Jiang Chen was moving through a fractured valley inside the Celestial Spirit Realm when it happened.
He stopped mid-step.
Not because of danger.
But because something inside him reacted.
The Origin Thread, usually calm and dormant unless triggered, suddenly tightened.
Like a string being pulled from a distant point.
Jiang Chen's eyes narrowed slightly.
"…What is this?"
He slowly raised his hand and pressed two fingers against his own wrist, stabilizing his circulation.
But the sensation didn't disappear.
It wasn't coming from within him.
It was coming from *outside*.
And it was familiar.
---
Somewhere far across the realm, Mu Qinglan was fighting.
Jiang Chen didn't see it.
He didn't know the details.
But he felt the echo of it.
A strange distortion in spiritual flow, like a ripple passing through a still lake.
Except this ripple carried something deeper.
Not energy.
Not intent.
But *structure*.
His Origin Thread reacted again, sharper this time.
Jiang Chen's expression changed slightly.
"…Mu Qinglan?"
He didn't know why her name came to his mind first.
But the connection was undeniable.
Behind him, Zhou Yan noticed his pause.
"What is it?"
Jiang Chen didn't answer immediately.
He closed his eyes.
The feeling intensified.
For a brief moment, it felt like his awareness was being stretched across space, pulled toward something unstable yet precise.
Then
A flicker.
Not vision.
A sensation.
Cold.
Controlled.
Familiar in an unfamiliar way.
Then it vanished again.
Jiang Chen opened his eyes.
"…Something is happening to her."
Han Wei frowned. "The fiancée?"
Chen Yu blinked. "How do you even know that?"
Jiang Chen didn't respond.
Because he didn't have a clear answer.
Only instinct.
And the Origin Thread rarely reacted without reason.
Lin Xue looked at him carefully.
"…Your energy just shifted," she said quietly. "Not aggression. Connection."
Jiang Chen exhaled slowly.
"…It's faint," he said. "But it's real."
Zhou Yan's expression turned serious.
"Then it's either a curse link… or resonance through a shared origin point."
Jiang Chen shook his head slightly.
"No curse."
His gaze sharpened.
"…This feels like a mirror reaction."
A silence followed.
Even Han Wei stopped joking.
Jiang Chen turned slightly toward the direction the sensation came from.
As if distance meant nothing.
As if he could trace it through space itself.
"…She's fighting something," he said.
Lin Xue frowned. "Inside the realm, there are many factions. That's normal."
Jiang Chen nodded slowly.
"Yes."
Then added quietly.
"But this isn't normal."
The Origin Thread pulsed once more.
Then stabilized again.
But the feeling didn't fully disappear.
It lingered at the edge of his perception like a thread tied to something far away.
A connection he could not yet explain.
---
Far away, Mu Qinglan's frost power clashed violently against unseen pressure.
And in that moment
Jiang Chen felt it again.
Stronger.
Clearer.
Like a second heartbeat that wasn't his own.
His eyes narrowed.
"…I can feel her."
Zhou Yan studied him. "To that level?"
Jiang Chen didn't answer immediately.
Then he said calmly.
"Not her location."
A pause.
"…Her state."
Han Wei scratched his head. "That sounds creepy."
Chen Yu muttered, "Yeah, I agree…"
Lin Xue, however, remained silent.
She was watching Jiang Chen more carefully now.
Because whatever this was
It was not simple emotional attachment.
It was structural.
Like two forces in the same system reacting without touching.
Jiang Chen finally looked away from the distance.
"…We continue forward," he said.
Zhou Yan frowned slightly. "You're not going to investigate?"
Jiang Chen shook his head once.
"Not yet."
He paused.
Then added quietly.
"…She's not in immediate danger I can fix from here."
A silence followed.
Then he stepped forward again.
But this time
The Origin Thread remained slightly active.
As if refusing to fully rest.
As if waiting.
---
And somewhere deep inside the Celestial Spirit Realm, far from both of them, the "Seed of Return" reacted faintly in response to both distortions.
Not fully awakened.
But no longer dormant either.