The Azure Wind Peaks trembled that night with the cries of beasts. The Pavilion's disciples huddled in their dorms, whispering rumors—of a celestial disturbance, of cracks between realms.
But Feng Xieyun stood alone at the cliff's edge, his eyes on the stars. Crimson Veil still coiled faintly beneath his skin, eager to be tested further. He felt it—Qi shifting, the heavens bending. Something was coming.
The air split with light.
A streak blazed across the sky, not like fire, but like falling starlight. It tore through clouds and mountains, crashing into the valley below with a sound that made even elders stir in alarm.
By dawn, sect patrols swarmed the valley. But Xieyun had already arrived.
---
The crater smoked, its edges scorched black. In its center lay a girl, her robes torn and stained with blood.
She was no ordinary sight. Her skin glowed faintly with spiritual light, her hair silver as moonlight, her lips pale as snow. Though unconscious, her presence bent the Qi around her, pulling it like tides to the shore.
Xieyun's breath caught. He had seen beauty before, but this… this was not human beauty. This was something that belonged to another sky.
The System stirred:
> [Unknown Entity Detected.]
[Plane Origin: Immortal Realm.]
[Warning: Presence exceeds current cultivation scale.]
An Immortal? Fallen into the Mortal Plane?
Xieyun stepped closer, cautious. Blood soaked the ground where she lay, but it was no ordinary blood. Each drop shimmered like liquid crystal, refusing to sink into the dirt.
He knelt, extending a hand—but froze. Her eyes opened.
They were violet, deep and cold, filled with a vastness that made his soul tremble.
For a heartbeat, silence ruled. Then her lips curved into the faintest smirk. "So… it found me first."
---
The words made no sense. Yet before Xieyun could ask, the valley erupted.
Rogue cultivators—more than a dozen—emerged from the treeline, drawn by the crash. Their eyes gleamed with greed as they spotted the girl.
"An immortal treasure!" one shouted. "The heavens dropped her for us!"
"Take her blood—her bones—we'll ascend overnight!" another snarled.
The girl's violet gaze flicked toward them, disdainful. She tried to rise, but blood dripped from her lips. Her body shook, fragile despite the power within.
Xieyun stepped forward. The Crimson Veil pulsed.
"She is mine."
The bandits laughed. "A child dares claim her?"
They lunged.
---
The first one reached him, blade slashing. Xieyun sidestepped, palm snapping forward. Bone cracked, blood sprayed, and the man dropped lifeless at his feet.
The others hesitated. "What—? His Qi is—!"
They had no time to finish. Xieyun moved like a shadow, each strike precise, each kill absolute. The Veil wrapped him, his aura vanishing, leaving them blind to his true strength.
Screams echoed in the crater. Steel met flesh, blood painted the earth. When the last body fell, the girl was still watching—calm, unflinching.
"You kill without hesitation," she said softly.
Xieyun wiped crimson from his palm. "And you watch without fear."
Her faint smile deepened. "Fear is for mortals."
---
He helped her sit, though her weight was nearly nothing. Up close, he felt the strange power coiled within her—a sea restrained by chains.
"Who are you?" he asked.
Her violet eyes met his, unblinking. "Names mean little here. But if you must know… call me Lian Zhi."
The System whispered:
> [False Identification Detected.]
[True Name: Classified — Authority Exceeds Current Level.]
Lian Zhi… a mask, just like his own.
She studied him in turn, her gaze lingering on his veins, on the faint crimson glow he tried to suppress. "You carry something you should not."
Xieyun's hand tightened. "And you?"
Her lips curved. "I carry something the Immortal Realm will kill to reclaim."
---
Before he could answer, footsteps thundered. Pavilion disciples poured into the crater, led by an elder. Their eyes widened at the sight of corpses, at the girl sitting amid smoke and blood, at Xieyun beside her.
"What happened here?" the elder demanded.
Xieyun lowered his gaze, mask slipping effortlessly into place. "Bandits," he said. "They sought to harm her. I intervened."
The elder studied him, suspicion flickering. But his attention soon turned to the girl. Her violet eyes narrowed, and for just an instant, her presence surged—immense, crushing, impossible.
Every disciple staggered. Even the elder paled.
But as quickly as it came, the power faded, smothered by her wounds.
The elder hesitated, then barked, "Take her to the Pavilion! The Sect Master must decide her fate."
---
As they lifted her onto a jade stretcher, her gaze found Xieyun again.
"You hide behind silence," she whispered, so low only he could hear. "But silence does not hide you from me."
Then she closed her eyes, feigning unconsciousness.
Xieyun stood amid corpses and smoke, his heart unsteady for the first time in years.
The Immortal Plane had touched his path.
And in the girl with violet eyes, he saw not salvation, nor doom, but a mirror of himself—one wrapped in secrets the world was not ready to bear.
---
✨ End of Chapter Fourteen ✨
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