Ever since leaving the Inner Realm, Li Yun felt as though the world had its eyes on him. The footsteps of the disciples grew heavier, the gazes of the elders sharper, and even the wind carried the scent of danger.
"Someone is watching you," muttered Tian Luo. "They know you found the legacy of the Li Clan."
Li Yun tried to remain calm. He continued refining the new technique from Skyfire Trail,but realized there were limits to training in a public space. He needed somewhere secluded.
He went to the eastern valley, a place rarely visited by other disciples.
But the moment he arrived, a foreign voice greeted him:
"So you've finally come, heir of ash."
From behind the mist, a man in a black robe appeared. His face was covered by a mask, but his eyes glowed red. The energy around him writhed like venomous snakes hunting prey.
"Who are you?" Li Yun asked sharply.
"Me? Just a shadow left behind by your clan's past. My only task—to erase every trace of the surviving Li Clan."
Li Yun frowned. The man's aura was too silent, too precise. An assassin. But not an ordinary one.
Void Shadow. One of the deadliest hunting organizations in the central lands.
"Who sent you?"
"That doesn't matter. What matters is that you won't live past tonight."
Without warning, the man lunged.
A fierce battle erupted in the mist.
Li Yun dodged to the left, then countered with the golden flames he had just learned to control. But the strike was cleanly cut down by a shadow blade—swift and lethal.
Blood sprayed from Li Yun's shoulder. He staggered a few steps but refused to retreat.
"Your strength isn't enough," Tian Luo said. "Summon the Ancestral Flame Spirit now, or you die."
"But I haven't—"
"There is no 'haven't'. Only now or never!"
Li Yun bit his finger, letting blood drip onto the ground, and chanted a mantra from the ancient scripture.
"With the blaze of blood, I open the gate of the heavens. Flame Spirit, come forth!"
The air began to boil.
From the cloud-covered sky, golden firelight pierced the earth, forming the silhouette of a fire dragon roaring with rage. The man in black stood frozen.
"That technique…" he whispered.
Li Yun stood, his body wounded, but his eyes ablaze.
"You want to erase my clan? Then I will burn your name into history."
The dragon surged forward, its roar shaking the ground.
But just before it struck—
"Enough!"
A woman's voice sliced through the air. The flames vanished, and the shadow assassin retreated immediately.
Descending from the sky came a figure Li Yun recognized Yan Zhiya. She wore a silvery-white robe, her eyes sharp yet calm.
"You may not kill him," she said coldly to the man in black. "Not yet."
"Why are you interfering?" the assassin hissed.
"Direct order from above," Zhiya replied. "He's still needed."
The man narrowed his eyes. He glanced at Li Yun once more, then disappeared into the shadows.
Li Yun collapsed to his knees, blood dripping from his brow. Yan Zhiya approached, knelt beside him, and placed a hand on his shoulder. A warm light spread from her touch, and his wounds began to close slowly.
"Why did you… save me?" Li Yun asked.
Zhiya didn't answer right away. She looked up at the sky, as if searching for the right words.
"Because if you die now… you'll never learn who truly destroyed your clan."
Li Yun stared at her intently.
"What do you mean?"
"I know about the Li Clan," she said softly. "I also know who betrayed it from within… and who used the Void Shadow to erase your name from the world."
"And you know this because…"
Zhiya offered a faint smile. But it was strange a smile hiding sorrow and exhaustion.
"Because… I almost became one of them."
That night, they sat silently beneath the red tree in the Eastern Valley. The wind blew through Zhiya's hair, and for the first time… Li Yun realized something.
Even though her strength far surpassed his, Yan Zhiya never spoke with arrogance. Even though her secrets were heavy, she never ran from conversation.
"Did your clan order you to protect me?" Li Yun asked.
Zhiya stared at the small fire burning between them.
"My clan and yours… have been enemies for two generations. But I am not them. And you are not them either."
Li Yun gripped his sword tightly.
"Then help me. I will revive the name of the Li Clan—with or without the world's permission."
Zhiya stood and looked down at him.
"If you're ready to face the whole truth," she said, "I'll walk behind you. But don't expect me to help if you falter along the way."
Li Yun rose slowly, gazing at the girl who now seemed like a shadow of the future.
"I will not turn back."
Zhiya nodded, and for the first time… she smiled. Not the smile of a warrior, but of someone who might… be tired of pretending.