Chapter 3: Morning After the Snow
Ling Xiao woke to the gentle weight of Mu Xue's head on her chest and the soft tickle of black hair against her neck. Snow-light filtered through the paper window, turning the small room the color of pale pearl.
She lay perfectly still, afraid the moment would vanish if she breathed too loudly.
Mu Xue stirred, stretched like a cat, then froze.
A faint ripple of spiritual energy pulsed from her body—pure, dense, and unmistakably Foundation Establishment.
Mu Xue bolted upright, quilt clutched to her chest, eyes wide.
"Early Foundation Establishment… perfect foundation… no impurities?"
She stared at her own palm as though it belonged to someone else. "I was only half a step into the threshold last night. How…?"
Ling Xiao sat up more slowly, feeling the same flawless cyclone of qi spinning in her own dantian. Golden text flashed across her vision alone.
[Dual cultivation efficiency: 412 % above recorded maximum.
Both parties advanced to Foundation Establishment (early) – perfect.
Shared Insight function now active.]
She dismissed the panel with a thought and tried to look as shocked as Mu Xue.
"I… feel it too," she said, letting her voice tremble just enough. "Perfect foundation. Early stage. Xue'er, what in the nine heavens just happened to us?"
Mu Xue's gaze snapped to her, ice-blue eyes searching Ling Xiao's face.
"We… dual cultivated," she whispered, cheeks flaming. "But even the ancient manuals say perfect harmony only grants a small realm boost at best. This—this is impossible."
Ling Xiao reached out and cupped Mu Xue's burning cheek. "Nothing about last night felt impossible. It felt… right. Like our qi was always meant to find each other."
Mu Xue swallowed hard, then closed her eyes and carefully extended a strand of spiritual sense toward Ling Xiao.
The moment their qi touched, both of them gasped.
It was like ice sliding into moonlight—two completely different natures merging without the slightest rejection, amplifying instead of cancelling. Mu Xue's sword intent sharpened; Ling Xiao felt frost bloom along her meridians, cool and perfect.
Mu Xue pulled back, trembling.
"Your qi… it's both yin and yang in perfect balance. I've never felt anything like it. It's… it's drinking my sword intent and giving it back stronger." She laughed once, disbelieving. "No wonder we both broke through. Your body really is a legendary furnace and cauldron in one."
Ling Xiao's heart ached at the reverence in her voice. She pulled Mu Xue close again.
"Then let's never waste it," she murmured against black hair. "Let's grow stronger together—so strong that no one can ever hurt us again."
Mu Xue nodded against her shoulder, then suddenly tensed.
"The roof," she said weakly.
A long crack ran straight across the wooden beam above the bed, frost spreading from it like a spiderweb.
Ling Xiao burst out laughing. "Looks like we got a little carried away."
They dressed quickly after that—Mu Xue back in her pristine white robes, Ling Xiao in the spare silver-blue set that fit as though it had been waiting for her all along.
In the courtyard, Mu Xue opened her storage ring without hesitation.
"Everything I own is yours now," she said simply, meeting Ling Xiao's eyes. "We're in this together."
Ling Xiao's throat closed. She accepted a new spatial ring of her own, already filled with spirit stones, pills, and talismans.
"Thank you," she whispered. "I'll pay you back a thousandfold."
Mu Xue's smile was small and fierce. "Start by helping me test this new realm. The Black Wolf Bandits have been terrorizing the eastern road all winter. Their leader just reached Foundation Establishment."
Ling Xiao's smile turned sharp enough to cut snow.
"Perfect first date."
A new private notification flashed across her vision.
[Side Quest: Exterminate the Black Wolf Bandits]
[Reward: Treasury + random high-grade resource]
[Personal note: They mocked you yesterday. Make it hurt.]
Ling Xiao laughed under her breath.
Mu Xue raised a brow. "What is it?"
"Just thinking the heavens have a sense of justice after all," Ling Xiao said, threading their fingers together.
Side by side—two newly ascended Foundation Establishment cultivators still glowing with each other's qi—they walked out of Azure Mist Town and into the waiting storm.
Behind them, the innkeeper wailed over his shattered roof.
Ahead, twenty-three bandits were about to learn that some people should never be given a second chance to open their mouths.
To be continued.