He didn't come with an army.
That's how I knew he was serious.
The man waited outside the Pavilion boundary.
Didn't step in.
Didn't test it.
Smart.
He wore deep blue robes stitched with falling snow.
Older than Xueyi.
Sharper than he looked.
"The Falling Snow Sect Leader," Xueyi murmured.
I nodded.
"Finally."
He bowed.
Not deeply.
But sincerely.
"Li Shen," he said, "I came without Heaven's permission."
"That's becoming popular," I replied.
He glanced at the Pavilion.
At Chen Yu training.
At the well that shouldn't flow.
"My sect is suffocating," he said quietly.
"We followed every rule."
I met his eyes.
"And?"
"And Heaven closed the gates anyway."
He exhaled.
"I don't ask to join you," he said.
"I ask to learn how to survive without begging."
Silence stretched.
Xueyi watched me carefully.
I gestured to the ground.
"Sit."
He hesitated.
Then did.
I didn't teach him a technique.
I corrected one assumption.
"Power isn't granted," I said.
"It's tolerated."
He went pale.
Because he understood.
When he left, he didn't bow again.
He looked… lighter.
Heaven watched.
And recorded.