Mu Yi Fan Tu watched from afar.
His childhood friend—Li Yuan—stood beneath the golden light of dusk.Saying nothing.Not moving.
And yet… everything felt different.
The Li Yuan he had known—that quiet boy from a small village by the forest,who loved to watch flowing water in silence,whose voice was soft, but always left an impression—now felt somehow… unreachable.
"His eyes… grey?""Since when did the change become this deep?" thought Mu Yi Fan Tu.
It wasn't illness.It wasn't fatigue.
It was something else.
Eyes that saw beyond what was visible.Eyes that carried the weight of the world—yet remained light.That held questions—yet spoke no noise.That were full of mystery—yet demanded no answers.
"What really happened to you, Li Yuan?""You're still the same… and yet I feel like I'm staring at someone standing… very far away."
From the other side of the training field,several students of Qinglong Academy were watching too.
They didn't know who Li Yuan truly was.
To them, he was just a quiet student—unremarkable, unnoticed.
But now…
Everyone was silent.Watching.
Not because he displayed power.Not because he won or lost.But simply because he stood there—
And his presence filled the space.
High above, on the tower balcony,Wen Zhi murmured to himself:
"He's stepping to the edge of something…something not of this world.""His next step… will not be martial arts."
Mu Yi Fan Tu finally approached.The silence had become too deep to bear.
"Li Yuan…""What are you seeing?"
Li Yuan didn't answer right away.He gazed at the sky, slowly turning orange.The wind touched his face.
Then, with a voice calm—yet piercing—he spoke:
"Sometimes, you don't need to look at the world.""You only need to be still…and the world will look back."
Mu Yi Fan Tu didn't fully understand.But something stirred within him—a subtle vibration in the quiet of his soul.
"He's… no longer the Li Yuan I once knew.""And yet… he's still my friend."
And as Li Yuan turned and walked away,no one said a word.
Only eyes followed his steps—silent. Watching.