The wind in the valley had changed.
No longer silent.No longer whole.
Since San Lie sat beside Heng Zhen,people from distant lands had begun to arrive.They came for stories,for curiosity,for the hope of a new power.
But they did not come in stillness.
Some sat.Most stood.
They asked.They pleaded.They watchedtrying to mimic,even steal,the breathing movements Heng Zhen practiced each dawn.
And though all appeared still on the surface,Yuanqi did not come to them.
"Why doesn't it work for me?"asked a man from the north."I've followed his breath. His posture. Even his intention.But I feel nothing."
Heng Zhen slowly opened his eyes.His gaze touched no one directlyyet the world seemed to quiet.
"Because you are chasing it,"he said.
The people looked at one another.
"You walk toward the sunrise,but the light only blinds you.If you stand and chase it,you will never truly see.But if you sit…and let it come to you…then, it will greet you."
San Lie, seated nearby, lowered his gaze.He had begun to understand the differencebetween waitingand chasing.
In the distance,a young woman Li Rou sat in silence.She asked nothing.She tried nothing.
But around her,the air softened.Chaosqi did not approach.And in that silence,a seed of Yuanqibegan to tremble.
Heng Zhen glanced in her direction.
"To wait does not mean to surrender,"he said gently."It means opening a spaceso the universe can speak."
Some disciples began to understand.Others chose to follow their own way.
As night fell,Heng Zhen stood.
It was the first timehe had stood before themafter months of only sitting.
"Each path to Yuanqi is different.But power is not the goalharmony is.If you come only to become strong…then you will meet Chaosqi,not Yuanqi."
A heavy silence hung among them.
Then, San Lie spoke.
"Then let me be the one who waits.Because I've spent too long chasing."
And that night,the valley became quieter than it had ever been.