Xuan Ye continued his slow, limping circuit through the outer disciple quarters as the sickly twilight deepened. The perpetual dimness of the Realm made time feel elastic, days blurred into one another marked only by the faint shifts in the bleeding stars overhead and the occasional flare of active runes in the distance. The mountain slope beneath the Crimson Veil Sect was riddled with small rifts, narrow cracks where the Outer Dark bled through in thin, whispering tendrils of shadow. Black-leaved abyssal flora grew thick in these areas, their faint corruptive glow providing the only reliable light for the lowest ranks.
He kept his head bowed, playing the part of the useless crippled outer disciple. No one challenged him. Outer sect life was a hierarchy of quiet suffering, the slightly stronger bullied the weaker for scraps of spirit herbs or better sleeping spots. A group of young men shoved past him, laughing as one kicked over a basket of inferior spirit grains. Xuan Ye noted their faces without emotion (useless for now.)
His soul sea still ached with the rune's hunger, a persistent hollow pressure that reminded him of the starvation clock. The small essence harvested earlier had bought time but not much. The Lust Rune I demanded fresh energy to remain stable. Ignoring it too long would begin eroding his already damaged meridians from the inside.
He needed information first and the best source was the one he had already marked.
Instead of returning immediately to the hut, he chose a vantage point on a low ridge overlooking the boundary between outer and inner sect areas. From here, he could observe without drawing attention. The inner court residences rose higher on the slope, sturdier stone buildings with faint protective arrays glowing around them. Training grounds carved into the cliffs echoed with the sounds of qi techniques: sharp cracks of ice forming, the hiss of shadow strikes and the occasional flare of a newly awakened rune.
It was there that he first saw her clearly.
Mu Qinglan.
She stood at the center of the largest training field, surrounded by a small group of inner court disciples who watched with obvious reverence. Nineteen years old, tall and slender with long silver-white hair that fell like frozen silk down her back. Her robes were pristine white with icy blue accents, embroidered with subtle rune patterns that shimmered when she moved. An aloof, almost ethereal beauty with cold features, sharp eyes the color of deep winter frost and skin pale as untouched snow.
She cultivated an ice preservation path, one that sought to delay the realm's inevitable collapse through "harmony" and stasis. Xuan Ye's merged memories supplied him with more details: Rank 3, considered a genius within the sect, daughter of Mu Tianhao. Her qi manifested as beautiful razor-sharp ice constructs that could freeze entire sections of the training field solid.
As he watched, she raised one elegant hand. A wave of icy qi surged outward. Training dummies of reinforced stone shattered under the sudden frost, exploding into glittering shards that hung suspended in the air for a moment before raining down. The inner disciples clapped and murmured praise.
"Senior Sister Qinglan's ice qi grows stronger every day!"
"Truly worthy of the Mu family. The engagement with the Li family will only strengthen our position."
Mu Qinglan's expression remained cold and distant. She accepted the compliments with a slight nod, as if they were beneath her notice. There was pride there deep, unshakeable pride in her bloodline, her talent and the "purity" of her dao. She believed her path could preserve something meaningful against the void. She believed family and alliances gave her purpose.
Xuan Ye's eyes narrowed slightly, a faint, cold amusement stirring behind his detached mask.
"How exquisite."
From this distance, he could not yet apply the Lust Rune effectively. His control was still crude and the energy cost too high in this weakened body but he could already imagine it. That proud, icy composure shattering. Those frost-colored eyes widening in shock and unwilling heat. The way her perfect body would betray her on the very ancestral altar her family revered.
Her yin essence and talent would be rich, far richer than the plain servant's. Carving the Lust and Devour Runes into her soul sea during a prolonged ritual would repair his meridians fully and provide the foundation he needed to survive what's coming.
She was engaged, according to the rumors he had overheard earlier. A political match with a young master from a Li family... a minor ally. The family assembly in three days would be to demonstrations of her power and formal discussions of the alliance. Mu Tianhao would want to display strength.
""Perfect,"" Xuan Ye thought. ""Chaos during the assembly will provide the perfect cover. Spike the wine, turn their celebration into panic and isolate her at the altar. The more she resists it, the stronger the rune will become.""
He remained on the ridge for nearly an hour, watching her routine. She moved with graceful motion, each technique a statement of control and superiority. When a male inner disciple approached too closely with obvious admiration, she froze him with a single cold glance. Untouched, pure in her own eyes.
Xuan Ye finally turned away, limping back down the path toward the outer quarters. The hunger in his soul sea pressed harder now, a nagging void that demanded attention. He would need to feed it again soon, carefully, without drawing suspicion.
As he walked, more snippets of conversation drifted to him from passing disciples.
"…the assembly is in three days. Mu Tianhao wants everything perfect for the Li family guests…"
"…Mu Qinglan will demonstrate her ice again. They say she can freeze a rift leak now…"
"…that engagement is just politics, big brother. She acts like boys isn't even worth her time…"
"…outer trash will probably be selected and sacrificed again. Haaa…"
Xuan Ye understand how everything will likely go and the sect layout was becoming clearer as he walked: While the main hall and ancestral altar at the center will be heavily guarded but vulnerable during internal chaos. The wine preparation area on the other hand would be accessible through servants. Mu Qinglan's private training grounds were higher up, less guarded during the assembly.
By the time he returned to the outer disciple area, the dim light had shifted again, signaling the slow passage toward what passed for night. The black-leaved flora glowed brighter in the deepening shadows, casting eerie patterns on the stone paths.
He paused near a bunch of outer disciples arguing over rations. No one noticed the crippled youth listening quietly.
The Crimson Veil Sect believed itself stable. It believed bloodlines and pride and "preservation" meant something in a realm already cracking apart.
"Okayyyyy..."
Tomorrow he would refine more toxin and strengthen his spy. The day after, the assembly would begin.
And Mu Qinglan, the proud ice genius who believed her purity made her untouchable would become the first true Vessel in his path to unmaking.
He was patient.