Night descended slowly.
Inside an inner sect meditation chamber of Azure Cloud Sect, Lu Chen sat upright in silence.
Three days.
Since that vague connection, he had not tried again.
Not out of fear.
But because he needed to confirm one thing—
It had not been an illusion.
His sea of consciousness unfolded.
The void was silent.
The tiny point of light still floated quietly within the darkness.
No larger.
No dimmer.
Simply existing.
Lu Chen took a slow breath.
"Just once."
He did not use spiritual energy.
He did not force it.
He merely loosened his mind slightly.
Like dropping a stone into still water.
The point of light trembled.
Very faintly.
In that instant—
He sensed a fluctuation far away.
Not spiritual energy.
Not divine sense.
But—
A pulse.
As if someone stood on the other side of the void and tapped gently once.
—
At the same time.
Inside a cave dwelling of the Profound Yin Pavilion.
The woman in white opened her eyes.
The point of light within her sea of consciousness had just quivered.
Not violently.
But more clearly than before.
This time, she did not withdraw.
She did not sever it.
Instead, she focused.
For the first time, she responded deliberately.
A single, simple thought:
"Is someone there?"
—
Back at Azure Cloud Sect.
Lu Chen stiffened.
He heard no voice.
Yet the sensation was unmistakable.
Like a cold breeze brushing past his mind.
No killing intent.
Only presence.
He hesitated for a heartbeat.
Then he tried to respond.
He formed a simple image in his thoughts—
A leaf falling in the wind.
No emotion.
No hidden meaning.
Just an image.
—
On the other side.
The woman frowned.
Within the void of her sea of consciousness, a faint streak of green appeared.
Distorted.
Blurred.
Like a reflection rippling across water.
Indistinct—
Yet unmistakably not her own creation.
She immediately withdrew her focus.
The connection trembled violently—
Then snapped.
—
Both opened their eyes.
Only night wind filled their rooms.
No phenomenon.
No spiritual radiance.
No witness to what had just occurred.
But this time—
There was no doubt.
Only confirmation.
Intent could be transmitted.
Weakly.
But undeniably.
Lu Chen lifted a hand and pressed his brow.
His divine sense felt slightly fatigued.
Not severe.
But clearly drained.
"Not without cost…"
he muttered.
—
Far away.
The woman rose to her feet, her gaze gradually sharpening.
If this thing could transmit intent—
Was it a bridge?
Or something observing them both?
She did not know.
But for the first time in her life—
The world no longer felt entirely vast.
Instead, an invisible thread seemed to stretch through the night.
Wind passed over two sects separated by a thousand miles.
No one noticed.
Something small had just completed its first true function.
Perception.
And it was only the beginning.