Inside her quiet room, Liu Yue sat cross-legged, the scroll of the Frozen Moon Scripture resting on her lap. The room was silent, save for the faint hum of spiritual energy circulating. The air around her began to cool, frost creeping slowly across the wooden floor.
As she circulated her qi according to the scripture's method, an icy aura bloomed from within her dantian. Her breath fogged, and snowflakes shimmered into existence from thin air. The ice spiritual root within her body resonated violently—like it had been asleep for years, now suddenly awakened by a familiar call.
Her cultivation surged wildly, but not out of control. The techniques in the scripture seemed to guide her instincts naturally. As she completed the final stance of the first cycle, a sudden flash of cold qi struck her palm.
She winced.
When she looked down, a snowflake-shaped mark had formed on the center of her palm—elegant and glowing faintly with crystalline light.
"What… is this?" she whispered, her voice trembling.
From the next room, Lin Xuan—who had been quietly meditating—opened his eyes. He instantly sensed the temperature shift and the strange wave of energy. In a breath, he appeared at her door, knocking once.
Liu Yue opened the door, looking dazed and pale, frost clinging to her hair like silver threads.
"You activated something," Lin Xuan said calmly, his eyes narrowing at the mark on her palm. "That scripture... it's not ordinary."
Liu Yue nodded slowly. "I felt like something in my blood remembered it. As if it belonged to me."
Lin Xuan remained silent for a moment, staring at the mark. His expression grew serious.
"Frozen Moon Scripture—it's tied to the Ancient Ice Clan. A bloodline long thought erased in the chaos of the last era. If that mark appeared on you… then you're not just compatible. You might be descended from them."
Liu Yue's breath caught in her throat. "Then my father... did he know?"
"Perhaps," Lin Xuan muttered. "But he likely gave you only a glimpse of what you're truly capable of."
Outside the room, the frost slowly began to melt. But something had been awakened.
Not just within Liu Yue—but in the world itself.
---