Within the shifting landscape of his Xīnyù, Jian Zhi stood as a silent observer of the two men before him, who addressed each other as Rooster and Viper. His mind, ever-analytical, immediately began its work, dissecting their appearances with cold precision.

  The one called the Rooster was the Azure Strategist (苍木谋士 - Cāng Mù Móushì). His form was one of severe, noble authority. He stood with a spine as straight as a bamboo stalk, his posture tall and straight as a pine tree (挺拔如松). His hair was bound in a tight, precise crown, as dark as fertile earth and streaked with locks the color of black silk, tinged with indigo (青丝如黛), reflecting his Wood aspect. His eyes were like a falcon's (目如鹰隼), sharp, penetrating, and missing no detail. He was clad in robes of forest green and scholar's blue, patterns of intertwining branches and celestial bodies woven into the fabric. His voice was the sound of a clear call, like a crane's cry (清音鹤唳), cutting through chaos with calm, unquestionable command. He was the general, the strategist, the unyielding pillar of order and analysis within Jian Zhi's soul.

  The Viper, in contrast, was The Quicksilver Judge (白刃判官 - Bái Rèn Pànguān). His beauty was cold, sharp, and utterly lethal. His movements were like a swimming dragon (动若游龙), fluid and hypnotic, yet hinting at immense, coiled power. His features were a face like polished jade (面如冠玉), handsome but devoid of warmth, as if carved from marble. His eyes harbored frost-blades (眼含霜刃), pale and piercing, capable of stripping a person down to their barest flaws with a single glance. His hair was the color of a waterfall of silver threads (银丝如瀑), flowing over shoulders draped in robes of stark white and steel gray. When he smiled, it was a smile that hides a dagger (笑里藏刀), a brief, chilling flash that promised calculated torment. He was the critic, the executioner, the embodiment of cold logic and ruthless judgment.

  Jian Zhi understood: the Rooster was his Guardian Beast, and the Viper his Soul Beast, just as the treatise of The Universal Law had described.

  [Viper]: "Not bad. You did not yield to your desires. That is the fundamental quality you must possess if you wish for us to work together. But before that..."

  The Viper's sentence ended not with a word, but with a blur of motion—a surprise attack launched with silent, lethal intent. Jian Zhi's sword was in his hand in an instant, meeting the strike with a resonant clang.

  [Jian Zhi]: "You are not even half as fast as my Fire Soul. [A confident smirk]"

  [Viper]: "Woahhh. Have you finally learned to provoke? [A hollow, mocking laugh] How utterly childish."

  In response, the Viper's strikes became a storm of steel, each blow carrying more force than the last. Jian Zhi focused, his mind isolating the rhythm of the Viper's swordplay, searching for the pattern. It was there, but it felt... intentional. Deceptively predictable.

  Then he saw it—a microscopic opening, a flaw in the pattern that existed for less than a second. Jian Zhi’s blade moved not with brute force, but with impossible precision, shearing through the Viper's sword as if it were a dry twig.

  [Viper]: "Excellent! That is exactly what I demanded from you. Now you are ready for me. But be wary... of her."

  As the final word faded, the Viper's form dissolved into a stream of shimmering silver light that flowed into Jian Zhi, completing the integration.

  Jian Zhi turned to the remaining figure. "Uhm... Hello, old man? If I heard correctly, you are my Guardian Beast. May I know who this 'her' is that he mentioned?"

  [Rooster]: "Indeed, I am your anchor. And he referred to your other Soul Beast—the Rabbit. There she is."

  Jian Zhi followed his gaze, and his breath caught in his throat.

  The Rabbit Soul was a being of heartbreaking beauty, designed to be the ultimate object of his love and trust. She was an ethereal vision, a spirit of solace and fragility woven from moonlight and sorrow. Her hair flowed like a cascade of cloud-like, elegant tresses (如云秀发), a silvery-white that shimmered with a soft luminescence. Her face was a perfect oval, her complexion like a peach blossom (面若桃花), yet pale with a transcendent, ghostly purity. Her eyes were her most captivating feature—large, liquid pools of bright eyes like clear water (明眸似水), holding a deep, soulful tenderness that promised an end to all pain. She moved with a grace that was as graceful as a startled swan (翩若惊鸿), a fleeting, delicate beauty that begged to be protected.

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  [Rabbit]: "Does my beauty captivate you? You stare as if you wish to devour me whole."

  [Jian Zhi]: "N-No! I was merely observing you for a moment."

  [Rabbit]: "I know, you dummy. I was only teasing you... God, why must you be so obstinate? Why can't you understand a simple joke and laugh? It is all because of that man."

  She snapped her fingers.

  The world dissolved. Jian Zhi was suddenly a boy again, standing in the village square. A sea of faces surrounded him, their fingers pointed like accusations. "Curse!" "Misfortune!" "Devil child!" The vile words he had spent a lifetime burying now washed over him anew, a tidal wave of hatred.

  "I never took anything from you!" he shouted back, his voice the defiant cry of a cornered animal. "I know I deserve hell, so what? Do you wish to join me? Shut your mouths, you hypocrites! Your words are worthless, so silence yourselves!"

  But the voices did not stop. They grew louder, merging into a deafening roar that felt like a physical drill boring into his skull. Jian Zhi clamped his hands over his ears, grinding his teeth until his jaw ached, willing the noise to cease.

  Abruptly, the sound vanished, replaced by a wave of oppressive heat. He looked up. Before him, engulfed in a roaring inferno, was his home—the pyre he had made for his mother. He stared, paralyzed, as a faint, desperate sound reached him from within the blaze.

  "HELP ME! PLEASE, SOMEONE, HELP ME....!"

  It was his mother's voice. A scream of pure, unadulterated agony. Without a second thought, he charged through the flames, shattering the burning door. The scene that greeted him froze the very blood in his veins.

  His mother, whom he had believed dead, was alive. She was a living torch, her clothes and hair aflame, staggering towards him through the hellish heat. "You killed her," a vicious voice whispered in his mind. "You murdered your beloved mother. She gave you love, and you gave her hell. She suffers because of you. You deserve to burn. You are the curse they named you."

  Tears of sheer horror blinded him as he desperately beat at the flames consuming her, ignoring the searing pain on his own hands and arms. Finally, the fire on her body was extinguished, but the damage was done. Her skin was a horrifying landscape of blackened char and blistered flesh. She stumbled into his arms, and he caught her, holding her fragile, ruined form.

  "[Sobbing uncontrollably] Ma... Ma... I didn't know... I didn't know you were still alive...[sob]"

  She slowly, agonizingly, opened her mouth. A foul, sickening smell of burnt flesh wafted out.

  [Lin Wei]: "I-I-I... Gav-... Gave Birth... to a... devil. You... deserve hell... Come... with me..."

  With the last vestiges of her strength, her charred hands clawed upward and clamped around his throat, squeezing with a shocking, desperate force. Jian Zhi closed his eyes, accepting this as his rightful punishment. "You are right... I deserve this...[sob]"

  But in that absolute moment of surrender, his analytical mind, the core of his being, screamed a single, undeniable truth. There is no pulse.

  His eyes snapped open, their grief replaced by a glacial, focused fury. "I am sorry, Ma... but this is not you."

  His own hands shot up, closing around the wrists of the apparition. Then, with a terrible, grim resolve, he shifted his grip to its neck and began to squeeze. The creature that wore his mother's face began to thrash, its legs kicking weakly against the ground, its hands tapping a frantic, weakening rhythm on his unyielding arms.

  The world shimmered and broke. The pyre, the smoke, the horrifying visage of his mother—all dissolved. In his hands, he was now choking his Rabbit Soul, her beautiful face turning blue as she gasped for air.

  [Rabbit]: "Ahhh..[cough...cough] H-He-... Hey... you... moron... l-let... me... go..."

  [Jian Zhi]: "You may be a part of my soul... but to make my mother utter words she would never speak... that is an unforgivable transgression."

  His killing intent was a palpable force. Just as the Rabbit's struggles began to fade, the Rooster moved. In a blur of green and blue, he struck Jian Zhi's arms away, breaking his hold and saving the Rabbit Soul from being extinguished by its own master.

  [Rooster]: "That is enough! You cannot cross that line!"

  Gasping and clutching her bruised throat, the Rabbit Soul looked up, a strange, triumphant light in her pained eyes.

  [Rabbit]: "The diamond... must be pressurized immensely... before it can become strong enough to shine... Did you forget that, old man?"

  Jian Zhi said nothing. He merely stood, his chest heaving, his gaze locked on the Rabbit with a promise of retribution that was colder and sharper than any blade.