The forest lay in uneasy silence after Mei Yue's departure. The crackle of the campfire seemed loud against the hush of night, each spark a reminder that danger still lingered unseen.
Luo Tian leaned against a tree, his body trembling from the duel. Silver threads flickered weakly in his chest, fraying at the edges. Every breath was agony, yet his eyes still burned with fire.
Ling Xi knelt beside him, pressing her hands over his wounds. Warm qi flowed from her palms, knitting torn flesh, but her face was pale with exhaustion.
"You can't keep fighting like this," she whispered, tears glistening. "Tian ge, you're still recovering from binding the First Thread. If you push too hard, your soul will shatter."
Luo Tian smiled faintly, though blood stained his lips. "Xi'er, if I stop pushing, I'll never rise. The sect won't wait for me to heal. Every day, every breath, is a race against the loom of destiny."
Ling Xi's eyes shook, but she said nothing more. She only poured her strength into him, anchoring him when he should have collapsed.
---
When dawn broke, Luo Tian forced himself into meditation. His battered body protested, but he ignored the pain. Inside his chest, the First Thread pulsed like a heartbeat, steady but solitary.
He closed his eyes, reaching deeper. Threads flickered in the void of his soul — broken fragments of destiny, shards of what once bound him. He reached for one, and it writhed like a beast resisting capture.
Pain seared through him as it lashed out, slicing across his consciousness. Blood ran from his nose, but his grip tightened.
You will not break me, he thought, his will roaring against the storm. I will weave you, or die trying.
The fragment resisted, thrashing violently. Images flashed through his mind — his parents' disappointed faces, the elders declaring him a failure, the sect casting him into exile. The weight of scorn pressed down like iron.
For a moment, his grip faltered.
Then Ling Xi's voice reached him, soft but fierce. "Tian ge, don't let them define you. You're not their failure. You're mine… and I believe in you."
Her words cut through the darkness. Luo Tian's eyes snapped open in the void, silver fire blazing.
The fragment stilled, then bent. Slowly, painfully, it aligned with the First Thread.
A second cord shimmered into existence — this one darker, threaded with faint crimson, heavy with sorrow and resilience.
The Second Thread had awakened.
---
Luo Tian gasped, opening his eyes. Sweat drenched his body, but his aura burned brighter, heavier. Two threads now pulsed within his chest, weaving in harmony.
Ling Xi clutched his hand, relief flooding her features. "You did it!"
Luo Tian exhaled slowly, his voice steady. "Yes. With two threads bound, my foundation is no longer fragile. From today… I stand firmer on this path."
He flexed his hand. A silver-crimson blade wove itself into existence, sharper, denser than before. It hummed with lethal intent, and for the first time, he felt it could truly rival steel forged by mortal smiths.
---
But their triumph was short-lived.
A sudden ripple of qi surged in the distance — heavy, disciplined, unmistakable. Luo Tian's expression hardened.
"They're here."
Ling Xi tensed. "The sect?"
"Yes. And stronger than before."
Moments later, figures emerged from the treeline. Unlike the scattered disciples they had faced before, these men carried themselves with lethal precision. Their robes bore the serpent insignia, but edged with gold — elite hunters.
At their head stood a man with cold, hawk-like eyes. His presence radiated authority, his cultivation pressing down like a mountain.
"Luo Tian," he said, his voice sharp as a blade. "By decree of the elders, you are to be executed. Resist, and your death will be slow. Surrender, and we may grant you a corpse intact."
Luo Tian laughed bitterly. "So the sect sends its hounds. Did the elders fear I would rise so quickly?"
The leader sneered. "Rise? You are a mistake. Your very existence threatens the balance of the loom. Die, and be forgotten."
His hand flicked. The hunters surged forward.
---
Silver-crimson light blazed from Luo Tian's chest as he wove his twin threads into a storm. Blades of silk slashed outward, colliding with the hunters' weapons. Sparks erupted, the air ringing with steel and qi.
Ling Xi moved with him, weaving her life essence into healing threads that wrapped his wounds as fast as they opened. Her presence was his anchor, her qi stitching his power into stability.
But the hunters were relentless. Their formation pressed him, driving him back step by step. The leader's aura bore down, suffocating, his strikes like thunderbolts tearing through Luo Tian's defenses.
Blood sprayed from Luo Tian's mouth as a spear grazed his side. He staggered, but his eyes blazed brighter.
"No loom, no sect, no destiny will cut me down!" he roared, threads lashing outward with renewed fury.
The hunters faltered, momentarily shaken by his defiance.
---
From the shadows, unseen, Mei Yue watched again. Her abyssal eyes narrowed as she witnessed the clash.
He awakens the Second Thread so soon… impossible.
Her black threads coiled restlessly, eager to strike — yet still she held back. She told herself it was curiosity, a desire to see him fall by his own arrogance.
But when she saw the hunters' blades closing in on him, saw Ling Xi's desperate attempts to shield him, something unbidden stirred in her chest.
Tch… why does it matter? she scolded herself. He is nothing. And yet…
Her gaze lingered, sharp and conflicted.
---
The battle reached its peak.
The leader raised his hand, qi swirling into a spear of golden flame. "Die, Luo Tian! No thread will save you now!"
Luo Tian's body screamed with exhaustion. His threads frayed under the onslaught. Ling Xi clung to him, pouring the last of her qi into his wounds.
And then, at the brink of collapse, he felt it — the faint whisper of another fragment stirring in his chest.
The Third Thread awaited.
But could he seize it now, on the edge of death?
---
He clenched his fists, silver-crimson light flaring violently. "If destiny decrees my end here… then I will weave a new decree!"
His roar split the forest. The Second Thread surged in resonance, intertwining with the First. Together, they lashed outward in a storm of silver and crimson blades, tearing through the hunters' formation.
Two men fell screaming, their weapons severed, their threads cut.
The leader staggered back, shock breaking his composure. "You… you've already reached dual resonance?! Impossible!"
But Luo Tian stood tall, his body bleeding, his aura blazing like a rising star.
"This is only the beginning," he declared. "I will not fall here. Tell your elders — the tapestry of fate is no longer theirs to control."
---
The hunters hesitated, shaken by the sheer defiance radiating from him. The leader's eyes flickered with doubt, then calculation.
"This battle is not over," he spat. "We will return, and next time, even your arrogance will not save you."
He signaled retreat. The hunters vanished into the forest, leaving only silence and the stench of blood.
---
Luo Tian collapsed to his knees, gasping for air. His threads flickered weakly, nearly spent. Ling Xi caught him, tears streaming down her face.
"You fool… you reckless, glorious fool…" she sobbed, holding him tightly.
He chuckled hoarsely, his eyes drifting toward the stars. "Reckless, perhaps. But every battle is a thread in my tapestry. One day, Xi'er… one day, we will weave eternity itself."
And though exhaustion dragged him toward unconsciousness, deep within his chest, a third fragment stirred, waiting for the day he would seize it.