The staircase forged from starlight glowed faintly beneath Bai Cheng's feet, rippling like a living thing.

She looked down, and a dynamic scene appeared on the surface of the steps.

It was the scene of the remnants of the Desert Kingdom kneeling before a statue, the devout expectations in people's eyes flowing like something tangible.

“This is...” Blue Bird followed behind her, lightning flickering slightly in her pupils.

“The heart-questioning steps.” Leng Ningxue's icy blue eyes swept across the stairs. “With every step we take, our deepest obsessions, memories, or potential inner demons will be reflected.”

“If one cannot face them directly, they will be trapped on the current step forever.”

“Three thousand steps, Nine Realms.” Zi Yuan gripped her sword hilt. “Quite a generous trial.”

Bai Cheng didn't look back, her silver eyes staring at the shifting images on the steps.

She saw the spring water and sprouts offered by the desert remnants, saw the complex look in Atum's eyes as he watched them leave at the canyon entrance, and even more, saw the outlines of the three sandstone statues by the oasis under the starlight.

The trickle of faith surged gently within her body, like warm blood.

“Let's go,” she said.

She took the first step.

The desert scene vanished abruptly, replaced by another sight.

It was the scene of her opening that door for the first time in her childhood.

Before a dilapidated wooden door, the silver-haired young girl's hand trembled. The moment her fingertips touched the door panel, space rippled like water.

Behind the door was not a familiar room, but a swirling nebula. Deep within {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} the nebula, a blurry voice was calling her name.

“Bai Cheng... Bai Cheng...”

The voice was both familiar and strange, as if coming from the end of forgotten time.

The image froze on the girl's terrified yet curious face.

Bai Cheng's footsteps paused slightly.

This was her earliest memory and the origin of her power.

That door and that calling remained an unsolved mystery to this day.

“Face it directly.” Leng Ningxue's voice came from behind, as cold as an ice spring. “The heart-questioning steps don't create out of thin air; they only reflect the imprints already present in your soul.”

Bai Cheng took a deep breath, and the fluctuations in her silver eyes calmed.

Yes, this was her past, a part of her.

She took the second step.

The childhood image shattered, and another scene appeared before her—on the Emerald Sea, the silver train jolted in the storm.

Blue Bird was covered in blood but still guarded the cabin door fiercely; Zi Yuan's long sword was broken, yet she used the broken blade to block the attacks aimed at her;

Half of Leng Ningxue's body was frozen in ice as she bought her the final moment for a spatial warp.

That was the scene of their first encounter with a Constellation ambush.

If not for her companions' desperate protection, she would have fallen long ago.

“Miss, why are you dazed?” Blue Bird's voice rang in her ear, carrying a familiar brightness. “It's all in the past, hurry up and move forward!”

Bai Cheng turned her head and saw Blue Bird grinning, lightning dancing on the tips of her hair.

That smile overlapped with the image in her memory, without a single shadow.

“Yes.” The corners of Bai Cheng's lips lifted slightly. “It's all in the past.”

She continued upward.

The third step, the fourth, the fifth... the stairs constantly changed scenes: the decisive battle with Atum in the desert, the gaze of the Abyssal Pupil's giant nebula eyes in the Abyssal Trench, the judgment light of the Enforcement Officer's Starry Sky Guards... every scene was a moment on the line between life and death, every scene reflecting the fear, hesitation, or obsession in her heart.

But every time she stared at those images, she could feel the warmth of the trickle of faith in her palm.

That warmth was not intense, but it was as resilient as the roots deep in the desert, silently reminding her.

She was not alone.

As she stepped past the hundredth step, the illusions on the stairs began to change.

They were no longer just memories of the past, but began to show possible futures.

She saw Blue Bird on some unknown battlefield, her chest pierced by dark gold chains, the lightning extinguished, the last light in her eyes looking in her direction;

She saw Zi Yuan's long sword completely shattered, kneeling in a pool of blood, behind her the cold gazes of countless Enforcement Officers;

She saw Leng Ningxue's frozen body shattering in the starry sky, turning into countless ice crystals drifting into the void;

She saw Lu Duo's life barrier being eroded by darkness, vines withering, her gentle smile frozen into eternal sorrow;

She saw Yu Nian reaching out her hand in the fire of an explosion, as if trying to grab something, but ultimately catching nothing... “Fake!” Yu Nian shouted behind her, her voice trembling slightly. “These are all fake! The heart-questioning steps are trying to scare us!”

“Not entirely fake.” Leng Ningxue's voice remained calm, but there was a trace of tension that was hard to detect.

“These are possibilities deduced based on our current situation. If we fail, these futures... might really happen.”

Bai Cheng stopped on the hundred and first step, her silver eyes staring fixedly at those images.

Blue Bird killed in action, Zi Yuan fallen, Ning Xue dissipating, Lu Duo withering, Yu Nian annihilated... every scene was like a sharp knife stabbing into her heart.

The trickle of faith suddenly became scorching at this moment.

It wasn't anger, it wasn't fear, but a determination that was almost burning.

She could not let these futures come true.

Never.

“Keep walking.” Bai Cheng's voice was terrifyingly calm. “These futures, I will cut them down one by one.”

She took the next step.

The illusion of the stairs changed again.

This time, what appeared were her own possibilities.

She saw herself standing under a shattered starry sky, her silver hair stained with blood, holding the nebula core gouged from the Abyssal Pupil's eye, and behind her were the ruins of endless civilizations.

That was a future where she walked the same path as the Abyssal Pupil by devouring faith;

She saw herself kneeling before the Constellation Leader, a Star Imprint engraved on her forehead, becoming a new Constellation general, her spatial blade piercing through Blue Bird's chest.

That was a future where she succumbed to power and betrayed her companions;

She saw herself pushing open the final door, and behind the door was not the truth, but complete emptiness, her body disintegrating in the void, even her existence itself being erased.

That was a future where she pursued to the end but found nothing... Every future was an abyss of despair.

But Bai Cheng's footsteps did not stop.

In her silver eyes, the light of the trickle of faith grew brighter and brighter.

She saw the tearful eyes of the desert remnants holding clear water and sand-root dry rations, saw Atum's bitter smile when he said “May there always be starlight on your path ahead,” and saw the silent outlines of the three statues by the oasis standing in the night.

Those entrusted beliefs, those earnest expectations, those silent protections... these were what was real.

As for those dark futures.

“I will rewrite them with my own hands,” she whispered, her voice echoing among the starlight steps.

As she stepped past the five-hundredth step, the surrounding scenery began to distort.

The steps were no longer simple illusions but began to manifest as substantial trials.