The Reverse Scale Contract: The Witch's Revenge "Fishpond"

Chapter 6: Blood Judgment of Dual Cultivators

The stench of decaying leaves lingered as ice chains bit into Lin Shuang’s neck. Yun Wuxin’s Heavenly Tribulation-stage aura forced her onto the trial platform. Blacksteel constellations smoldered beneath her feet—proud Eastern formations now corroded by alchemical acids.

"The Profound Sect demands a demonstration of dual cultivation." Yun Wuxin flung Immortal-Binding Cords, his pinky grazing the bronze Taotie statue—its hollow eyes now housing a Western pocketwatch.

Lin licked blood from her lips. The pendant hummed—the stolen ’s seal glowed on Dean Hermann’s ring.

The dean’s astrolabe swiveled toward her. Holy Realm pressure from his staff shattered floating Bagua mirrors. "Will you expose the fishing ledger first?" Hermann lit a cigar, healing fireflies tending her wounds—the same magic that cornered her days prior.

Tie Xue emerged from shadows. The Johnsons’ Holy Realm hound bore Eastern Soullock Seals on his neck. Black magic fused with Immortal-Binding Cords, crimson chains piercing her meridians.

"The Scale Contract corrodes Eastern power," Tie Xue sneered, hexagram and Taiji symbols devouring spiritual energy. "Like your father’s shattered core..."

Lin bit her tongue. Xuanwu’s phantom erupted, shattering stained glass. Memories peeled away—father’s calligraphy lessons, mother’s pendant in flames, Luo Yang’s robe patterns in the rift.

"Cease!" Yun Wuxin’s sword strike revealed a half-burnt scroll in his sleeve—the "Frostmoon" seal mirrored Luo Yang’s stardust healing array.

Holy light flooded the dome as Luo Yang tore a spatial rift. Iris-shaped brooches pinned Hermann’s letters—Ancient Elvish schemes translating to Eastern seal scripts midair.

"The trial is a blood sacrifice for the Johnsons!" Memory crystals revealed Hermann’s staff tipped with the River Chart—an Eastern relic fueling the soul-devouring array.

Tie Xue’s chains convulsed. Dragon scales on Lin’s spine began consuming Xuanwu’s phantom. The trial platform’s array siphoned memories—father’s blood sigil resonating within the pendant...

As Tie Xue crushed the last crystal, the pendant cracked. Azure-gold light from Azure Dragon’s scale seeped into his hexagram shields.

Yun Wuxin’s trembling sword halted the Taotie’s pocketwatch at 3:15 PM—the exact hour of the first spacetime rupture twenty years prior. Tie Xue’s Taiji symbol jammed mid-rotation.

Lin’s tongue pressed Xuanwu’s blood—father’s soulguard* lingering. At "Duì position, throat!" from Yun Wuxin, Azure Dragon’s scale pierced Tie Xue’s weak point.

Shield fragments and bone cracks echoed. Lin rolled aside as Yun Wuxin’s bronze compass slotted into her pendant. The bloodmoon seal on its back reeked of Mo Li’s herbs, its needle quivering toward the rift.

"Under the tiles—" Yun Wuxin’s diverted blade shattered Hermann’s hidden spell.

The dean’s astrolabe blazed crimson. Before Lin’s shoulder wound could bleed, Luo Yang’s iris-scented lips sealed it. Stardust in the wound transformed agony into searing qi.

"The Johnsons need a live dual cultivator as the array core." Luo Yang’s bite reopened old wounds—memory shards revealed Hermann’s River Chart syncing with the sacrificial array. "Third shelf in the dean’s study—"

Holy healing fireflies turned rabid. Lin gripped Luo Yang’s neck, smearing blood onto his iris crest. As gnarled magic tendrils emerged from the rift, azure-gold threads from her pendant corroded Hermann’s staff via Tie Xue’s broken shields.

"Mo Clan mechanisms?" Yun Wuxin scoffed, exposing Taotie bones beneath tiles. The frozen pocketwatch rewound—countless 3:15 PM reflections overlapping in mirror shards.

Lin slammed the bloodmoon seal into the compass. Luo Yang’s falling iris petals turned crimson, each imprinted with fishing members’ faces.

Amid the Johnson patriarch’s laughter, Lin dragged Luo Yang into the rift. Stardust scars coalesced into a partial star chart—matching Yun Wuxin’s sword hilt.

A Xuanwu shard slipped from Luo Yang’s robes—its stardust constellations perfectly aligned with her chart. As he gripped her waist in the chaos, his thumb brushed the shard’s edge—alchemical glow matching Hermann’s ring seeped from his half-healed bite.