"It looks like there's still time before the tournament," Shi Yang said, sliding the jade lotus back into the storage mirror. "Along with information on where to find our third listed item—as long as that phoenix has enough tail feathers for all of us."
"That—and an auction where you can buy Foundation Realm techniques," Han Jie added, ruffling White's fur. Her eyes glimmered as she glanced past the cub, reading into his cultivation. "I didn't notice until Expert Qian Mu mentioned it… but you've truly reached the Foundation Realm."
"Foundation Realm?" Yueqin asked, standing close to Shi Yang. "What is that? Is it a good thing or a bad thing?" Her violet eyes searched his face, filled with genuine concern, clearly unsure of what they were talking about.
Shi Yang smiled and ruffled her hair. "It's a very good thing."
She closed her eyes, savoring the touch.
"But…" Shi Yang murmured, "your question makes it seem like you don't know about the cultivation realms. How could someone who has lived past the female extinction not know what they are?"
Yueqin's head tilted slightly. "I don't recognize that word," she said innocently, drawing Han Jie and Xiu Mei's attention.
"Wait… what do you mean by that?" Han Jie asked, her bangles chiming as she stepped closer. Xiu Mei followed behind, frowning.
"That doesn't make any sense," Xiu Mei said sharply. "Have you… lost some of your memories?"
"No, I'm fine," Yueqin replied, moving closer to Shi Yang and hiding slightly behind him. "Sorry if not knowing made you all mad. I—I'll learn about it if you want me to."
Shi Yang's eyes narrowed slightly, a realization settling in. If she hadn't forgotten her memories… then there were only two possibilities. Either she had been completely naive to the world and somehow survived this long, accidentally breaking through into the Mid Qi Refinement Realm and gaining hundreds of years of life while living without understanding cultivation… or—
He reached out and placed his hand gently over her, focusing his senses. The truth hit him immediately: she hadn't even begun cultivation.
Shi Yang's brows lifted as he looked down at her. "When… were you born?"
"Twenty years ago," Yueqin answered softly.
The words hung in the air, shocking everyone. Han Jie's eyes went wide, blinking rapidly. "Wait… what gender are you?"
"I'm a woman," Yueqin replied simply, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Han Jie and Xiu Mei exchanged glances, disbelief written across their faces. Han Jie was the first to speak. "Wait… you were born twenty years ago? Then what about your parents? Where are they? And… how did you end up being sold at the auction hall?"
Yueqin lowered her gaze, her violet eyes flickering with a mixture of sorrow and memory. "I was in the ocean… with my family clan. We traveled from sea to sea, moving with the currents and tides. But when I was five, the ocean swept me away. I was alone for years, drifting until I finally washed up on the shores of the human continent."
Xiu Mei frowned, her brow tightening. "And then… what?"
"I hid," Yueqin said softly, her voice almost a whisper. "My mother had warned me that humans were vicious creatures. I tried to find a way back to the ocean, but I had no strength, no knowledge, no one to help me. Then… a group of drunk humans saw the scales beneath my cloak at the market. They caught me and sold me to a merchant."
She paused, glancing up at Shi Yang with a faint, grateful smile. "Master Shi saved me. From being killed… or boiled alive by those humans. He bought me himself."
Han Jie's mouth went dry, and even Xiu Mei's expression softened, their earlier curiosity and shock giving way to a quiet understanding of just how fragile Yueqin's early life had been.
Shi Yang reached out, brushing her hair back gently. "And that's how you came to be with me," he murmured, his voice calm but edged with protective warmth. "You've endured more than most could survive—and yet here you are."
Yueqin nodded, leaning slightly against him, her violet eyes glimmering with a mixture of trust and relief.
Han Jie let out a low whistle. "No wonder… no wonder you survived on your own for so long."
Xiu Mei shook her head slowly, still processing. "And to think… she's only twenty. Everything she's endured, and she's still so… composed. Incredible."
Shi Yang's lips curved into a faint smile, his gaze drifting toward the horizon. "Her life has been harsh, but she's stronger than any of us might have realized."
Xiu Mei crossed her arms, a teasing smirk playing on her lips. "Though… don't think your sad backstory is going to win my uncle's heart. I'm still his favorite Daoist partner."
Han Jie's eyes narrowed, a playful glint appearing. "Favorite? He's had me as his first partner. First, Xiu Mei. Remember that."
Xiu Mei tilted her head, her smirk widening. "First, maybe. But I've slept with him more than you."
Han Jie's eyes went wide, then she leaned forward, voice low and mocking. "So… you're admitting you're just an easy buck for him to empty himself inside?"
Xiu Mei let out a sharp laugh, wagging a finger. "Male vixen."
Han Jie snorted, waggling her own finger back. "Uncle's slut."
Shi Yang's eyes flicked toward them briefly, and then he simply shook his head, the barest hint of a smile tugging at his lips. With a swift motion, he took Yueqin's hand and led her toward the carriage.
The two women stared, then rushed forward, scandal written across their faces. "No way… he's taking her inside! Now that he knows she's a woman—Shi Yang, how can you be this shallow?"
But when they burst into the carriage, ready to intervene, they froze. Shi Yang knelt opposite Yueqin, her legs crossed, her hands in a meditative position. A calm glow of qi shimmered faintly around them as he guided her.
"Breathe," Shi Yang murmured. "Feel the qi flow into your dantian… focus on the currents around you, not within you."
Yueqin's eyes closed, her body relaxed under his instruction.
The two women gawked, their expressions shifting from shock to confusion.
"Teaching… meditation?" Han Jie whispered.
Xiu Mei blinked. "So… we were just overthinking the other stuff? He's actually—he's just… teaching her to cultivate?"
Shi Yang's gaze swept over them briefly, calm and unreadable. "What, did you think I was such a lustful person?"
Han Jie and Xiu Mei exchanged glances, then slowly—almost sheepishly—stepped back. The tension in their shoulders eased as they realized the truth: Shi Yang wasn't dragging Yueqin into the carriage for anything scandalous. Instead, the space filled with a quiet, focused energy, his voice calm as he guided her breathing.
"Now you're getting it," Shi Yang murmured, watching the steady rise and fall of her chest. "Continue like that until you feel a thread of qi forming in your dantian. After that, we'll dual cultivate to solidify your base and—"
"I knew it!" Xiu Mei snapped, cutting him off as she hurled a ball straight at his head. "Yoke, fetch!"
The adolescent tiger bounded forward with a playful roar, snatching the ball mid-air. Shi Yang caught the beast's momentum with one hand, tossed the ball back, and with a grin, vaulted to the carriage ceiling just as Han Jie's hairpins whistled past.
"I was only kidding!" he laughed, perching upside down like it was the most natural thing in the world. "We'll find a pavilion first. That way everyone can take their turn without listening to each other's… noises."
"Shameless!" the two women chorused as he landed lightly back on the floor.
But Shi Yang's expression shifted as he turned toward Xiu Mei. "I've been wondering about something," he said thoughtfully.
Her brow arched. "What is it?"
"You broke into Foundation earlier than me," Shi Yang replied. "So tell me—why can you fly, but I can't? I just tried, and nothing happened. Is there some trick to it?"
A sly smile touched her lips. "There is. It's part of your Dao now, but you're still relying on mortal instincts. You should be leaning into your Dao instead."
To demonstrate, Xiu Mei crossed her legs and slowly rose into the air. A soft halo of water coiled around her body, droplets spiraling in rhythm with her breath, carrying her upward as though the lake itself still held her.
"Take a closer look," she invited.
Shi Yang's gaze sharpened. He saw it then—her water Dao condensed, embracing her like invisible hands, lifting her gently from the earth.
"Others use fire, or earth, or wind," she explained, her voice steady. "I use water. You'll need to use your own Dao the same way."
"I see…" Shi Yang closed his eyes, settling cross-legged on the carriage floor. His breath deepened. Slowly, two koi spiraled into existence above his shoulders—one wreathed in flame, the other sculpted from flowing water.
The air stirred. His qi surged. The koi swam upward, and his body followed.
Shi Yang opened his eyes to find himself floating, suspended between fire and water. A grin broke across his face. "So this is flight."
The koi formed a yin-yang symbol, and then he felt strange—
Shi Yang's breath slowed. The koi above him shimmered—one blazing red with fire, the other glistening blue with water. Their movements tightened, circling faster and faster until they fused into a yin-yang of flame and tide.
Then something pulled him under.
His eyelids sank shut, not by will but by force. A low hum filled his ears. His body stilled, weightless, yet the world around him changed.
The carriage dissolved into mist.
He stood within his own spirit sea. Rain poured endlessly from a blackened sky, each droplet striking the waters with a sound that reverberated deep into his marrow. Lightning slashed across the heavens, bright and merciless, tearing through the shadows of mountains that loomed in the distance.
Shi Yang looked high into the skies. Hidden in the blankets of clouds, he saw himself reflected—not the man sitting cross-legged, but a younger version, frailer, uncertain. The koi swam below him, glowing fiercely, one trailing ribbons of steam, the other rippling like waves across the sea.
Thunder crashed, rattling his bones. His chest tightened, breath thinning, and he felt himself pulled back, dragged from the storm.
When his eyes opened again, he was no longer floating. He was on the bed inside a simple townhouse, legs still folded neatly beneath him, sweat dampening his brow. His chest rose and fell with each heavy breath, his heart racing as if he had just fought through a battle.
The sound of rain still lingered faintly, though outside—
"I've been forcibly pulled into one of my inner worlds?" he murmured, looking at his hands. Then he touched the side of his face.
He hissed, a slight sting still lingering on his cheek. "Ouch… did she really hit me that hard?" he thought, before he turned toward the door.
He felt a presence lingering there, and when he looked to the floor he saw a shadow forming under the frame of his door, the hallway lights illuminating the figure behind it.
Knock… Knock…
"Yang Shi… it's the third night you've kept yourself locked away in there. That isn't healthy." His aunt's voice called against the storm outside, her hand rising once again to knock.
Yet the silence stretched…
Lianhua stood in the corridor, a tray in her hands carrying a simple meal—steamed rice, pickled greens, and a small clay pot of broth still faintly steaming. She stopped before Shi Yang's door, her knuckles hovering before she rapped lightly.
She shifted the tray in her hands and tried again, her voice softer this time, tinged with hesitation. "If you're awake… I want you to know I don't want you to feel guilty about what happened. I… I'm sorry for slapping you."
Her throat tightened as the words left her. She stared at the grain of the door, the wood worn smooth by years of use.
"Just… open the door," she whispered. "Have something warm to eat."
Her breath caught, the tray trembling faintly in her hands. A reckless impulse seized her, one she hated even as it tumbled from her lips.
"If you eat something," she murmured, voice no louder than a confession, "I'll let you… sneak into my room again."