The morning sun rose lazily over the Twin Peaks, its golden rays just beginning to dispel the mist that clung to the lower valleys of the Scarlet Cloud Sect. For Lin Feng, however, the day had begun much earlier. Today was the day. Today, three days after the new moon, at dawn, he would meet Elder Xiao Lan in the Hidden Orchid Valley. Anticipation was a tight knot in his stomach, a mixture of nervousness and a strange, almost electric, expectation.
He was diligently sweeping the outer courtyards of the Medicinal Herb Hall, a monotonous task that he nonetheless performed with new concentration. His mind wasn't on the dust or the fallen leaves, but on the intricate diagrams of the "Ephemeral Shadow Step" he had been feverishly studying in his Primordial Library for the past three nights. Each sweep of the broom was, in his imagination, a fluid movement, an almost imperceptible shift. His Chaotic Heart, calmed by the Harmonizing Meditation, pulsed with a steady, deep rhythm, a silent source of power only he knew. Glob, reduced to a small, dark, warm pearl in the inner pocket of his robe, was a comforting presence, a reminder of the secrets they shared and the path he had embarked upon.
He was trying to finish his assigned duties as quickly as possible. He needed time to prepare mentally and physically for the meeting with Xiao Lan. He knew their "cooperation" would involve more than simple conversations; it would involve handling primordial energies, exploring forbidden knowledge, and a level of trust and risk he had never experienced before.
"Well, well, look who we have here. Elder Xiao Lan's little pet, working so hard."
The voice, laden with ill-concealed contempt and bile, cut through the morning tranquility like a whip. Lin Feng stopped, his back tensing instinctively. He didn't need to turn around to know who it was. Zhang Fu and Li Wei.
Since the Spirit Beast Trial, and especially since Xiao Lan's astounding rise, the two bullies had been noticeably more... subdued. The loss of Chen Hao (though their memories, veiled by the Guardian, didn't allow them to fully understand how or why they felt so diminished) and the general terror of the trial had cowed them. But Lin Feng's survival and apparent "protection" by the sect's new Heaven's Daughter were a thorn in their pride, an affront they couldn't simply ignore, especially in front of other outer disciples who were beginning to whisper about their own cowardice. They needed to reassert their "dominance."
"Has Feng trash gone deaf as well as useless?" Li Wei hissed, his rat-like eyes glinting with malice as he and Zhang Fu blocked Lin Feng's path. "Or do you think you're too important to answer your Senior Brothers now, just because Elder Xiao let you sweep her shadows?"
Lin Feng turned slowly, his face calm, his eyes reflecting a composure that bewildered the two bullies. He remembered Xiao Lan's advice about discretion, his own desire to avoid unnecessary trouble before their crucial meeting. "Good morning, Senior Brothers," he said, his voice neutral. "I have duties to attend to, if you'll excuse me."
He tried to walk around them, but Zhang Fu, brawnier and with an expression of restrained fury, blocked his way with a shove. "Not so fast, scum. We've heard you're putting on airs now. That even Elder Xiao Lan finds you... 'useful.' We want to see just how useful you can be when we break those skinny bones of yours."
The provocation was open, blatant. Other outer disciples passing by stopped at a safe distance, some with looks of pity for Lin Feng, others with morbid expectation. For Zhang Fu and Li Wei, this was a golden opportunity to reclaim some of their battered reputation, using Lin Feng as an example.
Lin Feng sighed internally. He had hoped to avoid this. His meeting with Xiao Lan was in just a few hours. A fight now, being seen injured or humiliated, could complicate things. But the look in Zhang Fu's eyes, that thirst for violence for the simple pleasure of exerting it on someone he considered inferior, told him words wouldn't be enough.
"I'm not looking for trouble, Senior Brother Zhang," Lin Feng repeated, his voice still calm, but with a new edge of warning that the others, in their arrogance, failed to detect. "But I will not allow you to interfere with my duties or my… commitments."
"Commitments?" Zhang Fu let out a mocking laugh. "What commitments can trash like you have, aside from licking your superiors' boots? Today, we'll teach you a lesson about your true place in this sect. Maybe a good beating will knock those airs Elder Xiao has given you right out!"
With a roar, Zhang Fu lunged, his fist, imbued with the meager energy of his second stage of Qi Condensation, whistling towards Lin Feng's face. He expected the familiar sound of flesh being struck, the groan of pain, the sight of Lin Feng cowering on the ground.
But what happened next defied all his expectations.
The instant Zhang Fu's fist was about to connect, Lin Feng moved. It wasn't a clumsy, desperate dodge like before. It was an almost imperceptible sidestep, a flow that seemed to anticipate the punch's trajectory by a fraction of a second. His feet barely seemed to touch the ground. It was a rudimentary, almost instinctive echo of the "Ephemeral Shadow Step" he had been visualizing, a manifestation of his newfound connection to chaos that made his movements subtly unpredictable.
Zhang Fu's fist whistled through the air where Lin Feng's head had been an instant before. Surprise unbalanced the bully, his momentum carrying him forward.
And Lin Feng, with a speed and precision that no one in that square would have ever associated with the "trash disciple," counterattacked. There was no flashy display of Qi, no elaborate martial technique. It was a simple palm strike, direct and unadorned, but executed with perfect timing and an unexpected force that emanated not from his Qi meridians, but from the chaos-tempered strength of his own body.
The palm connected with Zhang Fu's solar plexus with a dull, sickening thud.
All the air left Zhang Fu's lungs in an explosive gasp. His eyes widened like saucers, disbelief and sharp pain replacing the fury. He doubled over like an empty sack, his knees hitting the ground hard, his face contorted in a mask of agony as he struggled to breathe.
A stunned silence fell over the onlookers. Li Wei, who had been preparing to join the attack, froze mid-motion, his mouth agape.
"Im… impossible," Zhang Fu managed to gasp, clutching his stomach.
Lin Feng looked down at him, his expression calm, almost cold. There was no trace of the fury or fear that used to dominate him in these situations. Only a deep calm, like the eye of a storm. "I warned you, Senior Brother Zhang. I'm in a hurry."
Li Wei finally reacted, his surprise turning into a mixture of rage and a new, unsettling fear. "What… what did you do to him, trash? What dirty trick did you use?" He pulled a rusty dagger from his belt, his hand trembling slightly. "You'll pay for this!"
He lunged at Lin Feng, the dagger aimed at his side.
Lin Feng sighed, this time audibly. "Some people just don't learn."
Li Wei's movement was fast for a disciple of his level, but to Lin Feng's heightened senses, now tempered by chaos and the practice of Harmonizing Meditation, it seemed almost slow. Again, that subtle sidestep, like a shadow detaching and returning to its place. Li Wei's dagger sliced through empty air.
Before Li Wei could correct his lunge, Lin Feng was already inside his guard. This time, it was an elbow strike, precise and brutal, to the side of Li Wei's jaw. There was a nauseating crack. Li Wei let out a choked cry, the dagger falling from his numb hand, and collapsed to the ground beside Zhang Fu, clutching his jaw, his eyes filled with tears of pain and shock.
This time, Lin Feng, as he struck, had allowed a minuscule, almost undetectable strand of his chaotic energy to flow with the impact. There was no visible aura, no Qi fluctuation that the others could detect. But Li Wei felt something more than just the pain of the blow: he felt an unnatural cold invade his jaw, a sensation of numbness and a strange weakness spreading through his neck, as if the very energy in that area was being… undone.
The onlooking outer disciples were now completely speechless, their faces a mixture of disbelief and a dawning fear. Was this really Lin Feng, the sect's trash? Since when did he possess such skill, such coldness? They hadn't seen significant Qi fluctuations, only incredibly fast and precise movements, and strikes that seemed to have a disproportionate impact. It was as if a master of mortal martial arts had possessed the weakest disciple's body.
Lin Feng looked at the two bullies writhing on the ground. Then, his calm gaze swept over the onlookers. "I have duties to attend to," he repeated, his voice calm but carrying a weight no one dared to ignore. "And an important appointment. I would appreciate it if no one else bothered me today."
He bent down, picked up his broom, and with a calmness that starkly contrasted with the violence of the preceding seconds, continued to sweep the courtyard for a moment, as if nothing had happened. Then, with the same tranquility, he leaned the broom against a wall and walked away, his stride firm and serene, towards the exit of the outer disciples' area.
No one dared to stop him. No one uttered a word. Only the sound of Zhang Fu's and Li Wei's groans broke the stunned silence.
As he walked away, Lin Feng reflected on what had happened. A part of him felt a grim satisfaction. It had been necessary. He had used the principles of the Ephemeral Shadow Step for evasion, and the physical strength that his Chaotic Heart, now more harmonized, was gradually bestowing upon his body. The small infusion of chaos into the blow against Li Wei had been an experiment, one that seemed to work subtly but effectively.
But he also felt a pang of caution. This demonstration, however restrained, would inevitably generate more questions, more scrutiny. He needed to become stronger, faster. He needed to master the true secrets of his Primordial Library. And his cooperation with Xiao Lan… was now more crucial than ever.
He quickly finished his remaining duties, his mind already focused on the upcoming meeting. The Misty Dawn Peak rose in the distance, shrouded in an ethereal fog that seemed to beckon him. Glob vibrated gently in his pocket, a shared sense of anticipation.
The sun was just beginning to tinge the eastern sky with the first colors of dawn when Lin Feng, moving with a new agility and stealth thanks to the principles of the Ephemeral Shadow Step he had been practicing, arrived at the Hidden Orchid Valley. It was a place of serene beauty, hidden between two lesser crags at the foot of Xiao Lan's imposing peak. Cascades of pure white and pale lavender orchids hung from ancient trees, their fragrance filling the cool morning air. A small stream meandered through the valley, its murmur the only sound.
And there, seated on a moss-covered rock by the stream, her back straight and her eyes closed in meditation, was Xiao Lan. Her presence was like that of a sheathed sword, her immense power perfectly contained. Even at rest, she emanated an aura of nobility and a beauty that transcended the mundane.
Lin Feng stopped at a respectful distance, waiting. Today, their strange alliance would take its next step. Today, the real work of unraveling the potential of their combined powers would begin. And Lin Feng, the former "ignored shadow," felt for the first time that he was exactly where he was supposed to be. The future was uncertain, yes, but for the first time, he faced it not with despair, but with a determination forged in the silent fire of chaos.