ARK SPIRIT

Hao Nhien left the Quan family’s main hall.

The atmosphere inside had been far too heavy. He did not dislike important matters, nor did he mind sitting through discussions, but having so many gazes and so many questions about what would happen three years from now pressing down on him had still felt somewhat suffocating.

The moment he stepped outside and the evening breeze brushed across his face, Hao Nhien immediately felt much lighter.

The last sunlight of the day cast a pale golden glow over the tiled roofs of the Quan family estate. On both sides of the white stone path, spiritual herbs swayed gently in the garden, their faint fragrance drifting with the wind. Compared with the solemn atmosphere inside the hall, this place was so peaceful that he felt as though he had just stepped out of a long dream.

Those few days inside the Inner Secret Realm had changed too many things.

He was beginning to understand why the Body Soul Fist Art carried the word Soul.

What he had always been missing perhaps did not lie only in fist techniques or body tempering, but also in the method that allowed the Divine Soul to truly step onto a path of cultivation.

The cycle that had just formed within his Divine Soul was still extremely embryonic. Weak, faint, sometimes almost impossible to sense.

But at least it truly existed.

The Cosmic Ark was still there.

The Spirit Sword was still there.

And his Divine Soul had taken another step forward.

After layer after layer of trials, both his body and true qi had been tempered far beyond what they had been before entering the secret realm. The bottleneck of the sixth layer had also clearly loosened, like standing before a door where a thin sliver of light had already begun to shine through.

All he needed was to calm himself.

To let everything he had gained this time truly settle.

The seventh layer of Qi Condensation might no longer be very far away.

He needed a period of quiet.

Needed to look back over everything he had just experienced.

Needed to let his body, true qi, and Divine Soul find their natural rhythm again.

With that thought, Hao Nhien unconsciously quickened his steps.

Before long, he was almost walking at a run toward the courtyard.

From a distance, he saw a small figure standing outside the entrance.

Tieu Lan.

She wore pale green clothes, her hair tied neatly high behind her head. Her slender figure stood beneath the shade of a peach tree, both hands clasped together before her chest.

With a single glance, Hao Nhien could tell that she looked worse than usual.

There were faint shadows beneath her eyes.

It seemed she had not slept well these past few days.

His steps slowed slightly.

He did not need to ask to guess why.

From the moment he had entered the Inner Secret Realm, this girl had probably never truly been at ease.

When Tieu Lan saw Hao Nhien appear on the white stone path, she simply stood there at first.

Her eyes widened.

Then immediately lit up.

She took one step forward, then stopped, as though still afraid she might be seeing things.

Only when Hao Nhien drew closer did tears almost instantly well in the corners of her eyes.

“Young Master!”

She ran toward him.

“Young Master is back!”

Her voice had started out high, but by the final words it was already trembling.

Tieu Lan rushed forward and tightly wrapped her arms around his arm. She pressed her face against his shoulder, her whole body trembling slightly. Her hands clutched his sleeve so tightly that her fingertips turned white.

Hao Nhien did not move.

A faint fragrance drifted from her hair.

Still that very light scent of osmanthus mixed with the familiar fragrance of medicinal herbs.

Not the smell of blood.

Not the coldness of the stone floor.

Not the image of her collapsing within the mist of Heavenly Accord.

This was the real Tieu Lan.

Alive.

Standing right in front of him.

Crying because he had come back.

Hao Nhien remained silent for a long time.

He had originally planned to tease her with a few words as usual and lighten the mood.

But this time, the words reached his lips and would not come out.

Within the illusion, he had watched Tieu Lan die before his own eyes.

He knew it had been false.

But what he felt at the time had been real.

The fear had been real.

The despair of being unable to reach her had been real.

There were things he had always unconsciously avoided before.

Not because they did not exist.

But because he did not want to see them too clearly.

Anh Nhien was still somewhere so far away that he had no idea how long it would take before he could reach her.

Part of his heart still belonged to his old world.

Perhaps because of that, ever since arriving on the Remnant Cloud Continent, he had always been careful with anything that drew too close to him.

But Heavenly Accord had made him understand one thing.

Refusing to name a feeling did not mean the feeling did not exist.

Avoiding something did not mean losing it would hurt any less.

Tieu Lan had been beside him day after day.

Making tea.

Cooking.

Caring for medicinal herbs.

Traveling with him.

Living with him aboard the Cosmic Ark.

Waiting for him every time he left.

At some point, her presence had become a part of his life without him even realizing it.

Or perhaps without him wanting to admit it.

Until the illusion took her away.

Hao Nhien lowered his head and looked at the girl still holding onto his arm.

Tieu Lan happened to look up at the same moment.

Her eyes were still wet.

Hao Nhien let out a soft breath, then raised a hand and gently rubbed her head.

“What is it?”

“Were you so worried you couldn’t even sleep?”

Tieu Lan lightly bit her lip and did not answer.

Hao Nhien forced a smile.

“Your Young Master is blessed with a strong life. How could something happen to me that easily?”

After speaking, he paused slightly.

His gaze gradually softened.

“Don’t make yourself look like this next time.”

He looked at the faint shadows beneath her eyes.

“Seeing you like this... hurts me too.”

The final words came out much more softly.

Even Hao Nhien felt slightly unused to saying them.

But he did not take them back.

Because they were true.

Tieu Lan froze.

Then color rapidly spread from her cheeks all the way to the tips of her ears.

She lowered her head, but her hands still did not release his arm.

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“How could I not worry...”

Her voice grew softer.

“If something really happened to Young Master...”

She paused.

Then whispered:

“I wouldn’t even know what to do.”

Hao Nhien felt his heart soften.

He did not press her further.

Some things did not need to be defined yet.

Nor did they require promises right now.

But he no longer wanted to keep pretending he could not see them.

Hao Nhien gently patted her head.

“All right.”

“I’m back.”

“Still have both arms and both legs.”

“And I even brought back some good news.”

Tieu Lan immediately looked up.

“Good news?”

“Mm.”

The two entered the courtyard.

A pot of tea was already waiting on the small table in the sitting room. Hao Nhien poured himself a cup and took a sip, only to realize that the tea had almost gone cold.

Tieu Lan had probably brewed it a long time ago.

She simply had not been in the mood to drink it.

He set the cup down.

“I was one of the three people who passed Heavenly Accord.”

Tieu Lan blinked.

Hao Nhien continued:

“Three years from now, if my cultivation is high enough and nothing unexpected happens, I’ll be qualified to represent the Eastern Quan family in the Grand Clan Secret Realm.”

Tieu Lan’s eyes widened.

One breath later.

“Wow!”

She looked him up and down as though she had suddenly discovered something extremely rare.

“Young Master is really... really...”

She thought for a moment.

Then her eyes lit up.

“Seriously badass!”

Hao Nhien nearly choked on his next mouthful of tea.

He turned to look at her.

“Where did you learn words like that?”

Tieu Lan paused as well.

“I...”

She blinked several times.

“I don’t know.”

“It just suddenly felt right.”

Hao Nhien looked at her for another breath.

That kind of wording again.

And not for the first time.

A strangely familiar feeling flashed through his heart.

But in the end, he pressed the thought back down.

Tieu Lan did not notice the tiny change in his eyes. She had already brightened again and grabbed Hao Nhien’s sleeve.

“So many people from the Quan family entered the Inner Secret Realm, but Young Master still managed to pass Heavenly Accord.”

“I knew it.”

“Young Master must be really amazing.”

Toward the end, however, her expression changed slightly again.

“But no matter how amazing you are...”

“I was still scared.”

Hao Nhien looked at her.

“I formed a blood oath with the secret realm.”

“I can’t tell you the details of what happened inside.”

Tieu Lan immediately shook her head.

“That’s all right.”

“You don’t have to tell me.”

“As long as Young Master came back safely, that’s enough.”

Hao Nhien looked directly into her eyes.

The joy there was real.

So was the fear that had not yet faded.

He remained silent for a moment before saying:

“There were a few moments inside...”

“I may never forget them for the rest of my life.”

Tieu Lan looked up.

Hao Nhien could not speak about the contents of the illusion.

But the blood oath did not prevent him from speaking about what he had learned from it.

“Some things made me realize that if I keep taking what is beside me for granted...”

“One day, when it is truly gone, even regret will come too late.”

Tieu Lan looked at him without fully understanding.

Hao Nhien smiled faintly.

“So from now on...”

He paused.

“I’ll treat you a little better.”

Tieu Lan froze.

Her face immediately reddened again.

“Young Master has always treated me very well.”

“Really?”

“Mm.”

“Then I’ll treat you even better.”

Tieu Lan could not think of anything to say.

She only lowered her head.

But the smile at the corner of her lips could no longer be hidden.

Hao Nhien looked at her.

His heart suddenly became very calm.

There was no need to go any further.

No need to turn this moment into some grand promise.

It was enough that he no longer denied what he truly felt.

After a while, Tieu Lan unconsciously leaned closer.

Her shoulder touched his arm.

Hao Nhien did not move away.

He only raised an arm and lightly placed it around her shoulders.

Tieu Lan’s body trembled.

But then slowly relaxed.

She leaned against him.

Very lightly.

Very warmly.

Hao Nhien suddenly remembered the distance between them in the illusion.

Back then, no matter how far he reached, he could not touch her.

Now.

She was right beside him.

That alone was enough.

The two remained silent for a while.

Tieu Lan looked up.

Hao Nhien happened to look down.

The distance between them was closer than he had expected.

He suddenly felt a little awkward.

His heart also began beating slightly faster.

Hao Nhien coughed.

“Tieu Lan...”

“Yes?”

“I want to eat...”

The moment the words left his mouth, Hao Nhien immediately felt that something sounded very wrong.

Tieu Lan froze too.

Her cheeks instantly turned bright red.

“Yes... I already prepared...”

She got halfway through the sentence before noticing Hao Nhien’s strange expression and stopped.

Hao Nhien cursed himself inwardly.

What am I even saying?

He immediately removed his arm from her shoulders.

“I mean food.”

“Eat food.”

“I just came back from the secret realm. Of course I need to eat.”

The more he explained, the stranger it sounded.

He simply stood up.

“No.”

“I can feel that the sixth layer has already reached the edge of its bottleneck.”

“I need to regulate my breathing first.”

Tieu Lan looked at him.

The corner of her mouth curved slightly.

“Yes.”

Hao Nhien took two steps, then stopped again.

“You eat first.”

“Don’t wait for me.”

“Yes.”

This time, there was clearly laughter in Tieu Lan’s voice.

Hao Nhien did not turn around again.

He walked straight into his room.

The door closed.

Hao Nhien leaned against it for a moment before finally letting out a breath.

“Embarrassing...”

But the corner of his mouth still refused to stay down.

He shook his head.

Then quickly gathered his scattered thoughts.

This was not the time to keep thinking about it.

The seventh layer mattered more.

Hao Nhien walked to the center of the room and sent his intent into his Divine Soul.

Deep within, the familiar space of consciousness still existed.

Before, it had been extremely vague.

Like a dark expanse without clear boundaries, barely enough for him to sense the existence of his Divine Soul and the things connected to it.

After Heavenly Accord, the place seemed slightly larger.

It had not truly become a world.

His perception of it was simply clearer than before.

The space surrounding his Divine Soul had gained more depth.

More stability.

He still did not fully understand its nature.

But a fairly suitable name naturally appeared in his mind.

Sea of Consciousness.

Perhaps calling it a “sea” was still an exaggeration at his current level.

For now, it was only a vague space surrounding his Divine Soul.

But Hao Nhien had a feeling that as his Divine Soul and spiritual awareness continued to grow, this space would expand along with them.

As for what it might become in the future...

He did not know yet.

The Cosmic Ark still rested quietly within his Divine Soul.

Hao Nhien sent an intent toward it.

“Come out.”

A faint blue green light immediately flashed in the middle of the room.

The Cosmic Ark appeared.

But the moment Hao Nhien saw it, he froze.

It was different from before.

The moment the Ark appeared, its hull trembled faintly.

The ancient patterns along its surface lit up one after another.

A familiar sensation flowed back into his Divine Soul.

Hao Nhien raised an eyebrow slightly.

“Another change?”

He tried sending another intent.

Cave Dwelling.

Buzz.

Light suddenly spread from the Cosmic Ark.

The Ark shrank and changed shape within the glow.

When the light stabilized, what appeared before Hao Nhien no longer looked entirely like a boat.

It resembled a small cave dwelling.

Or, viewed through memories of his old world, something like an enclosed tent built from strange ancient wood.

Not large.

Not ornate.

But private.

Stable.

The patterns along its walls gave off a faint blue green glow while spiritual qi slowly circulated within.

Hao Nhien stared at it for several breaths.

Then laughed.

“Finally unlocked it.”

He quickly understood.

Before this, his Divine Soul had probably been too weak to control this form.

After Heavenly Accord, not only had his Divine Soul become more stable, it had also developed an embryonic cycle capable of circulating on its own.

His connection with the Cosmic Ark had become clearer as well.

It was not that the Cosmic Ark had suddenly grown stronger.

He had finally gained the ability to touch another function that had always existed within it.

Hao Nhien stepped inside.

The space within remained familiar.

Only now it felt far more stable.

The small medicinal herb garden on one side still gave off a fresh green fragrance. The little pond in the distance rippled gently. Everything he had stored inside remained exactly where it had been.

The spiritual qi was also much denser than before.

Perhaps the three supreme grade spirit stones the Cosmic Ark had previously absorbed were still silently supplying spiritual power to this space.

Hao Nhien did not investigate further.

Right now, he needed to break through.

He sat cross legged on the cushion at the center.

Then took out more than ten mid grade spirit stones and placed them around himself to make the surrounding spiritual qi denser.

It was not a formation.

Just a simple way to ensure enough spiritual qi gathered around him.

Hao Nhien closed his eyes.

Breathed in deeply.

Then exhaled.

One full cycle.

Then another.

The lingering emotions from his reunion with Tieu Lan gradually settled.

They did not disappear.

They simply returned to a quieter place within his heart.

True qi began circulating from his dantian according to the Body Soul Fist Art.

Very slowly.

Very steadily.

Hao Nhien did not rush.

After everything he had experienced in the secret realm, he understood even more clearly that forcing things had no meaning.

His sixth layer true qi was already full.

His meridians had widened.

His body had been tempered again and again by the gray wind, gravity, and the battles on the arenas.

But the clearest change was still within his Divine Soul.

Hao Nhien drew his intent inward.

The Sea of Consciousness remained faintly spread around him.

At its center was his Divine Soul.

It did not possess a complete form identical to his physical body.

Nor did it contain a clear system of meridians like flesh and blood.

But within his Divine Soul, a very faint path of circulation had appeared.

Like a tiny stream that had just found its first riverbed.

Embryonic.

Weak.

At times almost fading away.

But it was moving.

Hao Nhien began circulating the cycle within his body.

True qi moved.

The cycle within his Divine Soul responded.

But more slowly.

Half a beat behind.

Then a full beat.

Hao Nhien did not force it.

He simply observed.

The first cycle.

The two sides were completely out of rhythm.

The second cycle.

He tried slowing his true qi to wait for the Divine Soul.

The result was still wrong.

One moved like water flowing through real meridians.

The other was only an extremely faint fluctuation within his Divine Soul.

Forcing them to behave the same would only throw both out of rhythm.

Hao Nhien stopped.

He remembered the arenas.

When the rules of the secret realm had raised his strength, the hardest part had not been that the power was too great.

It was that his body was not accustomed to that kind of power.

He had tried controlling it with his old habits.

Failed.

Got hit.

Tried again.

Failed again.

Until eventually, he had understood one thing.

The answer was not to force new power to obey old habits.

It was to let himself find a way of moving that suited his new state.

Hao Nhien slowed his breathing.

The third time.

He did not force the cycle within his Divine Soul to follow his true qi.

Nor did he wait for his Divine Soul to lead.

He simply allowed his body to circulate according to the familiar cycle.

At the same time, he used his intent to gently hold onto the rhythm of the fluctuations within his Divine Soul.

True qi completed one cycle.

The Divine Soul responded afterward.

Still off.

But less than before.

The next cycle.

Still off.

Hao Nhien continued.

No hurry.

No forcing.

Gradually.

A very faint resonance began to appear between the two.

They were not merging.

Nor were they the same kind of power.

But when his true qi circulated steadily, his Divine Soul also became more stable.

And when the cycle within his Divine Soul completed one circuit, his control over true qi became slightly clearer.

The two began supporting each other.

Hao Nhien suddenly understood.

Perhaps this was what he should truly be looking for.

Not turning the Divine Soul into another body.

But allowing the body and Divine Soul to cultivate together, grow together, and gradually respond to one another.

Body.

Soul.

And Fist between them.

The way intent, true qi, and the body coordinated into action.

A thought flashed through Hao Nhien’s mind.

But he did not rush to conclusions.

He had only taken the first step.

The Body Soul Fist Art was certainly deeper than what he could currently understand.

He continued circulating.

One cycle.

Two cycles.

Three.

Gradually, his mind became strangely quiet.

Images from the Inner Secret Realm surfaced again.

The arenas.

The gray wind.

Quan Huyen.

Quan Lam.

Tieu Lan.

Anh Nhien.

All of them had appeared before him in one way or another.

He remembered himself when he had first arrived on the Remnant Cloud Continent.

Back then, he had always carried a strange feeling.

This world was real.

Yet somehow, it did not completely belong to him.

The name Quan Hao Nhien was real.

This body was real.

But deep within, he had always maintained a thin distance.

As though he were merely borrowing this identity to live.

Borrowing this world to keep moving forward.

Borrowing this name while searching for a way back to what truly belonged to him.

But Heavenly Accord had cracked that distance apart.

Tieu Lan had died in the illusion.

His pain had been real.

Quan Lam had stabbed him.

His despair had been real.

Anh Nhien had dissolved before his eyes.

His fear had been real.

If all those emotions were real.

If the people he wanted to protect were real.

If the karma he had formed in this world was real.

Then why was he still standing outside it?

Hao Nhien slowly breathed out.

He thought of Tieu Lan waiting outside.

Thought of Anh Nhien in another world.

Thought of the parents of this body.

Thought of the promise he had silently taken upon himself when he inherited this life.

Perhaps for a very long time already.

He had no longer been merely an outsider.

Only today had he truly admitted it.

Hao Nhien spoke softly within his heart.

“I am Quan Hao Nhien.”

His breathing gradually steadied.

“That is also me.”

The cycle within his Divine Soul trembled faintly.

“There is no need to separate them anymore.”

At the exact moment that thought completely settled.

A very faint sound echoed through his meridians.

Not an explosion.

Not a collision.

But like the final layer of thin ice cracking beneath the sunlight of early spring.