The courtyard was dead silent.
Disciples stood frozen mid-step, mid-breath—mouths open, eyes wide. The same crowd that had mocked Ye Tian moments ago couldn't find a single word now.
"He… defeated Zhou Han?""With just one strike…""Wasn't he stuck at the 2nd stage yesterday?!"
The whispers came back, but they sounded different now—quieter, unsure, almost afraid.
Ye Tian stood calmly in the center of it all, like none of it mattered.
Because it didn't.
He hadn't come here for them.
But above him, on the rooftop of a nearby pavilion, someone was watching intently.
Yun Qingyu.
Her silver-blue eyes were sharp as ever, but something in her gaze had softened. Just for a second. A flicker of recognition crossed her face as a memory stirred in her heart.
A memory she hadn't recalled in years.
A younger version of herself. Scared. Cornered. Helpless.
And a boy—tattered robes, blood running down his arms—stood between her and a fatal strike.
"Live," he had said, voice calm even as he bled. "I'll hold them off."
That... was him?
She had forgotten his face. Buried that moment like a forgotten dream. Until now.
Without hesitation, she moved.
Wind brushed past the trees as she stepped forward and leapt gracefully from her hiding place. White robes danced like snowfall as she descended toward the courtyard, quiet as moonlight.
All eyes snapped upward.
"Wait—isn't that…?""Senior Sister Yun Qingyu!""Why's she coming here?!"
The Ice Sword Prodigy. First-ranked among the outer disciples. Cold, distant, untouchable.
And now—descending straight toward Ye Tian.
He turned the moment she landed. Their eyes met.
And in that instant, the noise of the world vanished for him.
All he could see was her—And all he could remember was how he lost her.
A burning battlefield.Her shattered sword.Her body falling in his arms, eyes fading as she whispered,
"I won't let them touch you…"
She died protecting him.
I couldn't save her. I wasn't strong enough.
But now, she stood before him again.
Alive. Proud. Whole.
This time... I won't let her fall.
He stepped forward, slow and sure.
"Yun Qingyu…"
His voice was low, but steady.
"No matter what happens in this life… I'll protect you. Even if I have to destroy Heaven itself."
A beat passed. She blinked, just once. Then:
"You're different," she said. Her tone wasn't cold. Just observant. Curious. "Your qi… your presence… it's not the same."
"I woke up," Ye Tian replied. "And this time, I'm wide awake."
She tilted her head. "You remember me."
He didn't hesitate.
"How could I forget the one who gave her life for mine?"
For a brief moment—just one—her composure cracked.
"That wasn't this life," she said softly.
"No," Ye Tian said. "But it was real."
Silence. Tension hung in the air like the breath before a storm.
Then—
"He—he's at the 4th Stage of Body Tempering!" someone in the crowd blurted out.
It hit like lightning.
"What?! No way!""Didn't he just—how is that possible?!""Is he a hidden genius?!"
Eyes darted back to Ye Tian. He didn't react.
Because something else had started.
Deep inside his consciousness, a spark lit.
[Calibration complete.][Soul signature stabilized.][Attempting to initialize system protocol…][Success.]
The familiar voice echoed in his mind, cold and ancient.
[Heaven's Redemption System: Activated.]
[Fated Encounter Detected.][Link Condition Satisfied: Soul-bound individual reconnected.][Classified: Yun Qingyu – Potential Destiny Anchor.][Thread Status: Dormant. Unlock conditions undisclosed.]
Ye Tian's eyes flickered slightly—but outwardly, he remained composed.
So… the system responds to fate itself. Of course it does.
Yun Qingyu narrowed her gaze, sensing something change in him again. "What just happened?"
Ye Tian gave a faint smile. "You'll find out soon enough."
He turned away, the hem of his robe brushing through the petals scattered on the ground.
"We'll talk again. But not here."
And just like that, he walked past the stunned disciples, not sparing a single glance.
They didn't stop him. They didn't laugh.
They simply watched him go—in total silence.
Because for the first time...
They weren't sure whether they'd just witnessed a fluke—
Or the beginning of something terrifying.