"Flying swords... this and that..."
Guang muttered quietly to herself while folding her arms across her chest.
Her long white-and-charred crimson robes drifted gently alongside the wind as she hovered several meters above the ground.
Her legs remained loosely crossed beneath her.
"Become one with nature and all..."
Her voice trailed off as her gaze wandered across the clouds surrounding the sect.
Towering trees atop distant mountain peaks occasionally appeared between the drifting mist.
Slowly, Guang lowered herself back onto the stone pathways surrounding the estate assigned to her by the sect.
Her heels clicked softly against the stone as she landed.
Layers of flowing robes settled around her afterward. A quiet sigh escaped her lips while she glanced upward toward the clear sky above.
"Twenty years..."
"Twenty years since I asked Senior Brother Zhou to take me in..."
Her eyes slowly closed.
Memories quietly resurfaced within her mind.
The endless rice fields she once admired.
Her first meeting with Zhou Shuxuan.
Reaching the peak of Qi Refinement.
Then Foundation Establishment.
And now-
The current her.
A cultivator already nearing the Nascent Soul Realm.
Her eyes abruptly opened again.
Her expression slowly flattened as realization finally struck her.
"...Twenty years of cultivation..."
"...Aren't I progressing a little too fast?"
Zhou's words resurfaced within her mind.
'The path toward Foundation Establishment is long and unpredictable.'
'And forming one's Nascent Soul is an even greater hurdle beyond that.'
Guang stared blankly at the stone path beneath her feet. Slowly, her fingers reached toward the salmon-pink strands framing her face.
"...Am I a genius or something?"
Silence settled around her.
Then she suddenly pinched her own cheeks before squishing them lightly.
"Maybe I really am a genius-"
"Senior Sister Guang."
A voice suddenly called out from behind her.
Guang immediately turned around.
Zhou Shuxuan stood several steps away while subtly waving toward her as he approached.
"Senior Brother Zhou..." Guang trailed off before frowning slightly.
"...Senior Sister? Since when?"
A quiet chuckle escaped Zhou.
His hands rested behind his back as he slowly walked closer.
"Was I mistaken?"
"Sister Guang is already nearing the Nascent Soul Realm, is she not?"
"To reach such a realm within merely twenty years..."
His gaze drifted toward the distant mountains.
"...that is no longer considered talent."
"It is something closer to myth. One like the Conflagration Emperor."
"Conflagration Emperor?" Guang tilted her head slightly while folding her arms again.
"Is that another myth I haven't read yet?"
Zhou slowly nodded while walking past her.
His gaze lifted toward the clouds above where the boundaries separating the immortal and heavenly realms faintly shimmered in the distance.
"The Kazar."
"The one who surpassed even the Immortal Renegade Realm before ultimately breaking through the heavens themselves."
"And afterward..."
"...she was never seen again."
He slowly gestured toward distant ruins barely visible far across the landscape.
Guang had to squint just to make them out properly.
"That over there..."
"...was the Heavenly Jade Palace three thousand years ago."
Guang froze instantly.
Her eyes widened slightly before she reluctantly pointed toward the distant ruins.
"...That's the Heavenly Jade Palace?"
A dry laugh escaped her lips.
"Wasn't that supposed to exist beyond the Endless Heavenly Realms?"
"Why is it all the way down here?"
Zhou merely glanced back toward her with a faint smile.
"The Conflagration Emperor dragged it down herself."
"By the time she attained immortality and reached toward the heavens..."
"...both cultivators and demons alike had already begun fearing her."
He paused briefly before quietly staring into the distance once more.
"For millions of years, ever since the people of Fanji Zhoushan first began recording history..."
"...no one had ever succeeded in dragging a divine higher-realm structure beneath the heavenly boundary."
His eyes slowly narrowed.
"Let alone dragging it all the way down into the Immortal Realm itself."
Guang remained silent for a moment.
Her eyes narrowed slightly while watching Zhou's back as he stared into the distance.
A gentle breeze swept across the mountainside.
His long dark hair drifted alongside the wind while Guang's salmon-pink strands spilled across her face before she casually brushed them aside.
"That..." Guang started slowly while gesturing vaguely with one hand.
Zhou glanced back toward her over his shoulder.
"Hm?"
"...Sounds amazing."
Her eyes lit up almost immediately afterward.
"Do you think I could do something like that too?"
Guang's sudden excitement visibly caught Zhou off guard. His eyes narrowed slightly before he slowly turned around to face her fully.
His hands remained clasped behind his back as his gaze met her fiery golden eyes.
A quiet laugh escaped him afterward.
He slowly shook his head while watching the little girl he had personally raised over the past twenty years beneath his tutelage.
His gaze briefly lifted upward toward the thing looming behind her. No longer merely existing. Now, it almost seemed to stretch endlessly beyond the heavens themselves.
Zhou's eyes settled back onto Guang once more, one brow subtly raised.
"Are you perhaps planning on collapsing the balance of the world?"
Guang froze thoughtfully.
Her brows furrowed while she closed her eyes in deep concentration.
A few moments later, she suddenly pointed toward him.
"It just sounds cool."
"Wouldn't you wanna become someone like this Kazar person too, Senior Brother?"
Another soft laugh escaped Zhou.
He slowly shook his head.
"Not at all."
"I began cultivating to pursue enlightenment."
"...not power."
Guang stopped.
The hand she had been pointing with slowly lowered back to her side.
A contemplative look crossed her face afterward as she stared downward.
"Enlightenment..." she quietly muttered to herself.
"...Why did I become a cultivator again?"
Zhou silently watched her.
Allowing her own thoughts to settle naturally.
Then he slowly turned away once more, letting the mountain breeze brush quietly against his skin.
A few seconds passed.
Then-
"Wait, Senior Brother."
Guang's voice suddenly rang out again.
Zhou glanced back toward her over his shoulder once more.
"Why did Senior Brother visit me all of a sudden?"
"Is there another disciple gathering?"
"Or maybe some upcoming tournament?"
At her words, a faint smile slowly curved along Zhou's lips.
"Quite sharp, Sister Guang."
He turned fully toward her once again before giving a small nod.
"Master specifically requested your presence."
-
Later.
Inside the Flowing Vermillion Inner Sect.
Zhou Shuxuan walked past the guards standing beneath the red arched gates before entering the inner palace. He paused briefly to glance back at Guang, who continued looking around the structures of the inner sect behind him.
"Sister Guang?"
Guang stiffened before quickly turning toward him with a small smile.
"Yes?"
"You seem distracted."
"Well..." she replied with a slightly forced smile. "I was just admiring the view?"
He gave her a brief once-over before letting out a quiet sigh.
"Sister Guang, you do realize you are one of the top disciples of the inner sect, yes?"
"You are effectively one of the pillars supporting our sect's foundations."
Guang blinked once.
"...I didn't know that..."
Another sigh escaped Zhou's lips before he finally turned and continued deeper into the palace, gesturing for her to follow closely behind.
"Come. The Master is already waiting for us."
Guang simply nodded before following after him, though her eyes still wandered toward the inner sect's architecture with obvious fascination sparkling across her face.
After several more moments of walking, the two finally arrived at the meeting hall of the ten disciples of the Flowing Vermillion Sect.
With Guang being the only one missing.
Her gaze swept across the nine disciples already seated before the sect master.
But the moment she glanced over her shoulder, Zhou had already slipped away.
The doors quietly clicked shut behind him.
Guang slowly turned back toward the master and the other disciples before instantly flickering from where she stood, and reappearing directly atop the cushion meant for her seat.
The entire room fell silent.
All eyes slowly turned toward her.
...Did I mess up?
I was only a few minutes late, wasn't I?
Besides, Brother Zhou kept yapping at me too.
The Master's gaze settled onto her.
An elderly man with grey hair sat at the front of the hall before the gathered disciples. His eyes narrowed slightly the moment he witnessed Guang's brief display.
As Guang looked around more carefully, she noticed traces of awe and confusion lingering within the gazes directed toward her.
She tilted her head slightly.
After a moment, the Master finally cleared his throat, gradually regaining his composure.
"Disciples," he began, his gaze sweeping across the ten pillars of the sect gathered before him.
"Twenty years ago, a strange phenomenon occurred near the Verdant Water Sect close to Disciple Chi Rong Guang's hometown."
Guang raised a brow slightly at his words while the other disciples leaned in attentively.
"Since then, multiple sects have begun investigating the strange luminous object said to have descended upon those lands."
"They seek signs of potential tribulation raptures or heavenly anomalies."
His gaze slowly returned toward Guang.
"And since Disciple Chi Rong Guang originates from that region..."
"...she will be among the first three disciples assigned to investigate the matter."