"Cognitive Mirror Trial passed," the voice of the labyrinth rang out. "Reward: Mirror Fragment - Thunder Resonance."

Zi Yuan caught the prism, feeling the laws of lightning contained within it produce a subtle resonance with her own blade intent.

At the same time, the giant gate leading to the eighth floor crashed open.

Behind the door was no longer a mirror corridor, but a... starry sky.

A true starry sky.

Xiangduola Underground Sacred Vault.

The core of inheritance floated in mid-air, with golden lightning and Solar Runes flowing endlessly within it. The time-slowing field maintained by Elune began to collapse, and the silver pillar of light accelerated its descent once more!

But this time, the core of inheritance erupted with light of its own accord.

A shockwave mixed with thunder and holy words surged from the core, colliding head-on with the silver pillar of light!

The two forces reached a stalemate in the air, and the cracks in the vault's ceiling widened further.

Debris and data streams fell in a chaotic mix; Lu Duo's Emerald Network worked at full power to repair, while Yu Nian's pure heart vines wove into a second layer of barrier.

"It's not enough!" Aurora raised her staff high, and the Solar Holy Words transformed into physical golden chains that wrapped around the core of inheritance.

"We need more resonance! The oath core and the resonance core must be awakened simultaneously!"

Just as her voice fell—

Deep within the Thunder Pool Abyss of Thunder God Island, the Sword of Conviction in Bai Cheng's hand suddenly vibrated violently!

The six Star Lord Marks on the sword's blade burned simultaneously, resonating with a certain existence at the bottom of the Thunder Pool.

And deep within the starry sky of the eighth floor of the Nest of a Thousand Mirrors, the mirror prism in Zi Yuan's hand also began to glow, echoing a pyramid floating at the end of the starry sky composed of countless mirror fragments.

The three fragments, crossing the barriers of space, began to pulse in synchronization.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Like a heartbeat.

At the former site of the golden bell tower of Shandora, the light from the pedestal grew brighter and brighter.

The ruins of the bell tower, silent for a thousand years, began to self-repair. Broken stones floated and reorganized, and a golden bell frame slowly emerged from the void.

Far beyond the sea of stars, at the heart of the Nest of a Thousand Mirrors, the silver heart of the Observer Council beat frantically.

"Triple fragment resonance detected. Experimental variables exceed control threshold."

"Execute emergency protocol: Activate 'Absolute Rationality Barrier'."

"Mobilize all Observer Guards to blockade Thunder God Island, the core area of the Nest of a Thousand Mirrors, and the Shandora Sacred Vault."

"Objective: Destroy all fragments and successors before the golden bell is fully reforged."

"History Correction Program, entering final phase—"

A crack opened on the surface of the silver heart.

From within the crack, a cold, emotionless silver eye emerged.

The eye reflected the scenes of the three battlefields, reflecting the faces of Bai Cheng, Zi Yuan, Blue Bird, Leng Ningxue, Lu Duo, Yu Nian, Garel, Aurora, Elune... everyone.

Then, the eye slowly closed.

"Experiment No. ST-774321, entering final observation."

"Let us see whether faith or rationality—"

"Will ultimately win the final chapter of this sky island epic."

The bell of Shandora rang out spontaneously for the first time above the ruins of the golden bell tower.

Though it was only a weak, intermittent Echo.

But it was indeed the sound of the bell.

The warriors of the sky island looked up toward the bell tower.

After a thousand years of waiting, the dawn had finally arrived.

And the real battle was only just beginning.

In the Thunder Pool Abyss, the texture of the liquid lightning was like molten sapphire. As Bai Cheng and the other two descended, they felt no burning sensation; instead, they were enveloped by a gentle pulling force.

The lightning seeped into their skin, turning into fine memory tendrils that connected every cell.

"This isn't an attack," Bai Cheng said softly, the nebulae and thunder runes in her silver eyes intertwining. "It's Rego's inheritance testing our souls."

The thunder light in Garel's right eye resonated with the bottom of the pool. He closed his eyes to sense it:

"Lord Rego transformed his regrets into a heart of thunder to guard the trial.

We must face his guilt head-on to truly inherit the oath core."

Before his voice finished, the scene at the bottom of the pool changed abruptly.

The liquid lightning condensed into a magnificent hall, in the center of which stood a thunder phantom of Rego.

He was no longer the high-spirited marshal on the battlefield, but an aging God of Thunder, his armor broken and his single eye filled with remorse.

"You have come," Rego's voice echoed from all directions, every word carrying the rumble of thunder.

"After a thousand years of waiting, someone has finally set foot here.

But do you know that on the night the golden bell shattered, I once had the chance to stop Mirror Pupil?"

The phantom raised a hand, and battle scenes from that year appeared on the four walls of the hall:

Mirror Pupil's silver mirror surface spread inside the golden bell, eroding the bell's Wish ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) Runes like a virus.

Rego's thunder spear had already pierced the outer periphery of the mirror, but he hesitated when delivering the final blow.

Because Mirror Pupil reflected a future where the people of Jaya wailed in the fires of war.

"I chose to protect the people and gave up on destroying the observation node," Rego's phantom trembled.

"And the price was the complete shattering of the golden bell and the disintegration of the Sky Federation. My regret is precisely this choice. If you wish to obtain the oath core, you must answer me—"

Thunder condensed in his palm into a pulsing heart of lightning.

"When protecting the person before you conflicts with saving all future living beings, how will you choose?"

Zi Yuan stepped forward, her long blade pointing diagonally toward the ground. "There is no standard answer to such a question.

If it were me, I would gamble everything to create a third path, both protecting the person before me and reversing the future."

"Naive," Rego's phantom shook its head. "Reality often offers no third path."

"Then break reality," Bai Cheng's voice was calm and firm, the insignia of judgment on her forehead blooming with light.

"Senior Rego, your regret lies not in making the wrong choice, but in giving up on possibilities.

After the golden bell shattered, you retreated to Thunder God Island, seemingly guarding the border, but in reality, you were escaping. Escaping the responsibility of continuing to find other ways to rebuild the sky island civilization."

The thunder light in Garel's right eye suddenly erupted, and the bloodline resonance allowed him to see a deeper truth:

"No... Grandfather, you have actually been searching for a way. These thunder runes in the Thunder Pool Abyss are each a computational trace of your thousand-year deductions.

You were trying to reconstruct the resonance logic of the golden bell; it's just that you could never forgive yourself, so you turned this obsession into a trial of regret."

Rego's phantom fell silent.

After a long time, the heart of thunder in his hand slowly floated toward Bai Cheng.

"You have passed," Rego's voice became soft. "Not because you gave a perfect answer, but because you refused to be bound by a binary dilemma.

The oath core will respond to such conviction."

The moment the heart touched Bai Cheng's palm, it turned into a Thunder Mark, branded beside her insignia of judgment.

At the same time, a golden prism about the size of a fist, with oath runes flowing inside, rose from the depths of the pool—the oath core.

And at the very moment the prism appeared, the entire Thunder God Island began to vibrate.