Time passed minute by minute.
At 5:00 PM, the lake's surface turned a deep golden color.
The clouds reflected in the lake were dyed golden-red, and the distant floating islands were also draped in a warm halo under the setting sun.
Ziyue stared in awe, her purple eyes reflecting the golden lake surface, her tails unconsciously swaying gently.
Chiying also narrowed its eyes slightly, as if sensing something.
At 5:40 PM, the sky began to darken.
But the lake's surface grew increasingly brighter.
What had appeared to be ordinary salt crystals at the bottom of the lake during the day now began to emit a faint luminescence.
Silvery-white specks of light rose from the lakebed, slowly floating in the water, like an inverted starry sky.
“It’s about to begin,” Liu Yi whispered.
Ziyue immediately stood up, her purple eyes fixed on the lake surface.
Chiying also opened its eyes, its crimson gaze reflecting the floating specks of light.
At 5:58 PM.
The last trace of sunset sank below the horizon.
The sky turned a deep blue-violet, and the first star twinkled through a gap in the clouds.
Then—
The lake lit up.
It wasn't reflecting the sky's light; rather, the luminescence from the lakebed suddenly erupted all at once, illuminating the entire surface as if it were midday.
Immediately after, the clouds in the sky began to shift slowly, revealing the brilliant starry sky behind them.
The starry sky reflected on the lake's surface, intertwining with the luminescence from the lakebed.
But this was no ordinary reflection.
Liu Yi quickly discovered its profound mystery.
The starry sky reflection on the lake's surface wasn't merely a simple replication of the sky's appearance.
It was brighter and deeper than the actual starry sky, as if another complete universe existed beneath the lake's surface.
The stars slowly rotated in the lake water, trailing long wakes, like a flowing Milky Way.
Meanwhile, the luminescence from the lakebed transformed into nebula-like vortices, slowly swirling in the deep space.
“This is the Inverted Sea…”
Liu Yi murmured softly to herself, her gaze shifting back and forth between the lake's surface and the sky.
At this moment, the Mirror Salt Lake had completely transformed.
The silver mirror of daytime was gone, replaced by a bottomless “sky.”
The starry sky reflection on the lake's surface was even more dazzling than the real sky; the stars slowly rotated in the lake water, trailing long wakes, as if stirred by some invisible force, forming slowly swirling star vortices.
The luminescence from the lakebed, meanwhile, transformed into nebula-like vortices, surging, colliding, merging, and then separating again in the “deep space.”
Each collision would unleash new specks of light, which, like newborn stars, slowly rose from the center of the vortex, floated towards the surface, and dissipated into ripples the moment they touched the water.
Liu Yi looked down at her feet.
She stood less than two meters from the lake's surface, able to clearly see every detail within the water.
The trajectories of the star vortices and specks of light were clearly visible; they weren't random, but followed a certain pattern—a pattern of “mirror image” and “reality.”
Ziyue had stood up at some point, her purple eyes unblinkingly fixed on the lake's surface.
Her tails no longer swayed, nor did her ears twitch; her entire body was taut, as if deeply captivated by something.
Chiying also descended to Liu Yi's side, its crimson eyes observing the reflection in the lake, its golden patterns faintly shimmering with its breath.
On the lake's surface, an exceptionally large star vortex was slowly forming.
It rose from the deep lakebed, spinning and expanding, devouring and merging the smaller star vortices around it one by one.
When it reached its largest size, the entire lake surface seemed to revolve around it.
Meanwhile, a patch of clouds in the sky happened to move directly overhead, revealing the rising moon behind it.
The moon reflected in the center of the star vortex.
At that moment, Liu Yi experienced a strange illusion.
What was in the lake wasn't a reflection, but the real moon. What she stood on wasn't the ground, but another sky.
She was standing above the clouds, gazing down at the night sky of another world.
Ziyue's body began to tremble slightly.
It wasn't fear, nor cold, but something deeper.
Liu Yi could feel Ziyue's Ice-type energy fluctuating at an unprecedented frequency within her body.
The energy no longer flowed steadily as usual; instead, it began to mimic the movements of the star vortices in the lake—spinning, expanding, condensing, and spinning again.
She was… resonating.
Liu Yi understood instantly.
Ziyue wasn't merely observing the Inverted Sea; she was experiencing it.
Experiencing the delicate balance between “reality” and “mirror image,” feeling the subtle, almost imperceptible connection between the true form and its reflection.
The star vortex in the lake grew larger and deeper.
The ice-blue glow around Ziyue's body also began to change, no longer a simple chill, but starting to exhibit a “mirror-like” texture.
Smooth, flat, and capable of reflecting everything around it.
Liu Yi held her breath, not daring to disturb her.
She could feel a qualitative change occurring within Ziyue's energy. The energy was no longer simply condensing and releasing; it was attempting a completely new form—a form of “replication” and “mapping.”
Ziyue's eyes slowly closed.
She no longer looked at the reflection in the lake, but shifted her full attention inward.
The energy mimicking the star vortex's movement began to gather beside her, gradually forming a blurry outline.
Liu Yi recognized the outline—‘Ice Crystal Doppelganger’.
But this time, the doppelganger's formation method was entirely different from before.
Previously, when Ziyue created a doppelganger, it extended outward from a core, building the shape layer by layer, and then injecting energy fluctuations.
Now, however, the outline's formation was more like… a reflection.
Just as the starry sky in the lake reflected the real starry sky, that outline was also “reflecting” Ziyue's true form.
Not constructing, but mapping.
The outline grew increasingly clear.
The fox's form gradually appeared: fur texture, tail curvature, purple eyes—every detail was identical to Ziyue's true form, as if looking into a mirror.
Ziyue opened her eyes.
She looked at the “Mirror Fox” forming beside her, then slowly reined in her aura.
This time, the retraction of her aura was more complete than ever before.
Liu Yi even had the illusion that Ziyue had vanished, and only a mirror stood there, reflecting the Mirror Fox.
And the Mirror Fox's aura was completely identical to Ziyue's true form.
A minute passed, and the Mirror Fox remained steadily suspended beside Ziyue, showing no signs of shattering.
Ziyue tentatively took a step forward.
The Mirror Fox took a step in sync.
Ziyue stopped and looked back at Liu Yi. Her purple eyes reflected the starry sky in the lake, and also the Mirror Fox.
“Bingbing.”
She let out a soft cry, her voice light, yet with an unprecedented steadiness.
Liu Yi looked at Ziyue, then at the Mirror Fox, a slight smile playing on her lips.
“You succeeded?”
“Bingbing!”
Ziyue nodded vigorously, her tails held high.
Then, she began to run along the edge of the salt lake, treading an Ice Frost Path, with the Mirror Fox following closely beside her, its movements perfectly synchronized.
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