Before a massive forest covered in thick white mist, two figures stood,a young man with long azure hair and deep blue eyes, dressed in a uniquely patterned bd yellon-embroidered azure robe. Behind him stood an old man, a blue robe adorned with a bd blue dragon pattern. The elder had long silver hair and deep blue eyes, his expression filled with unease.

  The old man looked nervous, but the young man appeared pletely indifferent, as if he was oblivious to the danger his panion feared.

  The elder stuttered, his voice betraying his ay. "Y-Young Master, w-we have arrived at the Illusion Forest. What… w-what should we do?"

  "Hehe, Elder Blue Scale, why are you so nervous?" The young master chuckled, a trausement in his voice. "The Family Head has already given us our orders,to wait here and watch for the ed Ghost Prihere's nothing more to it. e, let's head to the Mirror Pavilion first."

  Without the slightest hesitation, the young master strode toward the Mirror Pavilion, his pace steady and unbothered. Elder Blue Scale, though hesitant, followed closely behind.

  As they made their way through the Illusion Forest, the old man's every step was filled with paranoia. His eyes darted to every shadow, every shifting mist, as though death lurked around every er. In trast, the young master moved with casual ease, navigating the eerie forest as if it were nothing more than his own backyard.

  After traveling 20 kilometers, a grand structure came into view,the Mirror Pavilion. As it emerged from the mist, fragments of history resurfaced in the young master's mind.

  It was said that the Mirror Pavilion was ohe domain of a powerful Human Asder. However, as the Azure Dragon Tribe expahey quered this nd, taking it from the humans. Despite their victory, they found nothing of true value. Disappointed by the nd's apparent uselessness, the dragoually aba, leaving its ouched,a mere relic of the past.

  Yet, the same could not be said about the Illusion Forest. Feions, the Azure Dragons had sought to us mysteries, drawn by its secrets. It was, after all, the reason they had fought to cim this territory in the first pce. But all efforts to uhe forest's enigma ended in failure.

  Legends even whispered that the Human Asder who once ruled this his end within the Illusion Forest itself, though this remained nothing more than a turies-old rumor,one passed down through geions long after the Mirror Pavilion had fallen into the hands of the Azure Dragon Tribe.

  But little was truly known about this pce. However, the young master did not allow himself to bee careless. He already khat something was bound to happen,after all, wasn't he known as the shame of the Azure Dragon Family?

  With a few quiet chuckles, he pushed those thoughts aside and cast a cold gaze upon the Mirror Pavilion.

  The pavilion was massive,se that an ordinary mortal would have to e their neck just to take in its full size. A short distance away, a sereretched across the ndscape, its crystalliers refleg the sky. Surrounding the pavilion was a lush, verdant forest, its beauty so striking that even he found it pleasing to the eye.

  What stood out, however, was a rge, round stone positioned he pavilion. The young master's gaze lingered on it for a moment before he dismissed it from his mind, deg it was unimportant for now. Without hesitatiorode toward the entrance of the Mirror Pavilion.

  The entrance was guarded by a magical runes, glowing faintly with tent power. They were inscribed upon a barrier that could effortlessly withstand several attacks from a Soul F cultivator like himself. If he recalled correctly, this defensive runiation was known as the Hundred Beast Formation.

  Other than the ruhere was a massive stoe standing in his way. Without a sed thought, he pushed it open and stepped into the Mirror Pavilioing the heavy gate shut behind him.

  Onside, he closed his eyes, allowing his seo adjust to the a aura lingering within.

  The moment his presetled, the pavilion itself respos dormant formations stirring to life. The young master opened his eyes, a sharp glint fshing within them as he activated a small fra of his Soul Essence.

  At ohe entire pavilion illuminated with a myriad of dazzling lights, casting shifting patterns across the stone walls.

  the radiant dispy, the young master nodded approvingly before speaking to Elder Blue Scale.

  "Elder Blue Scale, everything is intact. I didn't detey issues with the runes,every formation is funing properly. It seems the Elders did not tamper with the Mirror Pavilion's defensive runes after all."

  Hearing this, Elder Blue Scale let out a deep sigh of relief.

  "R-Really? Thank the heavens!" The tension in his posture faded, repced with visible cheerfulness.

  "So, Young Master, what should we do now?" The elder, now in much better spirits, asked eagerly.

  A soft chuckle escaped the young master's lips as he g the elder, mildly amused by his sudden ge in attitude.

  "What should we do? That's simple, Elder Blue Scale. First, we'll reinforce the pavilion with additional runiations. I believe a few extra yers will further perfect the existing Seveal Rune Formation."

  A pyful smirk formed on his lips as he tinued.

  "After that, we wait. Sooner or ter, one of the elders will arrive to inform us of the orders from the Family Head. Perhaps ohey see that we're alive and well here, they'll recall us? Who knows what those old schemers are plotting?"

  Having said his piece, the young master lost i in the versation and proceeded toward the pavilion's meditation chamber.

  Onside, he retrieved several items from the space ring on his finger and began inscribing additional runiations, carefully iing them into the existing protective arrays.

  After w tirelessly for a full month on the runiations, the young master activated the meditation runes, binding the nearby ten thousand kilometers of True Spiritual Essehis allowed the formations to bee highly sensitive to any unusual fluctuations in True Spiritual Energy or Heaven Essence.

  With all preparations plete, the young master closed his eyes and dove into his Soul Core. The world around him shifted into an azure-hued space, its vastness stretg endlessly. The very fabric of this space moved like raging, turbulent water, yet the young master remained uhis chaotic motion was, to him, a familiar sight.

  With a simple wave of his hand, he summoned a tiny spark of azure fme. The fme flickered, then grew, slowly transf into a fully-formed fire. A faint smile tugged at the young master's lips as a wisp of another azure essence,his Soul Essence,flowed from his fiips, merging with the fme.

  As time passed, the fme's hue deepened, darkening ever so slightly,a ge imperceptible to the naked eye.

  A month passed in the blink of an eye.A year vanished in two blinks.Ten years faded in three,until time itself lost all meaning.

  And so, they waited.

  57 Years Later…

  For fifty years, after receiving the order from the Head to head toward the Illusion Forest, her the young master nor Elder Blue Scale had received any further orders. Yet, her of them felt ,after all, fifty years was nothing to beings who had already lived for tens of thousands of years.

  But then, in the fifty seventh year, something happened.

  Someone had arrived.

  Sensing the disturbahe young master immediately withdrew from his Soul Core, his azure eyes fshing open. In that instant, a cold, pierg glint surged from his pupils, activating tless yers of deteg and trapping runiations.

  Lifting his palm, he unleashed a dark azure True Spiritual Essence, activating the Heaven Gazing Rune Formation.

  Immediately, his perception expanded beyond the pavilion, granting him a bird's-eye view of everything.

  The Mirror Pavilion no longer appeared serene or majestistead, it was now encased within a massive, dark-green barrier, its walls stretg tless meters thick. The ground ed like raging waves, obliterating anything that cked the young master's mark of prote.

  Even more disturbingly, the trees, the buildings, and even the very sky itself… had grown eyes.An eerie presened over the pavilion, as if the heavens themselves were gazing down upon the mortal world.

  His gaze sharpened as he searched for Elder Blue Scale and soon enough, he spotted him, already waiting outside the meditation chamber.

  "Enter."

  At the young master's and, Elder Blue Scale stepped forward, taking just two steps before dropping to one knee.

  "Young Master, I have already sent the Five Elemental Vipers ahead to test the intruder. This old servant now awaits further orders!"

  Hearing that the Five Elemental Vipers had been dispatched, the young master coldly nodded.

  "Good. Noait. I don't see anything unusual in the Heaven Gazing Rune Formation… meaning our intruder is either hiding deep within the shadows… or within the very refles of this world."

  His gaze turned even sharper.

  "Send out a pair of Shadow and Mirror So iigate. If the intruder hides within the darkness, the Shadow Snake will find them. If they ceal themselves within refles… the Mirror Snake will pull them out."

  Without hesitation, Elder Blue Scale bowed his head.

  "As the Young Master ands!"

  With a simple wave of his hand, two serpentine figures materialized.

  One was a deep, dark silhouette, shifting and flickering like a living shadow.The other was a nearly transparent serpent, its body refleg the surroundings like a mirror of reality itself.

  With a flick of his wrist, Elder Blue Scale sent them forth.The Shadow Snake slithered toward the darkeructures, blending seamlessly with the shadows.The Mirror Snake drifted toward the sunlit areas, phasing into the very fabric of refles.

  And then, they waited.

  Hours Later…

  Ihe Mirror Pavilion, both the young master and Elder Blue Scale stood in absolute silence.

  Their expressions had turned grim,eyes cold, faces ruthless.

  They had found the intruder.

  A young man stood before them.

  His hair ure white, his eyes a ghostly silver, and he wore silver robes embroidered with dark gray markings. His features were strikingly handsome, yet his plexion was deathly pale, exuding an uling presence.

  But what stood out the most,what made both the young master and Elder Blue Scale's expressions darken even further,were the three floating crystals orbiting his head.

  One was crimson red.One was deep blue.One itch bck.

  Each radiated an aura of terrifying might.

  These were Dragon Crystals.

  And not just any Dragon Crystals.

  These were Royal Dragon Crystals,crystallized essence left behind when a Royal Dragon perished.

  There was only one being ience who could possess such treasures.Only one being who could carry such a presence.

  The realization solidified in their minds.

  There was no longer any need for further iigation.No reason to question his identity.

  It was him.

  The intruder standing before them was her than the ed Ghost Prince.

  Also known as the Royal Dragon Syer.

  The one who ighe war between Dragons and Ghosts.

  And now,he was here.