ARK SPIRIT

Hao Nhien reached into his storage ring and took out several mid grade spirit stones. He placed them in his palm, then slowly adjusted his breathing.

Pure spiritual qi flowed from the spirit stones under the guidance of his true qi and entered his meridians. At first, only thin streams moved through them, but as each circulation became steadier, the rate of absorption gradually increased.

Hao Nhien’s mind was unusually calm.

The tangled thoughts that had troubled him for so long were still there, but they no longer pulled him in opposing directions. He did not try to force them away, nor did he continue arguing with himself. Everything simply settled, like silt sinking to the bottom of a lake once the water was no longer disturbed.

True qi circulated through his body.

One cycle.

Then another.

Then a third.

Within his Sea of Consciousness, the Divine Soul remained as faint as before. The embryonic cycle within it also continued to circulate quietly according to its own rhythm. No energy flowed from the Divine Soul into his body, but Hao Nhien’s awareness was clearer now, making every movement of true qi through his meridians steadier and more precise.

His cultivation had already drawn very close to the limit of the seventh layer of Qi Condensation.

More than a month of continuous fighting, injuries, depletion, and recovery had repeatedly pushed his meridians and dantian close to the limits of what they could endure. Each time, his body adapted a little more, while his true qi gradually became denser and more refined.

Resolving some of the conflict in his mind did not directly create strength. It simply meant that without his thoughts constantly scattering and struggling against one another, his control over true qi became smoother than before.

A faint feeling of pressure began to spread through his meridians.

Hao Nhien did not rush.

He continued guiding his true qi along its familiar path, cycle after cycle, never forcing it faster than his body could bear.

His dantian trembled lightly. Spiritual qi was drawn from the mid grade spirit stones at an increasing rate.

The color on their surfaces gradually faded.

The true qi that had been circulating steadily began to grow denser, like water accumulating for days until it finally reached the edge of its banks.

Hao Nhien could clearly feel that limit.

It was not a true wall. Only a thin barrier formed by the amount of true qi he possessed, the endurance of his meridians, and the stability of his dantian.

Another cycle.

Then one more.

At last, that boundary was crossed naturally.

Hao Nhien’s aura rose by another level.

Eighth layer Qi Condensation.

Hao Nhien slowly exhaled.

The breath was long and even, carrying the feeling of having finally stepped through a doorway that had been standing before him for a long time.

He did not immediately rise.

His true qi had only just crossed into a new layer and still needed time to stabilize, so Hao Nhien continued his breathing cultivation for several more cycles, allowing his body to grow accustomed to the increased amount of true qi and its new rhythm of circulation.

He did not feel overly excited.

This breakthrough had not turned him into a different person. But it confirmed something very clearly.

The days he had spent struggling had not been wasted.

Every battle, every injury, every time he had been forced to flee and then sit alone afterward to examine his mistakes, all of it had accumulated somewhere within his body and mind.

Hao Nhien opened his eyes.

Outside the window, night had completely fallen. Tieu Dao Mountain lay beneath a thin veil of mist, with only scattered spirit lamps shining from the distant outer sect.

He watched the darkness for a while.

This world would not stop simply because someone was weaker. But Hao Nhien no longer believed that understanding its rules meant he had to live exactly like everyone else.

He looked down at his own hand.

From today onward, he possessed a little more strength to hold on to his own choices.

The corner of his mouth lifted slightly.

That night, Hao Nhien continued regulating his breathing until his newly advanced cultivation gradually settled before finally resting.

The next morning, just as the sun rose above the eastern peaks, Hao Nhien left the outer sect.

He had arranged to meet Tieu Lan today.

Hao Nhien intended to arrive a little early. He followed the narrow path behind the mountainside toward a familiar stream not far from the market.

It was much quieter here.

An ancient tree leaned over the water, its thick roots gripping deep into cracks between the rocks. Green leaves formed a cool patch of shade beneath its branches, while the clear stream flowed over white stones that glittered beneath the morning sunlight.

Hao Nhien had assumed Tieu Lan had not arrived yet.

But after walking a little farther along the bank, he suddenly heard a very soft singing voice carried by the wind.

Hao Nhien stopped.

The song was quiet. If the stream had been flowing even a little more strongly, he might have missed it entirely.

It sounded like someone singing only for herself, so softly that her voice nearly blended into the murmur of water and rustling leaves.

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“That day beneath an afternoon breeze,

I never knew why it had to be you...”

Hao Nhien paused.

It took him a moment to recognize the voice.

Tieu Lan.

He had never heard her sing before. Ever since the two of them had been together, Tieu Lan had almost always been busy. Sometimes she was brewing tea, sometimes preparing medicine, sometimes caring for medicinal plants or recording what she had learned at Medicine Peak.

Perhaps only when she was alone did she have moments like this.

Hao Nhien did not move forward.

He remained behind the bamboo, listening in silence.

“Just keep walking on ahead,

So I may follow where you go...”

The words were sung lightly.

Yet for some reason, Hao Nhien felt something stir faintly within his chest.

He did not know whom she was thinking of as she sang. Nor could he be certain those words were meant for him.

But after everything they had gone through together, he could no longer pretend he heard nothing in them.

“Though a thousand distances divide us, I will not turn away,

I will sit and weave the wind, then send it on to you...”

The morning breeze passed through the bamboo.

The stream continued flowing.

Her singing stopped at the end of the line, as though she had simply sung whatever had come to mind.

Hao Nhien stood there a little longer.

For the first time in a long while, matters such as the examination, contribution points, the strong, and the weak temporarily left his mind.

Only one small question remained.

How many times had Tieu Lan sung words like these without him ever knowing?

Hao Nhien stepped through the bamboo.

Tieu Lan was sitting beside a rock near the stream, her hair loosely tied behind her head while several strands near her cheeks moved gently in the breeze.

She still had not noticed him.

Hao Nhien watched her for a moment before speaking.

“Tieu Lan.”

She looked up in surprise.

Her eyes widened, then immediately brightened.

“Young Master... Young Master, you’re here.”

Hao Nhien nodded and walked closer.

Tieu Lan stood and looked him over from head to toe, as if making certain he had not returned with any serious injuries.

Hao Nhien stopped in front of her.

This time, he did not keep the same distance as before.

He reached out and gently took her hand.

Tieu Lan startled.

Her smaller hand tensed instinctively within his, but she did not pull away.

Only her cheeks quickly turned red.

Hao Nhien lowered his gaze to her hand.

There were thin calluses along her fingertips from grinding medicine, tending medicinal plants, and preparing medicinal liquids.

A hand that had poured tea for him.

Cooked porridge for him.

Placed healing medicine into his hands before every trip into the mountains.

Suddenly, Hao Nhien realized that many things he had always treated as natural had never truly been something he was entitled to.

“Tieu Lan.”

He called her name.

She slowly raised her head.

Hao Nhien looked at her for a while before speaking.

“I’ve always been used to thinking that I needed to protect you.”

Tieu Lan remained silent.

Hao Nhien continued.

“But perhaps I was wrong about part of that.”

She looked slightly puzzled.

“You’re not only someone I need to protect.”

His hand tightened gently around hers.

“You’re someone I want to walk beside.”

Tieu Lan’s eyes widened.

Hao Nhien did not speak quickly. Once he said these things aloud, he knew they were no longer words he could casually take back.

“I don’t know how long the road ahead will be, and I don’t know what I’ll have to face in the future. But from now on, I don’t want to keep pretending that what exists between us is only the relationship between a young master and his maid.”

He paused.

“Nor is it merely that of brother and sister.”

Tieu Lan lowered her head deeply.

Her hand trembled faintly within his.

Hao Nhien looked at her.

“At least for me, if I keep becoming stronger only to leave everyone I cherish behind, then that isn’t the path I want either.”

Tieu Lan remained silent for a long time.

When she finally looked up, a thin sheen of tears had gathered in her eyes.

Hao Nhien asked softly,

“Tieu Lan, do you want to keep walking with me?”

Her lips trembled.

Then she nodded.

Very slightly.

But without hesitation.

A single tear slipped down her cheek.

As though afraid he would see it, she hurriedly lowered her head. But then she took a step forward on her own and rested her forehead against his chest.

Her other hand tightened around the front of his robe.

“Young Master...”

She stopped.

Only after a moment did she quietly correct herself.

“Hao Nhien.”

Merely saying his name made her blush all the way to her ears.

Hao Nhien said nothing.

Tieu Lan leaned against him, her voice very soft.

“I don’t know what the future will be like.”

Her fingers tightened slightly around his robe.

“But I want to stay with you... to stay by your side, and keep walking together.”

She paused.

“For as far as we can go.”

Hao Nhien lowered his gaze to her.

Warmth filled his heart, but with it came a faint sense of weight.

There was something he did not want to keep hiding from her.

He gently stroked her hair.

“Tieu Lan.”

“Mm?”

“There’s something I need to tell you.”

Tieu Lan looked up.

Hao Nhien met her eyes.

“You know, I am still the Hao Nhien you’ve always known.”

She blinked.

“But there is another set of memories within me.”

Tieu Lan said nothing.

Hao Nhien continued.

“In those memories, there is someone very important to me.”

His voice slowed.

“I have to find a way to rescue that person from an enemy far beyond my current reach. So powerful that right now, I don’t even know how far I would have to go before I could stand before them.”

Tieu Lan’s gaze shifted slightly.

The fingers holding his robe tightened unconsciously, but she did not interrupt him.

Hao Nhien slowly exhaled.

“That is part of the reason I’ve kept some distance from you until now. Not because you aren’t important.”

“I simply don’t know where my future will lead.”

“I was afraid of pulling you onto a road that might be too dangerous.”

Tieu Lan did not ask who the person in those memories was.

Nor did she ask how powerful that enemy might be.

She simply looked at him for a long time.

Then she suddenly asked,

“Those memories... did they appear after you woke up at Thanh Van Mountain?”

Hao Nhien froze.

“Yes.”

He stared at her.

“How did you know?”

Tieu Lan lowered her eyes.

Her hand was still holding his robe.

“I don’t really know.”

She remained silent for several breaths before continuing.

“But ever since that day, I’ve also felt that something about me is different from before.”

Hao Nhien said nothing.

Tieu Lan frowned slightly, as if trying to explain something that even she could not understand.

“I’m still Tieu Lan.”

“But sometimes, this world feels both very familiar and somehow... wrong.”

She raised her head.

“Sometimes I feel as though I’ve forgotten something very far away.”

Her voice grew quieter.

“I don’t know what it is.”

Hao Nhien looked at her.

A thought flashed through his mind.

Perhaps what happened that day had not changed only him.

But from the uncertainty in Tieu Lan’s eyes, he could tell that she had no clearer answer than he did.

Hao Nhien did not press her further.

He simply remembered every word she had said.

Perhaps one day, when he understood the Cosmic Ark more deeply, he would find a clue.

For now, forcing Tieu Lan to explain something she herself did not understand would only make her more uneasy.

Hao Nhien pulled her a little closer.

Tieu Lan leaned against his chest, and her breathing gradually steadied.

He could feel her warmth, the small hand still clutching his robe, and the almost complete trust she placed in him.

Hao Nhien did not know why the sense of familiarity between them ran so deep.

Nor did he know what the incident at Thanh Van Mountain had truly done to either of them.

But at least one thing had become clear to him.

Tieu Lan was no longer merely someone he cared for out of responsibility, nor simply a habit formed after years of relying on each other.

He wanted her beside him.

That was his own choice.

Hao Nhien lowered his head to look at her.

Tieu Lan looked up as well.

Neither of them spoke.

Beside them, the stream continued flowing over white stones. The morning breeze stirred the bamboo branches, carrying down the scent of fresh grass and medicinal plants from the gardens higher on the mountain.

After a long while, Tieu Lan finally called softly,

“Hao Nhien.”

“Mm?”

She hesitated, then smiled.

“I just wanted to say your name.”

Hao Nhien looked at her.

Then he smiled as well.

“I know.”

Farther up the mountainside, the morning bell from Medicine Peak rang out.

Tieu Lan startled.

“I have to go back.”

“Mm.”

She released his hand and walked several steps before turning to look back.

Hao Nhien was still standing beside the stream.

Tieu Lan smiled at him once more, then turned and ran toward the path leading back to Medicine Peak.

Hao Nhien remained beside the stream, watching her until her figure disappeared behind the bamboo.

Only then did he look away.

Her words still lingered in his mind.

This world feels both very familiar and somehow wrong.

Hao Nhien fell silent.

A breeze passed over the stream.

Ripples spread across the surface, breaking his reflection below into countless fragments.

The incident at Thanh Van Mountain...

What exactly had happened that day?