[Scene: Hidden Waterfall Cave – Daylight Seeped Through Cracks]
The muffled thunder of cascading water masked the silence within.
Max sat cross-legged by the fire, his robes half-dried, eyes closed as wisps of faint purple Qi spiraled from his chest, circulating into precise meridian paths. His breathing was calm. Controlled.
Across from him, Lian Yue mirrored his posture—though shakier. Lunar Qi shimmered faintly around her skin like mist kissed by moonlight.
A soft cough interrupted the harmony.
"You're focusing too tightly," Max said without opening his eyes. "Let it flow, not crash."
Lian Yue frowned. "My Qi always feels like it's trying to scatter."
"That's because your core is fragmented." Max's eyes finally opened. "But that doesn't mean you're broken."
Lian Yue blinked.
No one had ever said that to her before.
⸻
[Scene: Quiet Moments Between Them]
They trained in silence for hours. Occasionally, Max would demonstrate a flow pattern with his fingers in the air, and she'd try to mimic it.
Sometimes she'd fail. Sometimes he'd correct her posture with a brief, awkward touch on the shoulder or wrist. Neither commented on the closeness, but the silence between them began to feel less sharp.
At night, they ate roasted riverfish and spoke in low tones.
"Do you always train alone?" she asked.
Max glanced at the flickering flames. "I didn't use to."
"What happened?"
A pause.
"They moved on. I didn't."
⸻
[Scene: Morning – Discovery]
On the third morning, as Max scouted deeper into the rear chamber of the cave, his foot tapped something odd.
Clink.
Stone… but hollow.
He brushed away moss and soil, revealing what looked like a collapsed altar—fractured symbols etched into the floor and an old path leading deeper into darkness.
"Lian Yue," he called. "Bring light."
Together, they stared at the spiral stairs leading down—a tunnel carved by hands long forgotten.
The air was cold. Heavier.
The torch flickered oddly. It wasn't the wind.
"This place…" Lian Yue whispered. "It's older than it should be."
Max didn't reply.
But his eyes glowed faintly—his Origin Eyes twitching as strange runic afterimages shimmered before him. Ancient script. Words that bent space.
"There's… something down there."
A distant heartbeat pulsed in the stone.
Something that had not awakened in eons.
⸻
[End of Chapter 7]