### **Trial I: The Gate of Echoes**
Lin Tian stood in a void where stars bled into rivers of light. Before him, a spectral figure materialized—a woman with his eyes, her robes stitched from constellations. His mother, **Ji Meiling**, smiled sadly.
*"You inherited my defiance, Tian'er. But defiance without truth is a blade without edge."*
The void shattered, replaced by a memory not his own:
- **A masked figure** sealing the Dragon's Vein beneath Mount Kunlun, their robes emblazoned with the Lin crest… but inverted, as if in mockery.
- **A council of shadowed elders** chanting in a dead language, their voices warping into dragon roars.
- **A child**—Lin Tian's father—cowering as the Patriarch plunged a dagger into a chained celestial dragon, its blood staining the Lin sigil black.
Ji Meiling's ghost flickered. *"Your family's history is a lie. The Vein was never theirs to take. They were its *jailers*… and its first *sacrifice*."*
The vision dissolved, leaving Lin Tian with a single phrase:
***"Trial Passed: Truth's Weight Accepted."***
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### **Trial II: The Gate of Balance**
The second gate hurled Lin Tian into a supernova's heart. Starborn qi seared his meridians while Earth's golden qi surged defensively. Between them floated a shattered **star-core**, its fragments orbiting like broken planets.
*"Harmonize the energies,"* Ji Yanling's voice warned. *"But heed the void between them."*
As Lin Tian wove starlight and terrestrial qi, a third force emerged—**obsidian tendrils** seeping from the core's cracks. They whispered in the Patriarch's voice:
*"You think the Lin Clan's sins are yours alone? We inherited them. The Vein's first jailer was not human… and neither are we."*
The tendrils lashed, revealing flashes of a **primordial war**:
- **Lin ancestors** with scales and hollow eyes, battling faceless entities in the Vein's depths.
- **A pact carved in bone**: *"Bind the Devourer. Let our bloodline bear its curse."*
- **The Devourer's roar**, shaking the cosmos: *"You will wear my chains… until your heir becomes my vessel."*
Xia Qingyue's frostfire severed the tendrils. *"Focus, Tian! This trial isn't just about balance—it's about *survival*."*
***"Trial Passed: Balance Achieved Through Sacrifice."***
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### **Trial III: The Gate of Ascension**
The final gate was a mirror. From it stepped a version of Lin Tian cloaked in void-black qi, eyes twin supernovas of arrogance.
*"You cling to mortals,"* the shadow sneered. *"But your blood is older than stars. The Lin Clan was never *human*. We are the Devourer's shackles… and soon, its fangs."*
The shadow struck, its claws tearing at his golden meridians. *"The Patriarch knew. He embraced the decay. Will you?"*
Memories surged—**the Patriarch's last words before dissolving**:
*"You'll join me, Tian'er. The Devourer always wins."*
Lin Tian's starlight dimmed. Then, a voice from the Astral Codex boomed—**not Ji Meiling's, but a stranger's**:
*"Break the mirror. See what they buried."*
He shattered the glass.
The reflection shifted: **A child with dragon wings** cradled in Ji Meiling's arms—*him*, moments after birth. But his infant eyes glowed void-black, and his veins pulsed with the Devourer's obsidian qi.
*"What… am I?"* Lin Tian whispered.
***"Trial Passed: Ascension Denied. Truth Ascendant."***
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### **Legacy Unleashed**
The sanctuary trembled as the Astral Codex rejected Lin Tian, its pages sealing shut. Ji Yanling paled. "This… this is impossible. The Codex only refuses those who—"
"Those who are *abominations*," finished a new voice. From the shadows emerged **General Kun**, his armor etched with the inverted Lin crest. "Did you think the Ji Clan saved your mother out of mercy? They exiled her for birthing the Devourer's heir."
Lin Tian's scars burned black. "Explain. **Now**."
General Kun smirked. "The Lin Clan's 'curse' is their **purpose**. Millennia ago, they volunteered to bind the Devourer—a cosmic entity that consumes realms. But the seal requires a vessel… a *Lin heir*. Your mother fled to spare you. But the Vein's awakening? The Patriarch's madness? All steps in the Devourer's return."
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### **Epilogue: The Shattered Codex**
Lin Tian returned to Earth, the Stellar Anchor now a jagged shard in his palm. The Luck System glitched:
***Huaxia's Blessings: ERROR.
Threat Detected: Void Plague (Source: Lin Bloodline).***
Xia Qingyue recoiled from his shadow—now edged with tendrils. "Tian, what happened in there?"
He clenched the Anchor, its light dimming. "The Lin Clan isn't a family. It's a **cage**. And I'm the lock."
Above them, unnoticed, the moon cracked open, revealing an obsidian eye.
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