The Morning After
The small hut was quiet, warmed only by the dim glow of morning light filtering through bamboo cracks.
A faint herbal fragrance lingered in the air —
Mu Yanyue sat up slowly on the wooden bed, her long hair falling like a silk waterfall over her shoulders. Though her complexion was still pale, the darkness that once clung to her veins had completely vanished. Every breath she took was finally free of pain.
Her gaze lifted to Lin Xian, who stood near the open doorway.
He looked almost unreal in the morning light — snow-white hair drifting softly, his cold, distant face as calm as still water. A figure both mortal… and not.
A quiet breath left her lips.
> "You cured me," she said, voice low yet steady.
"I… don't know how to repay this grace."
Lin Xian glanced back at her, expression gentle but unreadable.
> "You don't need to repay anything," he said.
"Our meeting was fated."
Something in his tone — soft, firm, unshakably certain — rippled through her like a bell struck in the heart.
Mu Yanyue froze.
Fated?
Why did that word make her chest tighten?
Her eyes lingered on him, searching his features.
His hair like untouched snow…
His gaze deep yet distant…
His aura — cold in the way ancient stars were cold.
A strange familiarity washed over her.
She didn't know him.
She shouldn't feel anything.
And yet—
Why does he feel… close? Like someone I once knew? Someone important?
The sensation was so strong it almost hurt. A déjà vu that tugged at forgotten memories she never possessed.
Her lips parted.
> "Have we…" she whispered,
"met before?"
Lin Xian's expression didn't change, but a faint shadow crossed his eyes.
> "Not in a way you can remember," he said softly.
His voice carried something unspoken — not sorrow, not regret… something deeper.
Before she could question him further, he straightened slightly.
> "It's time for me to go."
"Your pursuers won't reach this place for now. The poison is fully purged. Rest… and regain your strength."
Her brows tightened, an unexpected sense of urgency rising within her.
> "Wait."
Her voice was quieter than she intended.
"How do I contact you next time? If… I need help?"
Lin Xian paused.
For a heartbeat, he simply looked at her — as though memorizing her expression, the uncertainty in her eyes, the fragile calm she forced upon herself.
Then he spoke gently.
> "If fate wills it,"
"we will meet again."
Before she could protest, before the ache in her chest could push her to say more, he turned away.
But just as he stepped into the light, his fingers twitched ever so slightly.
A thin strand of golden qi — soft as a whisper, warm as a forgotten memory — flowed silently across the air and sank into Mu Yanyue's dantian. She felt nothing, no pain, no disturbance… only a faint ripple in her spiritual sea.
A tether.
A silent promise.
A way for him to sense the moment she fell into danger again.
"Till we meet again YanYue" he smiled
Lin Xian walked until the mist swallowed his silhouette, and then he was gone.
The hut suddenly felt too quiet.
Mu Yanyue lowered her gaze, fingers curling over her chest.
An unexpected hollowness opened inside her — sharp, aching, impossible to explain.
> Why… does it feel like I've lost someone important?
She had no answer.
Only the echo of his presence, fading like mist under the rising sun.
---
Return to Azure Cloud City
By the time Lin Xian reached the city gates, the sun stood high above the horizon.
Azure Cloud City rose before him like a dream of jade and mist — towers piercing the morning fog, roofs gleaming blue like slumbering dragons basking in sunlight.
He moved through the bustling streets in silence.
To the clansmen whispering in alleyways, he was still the crippled young master with a ruined dantian — a burden to the Lin name.
But beneath his calm expression, his meridians thrummed with hidden strength.
The Heaven-Slaughter Nirvana Scripture pulsed in perfect rhythm with his heartbeat.
Today was the Spirit Vein Ceremony.
Judgment day.
If he failed, the elders would cast him out — and shame would fall upon the only two people he still called family.
He looked toward the distant silhouette of the Lin Residence.
> "Their rules mean nothing to me," he murmured.
"But no one touches my family."
His silver eyes narrowed slightly, a faint glimmer flashing like sunlight on a blade.
> "Let's see," he whispered,
"what a 'crippled' dantian can do."
---
The Ceremony
Morning mist drifted like ghostly silk across the Lin Clan compound.
Drums echoed through the courtyards. Bells tolled, summoning disciples, nobles, and elders alike.
At the center stood the ancient Vein Spirit Stone, its old runes glowing with soft gold — a relic that had decided destinies for centuries.
Gray. Green. Blue. Crimson. Gold.
Five ranks — the ladder of fate.
Beyond Gold lay legend.
A realm so rare the heavens kept its name veiled.
---
The Prodigy's Pride
> "Let me begin."
Lin Tianhao stepped forward, the clan's celebrated genius.
His scarlet-trimmed robe glimmered under the sunlight, aura steady and refined.
When he placed his hand on the stone—
Blue surged.
Then Crimson stabilized like a blazing flame.
The crowd erupted.
> "Crimson Vein!"
"As expected!"
"Inner Sect material!"
Tianhao withdrew his hand with practiced grace, enjoying the adoration.
Then his gaze slid toward the edge of the platform — and narrowed.
A youth stood quietly there, white hair flowing like winter snow.
Lin Xian.
Tianhao's smile sharpened.
> "I didn't think you'd dare show your face."
Laughter rippled.
> "The cripple came?"
"He'll awaken Gray if he's lucky."
Tianhao crossed his arms.
> "Still dreaming of cultivation? Even the heavens abandoned you."
Lin Xian lifted his gaze, silver light faint beneath the mist.
> "The heavens mark many things," he said calmly.
"Including fools who confuse arrogance with talent."
A gasp rippled through the crowd.
Tianhao's eyes darkened.
> "Watch your tongue, trash."
> "Then stop putting it where your brain should be."
Elders hid smirks; disciples choked back laughter.
The Great Elder's voice cut through the tension.
> "Lin Xian. Step forward."
---
The Awakening of the 'Cripple'
Whispers followed him like shadows.
> "He won't awaken anything."
"His dantian is shattered."
"Just get it over with."
Lin Xian placed his palm on the stone.
Silence.
Mocking smiles grew.
Until—
Gray.
Then Green.
Murmurs began.
Blue.
Silence returned.
Crimson.
Gasps exploded.
But the stone didn't stop.
The crimson deepened—
thickened—
then burst into blinding gold.
A roar of light shook the entire square.
The Vein Spirit Stone's runes burned alive, resonating with overwhelming force.
> "Gold Vein! True Gold!"
"Impossible!"
"His meridians… reborn!?"
The elders surged forward, faces pale with awe.
Tianhao staggered back.
> "No… no, that's not… that's impossible…"
Lin Xian simply dusted off his robe.
> "I did say," he murmured,
"that the heavens make mistakes."
The crowd buzzed with disbelief — and a new fear.
Tianhao's jaw clenched.
> "You— You cheated!"
Lin Xian's expression flattened into one of pure contempt.
"Cheating requires effort. Beating you," he said, his voice dropping to a icy whisper, "required none. Don't flatter yourself by thinking you were important enough to warrant a scheme."
Laughter tore through the square.
Tianhao trembled with humiliation.
The First Elder declared, voice booming:
> "Lin Xian — Gold Vein acknowledged."
Reverence replaced ridicule.
Lin Xian walked away, unhurried.
Behind him, Tianhao whispered:
> "This isn't over…"
Lin Xian didn't turn.
> "It never is."
---
The Elders' Shadowed Council
Inside the inner hall, a heavy silence settled.
> "A cripple reborn with Gold Vein… absurd."
"Miracle or omen?"
The First Elder spoke at last.
> "Neither. The heavens do not intervene."
"They have their own laws. This is merely one of them playing out."
His gaze darkened toward the distant mountains.
> "The boy's destiny may elevate this clan… or destroy it."
---
Quiet Resolve
Night draped Azure Cloud City in shimmering lantern light.
Lin Xian sat atop a lonely ridge, robes fluttering in the cold mountain wind.
Below him, lights flickered like fireflies scattered across the mortal realm.
He smiled , "This body's weak, but my spirit isn't. I'll still tear down the heavens if I have to."
The Heaven-Slaughter Nirvana Scripture pulsed within him.
> "Let them mock. Let them dream."
"They won't see me coming. But they will know it was me when I end their world."
Then,
A sudden blaze tore across the night sky.
A golden streak — divine, violent — split the heavens open.
The shockwave rippled across the ridge.
Lin Xian's eyes glowed gold.
> "A heavenly omen…"
"And it falls near the Moonlit Spring."
A slow smile curved on his lips.
Without hesitation, he rose, his silhouette vanishing into the mist like a passing phantom.
His voice drifted with the wind:
> "I wonder what treasure fall into this backyard realm."