Division of Good and Evil

The setting sun melted into gold, pressing heavily against the horizon and burning the clouds into a deep, blood-red hue, like thick plasma spilled across the sky. It mirrored the heavy, lingering disappointment in Tang Wulin's heart.

The wind whipped up withered leaves from the corners of the abandoned park, spiraling past his feet with a raspy, friction-filled sound.

The air was thick with the scent of dust and decaying plants, bone-chillingly desolate.

There was no clamor of Soul Guidance screens here, no curious or pitying gazes from his peers, only an endless, barren silence that could barely contain the tumultuous shame and confusion currently churning within him.

Blue Silver Grass...

These three words were like cold vines, strangling his heart; every beat brought a sharp, stinging pain.

The faint light that had flickered and died so quickly during the awakening ceremony, the hushed, complex whispers of those around him, and the disappointment his parents had tried so hard to suppress but still let slip...

Every image sliced repeatedly through his nerves.

He kicked a loose pebble at his feet, watching it tumble into the dried-up fountain with a hollow echo.

Why him?

Why did it have to be the useless Blue Silver Grass?

He had failed his parents' expectations, and he had failed the secret longing buried deep within his own heart.

A massive sense of powerlessness weighed him down, making it nearly impossible to breathe.

Just then, a sudden anomaly occurred!

The air a few meters in front of him twisted without warning. Light folded and stretched in a bizarre fashion, like ripples spreading from a stone dropped into water, yet it carried a harsh, metallic screeching sound, as if space itself were being torn apart.

The rift in space flashed and vanished, so quickly he almost thought it was a hallucination.

However, an indescribable sense of heaviness, carrying the ancient pressure of a primordial beast, crashed down like a physical boulder!

Tang Wulin's pupils constricted, the hair on his body stood on end, and a massive fear born from the instinct of survival instantly seized him!

He didn't even have time to react...

His body stiffened, his thoughts frozen.

A point of condensed, extreme black-and-white light shot out from the center of the spatial ripple!

It was not pure light, but rather a strange talisman, forcibly compressed and carrying fragments of endless time and space.

The archaic patterns upon it twisted and coiled, forming a totem of two tigers biting each other's tails in an embrace of yin and yang, radiating a cold, ancient, and sharp will that seemed to sever everything in its path!

The Tiger Talisman ignored physical barriers and his weak Soul Power barrier, piercing through him like a red-hot iron through thin paper. With a soft "thud," it plunged directly into the center of his brow!

"Argh--!"

An indescribable, excruciating pain exploded deep within his skull!

It felt as if two invisible, giant claws, carrying the most primitive laws of destruction, had reached into the core of his spirit, grabbed that single spark of consciousness, and—violently, unquestioningly—pulled it in two opposite directions!

The agony of having one's soul forcibly torn apart was ten thousand times worse than physical torture!

His consciousness was ripped in two in an instant, his vision brutally severed and occupied by pure black and white.

He felt like a balloon inflated to its limit and suddenly burst, his fragments scattering toward opposite poles.

The intense pain arrived violently and vanished just as abruptly.

When the agony that threatened to annihilate his mind receded like a tide, Tang Wulin's consciousness sank into a chaotic sea of spirit.

This was no longer a single, integrated consciousness; it was clearly and sharply divided.

Bai Lin stood on one side, feeling "light" in a way he had never experienced before.

All the gloom, resentment, frustration, and malice...

Those heavy, gray emotions seemed to have been stripped away, leaving only pure confusion, helplessness, and a fragility that felt almost transparent.

A dull ache remained in his heart from the awakening ceremony, along with a deep sense of guilt toward his parents.

And opposite him, a few steps away, stood another "him."

It was a boy, Hei Lin, whose silhouette was identical to his own, yet he looked as if he had been pulled from the thickest ink, his entire body wreathed in an inescapable, cold aura.

His eyes were as sharp as blades tempered in ice, and a trace of undisguised mockery and indifference hung at the corners of his mouth, as if everything in the world were merely dust beneath his feet.

He flexed his wrists slightly, seemingly finding this "new" body a bit novel, before his gaze fell upon Bai Lin.

The two soul fragments stared at each other, and the familiarity stemming from their origin instantly overwhelmed their initial shock.

No words were needed; the fragmented memories and the brand of being the same life form allowed them to understand their situation in an instant...

They were one body born as two, split by that mysterious Tiger Talisman.

"I..."

Bai Lin spoke instinctively, his voice carrying a sob and a tremor that even he found unfamiliar.

He looked at the malice-filled version of himself opposite him, and the immense grievance and self-reproach rushed forth like a burst dam, shattering the last of his defenses.

Tears welled up without warning, quickly blurring his vision. "Am I..."

"Am I really that useless?"

"To have awakened..."

"Blue Silver Grass..."

He was like a lost child, whimpering as he helplessly hugged his thin shoulders, large tears rolling down his cheeks. "Mom and Dad..."

"They must be so disappointed in me..."

"I made them..."

"Lose face..."

"Lose face?" Hei Lin sneered from across the way. His voice was cold and sharp, like metal scraping against glass, every syllable dripping with intense disdain.

"Only trash cares about what others think!"

He crossed his arms, chin tilted upward, his gaze passing over Bai Lin as if piercing through the barrier of their mental sea to look out at the mocking world beyond.

"So what if it's Blue Silver Grass?"

"So what if that Innate Soul Power is pathetic?"

He took a sudden step forward, his invisible aura surging, carrying a ferocity that felt almost tangible.

"Open your eyes and look clearly!"

"This is the era of Soul Tools!"

"Soul Masters?"

"Hmph, just an old path destined to be eliminated!"

A chilling light flickered in his eyes, and his mouth curled into a malicious arc. "Just wait. Once I master the strongest Soul Tools, those who dare to mock us today, those who look down on us..."

"I will make them die without a burial place!"

"I will make them pay for every piece of nonsense they spout today with their lives!"

This naked, blood-soaked declaration was like an ice pick, stabbing deep into Bai Lin's heart.

He shuddered violently, recoiling in terror, shaking his head instinctively as he offered a weak, uneasy protest, his voice no louder than a mosquito's hum.

"No..."

"We can't do that..."

"We can't be bad children..."

"Mom and Dad..."

"Wouldn't like us to become like that..."

"Like?" Hei Lin let out a short, harsh, mocking laugh, as if he had just heard the most ridiculous joke in the world.

"What kind of cheap thing is that?"

"Can you eat it?"

"Can it block swords and blades?"

"Or can it crush the people stepping on your head into dust?"

He looked Bai Lin up and down with contempt, his gaze like he was looking at a pile of eyesore trash.

"Heh, naive! Childish!"

"Only brats talk about 'like' all day long!"

"Listen—"