Gu Yan could not move.
That was the first thing Orion noticed.
The second—
Neither could the sword river.
Hundreds of strands of demonic sword Essence hung suspended in the air.
Frozen.
Not blocked.
Not destroyed.
Simply denied permission to continue existing as an attack.
Yue Ling walked through them.
Her robes were pale silver-blue.
Her expression was calm.
Too calm.
She stepped over broken stone.
Past shattered furniture.
Past the remains of Orion’s medicine bowl.
Her eyes settled on Xuan Mei.
Blood.
Torn robes.
Injured arm.
Then Orion.
Bandages soaked red.
Then—
Gu Yan.
Something in the atmosphere changed.
Orion had felt cultivation pressure before.
Jiang Tai.
Zhao Kun.
Xuan Mei.
Gu Yan.
Those felt like weight.
Yue Ling was different.
There was no pressure.
No crushing aura.
No raging Essence.
Instead—
The world had become hers.
The moonlight belonged to her.
The air belonged to her.
The spiritual Essence inside the ruined pavilion belonged to her.
Gu Yan belonged to her.
Orion suddenly understood the meaning of Heavenly Domain.
Gu Yan struggled.
Nothing happened.
Yue Ling stopped several steps away.
“I told you to take your sword away from my disciple.”
Gu Yan’s fingers trembled.
Barely.
“I…”
His face twisted.
“I can’t.”
Yue Ling tilted her head.
“I know.”
Silence.
“I wasn’t asking.”
Orion decided immediately that Yue Ling was the most terrifying person he had ever met.
Gu Yan’s demonic Essence erupted.
Or attempted to.
Black-red light appeared beneath his skin.
A forbidden technique.
Escape.
Self-destruction.
Something.
Yue Ling lifted one finger.
The demonic Essence vanished.
Gu Yan’s knees slammed into the floor.
BOOM.
The stone cratered.
He coughed blood.
Orion blinked.
That was it.
No giant technique.
No clash.
No battle.
Gu Yan—the Seventh Stage Meridian Foundation cultivator who had nearly killed Xuan Mei—
Was kneeling.
Unable to raise his head.
Yue Ling looked toward Xuan Mei.
“Come here.”
Xuan Mei exhaled.
Then nearly collapsed.
Orion caught her.
Or tried.
In their current condition, they mostly leaned against one another.
Yue Ling appeared in front of them instantly.
One hand supported Xuan Mei.
The other pressed against Orion’s shoulder.
Warm Essence entered his body.
His pain vanished.
Not healed completely.
But suppressed.
“Master.”
Xuan Mei’s voice sounded smaller than Orion had ever heard it.
Yue Ling looked down at her.
“You did well.”
Xuan Mei’s eyes closed.
Relief crossed her face.
Just for a moment.
Then Yue Ling looked at Orion.
“You.”
Orion swallowed.
“Yes, Elder Yue?”
“Why are you bleeding more than when I last saw you?”
He considered the question.
“There were several developments.”
Yue Ling stared.
Orion became extremely interested in the floor.
Xuan Mei laughed weakly.
Yue Ling sighed.
“Both of you are exhausting.”
⸻
Apparently once Yue Ling entered the disrupted formation—
Every alarm went off simultaneously.
Sect masters.
High elders.
Tournament enforcers.
Cassian arrived fast enough that part of the outer wall exploded when he landed.
“ORION!”
“I’m alive!”
Cassian stopped.
Looked at him.
Looked at Xuan Mei.
Looked at the ruined pavilion.
Then looked at Gu Yan kneeling in a crater.
“Explain.”
Orion pointed toward Gu Yan.
“He tried to kill me.”
Cassian’s spiritual pressure exploded.
Gu Yan sank another inch into the floor.
Yue Ling glanced sideways.
“Cassian.”
The old man stopped.
Barely.
“He’s mine.”
Yue Ling’s smile was pleasant.
“For the moment.”
Cassian looked at her.
Then Gu Yan.
“Fine.”
Orion quietly decided never to introduce those two to alcohol simultaneously.
Representatives from Nine Rivers Sword Pavilion arrived moments later.
Their elder saw Gu Yan.
Saw the demonic veins.
And went pale.
“Impossible.”
Yue Ling turned.
“Is it?”
“Gu Yan has belonged to our pavilion for eleven years.”
“Then you’ve had a demonic cultivator in your inner ranks for eleven years.”
The elder looked physically ill.
Gu Yan raised his head slightly.
Yue Ling’s eyes narrowed.
His disguise broke.
The clear river Essence around him vanished completely.
Black-red spiritual lines appeared beneath his skin.
A symbol burned over his heart.
The Nine Rivers elder staggered.
“Demon Heart Seal.”
Someone whispered.
The entire pavilion became silent.
Demonic infiltration.
Not rumor.
Not accusation.
Proof.
⸻
Gu Yan was moved beneath seven layers of suppression formations.
Yue Ling personally placed three.
Cassian added two more.
The tournament authorities supplied the rest.
Orion suspected Gu Yan would have difficulty blinking without permission.
Hours later, the questioning began.
Orion wasn’t permitted inside.
Neither was Xuan Mei.
They sat in an adjacent recovery chamber instead.
Xuan Mei’s wounds had been treated.
Her left arm rested in a sling.
Orion looked at it.
Again.
She noticed.
“Stop.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“Your face did.”
“Apparently that runs in my family.”
Xuan Mei’s expression softened.
Orion looked down.
“I’m sorry.”
“You already apologized.”
“Still.”
She reached over with her uninjured hand.
Took his.
The bracelets touched.
“You stayed.”
“So did you.”
“I was protecting you.”
“I was emotionally supporting you with medicine bowls.”
Xuan Mei laughed.
Then immediately winced.
Orion smiled.
“Pain is educational.”
She glared.
“Never say that again.”
Their fingers intertwined.
Neither let go.
⸻
The interrogation lasted an hour.
Then—
A pulse of demonic Essence shook the building.
Orion stood.
Xuan Mei did too.
The door opened.
Yue Ling stepped through.
Her expression was grim.
Cassian followed.
“What happened?”
Xuan Mei asked.
Yue Ling closed the door.
“He has a soul restriction.”
Orion frowned.
“A what?”
“A seal placed directly into the soul.”
Cassian answered.
“Certain memories are protected.”
Orion asked.
Yue Ling’s expression hardened.
“I tried.”
That answer told Orion enough.
Even she couldn’t safely force it.
“We confirmed several things.”
She sat opposite them.
“Gu Yan is a demonic cultivator.”
“No surprise.”
“He infiltrated Nine Rivers Sword Pavilion years ago.”
Xuan Mei frowned.
“For what purpose?”
“Unknown.”
Yue Ling continued.
“But his assassination attempt was targeted.”
Her gaze moved toward Orion.
“He was specifically ordered to kill you.”
Silence.
Orion leaned back.
“Wonderful.”
Cassian’s jaw tightened.
“We asked who ordered it.”
“And?”
“The soul restriction activated.”
Black flames had apparently begun burning through Gu Yan’s memories.
Yue Ling stopped the process before it killed him.
But—
Whatever memories connected him to his employer were gone.
Destroyed.
No name.
No face.
No proof.
Xuan Mei’s expression became cold.
“Someone wanted Orion dead before he reached the top ten.”
Nobody said anything.
They were all thinking the same thing.
There were obvious suspects.
Obvious was not the same as provable.
Yue Ling leaned back.
“The tournament council has suspended Gu Yan.”
Orion raised an eyebrow.
“Suspended?”
Cassian smiled without humor.
“From the tournament.”
“Oh.”
“His future contains significantly larger problems.”
“Fair.”
Yue Ling looked toward Orion.
“Your next match has been delayed twenty-four hours.”
Xuan Mei immediately spoke.
“He shouldn’t fight.”
Orion looked at her.
She stared back.
“No.”
“Xuan Mei.”
“You were nearly assassinated.”
“Technically—”
“No.”
Cassian nodded.
“I agree.”
Orion looked betrayed.
“Again?”
“You were stabbed yesterday.”
“Cut.”
“Almost stabbed.”
“Still different.”
Yue Ling looked between them.
Then smiled faintly.
“The physicians will decide.”
Orion brightened.
Xuan Mei narrowed her eyes.
Yue Ling continued.
“And if they clear him…”
Xuan Mei looked toward her master.
“…then preventing him from competing may require tying him to the bed.”
Orion nodded.
“Reasonable assessment.”
Xuan Mei closed her eyes.
“I hate both of you.”
“No, you don’t.”
Yue Ling smiled.
Orion looked toward Xuan Mei.
Her hand remained in his.
The system interface appeared quietly.
[Bonded Companion: Xuan Mei]
[Affection: 50%]
[Sun-Moon Resonance Scripture — Unclaimed]
One victory.
That was all Orion needed now.
One more win—
And the condition imposed by Wind Resonant would become meaningless.
Someone had tried to kill him to prevent that.
Orion’s blue eyes hardened.
Across the room, Xuan Mei saw the change.
“What?”
He squeezed her hand.
“Nothing.”
Then smiled.
“But I think I really want to win the next one.”
Far away—
At the Wind Resonant Sect—
High Elder Mo Xuesha received a single black talisman.
There were only four words.
The Silent River failed.
His expression did not change.
The talisman burned between his fingers.
Across from him, Mo Chensha slowly stood.
“Father?”
Mo Xuesha watched the ashes fall.
For the first time since Orion Atlas had begun cultivating—
He felt something he had not expected.
Concern.