The girl standing before Lian Hong was young—perhaps seventeen or eighteen.
But her gaze held the calm confidence of someone who had grown up surrounded by power.
Her robes bore the silver insignia of the Inner Sect's Frost Court.A rank far above any outer sect instructor.A place only geniuses touched by heaven were admitted to.
Zhou Shan lay unconscious nearby, twitching occasionally.
Lian Hong bowed slightly.
"Inner disciple."
The girl didn't return the courtesy.
She looked him up and down with an expression that wasn't disdain—but careful calculation.
"You really are calm," she said quietly."As they said."
Her voice was soft, but the aura behind it pressed like a winter storm.
Zhou Shan woke up instantly just from the pressure.
"S-Senior sister…! I swear I didn't do anything wrong—if you're here to yell at someone, please yell at him—!!"
The girl ignored him.
She continued studying Lian Hong.
"I am Lin Qianyi.Inner Sect Frost Court, third seat."
Zhou Shan's jaw dropped.
"THIRD SEAT—?! BRO, THAT'S BASICALLY A MINI-ELDER—!!!"
Lian Hong remained calm.
Lin Qianyi folded her hands behind her back.
"I came because there are too many rumors about you."
She stepped lightly along the edge of the training field.
"You fought Mu Yanting.You survived Gu Xiang's assassins.You defeated three senior elites.And now…"
She turned to meet his eyes again.
"…you're training for a fight you cannot possibly win."
Lian Hong did not respond.
Lin Qianyi didn't seem surprised.
She continued:
"The masked killer is a real threat.Even inner disciples avoid him.He has killed cultivators far above your level."
A pause.
"You do not stand a chance."
She stepped closer.
Her footsteps were soundless.
But her presence chilled the air.
"Most would flee.Most would beg for protection.Most would hide behind their patrons."
She looked directly into his eyes.
"But you stood your ground."
She circled around him slowly, like a scholar examining a rare artifact.
"Why?"
Lian Hong answered simply:
"…Because I must."
Lin Qianyi stopped walking.
She didn't smile.
But the frost in her eyes melted by a fraction.
"Good answer."
She extended two fingers.
A thin thread of frost qi coiled around them.
"If you had given any other answer,I would have dismissed you."
Without warning—
she flicked her fingers.
A shard of frozen qi shot toward Lian Hong's forehead.
Fast.
Precise.
Deadly.
Zhou Shan screamed at a pitch that cracked glass:
"SENIOR SISTER HE HAS DONE NOTHING WRONG PLEASE DON'T EXECUTE HIM AS A TEST—!!"
But Lian Hong didn't move backward.He didn't parry.He didn't dodge.
Instead—
he tilted his head one inch.
The frost shard passed by, slicing a few strands of his hair.
Lin Qianyi's eyes widened slightly.
"Void sensitivity?"
She stepped back.
"You learned the first stage already."
She nodded to herself.
"Impressive."
Lin Qianyi raised her hand again.
This time she formed a small frost lotus—delicate, shimmering, deadly.
"This is not a threat," she said.
"It is a warning."
She released the lotus.
It floated gently toward Lian Hong and dissolved into mist before touching him.
"Gu Xiang is not your only enemy now."
She glanced toward the inner peaks.
"Xu Jian is watching you.Mu Yanting is preparing something.The elders have begun asking questions."
Then she looked directly into his eyes again.
"And when too many powerful people look at the same rising star…"
A pause.
"…someone tries to extinguish it."
Zhou Shan whispered:
"Bro… I think she means someone is planning to murder you but politely…"
Lin Qianyi ignored him again.
She clasped her hands behind her back.
"There are two reasons I came."
"First," she continued, "to confirm whether the rumors were exaggerated."
She studied his stance.
His breathing.
His calm.
"…they were not."
"Second—"
She reached into her sleeve and tossed something to him.
A small jade ring.
Lian Hong caught it.
Su Qingyue's voice echoed in his memory:
"Be careful."
Lin Qianyi said:
"Wear that ring.It will conceal your qi for one hour."
"One hour?" Lian Hong asked.
"Yes," she said."That is all I can offer without breaking sect rules."
She turned away.
"But an hour may save your life…if you use it wisely."
Before she left, she said something quietly—so quietly only Lian Hong heard it.
"If you survive the masked killer…"
She glanced back over her shoulder.
"…you will be qualified to enter the Inner Sect."
Then she walked away.
But her final words lingered like frost on the wind:
"Do not die, Lian Hong.Our sect needs monsters, not martyrs."
Silence returned to the training plateau.
Zhou Shan grabbed Lian Hong's shoulders and shook him.
"BRO DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT JUST HAPPENED—?! AN INNER DISCIPLE JUST GAVE YOU AN ITEM—A RARE ITEM—AND SAID THE SECRET INNER DOOR IS OPEN IF YOU DON'T DIE—!!"
His eyes widened further.
"This means—this means you have THREE inner sect geniuses watching you now!"
He raised three fingers dramatically.
"Two want to fight you.One wants to help you.And one… wants to MURDER you!"
Lian Hong corrected him:
"That's four."
Zhou Shan collapsed.
"We're doomed."
He tightened his grip around the jade ring.
He understood exactly what had happened.
Lin Qianyi had not come to test his power.
She came to test:
– his resolve– his instincts– his mentality– his potential to threaten the inner sect in the future
And she had judged him—
worthy of attention.Worthy of protection.Worthy of fear.
Tomorrow night, the masked killer would come.
But today—
the inner sect had officially acknowledged him.
Both a blessing.And a curse.