The other children surrounded them the moment they appeared.
Word had spread fast. Most groups lost people—that was expected. But seven survivors out of thirty?
That was a catastrophe worth watching.
Xīng Hé pushed through the crowd without speaking, found the nearest teleportation station, and took a concept stone to her manor. Let them wonder. Let them construct whatever narratives they needed.
She was done with all of it.
---
✦
Yao materialized in Heiyun Jue's chambers.
The Eminence sat at his usual position—the small table near the window, tea steaming in his hands. He looked the same as always: impossibly beautiful, eternally young, carrying centuries behind eyes that revealed nothing.
"That was impactful," he said. "Having that amount of loss on her first mission."
Yao said nothing.
"Let her rest. Tell her to take enough time to get things together." He paused, gaze drifting toward the window. "But remind her that I am waiting. She shouldn't keep me waiting too long."
Yao bowed slightly and turned to leave.
"One more thing."
She stopped.
"I want you to organize the retrieved items. Split them among our ranks based on merit." His voice carried that particular tone of casual command. "And let the younger generation know this was a successful initiation. They should learn from this experience. Work on their strengths. Compensate for their weaknesses."
Yao nodded.
"Soon there will be a joint mission," Heiyun added. "Children from all the rulers' domains, working together. They need to be prepared."
"As you command, Your Eminence."
She turned again.
"If there's something useful among the retrieved items, you may keep it for yourself."
Yao allowed herself a small smile.
The closest thing to payment she would receive.
---
✦
When Yao delivered the message—rest, recover, but don't keep His Eminence waiting—Xīng Hé barely acknowledged it.
She was in her room. Had been there for hours, staring at walls that had become too familiar. The exhaustion had faded into something colder.
Fuel.
She needed to train. But more than that, she needed to evolve.
Another evolution, so soon after the last? A natural awakener advancing faster than anyone expected—faster than should be possible?
She had been afraid of the attention. Had told herself waiting was smart. Let years pass. Make it seem natural. Don't draw the eyes of beings who saw exceptional progress as threat.
But waiting hadn't saved twenty-three lives.
She made her decision.
The conceptual aura rose as she released her restraints. Her concepts—Balance, Restoration, Preservation—surged in response. They had been pressing against the boundaries of her control, eager to expand.
She let them.
The evolution began.
---
✦
Far from the manor, in a space between the physical layers of Heiyun Jue's realm, Bai Jinxue watched.
Not physically present—the wards would detect that. But her awareness extended across distances that should have blocked observation, piercing through barriers designed to prevent exactly this.
The girl was evolving again.
Three days since her return, and already advancing to the Attuned stage. Without struggle. Without the years advancement normally demanded. Without any of the limitations that constrained everyone else.
Interesting.
Bai Jinxue had been observing the natural awakener since her arrival—noting her progress, cataloging her abilities. The girl's potential had been obvious from the beginning.
This was something more.
The natural awakener's rapid advancement. Heiyun's unusual interest in a child who should have been beneath his notice. The resources directed toward her development. The protection afforded to someone who had failed catastrophically.
Something significant enough that a Transcendent was personally invested.
Bai Jinxue retreated before Xīng Hé's awareness could sharpen enough to detect her. There would be time for manipulation later.
For now, observation was enough.
---
"Would you be my disciple?"
Heiyun Jue's voice carried across the chamber with the same casual weight it always did—as if he were commenting on the weather rather than offering to reshape her existence.
Xīng Hé stared at him.
"Your Eminence?"
The confusion in her voice bordered on suspicion. This was too sudden. Three days after a catastrophic mission, days after evolving to Attuned stage, and now this.
"Don't worry. I understand why you're surprised."
He rose from his seat, moving toward the window.
"I received a report on your mission. It was a catastrophe." His voice carried no accusation—just acknowledgment. "But you shouldn't blame yourself. Blame me, if you must. That is the burden of a leader, after all."
He turned to face her.
"You have potential, Xīng Hé. The potential to one day stand at the top, as I do now. But potential without guidance is wasted." His eyes held hers. "Let me train you. Let me help you become something greater than I was. A better leader than I have been."
The words washed over her like warm water.
Exactly what she wanted to hear. Exactly what a broken girl, returning with twenty-three deaths weighing on her conscience, would need to believe.
And that was precisely what made them dangerous.
"I don't need you to decide right away. Take your time. Think about it." He smiled—that gentle, paternal expression that seemed so at odds with everything she knew about Transcendents. "But don't get complacent. The world won't wait long."
"Yes, Your Eminence."
The response came automatically.
Heiyun shook his head slightly.
"It's 'Master' now, my dear Xīng Hé."
The word settled between them with weight she couldn't quite define.
"You should know you are special. You can tell that already. But that specialness wasn't enough for me to take you as a disciple. Not on its own." He paused. "Now I see more. Beyond potential—I see what it takes to keep going. What it takes to be a leader. I acknowledge that."
He gestured toward the door.
"Take the next few days off. You've done enough."
His smile followed her as she left.
---
✦
Heiyun watched the door close behind her.
The smile remained until she passed beyond the range of casual observation.
Then his shoulders sagged.
The perfect beauty evolution had granted him remained, but exhaustion settled into his features—lines appearing at the corners of his eyes, tightness around his mouth, pallor that spoke of damage running deeper than flesh.
He pressed one hand against his chest where his soul resided. The wound the Tome had inflicted still ached. A constant reminder of how close he had come to regression.
Three days after her return, she had evolved to Attuned stage.
Faster than expected. Though with a natural awakener, "expected" had always been relative.
But her evolution had brought problems.
He walked to the window overlooking his domain. Thousands of lives unfolded below—children training, servants working, the endless machinery grinding forward.
The Tome had revealed something during his reading. Something buried so deep that simply accessing the knowledge had cost him a significant portion of his remaining soul strength.
Cosmic Fortune.
Even thinking the phrase made reality shudder slightly around him.
Universal-level treasure. The kind all gods would kill for. The kind that could elevate a mortal directly to divinity, bypassing every stage of cultivation.
And the girl had no idea she possessed it.
He had sensed something else during his reading—protection woven into reality itself. The world was guarding her. Not metaphorically. Literally.
The mission that had killed twenty-seven while leaving her untouched wasn't luck.
It was design.
Something far more powerful than all the Transcendents combined was ensuring her survival. Which meant he couldn't simply take what she carried. Any attempt to harvest her Cosmic Fortune while she remained in this world would trigger retaliation from her protector.
And Heiyun—weakened, damaged, barely recovered—was in no condition to face that.
But there was another way.
The ascension.
When he finally rose to a higher realm, he would leave this world behind. And with it, the reach of whatever force protected her.
If he could make her choose to follow. If he could bind her through loyalty rather than force.
Then the harvest would be possible.
He needed to act quickly. Before she learned to use the Cosmic Fortune herself. Before she discovered what she truly carried. Before the other rulers realized what was at stake.
The manipulation had begun with the offer.
Now he just needed her to say yes.
His hand pressed harder against his chest, feeling the ache of his damaged soul.
Soon, he thought. Just hold together a little longer.
Below, his domain continued its daily rhythms. Children trained in courtyards. Servants moved through corridors. Life unfolded as if everything was stable.
As if their ruler wasn't one bad decision away from collapse.
He turned from the window.
There was work to do. Preparations to make. A natural awakener to bind before the other Transcendents made their moves.
The girl would say yes.
She had to.
He couldn't afford any other answer.
---