The decision was made before sunrise.
Lin Feng sat alone in the courtyard, a single cup of tea cooling beside him, and looked at Tranquil Peak as if seeing it for the first time.
For decades, he had "cultivated" the way a frightened man survives—slow, careful, always leaving room to run. Even after accepting disciples, even after becoming a legend, a part of him had still been treating cultivation like something secondary.
But now there was a clock.
Three months.
Something from outside the world's rules was coming.
If he still treated cultivation like a hobby, then he deserved whatever happened next.
Lin Feng closed his eyes and took a long breath.
No more slacking off.
No more drifting.
From today onward, he would cultivate with utmost sincerity—like someone who truly understood that strength was not a luxury, but a responsibility.
He stood and rang a small bell in the courtyard.
One by one, his disciples arrived.
Shen Yue and Zhou Yuan came first, calm but alert. Wei Ling arrived with her usual composure, though the sharpness in her eyes suggested she'd been thinking all night. Chen Bo appeared silently, like always. Liu Mei hurried in, hair still slightly messy. Bai Ling came last, posture straight, trying very hard not to look nervous.
Xiao Hong clucked once from her perch, as if to announce: Let's see what Master has decided now.
Lin Feng faced them and spoke plainly.
"Starting today, I'm changing how I teach."
Six pairs of eyes locked onto him.
Lin Feng continued, voice even. "I will personally guide you one day each month. One day only."
Shen Yue blinked. "Master… just one day?"
"Yes," Lin Feng said. "Twelve days a year."
Liu Mei's mouth opened in shock. Bai Ling's face paled as if he'd been told he was being thrown out.
Wei Ling, however, lowered her gaze slightly—understanding something deeper.
Lin Feng looked at them carefully. He didn't soften the words.
"I've been too present," he said. "Too available. You rely on me without even realising it. That's comforting, but it's not strength."
Zhou Yuan nodded slowly. "You want us to stand on our own."
"I want you to become cultivators who can walk forward even when I'm not beside you," Lin Feng said. "Because when the real threat arrives… I may be forced to act elsewhere, or I may be forced to fight in a way that doesn't allow me to protect you with a hand on your shoulder."
Silence spread.
Even Shen Yue didn't joke.
Lin Feng's gaze sharpened. "But don't misunderstand. I'm not abandoning you."
He turned and gestured toward the storage shed.
"I'll give you resources," he said. "Techniques, herbs, materials, treasures—whatever you need. A safe environment. Time. Space. Quiet."
His expression turned calm, almost cold.
"If you can't achieve anything with that… then what can I say?"
That final line landed like a blade.
Not cruel.
Just honest.
Chen Bo bowed first. "Understood, Master."
Wei Ling followed. "This is correct."
Zhou Yuan and Shen Yue bowed as well, their expressions serious.
Liu Mei hesitated - then bowed so quickly her forehead nearly hit the stone. "I'll work harder, Master."
Bai Ling swallowed, then bowed deeply. "I won't waste what you give us."
Lin Feng nodded once.
"Good."
Then his tone softened slightly.
"Today is the first guidance day of the month," Lin Feng said. "So listen carefully. I won't repeat myself tomorrow."
Their spines straightened further.
Lin Feng walked to the centre of the courtyard, sat down cross-legged, and placed his palms on his knees.
"First," he said, "aura control is not a 'technique.' It's a lifestyle. From this day onward, your aura should not leak unless you allow it."
He looked directly at Shen Yue. "Especially you."
Shen Yue coughed. "Yes, Master."
Lin Feng continued. "Second. If you want to be truly strong, then your cultivation must be something you can carry into silence. No applause. No witnesses. No reward."
He looked at Bai Ling, and the boy stiffened.
"Bai Ling," Lin Feng said gently, "you don't cultivate to prove you're no longer a servant. You cultivate because you're alive, and you deserve to grow."
Bai Ling's eyes trembled. "Yes, Master."
Lin Feng nodded. "Third."
He lifted one hand and held it in front of them.
"My cultivation touch."
Every disciple's eyes were fixed on his fingers.
Lin Feng spoke carefully.
"This is not a shortcut. Not a blessing. Not a miracle you beg for. It is guidance through resonance."
He reached down and plucked a single fallen tea leaf from the ground.
He placed it on his palm and closed his fingers loosely around it.
He didn't pour qi into it.
He didn't "heal" it.
He simply let his intent settle - quiet, steady, sincere.
For a breath, nothing happened.
Then the leaf's veins shimmered faintly, forming a pattern like thin, moonlit scripture.
Liu Mei gasped softly.
Wei Ling's pupils contracted.
Zhou Yuan exhaled slowly as if witnessing an answer to a question he'd carried for centuries.
Lin Feng opened his hand.
The leaf looked the same - yet every disciple could feel that it now carried a kind of calm law, like a tiny anchor of peace.
Lin Feng said, "A cultivator doesn't grow by receiving power. A cultivator grows by aligning with understanding."
He paused.
"On guidance days, I may use cultivation touch to correct a deviation - if and only if it is necessary. But I will not use it to push you forward."
Shen Yue looked almost disappointed, then quickly hid it. "Yes, Master."
Lin Feng stood.
"That is all for today's guidance."
They froze.
"That's… all?" Liu Mei asked, unable to help herself.
Lin Feng nodded. "Yes."
Then he pointed toward the mountain.
"The rest is yours. Train. Reflect. Make mistakes. Fix them. If you wait for me to solve things, you'll die the moment I'm not there."
Harsh words.
But Lin Feng didn't say them with anger.
He said them with sincerity.
Because he meant to live by the same standard.
He turned away from the disciples and walked toward his meditation pavilion.
Wei Ling called out, carefully, "Master… what about you?"
Lin Feng stopped, without turning.
"I cultivate," he said simply. "With utmost sincerity."
He walked inside the pavilion and sat down.
No tea.
No distractions.
No "later."
Just cultivation.
The Eternal Breath Scripture began to circulate - steadier than it ever had before.
Lin Feng's breathing matched the mountain's rhythm.
Inhale: the world enters.
Exhale: the world returns.
No taking.
No wasting.
No slacking.
Outside, the disciples stood silently for a long moment.
Then Zhou Yuan spoke quietly. "Senior Sisters, Junior Brothers… we train."
Shen Yue drew her sword. "We train."
Liu Mei clenched her fists. "We train."
Wei Ling sat down immediately, expression calm. "We train."
Chen Bo walked to the forest path, aura disappearing like mist. "We train."
Bai Ling bowed toward the pavilion, eyes fierce. "We train."
Xiao Hong clucked once, like a judge delivering a verdict:
Finally.
That night, Tranquil Peak was quieter than it had ever been.
Not because it was empty.
But because everyone on it was moving with the same seriousness.
One mountain.
One family.
One approaching disaster.
And at the centre of it all, Lin Feng cultivated - not as a cautious man hiding from the world…
…but as a master who had decided, sincerely, to become the thing that extinction could not touch.