The torches dimmed.
The music fell silent.
And for the first time in a hundred years, the Imperial Banquet's grand floor transformed — not into a ballroom, but into a dueling stage, ringed with floating jade sigils and carved starlight tiles.
The Empress raised a hand, and the crowd leaned forward as one.
"Tonight," she said, her voice echoing through the stillness, "we witness the revival of an old rite — the Twin Flow Form."
A ritual dance once reserved only for cultivation partners who had fought side by side in life-and-death combat.
A dance where motion was truth.
Balance was trust.
And the final movement could kill.
Hei Long and Xue Lian Stepped Forward
No words exchanged.
No explanations given.
They simply walked to the platform, the crowd parting around them like water around stone. Even the sect masters said nothing. Even the illusionists did not blink.
This was no performance.
This was history resurfacing.
