The following morning, Azure Lotus Sect buzzed with restrained excitement.
Lin Yao's name had spread.
Not just as the disciple who survived the Spirit Valley—but as the one whose martial soul shook the planes. Eyes followed him as he walked through the stone corridors, some filled with curiosity, others with calculation.
He noticed them all.
And he smiled.
Not arrogantly. Calmly. Confidently.
That alone unsettled people.
At the Scripture Pavilion, Lin Yao felt another presence before he saw her.
She stood by the third-tier jade shelves, dressed in pale green robes, her figure slender and elegant. Her long hair was tied simply, but her eyes—soft, observant, endlessly patient—marked her as dangerous in a quieter way.
Mu Wanqing.
An inner disciple known less for combat and more for healing, formations, and spiritual theory. The kind of cultivator who survived longer than geniuses because she understood why things worked.
"You're studying dual circulation texts," she said gently, without looking up.
Lin Yao blinked. "That obvious?"
She smiled faintly and turned. "Only to someone who listens."
He studied her now. Unlike Su Qingxue's cold intensity, Mu Wanqing radiated calm. Her presence soothed the Chaos fragment rather than stirring it.
"I'm not planning anything reckless," Lin Yao said. "Just trying to understand myself."
"That's rare," she replied. "Most men with your talent rush forward."
He chuckled. "I prefer to know where I'm stepping."
Their conversation flowed easily after that. Cultivation theories. Meridians. Spiritual compatibility. She spoke of balanced dual cultivation, practiced historically by Dao companions bound by vows, not impulse.
"Desire isn't wrong," Mu Wanqing said softly. "But unacknowledged desire becomes poison."
Lin Yao met her eyes. "And acknowledged?"
"Becomes power," she answered.
There was no flirtation in her tone. No invitation.
And yet, something passed between them.
Understanding.
Before leaving, she paused. "If one day you choose a Dao companion… choose honesty first. It spares suffering."
He watched her go, thoughtful.
Two women.
Two completely different resonances.
Both tied to his path.
Lin Yao exhaled slowly and smiled to himself.
"Looks like this Dao won't be lonely."
Above Azure Lotus Sect, clouds gathered—slowly, deliberately.
The heavens were paying attention.