The Rift Between Fates
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1. The Sacred Abyss Trembles
Chen Zhen sat in deep meditation, his mind drifting through the chaotic currents of qi around him. The energy of the Sacred Abyss was shifting—unstable, restless. He could feel it in his bones.
Something was happening.
Something was wrong.
When he opened his eyes, Shanggu Xian, Meilin, and the other elders stood before him, their faces marked with silent concern.
Julong watched him closely.
"It's time," Julong said.
Chen rose slowly, flexing his fingers, feeling the weight of the pocket dimension in his qi. Mei's children were still inside, unaware of the turmoil waiting for them on the other side.
As soon as he stepped into the cool, open air of Shanggu Keep's lower sanctum, he felt it.
The ley lines in the Sacred Abyss were trembling.
Not from anything happening here.
From Earth.
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2. The Gateway to Earth
The elders led him through the ancient stone halls, past murals depicting the long-lost connection between the Sacred Abyss and Earth.
For centuries, their fates had been intertwined. Now, that bond was cracking apart.
"The path to Earth is no longer safe," Shanggu Xian said. "The portal was severed long ago. Reopening it will be... difficult."
Julong stepped forward. "It will be dangerous. The Eclipse Queen knows you are coming."
Chen's grip tightened around his glaive. "Then we don't give her time to react."
They reached a vast underground chamber, where an obsidian gateway loomed over them. Its surface was fractured, golden veins of ancient qi pulsing weakly.
This was the last surviving natural passage between realms.
And it was barely holding together.
Julong hesitated. "If you fail mid-crossing, there is no coming back."
Chen met his gaze. "Then I won't fail."
Without another word, he stepped toward the rift.
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3. A Journey Through the Void
The moment Chen touched the obsidian gateway, the world buckled.
A black tear split open, revealing a swirling abyss beyond.
The rift between worlds.
The ley lines screamed in protest, resisting his passage. The air rippled with memories of lost warriors, of failed crossings, of echoes left behind.
Meilin shouted behind him. "The Queen will try to stop you!"
Chen barely heard her. He had already stepped forward.
Pain ripped through his body as he fell through the void. The rift folded around him, warping, twisting, trying to consume him.
Then—
The Eclipse Queen's voice rang through the darkness.
"You will not leave."
A black hand reached for him, fingers wreathed in abyssal fire.
Chen twisted, his glaive flashing, slashing through the shadows—
But the Queen's grip tightened around his very existence.
The rift collapsed inward.
The void began erasing him.
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4. A Decision Made in Another Time
In another timeline, this was where Jerry chose not to intervene.
He had stood at the threshold of all possibilities, watching.
He had seen Chen fight against oblivion, struggling, pushing through on his own.
He had seen him barely make it—wounded, but alive.
He had believed that Chen would endure.
He had been wrong.
Because the Queen had left a scar on Chen that day. A wound that never truly healed. And when the final battle against the Abyss came, that scar was his undoing.
So, this time—
Jerry moved.
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5. The Hand That Pulled Him Through
The void ruptured as a presence stronger than time itself entered the rift.
For the first time, the Eclipse Queen turned her gaze—not at Chen, but at something else.
At him.
Golden fire carved through the abyss, shattering the Queen's grasp.
A hand reached through the chaos, grabbing Chen's wrist and pulling him forward—
Chen gasped, feeling reality snap back into place.
The void screamed—the Queen's fury echoing across dimensions.
And then—
Jerry's voice. Calm. Absolute.
"You have work to do."
Chen barely had time to register it before—
The world collapsed into light.
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6. Return to Earth
Chen crashed into solid ground.
The impact sent a shockwave through the battlefield, sending dust and debris skyward.
His body ached, his mind reeled. The energy from the rift still coursed through his veins, raw and unstable.
He forced himself to his feet.
And then he saw them.
The Guardians. Battered. Exhausted. Standing in silent shock.
Beyond them, the battlefield stretched—scarred, ruined, pulsing with dying ley lines.
And in the distance—
Li Na.
She turned, her eyes widening.
And beside her—
Mei.
Chen exhaled. He had made it.
But at what cost?
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7. Jerry's Warning
The voice returned, only for him.
A whisper in the wind, a presence just beyond reach.
"This time, I helped."
And then—Chen saw it.
A glimpse. A fragment of a timeline that could have been.
He was in the void again, but this time… he was alone.
He saw himself fighting, clawing his way through the collapsing rift. The Eclipse Queen's darkness wrapped around him like chains, searing into his very soul.
He saw himself falling.
He saw the moment the Queen marked him, a scar of power that would never fully heal.
And then he saw the end—his own body lying broken in the final battle, the weight of that scar dragging him into oblivion.
He blinked.
The vision vanished.
But the feeling remained.
Chen's jaw clenched. He understood now.
Jerry had let him suffer once before.
This time, something had changed.
He was important.
Not just for this war.
For the war that was still to come.
Chen took a breath, staring at the ruins of Earth's battle.
The war was far from over.
And somewhere, in the distance—the Eclipse Queen smiled.
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