The cavern was silent except for the faint crackle of a spirit-flame burning low on a shard of stone. Its blue glow threw jagged shadows against the walls, turning the rocky chamber into a place of both refuge and unease. Outside, the mountain winds howled, carrying with them the faint echoes of beasts prowling in the wilderness.
Lin Xuan sat cross-legged, his body still aching from the venomous python's killing aura. His chest rose and fell unevenly, every breath reminding him of how fragile his body still was compared to the cultivators who had clashed above him. Sweat clung to his forehead despite the cold air.
Across from him, Yu Ling knelt gracefully, her robe torn in several places from battle. A streak of blood ran down her arm, hastily bandaged. Her sword leaned against the cavern wall, glowing faintly as if restless even in its sheath.
Between them, silence stretched. It was not the silence of peace, but of words unspoken.
Finally, Lin Xuan broke it.
"Why… why do they keep coming after me? Ren Hao, the beast, now others… Am I really just some accident at that shrine?" His voice was low, heavy with both frustration and fear.
Yu Ling's eyes lifted from the flame, sharp and unreadable. For a moment she said nothing, then she exhaled softly.
"I explained fragments before," she said. "But if you are to survive what lies ahead, you must know more. At least enough to understand why your existence shakes the balance."
Lin Xuan leaned forward, jaw tight. "Then tell me everything. I'm tired of being hunted like prey while everyone else knows secrets about me that I don't."
Yu Ling's lips curved, not in a smile but in something close to pity. She reached for a small pouch at her side, sprinkling powdered herbs into a bowl of water. The scent of crushed lotus filled the cavern as she stirred. When she spoke again, her tone carried the weight of years of cultivation knowledge.
"There are worlds beyond this one."
Lin Xuan blinked. "Worlds… beyond?"
Yu Ling nodded, eyes reflecting the dim blue flame.
"This land we live in—the villages, the sects, the forests—it is but a fragment of the Mortal Realm. Above it lie higher planes, realms only those who shatter mortal limits can step into. Cultivators who reach a certain height pierce through the barriers of heaven and earth. They can walk among the Spirit Realms, the Celestial Courts, even the immortal heavens themselves."
Lin Xuan's mouth went dry. His heart pounded as if it wanted to leap from his chest. He had grown up in a dirt-poor village, mocked as cursed, bound to soil and survival. To hear that their world was just a piece of something much larger—it was like being told the sky above was only a painted ceiling, and beyond it stretched endless stars.
"And you've been there?" he asked hoarsely.
Yu Ling shook her head slowly. "No. My cultivation is far from touching such heights. But my sect's archives… the scrolls speak of them. The higher realms are not myths, Lin Xuan. They exist. But understand this—" Her voice hardened. "Reaching them does not mean safety. Quite the opposite. The higher you climb, the sharper the blades waiting to cut you down. Predators grow with each realm. What we call sects here? Up there, they are but ants before true powers."
Her words settled heavy in the cavern, like chains draped across Lin Xuan's shoulders. He swallowed, fists clenching against his knees.
"Then what chance do I have? If even you say survival isn't certain… why am I even alive now?"
Yu Ling's gaze lingered on him, sharp but softening. For an instant her mask slipped, and something human flickered through—regret, perhaps, or sympathy.
"Because you were never meant to be ordinary," she said quietly.
The spirit-flame hissed, throwing sparks between them.
Lin Xuan's breath caught. He didn't know what to say to that.
Silence hung again, but this time it was heavier, charged. Yu Ling reached across the small space and placed the herbal bowl before him. Her fingers brushed his for only the briefest moment, but Lin Xuan felt it like a jolt through his veins. He looked up instinctively, and their eyes met.
For a heartbeat too long, neither looked away.
Yu Ling broke the contact first, her expression hardening again, the softness tucked neatly behind duty. She straightened her robe, turning her attention to the cavern walls.
"We cannot linger here long. The Crimson Star Dominion has ways of tracking spiritual disturbances. That shrine you awakened—the resonance of it spread farther than you realize. They will come, and soon."
"The Crimson Star Dominion…" Lin Xuan muttered, tasting the words. He had heard whispers in the village before, of a distant and ruthless power, but nothing more. "Why would they care about me?"
Yu Ling hesitated. For once, she did not answer immediately. Her hands tightened slightly on her knees.
"They believe your awakening ties to an ancient prophecy," she admitted finally. "One that speaks of a child whose veins ignite at the shrine's call, whose path will tear the balance between realms."
Lin Xuan stared at her, disbelief warring with dread. "A prophecy? That's absurd."
"Perhaps," Yu Ling agreed. "But sects and dominions do not gamble when prophecy is involved. To them, you are either a weapon to seize or a threat to extinguish."
The words struck like thunder in Lin Xuan's chest. His whole life had been misery, ridicule, weakness. And now, suddenly, he was something vast powers wanted dead—or enslaved.
He laughed bitterly under his breath. "So I've gone from cursed to… destined?"
Yu Ling looked at him then, really looked, and for a fleeting moment her stern mask faltered. "You're still you, Lin Xuan," she said softly. "That is what frightens them most."
The flame guttered low, shadows stretching longer. Their silence this time was different—no longer avoidance, but a fragile tether neither dared acknowledge.
But the world did not allow fragile moments for long.
Yu Ling stiffened suddenly, eyes snapping toward the cavern mouth. Her sword vibrated against the stone, as though hungering for battle.
"They've found us."
Lin Xuan's head whipped around. From beyond the cavern, faint but growing louder, came the tramp of boots, the murmur of qi-imbued voices, the rasp of steel being unsheathed.
Yu Ling rose in a fluid motion, her hand closing around her sword hilt.
"Crimson Star Dominion," she spat. "They move faster than I thought."
Lin Xuan scrambled up, gripping his broken staff. His pulse hammered. The fragile warmth of moments ago was gone, shattered by looming death.
"What do we do?"
Yu Ling's eyes flicked to him, blazing.
"We fight. And if the heavens will it… we survive."
The cavern mouth glowed faintly as figures emerged from the mist outside. Shadows stretched tall, armor glinting under talisman light.
"Spread out. Seal the exits," a cold voice commanded. "The boy must not leave alive."
Lin Xuan's blood ran cold. There was no mistaking the authority in that voice—it was not some wandering rogue cultivator. These were trained Dominion hunters.
Five figures entered, their crimson robes edged with black, each bearing the sigil of a seven-pointed star across their chest. Their qi pressed into the cavern like a suffocating tide, forcing Lin Xuan to stagger back.
Yu Ling stepped forward, sword unsheathing with a low hum. Azure light rippled down its blade, clashing against the Dominion's oppressive aura.
"You trespass outside your dominion's borders," she declared. "Leave now, and I will not stain this cavern with your blood."
The leader, a tall man with scarred cheeks and burning red eyes, smirked.
"Yu Ling of the Misty Cloud Sect," he said smoothly. "A dutiful disciple… guarding a boy your elders ordered you only to watch. Interesting."
Yu Ling's jaw clenched. She raised her blade higher.
"Speak one more lie, and you'll choke on it."
The scarred man chuckled. "Hardly a lie. Our sources say the shrine flared with golden resonance, awakened by him." His gaze slid past her to Lin Xuan, who stood trembling but defiant with his broken staff.
"That boy carries the mark of prophecy. The Crimson Star Dominion claims him."
Lin Xuan's skin prickled. Claim me? Like I'm some beast to be collared…
"Over my dead body," Yu Ling snapped.
The leader's smile widened. "So be it."
At his signal, the Dominion hunters surged forward.
The cavern erupted into chaos.
Steel clashed against glowing azure as Yu Ling met the first two cultivators head-on. Her blade blurred, cutting arcs of light that shattered their initial assault. Sparks hissed against the cavern walls, illuminating her fierce expression.
"Lin Xuan! Stay back!" she shouted, voice hard with command.
But the third hunter lunged for him, spear blazing with crimson qi.
Instinct screamed in Lin Xuan's veins. He raised his staff, channeling every scrap of unstable energy he could muster. The wood cracked under the strain, but golden light burst outward, colliding with the spear's edge.
The impact hurled him back into the cavern wall. His ribs ached, vision swimming, but the spear-wielder staggered too, surprised at the resistance.
The leader's eyes narrowed. "So it's true… the shrine's power runs in him."
Yu Ling darted to Lin Xuan's side, intercepting another strike meant for his chest. Her sword flashed, severing the attacker's weapon in two. Blood sprayed as her follow-up cut forced the man back.
"Don't overdraw your qi!" she hissed at Lin Xuan. "You'll shatter your meridians!"
Lin Xuan spat blood, forcing himself upright. "Better shattered meridians than dead!"
The cavern floor trembled as Dominion talismans flared outside. A seal glowed across the entrance, trapping them in.
Yu Ling's eyes flicked to the runes—complex, layered, nearly impossible to break. Her jaw tightened. They had walked straight into a cage.
The leader advanced slowly, calm in the storm of battle.
"You can't win, Yu Ling. Hand him over, and I'll let you crawl back to your sect alive."
"Your mercy is filth," Yu Ling snarled. Her blade shone brighter, qi roaring as she struck out in a blinding arc. Two hunters fell back bleeding, clutching wounds that steamed under her azure strike.
But the leader was already there. His crimson blade met hers with a sound like cracking thunder. The cavern shook, stones falling from the ceiling. Lin Xuan shielded his face as dust rained down.
The clash threw Yu Ling back a step, her boots grinding against stone. Her arms trembled from the force. This man was stronger—by a whole realm.
"Impressive," he drawled. "But pointless."
He pressed harder, blade bearing down. Yu Ling grit her teeth, every muscle screaming as she resisted.
"Lin Xuan—" she gasped. "The seal… break it!"
Lin Xuan's head whipped toward the glowing talismans. The symbols writhed like living flames, feeding on the Dominion cultivators' qi. He staggered toward them, staff in hand, heart pounding.
Break it? How?
He closed his eyes, drawing the golden river inside him. Pain flared—veins burning, bones creaking—but he forced the flow outward. The staff glowed, fractures spidering across its surface.
"Break!" he roared, slamming it against the seal.
The cavern exploded with light. Golden threads ripped across the crimson runes, clashing violently. The air howled as the two energies tore at each other.
The leader's head snapped around. "Stop him!"
Too late.
With a sound like shattering glass, the seal cracked. A hole burst open, sucking wind through the cavern.
"Run!" Yu Ling shouted.
She kicked back from the leader, slicing down another hunter as she grabbed Lin Xuan's arm. Together they dashed for the breach, the world spinning in chaos behind them.
But the leader wasn't finished. His blade slashed through the air, sending a crimson arc of energy ripping after them.
Lin Xuan felt death at his back. Instinct surged again—his qi flared wildly, golden veins blazing as he twisted, staff raised.
The crimson arc struck.
The impact was thunder.
Stone collapsed around them, the cavern mouth crumbling as the blast hurled them through the opening. They tumbled down the rocky slope outside, dust choking the night air.
Lin Xuan groaned, body screaming in pain. Yu Ling rolled to her feet beside him, face pale, blood running from a cut along her temple. Her sword flickered weakly in her grip.
Behind them, the cavern roared with collapsing stone. The Dominion hunters' shouts echoed in fury, muffled by the rubble. But the leader's voice cut through, calm and deadly:
"You can run, Yu Ling. You can run, boy. But the Dominion's eyes are everywhere. The world itself will hunt you."
Then silence, broken only by the settling rubble.
Yu Ling grabbed Lin Xuan's wrist, pulling him up. Her hand lingered too long, trembling slightly—but she masked it by sheathing her sword. Her eyes, however, betrayed something deeper: fear. Not of the Dominion… but for him.
Lin Xuan met her gaze, breathless. "We barely… made it."
She nodded tightly. "And next time, we may not. Which is why…" She hesitated, as though swallowing words she had no right to say. "…we cannot return. Not to Misty Cloud Sect. Not anywhere familiar. From this moment on, Lin Xuan—we are fugitives."
The words struck harder than any blade. Lin Xuan stared at her, chest heaving.
And Yu Ling—disciple sworn to duty, blade bound to sect—looked away, her jaw tight. "We head deeper into the borderlands. Beyond the Dominion's reach lies another sect… perhaps shelter. But know this." Her voice softened, almost breaking. "Wherever we go, you will never again be just Lin Xuan the villager. Your fate… is already written into the stars."
Her hand, still gripping his wrist, trembled again before she let go.
Above them, the night stretched vast and cold. In the distance, horns of the Dominion sounded again, echoing through the valleys like hunting cries.
The chase was far from over.