The Blade
By dawn, Azure Cloud City was already vibrating with noise.
Rumors didn't just spread — they detonated.
"Did you hear? Grandmaster Xu Tian was impressed by a youth not even twenty!" "Impressed? The old monster handed him his personal emblem!" "Even the Academy President bows when he sees Xu Tian, yet that youth stood beside him like he belonged there!"
With every retelling, the story grew taller. Some claimed Lin Xian refined the Thousand-Venom Purge Pill with one hand while drinking tea with the other. Others insisted he was secretly Xu Tian's illegitimate grandson. A few swore he was the hidden heir of an ancient sect, sent into the mortal world to temper his heart.
Whatever the truth, one fact remained:
Azure Cloud City had found its newest legend.
Inside a quiet teahouse on West Street, the subject of every rumor sipped tea with the serenity of an old monk.
"Still too noisy," Lin Xian muttered, tapping his cup lightly.
The teahouse's curtains fluttered softly, carrying echoes of gossip from outside. Each whisper seemed louder than the last. Xiao Jin, sprawled lazily on the table, flicked its golden tail in annoyance. When a particularly dramatic rumor floated by —
"…he slapped Xu Tian awake with one finger!"
— the golden kitten let out a sharp, outraged mew, sparks crackling faintly around its whiskers.
Lin Xian flicked its nose. "Calm down. Let them shout. They'll exhaust themselves eventually."
Xiao Jin glared, gave a tiny huff, then dove into his sleeve like a burrowing squirrel.
Lin Xian's gaze drifted beyond the teahouse balcony, toward the bustling street below.
"Time to collect what I left unfinished."
---
The Ancient Weapon Shop
The old shop looked exactly as it had before — cramped shelves, dusty racks, and the familiar scent of rusted iron and forgotten steel. It was the kind of place most cultivators ignored, assuming nothing inside could possibly be worthwhile.
But Lin Xian stepped in without hesitation.
The shopkeeper blinked in mild surprise. "Back again, young man? That plain sword still stuck in your thoughts?"
"I'd like to buy it," Lin Xian said simply.
"Ha! That thing? Two thousand gold coins. Might as well chop vegetables with it if it doesn't break first."
Before Lin Xian could respond, soft footsteps sounded from the entrance — delicate, crisp, almost melodic.
"Shopkeeper Liu," a gentle, cultured voice called, "you mentioned you had a few spirit-grade spears on display?"
All eyes turned.
A young woman entered with the grace of drifting snow. Her light-blue robes shimmered with lotus thread embroidery. Her dark hair, tied with a simple jade pin, framed a face calm and elegant — intelligent eyes like moonlit water, serene yet sharp.
Bai Yu Sheng.
Inner circle disciple of the Pill Academy. One of Azure Cloud City's famed "Three Talents."
And beside her, flashing his impeccable smile like a polished blade, walked Zhao Feiyang.
"Miss Bai, allow me," Zhao said eagerly, stepping ahead to hold the door. "This shop's rather… humble. I'll help you find something worth your hand."
Bai Yu Sheng offered a polite, faintly distant smile. "Thank you, Young Master Zhao. I'll manage."
Her voice was soft, but her eyes had already found Lin Xian.
Recognition flickered — surprise, then a spark of curiosity, then admiration.
The youth who refined the Thousand Venom Purge Pill before Xu Tian's eyes.
There was no mistaking the silver hair, nor the quiet sharpness he carried.
Zhao Feiyang instantly noticed her gaze. His smile froze, then curdled.
"Well, well," Zhao sneered, stepping forward with forced bravado, "look who crawled out of the dust. Lin Xian — the fallen young master of the Lin Clan."
The shopkeeper straightened in a panic, bowing clumsily. "Young Master Zhao! What an honor!"
Zhao puffed his chest out and continued loudly, ensuring Bai Yu Sheng heard every word.
"I heard your clan's down to scraps, Lin Xian. Planning to buy a sword today? With what—your pride? Or the few coppers your family has left?"
His companions laughed. Too loudly.
Lin Xian didn't respond. Didn't even glance at him. He simply placed a low-grade spirit stone on the counter.
"Keep the change."
The stone hit the wood with a soft tap — but its glow lit the entire shop in pale radiance.
The laughter died instantly.
The shopkeeper gaped. "Th-that's… a spirit stone! Young master, this—this is worth ten thousand gold coins!"
Bai Yu Sheng's eyes softened, a shade of admiration deepening.
Zhao Feiyang's smile twitched — rage burning beneath.
"You think flashing spirit stones makes you impressive?" Zhao barked. "Anyone can flaunt money!"
Lin Xian finally turned his gaze toward him — cold, and utterly indifferent.
"The barking of a stray dog does not concern me."
"You—!" Zhao snapped, crimson qi bursting from his palm as he lunged. "I'll teach you your—!"
His Crimson Tiger Palm tore through the air, a high-grade mortal art that could splinter trees.
Lin Xian didn't even move until the strike neared.
Then—
A single step.
A shift like drifting mist.
A flick of his wrist.
And a lightning-fast punch to Zhao's left side.
CRACK.
Zhao Feiyang twisted midair, his body folding like a broken leaf before crashing into a stack of crates. Wood splintered. Dust exploded.
Blood splattered the floor.
Silence seized the shop.
Lin Xian lowered his hand with serene calm. "Peak Mortal Vein, yet your qi leaks every time you move. Fix that before you embarrass yourself again."
Bai Yu Sheng's lips parted slightly — a rare crack in her composure.
Not a ripple of wasted qi. Not one.
Even in a counterattack, his control was terrifyingly clean.
The shopkeeper stood frozen, staring at the wreckage of crates — and Zhao's pride — with trembling legs.
His two companions, who had been laughing moments before, stood frozen, their faces pale as they looked from their fallen leader to Lin Xian's retreating back.
Lin Xian turned back to the counter, picked up the sword, smiled, and murmured,
"It's waking up."
A faint hum rippled across the room. Dust lifted from the shelves. The sword vibrated subtly, as though greeting its rightful master.
He wrapped it in cloth and headed out.
Bai Yu Sheng hesitated, then quickly gave the shopkeeper a polite nod and followed. As she walked past Lin Xian at the doorway, she spoke softly,
"You didn't even use ten percent of your strength… did you?"
Lin Xian glanced sideways, silver eyes half-lidded. "You see too much."
Her lips curved faintly. "And yet, not enough."
She stepped aside gracefully, watching him go — silver hair catching the sunlight like spun starlight.
Behind them, Zhao Feiyang groaned, clutching his ribs, his pride shattered more deeply than his bones.
---
Outside
Azure Cloud City gleamed under the rising sun, bustling with vendors, cultivators, and the scent of morning bread.
In Lin Xian's hand, the sword pulsed with quiet energy — black steel traced with faint silver veins, its aura sharp enough to stir the air around it. Even sheathed, it radiated lethal elegance.
Xiao Jin peeked from his sleeve, sniffed the sword, and promptly sneezed.
Lin Xian chuckled. "You like shiny things, not sharp things. Silly cat."
The kitten mewed indignantly and retreated deeper into his robe.
But Lin Xian's gaze remained on the sword.
A whisper stirred within it — ancient, cold, haughty.
At last… a master worthy to awaken me.
Lin Xian smiled faintly. "We'll see."
From a shaded corner down the street, Bai Yu Sheng watched him disappear into the swelling crowd, her hand resting lightly on the jade token at her waist.
"Lin Xian…" she murmured. "You're not just a rumor after all."
Next chapter - Awakening of the Sword...