and Lou Tai hung suspended in golden chains—the dragon reduced to a scarred warrior in tattered robes, the phoenix heir a smoldering silhouette of ash and embers. Julong stood between them, his azure robes rippling with static.
*"Your bodies are gone,"* Julong said, *"but your pride remains. How tedious."*
Shanggu Feng strained against his bonds. *"You expect me to share a *mortal's* flesh? I'd sooner fade!"*
Lou Tian's fiery gaze narrowed at Chen. *"And you. You reek of that *void world*. How is your fragile mind still intact?"*
Julong sighed. *"Enough. You've no choice. This boy is your anchor—and you, his teachers."*
Chen's spectral form flickered. *"Teachers? They tried to kill each other!"*
*"Exactly,"* Julong said. *"Balance requires conflict. Now, hold still."*
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#### **2. The Merging**
The chains snapped.
Shanggu Feng lunged at Lou Tian, dragonfire erupting from his stumped wrist. The phoenix heir dissolved into smoke, reforming behind Chen. *"You'd bind me to this *doorway*? I am Lou Tian of the Celestial Nir—"*
Julong clapped.
The void convulsed. Golden threads erupted from Chen's chest, spearing both souls. Shanggu Feng roared as the filaments burrowed into his essence; Lou Tian hissed, his flames dimming to dying coals.
*"What… is this?"* Chen gasped. His veins lit with dual energies—storm-blue and sun-gold—as the souls' memories flooded him:
- **Shanggu Feng's** childhood, training under monsoons that scarred his skin.
- **Lou Tian's** first涅槃 (nirvana), his feathers burning to ash only to regrow sharper.
- The relic they'd fought over—a jade amulet etched with dragon-phoenix symbology, now clutched in Julong's hand.
*"The Nexus,"* Julong murmured. *"My clans' shared folly. But you'll fix that, won't you, Chen Zhen?"*
Agony tore through Chen's mind as the souls' power fused with his.
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#### **3. The Fallen Titans' Bargain**
**Original Scene Preservation**:
- Shanggu Julong forces the souls into cooperation, threatening Shanggu Feng with a "slave seal" if he resists.
- Lou Tian's calm acceptance tied to his涅槃 (nirvana) goals remains intact but is expanded:
*"Rebirth requires surrender,"* Lou Tian said, watching Julong suppress Shanggu Feng's protests. *"I've died six times. What's a seventh?"*
Chen's mindscape quaked as the merger finalized. The souls' sealed power settled in his dantian—a coiled storm and a banked furnace.
*"They'll sleep until your cultivation unlocks theirs,"* Julong said. *"Try not to die first."*
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#### **4. The Baptism**
Chen woke screaming.
His body lay in a stone basin filled with iridescent liquid, his skin sloughing off in blackened sheets. Julong leaned against a bamboo staff nearby, unimpressed.
*"Impurities,"* he said. *"Your world's poisons—processed foods, smog, doubt. My elixir purges them."*
Chen gagged as the fluid seared his raw muscles. *"How… long?"*
*"Three days. You thrashed so prettily."*
Memories flickered—Shanggu Feng's snarled curses, Lou Tian's cryptic whispers about "the Nexus's song." Chen clutched his chest. *"They're… quiet now."*
*"Good. Today, you learn to walk."*
Julong tossed him a weighted robe (300 kilos of spirit-beast hide). Chen collapsed, his reborn bones creaking.
*"Again,"* Julong said.
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#### **5. The First Lesson**
**Original Training Preservation**:
- Chen's grueling runs and restricted water intake remain, but tied to Julong's harsh philosophy:
*"Your world coddles weakness,"* Julong said as Chen staggered through his 43rd lap. *"Here, strength is *clarity*. That water doesn't hydrate—it *burns* complacency."*
When Chen finally gulped the stream water, the surge of Yuan Qi mirrored Chapter 2's dragon-phoenix fusion:
- Lightning scored his meridians (Shanggu Feng's influence).
- Fire repaired the damage (Lou Tian's subconscious touch).
*"They're balancing each other,"* Julong noted. *"How… unexpected."*
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#### **6. Whispers in the Dark**
That night, Chen dreamed of war.
**Shanggu Feng's Memory**:
- A younger Julong standing atop a mountain, amulet in hand, as dragon and phoenix clans bowed.
- *"The Nexus unites us,"* Julong declared—then shattered it, laughing as the clans turned on each other.
**Lou Tian's Memory**:
- A phoenix matriarch weeping over the amulet's shards. *"Without balance, we burn too bright."*
Chen woke to Julong's blade at his throat.
*"You saw,"* Julong said. *"Good. Now forget."*
Chen's temples burned as the memory blurred.
*"Why?"*
*"You're a doorway, not a historian. Now—fight."*
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#### **7. The Ambush**
Julong's "training" escalated. Stone golems, spirit wolves, poisoned darts—all met with Chen's desperate ingenuity.
During one skirmish, Shanggu Feng's voice erupted unbidden:
*"Pivot left! Strike its *dan*!"*
Chen obeyed, shattering a golem's core.
*"You… helped?"*
*"I help *myself*,"* Feng snarled. *"Your death unravels me."*
Lou Tian's chuckle followed. *"How poetic. The proud dragon, leashed to a mortal."*
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#### **8. The Nexus's Call**
Weeks later, Julong led Chen to a sealed cave. Inside hovered the Nexus amulet—repaired, its cracks glowing with dual energy.
*"Yours now,"* Julong said. *"A… graduation gift."*
Chen reached for it.
The souls *screamed*.
Shanggu Feng: *"DESTROY IT!"*
Lou Tian: *"CLAIM IT!"*
Julong watched, smiling, as Chen collapsed.
*"Choose wisely, doorway. Their war is yours now."*
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