The mist thickened until the world felt sealed inside a grey cocoon. Even sound seemed muffled, as though the marshlands were listening closely to every breath they took.
Lin Feng stepped carefully, boots making soft squelches in the mud. His grip tightened on his sword hilt, lightning threading faintly through his fingers.
Xuanyu Ye walked in front of him, calm as still water.
Too calm.
Too controlled.
Too… unnatural.
Lin Feng finally exhaled.
"Xuanyu."
"Hm?"
"We need to talk."
Xuanyu stopped mid-stride.
Very slowly, he turned with his fan half-open, expression unreadable.
"About?"
Lin Feng swallowed. "About what happened back there. About you."
A gentle breeze lifted the mist for a heartbeat, revealing Xuanyu's faint smile — warm, polite, but carrying something deeper beneath.
The kind of smile worn by someone who had lived a very, very long time.
"You're still thinking about the elder?" Xuanyu asked.
"Thinking?" Lin Feng laughed breathlessly. "Xuanyu, you erased his cultivation like someone dusting a table. And that spear… that thing he summoned… even a peak Core Formation elder couldn't handle that without serious risk."
Xuanyu waited.
"And you didn't even blink."
Xuanyu tilted his head. "I blinked once."
"That makes it WORSE!"
Xuanyu chuckled lightly.
*******
Lin Feng took a breath and steadied himself.
"Xuanyu, I'm grateful you helped me survive. Truly. But I can't keep pretending I don't see it."
His eyes locked onto the scholar.
"You're not Foundation. You're not Core Formation. You're not even Golden Core."
Xuanyu remained silent.
"You… are something beyond that."
For a moment, the mist stilled.
Xuanyu closed his fan.
"I never told you I was weak," he said gently.
"You also never told me you were a monster wearing a scholar's robe!"
Xuanyu blinked. "…Monster seems harsh."
"What realm are you?!"
Xuanyu Ye met his gaze.
Those calm eyes held a depth that made Lin Feng's skin crawl.
A depth like looking into the night sky from the bottom of an endless abyss.
Finally, Xuanyu sighed softly.
"I don't know."
Lin Feng froze.
"…Don't… know?"
Xuanyu shook his head.
"I woke up two years ago on the edge of a desert. No memories. No identity. My body… severely damaged."
His tone lowered, a shadow crossing his face.
"Most of my cultivation… was sealed."
Lin Feng blinked. "Sealed? By who?"
"By myself," Xuanyu answered. "At least, that is the conclusion I've reached."
He turned and continued walking, fan tapping lightly against his leg.
"When I awoke, I could barely use qi. My body was unstable. My memories were gone. My cultivation realm—if it still exists—was inaccessible."
Lin Feng jogged to catch up.
"So how did you casually erase that elder?"
Xuanyu shrugged. "A reflex. When I'm threatened, instinct takes over. My body remembers what I cannot."
Lin Feng stared.
This man…
This terrifying, polite, tea-drinking scholar…
He wasn't hiding his realm.
He couldn't access it.
Which meant—
"Xuanyu," Lin Feng said carefully, "what were you before your seal?"
Xuanyu stopped again.
The mist swirled around him like wary serpents.
"I believe…" he whispered, "that I once stood far above Core Formation… far above Golden Core…"
Lin Feng swallowed hard.
"Nascent Soul?"
Xuanyu's smile flickered.
"Higher."
"Spirit Fusion?! Transcendent Realm!?"
Xuanyu shook his head slowly.
"Lin Feng… realms are merely labels. I cannot tell you what I was."
He looked upward toward the grey sky.
"But I remember this much:"
His voice deepened, carrying weight that bent the air.
"The heavens feared me."
Lin Feng felt his heart stop.
Not figuratively.
Literally.
For a full second, his pulse froze as Xuanyu's aura leaked —
just a fraction
just a sliver
just enough to prove his words.
The marsh trembled.
The fog twisted into spirals.
Lightning crackled beneath Lin Feng's skin involuntarily.
And then —
Xuanyu withdrew it.
Lin Feng gasped as air rushed back into his lungs.
"Xuanyu… what are you NOW?" he whispered.
Xuanyu gave him a warm smile again, the kind that felt almost human.
"Your friend," he said simply.
Lin Feng stared.
Speechless.
Emotions tangled — fear, admiration, uncertainty, loyalty.
Finally, he snorted and rubbed his nose awkwardly.
"You're the scariest friend I've ever had."
Xuanyu chuckled lightly. "Thank you."
"That wasn't a compliment!"
They continued walking.
After a quiet stretch, Xuanyu spoke again, voice soft.
"Lin Feng."
"Yeah?"
"There is something you must prepare for."
Lin Feng tensed. "What is it?"
Xuanyu stopped and looked at him with a seriousness he had not shown before.
"Your lightning essence… it reacted to the presence deep within the marshlands."
A faint frown formed.
"That… thing… recognized you."
Lin Feng's heartbeat quickened.
"What thing?"
Xuanyu opened his fan and pointed forward into the swirling fog.
"A being that should've been sleeping for another century."
Lightning tickled Lin Feng's fingertips.
"Why did it react to me?"
Xuanyu's gaze hardened.
"Because you carry the same lightning signature as its ancient foe."
Lin Feng blinked.
"…Its foe?"
Xuanyu nodded.
"The one who sealed it."
Lin Feng felt his stomach drop.
"And who was that?"
Xuanyu's smile turned thin.
"…Me."