The Eternal Frost Palace's library seemed different in the aftermath of Liu Chen's return. The crystals containing ancient knowledge glowed more intensely, as if responding to the presence of the jade box he had retrieved. Lady Frost stood at the center of the vast chamber, her silver fate lines swirling with barely contained excitement.
"So," she said as Liu Chen placed the box on a table of crystalline ice, "you succeeded. And with far more style than I anticipated."
"The academy's defenses were exactly as you described." Liu Chen studied the complex patterns of fate lines that sealed the box. "But something else happened. Something you didn't mention."
Lady Frost raised an elegant eyebrow. "Oh?"
"Master Feng. He helped willingly. And Elder Sun..." Liu Chen looked up at his teacher. "Did you know he was once a Fate Breaker?"
"Ah." Lady Frost's smile was winter-sharp. "I wondered if that would come up. Yes, I knew. Just as I know why he chose to submit to the academy's limitations. But those are his secrets to share, not mine."
She moved closer to examine the jade box. "More importantly, you've brought us the key to understanding far greater mysteries. Shall we see what the last generation of true Fate Breakers left behind?"
Liu Chen nodded, placing his hands on either side of the box. The fate lines binding it were incredibly complex—not just seals to keep it closed, but patterns designed to test whoever tried to open it. He could feel them probing his own fate lines, searching for... something.
"They're looking for compatibility," Lady Frost observed. "The seals will only break for someone who sees fate as the original Fate Breakers did. Someone who understands that destiny's chains can be not just broken, but reforged."
Liu Chen closed his eyes, remembering everything he had learned over the past month. Not just the techniques Lady Frost had taught him, but the fundamental understanding that had come with them. Fate wasn't just something to be seen or used—it was information, the basic code of reality itself. And like any code, it could be rewritten.
The seals resonated with his understanding. One by one, the binding patterns began to unravel.
The box opened with a sound like shattering ice.
Inside lay three scrolls, their surfaces black as night but shot through with threads of gold that moved like living things. Liu Chen reached for the first one, but Lady Frost's hand caught his wrist.
"Careful," she warned. "These aren't ordinary records. They contain not just information, but actual fragments of their creators' fates. Reading them will do more than teach you—it will show you their memories, their experiences. Are you prepared for that?"
Liu Chen met her silver gaze steadily. "Were you? When you first read them?"
"Clever boy." Lady Frost's smile held a hint of pride. "No, I haven't read them. I can't. The seals would never have accepted me—my understanding of fate is too... rigid. Too shaped by my own experiences." Her expression turned serious. "You are the first in centuries to have the right perspective. Choose carefully which memories you wish to experience first."
Liu Chen examined the scrolls more closely. Now that he knew what to look for, he could see how each one's fate lines were different. The first scroll radiated power and purpose, its patterns suggesting technical knowledge and theoretical understanding. The second was more chaotic, its lines speaking of conflict and revolution. But it was the third that drew his attention—its fate lines were subtle, almost hesitant, as if carrying a burden of terrible knowledge.
He reached for the third scroll.
"Interesting choice," Lady Frost murmured. "Most would go for power first, knowledge second, and truth last."
"Truth shapes how we use both power and knowledge," Liu Chen replied, carefully unrolling the ancient document. "Better to understand the foundation before building upon it."
The moment the scroll fully opened, its fate lines surged up to meet his own. The library dissolved around him as someone else's memories flooded his consciousness...
He stood in a vast chamber, watching as fate itself began to unravel. Dozens of the most powerful Fate Breakers were gathered, their combined power reaching toward something vast and terrible—a tear in reality itself, bleeding corruption into the world...
"We caused this," a woman's voice said. She stood at the center of the chamber, her fate lines blazing with determination. "Our pride, our certainty that we could rewrite destiny without consequences. Now we must fix it, whatever the cost."
"There has to be another way!" Someone else protested. "If we accept their terms, if we let them bind fate itself in their rigid patterns..."
"Then cultivation will be limited, controlled, but humanity will survive. The alternative..." The woman gestured to the growing tear in reality. "The alternative is the end of everything."
The vision shifted, showing fragments of what followed: The creation of the first academy. The establishment of artificial limits on fate manipulation. The hunting down of those who refused to accept the new restrictions. And through it all, a growing sense of price and purpose—each limitation carefully crafted not to control, but to prevent...
Liu Chen gasped as the memories released him. He found himself back in the library, the scroll trembling in his hands. Lady Frost stood exactly where she had been, but her silver eyes were sharp with interest.
"What did you see?"
"I..." Liu Chen struggled to process what he had witnessed. "The academies weren't created just to control power. They were created to prevent something. Something the Fate Breakers did, or caused, or..." He shook his head. "The memory was fragmented. But there was a tear in reality itself, and they believed limiting fate manipulation was the only way to stop it from spreading."
"Ah." Lady Frost's expression gave nothing away. "And does this change your perspective on our conflict with the academies?"
Liu Chen looked down at the scroll, its fate lines now quiet but still heavy with the weight of ancient choices. "It raises more questions than it answers. Why maintain the restrictions for so long? What exactly were they trying to prevent? And why hide the truth entirely instead of teaching people to avoid specific mistakes?"
"All excellent questions." Lady Frost moved to one of the library's windows, gazing out at the eternal winter beyond. "Questions that the other scrolls might help answer. But perhaps you should take some time to consider what you've already learned before delving deeper."
Liu Chen carefully rolled up the scroll, noting how its fate lines had changed subtly after sharing its memories with him. "You knew, didn't you? About what I would find in this one?"
"I knew there had to be a reason," Lady Frost replied without turning around. "A purpose behind the academies' restrictions that went beyond simple desire for control. But the specifics..." Her silver lines rippled with what might have been uncertainty. "Those are as new to me as they are to you."
"And does this change anything? About our plans, our purpose?"
Now she did turn, and her smile was as sharp as ever. "That, my ambitious student, depends entirely on what you choose to do with this knowledge. After all..." Her silver lines danced. "We Fate Breakers are all about making our own choices, aren't we?"
Liu Chen looked at the remaining two scrolls, their fate lines pulsing with yet-unrevealed secrets. The first memory had shown him the origin of the academies' restrictions. What would the others reveal? And more importantly, how would those revelations shape his path forward?
Outside the library's windows, the three moons hung in perfect alignment, just as they had over the academy. But here, in this palace of eternal winter, their light seemed to carry a different message: Truth, like fate itself, was rarely simple. And sometimes, the most important question wasn't what power you possessed, but how you chose to use it.
Liu Chen settled into one of the library's crystal chairs, preparing for a long night of study. He had wanted answers about the true history of Fate Breakers.
Now he just had to decide what to do with them.