Li Shuang left the Sect Master's Hall alongside Luo Mingyue, her new senior sister.
The sun was setting, casting long shadows across the Sword Sect's peaks.
Luo Mingyue walked ahead, practically bouncing with joy."Junior Sister," she said brightly, "we're going to Wuqing Peak. It's not as glamorous as Lingxu Peak, but we've got the most peace and quiet!"
Li Shuang followed silently, her steps calm.
Luo Mingyue glanced over her shoulder and smiled."You're not scared, are you? Our master may be strict, but she's been waiting for someone like you for ages. She'll like you. Trust me."
Li Shuang responded with a faint nod.
She wasn't afraid.
In fact, for the first time in a long while, she felt… nothing holding her back.
Wuqing Peak was quiet.
When they arrived, the air was cooler and thinner than the main sect area. Most disciples disliked how remote and barren it was.
But to Li Shuang, it felt peaceful.
Calm.
Home.
As they approached the peak's stone gate, a slender woman in plain robes stood waiting with hands clasped behind her back.
Lin Qingling.
Her long black hair was streaked with a few silver strands, and her face was expressionless. But her eyes were sharp, filled with clarity—and the same cold detachment that defined the Supreme Forgetting Love Technique.
When she saw Li Shuang, she took a long, assessing look.
"You've cultivated the Supreme Forgetting Love Technique?" she asked plainly.
"Yes," Li Shuang replied.
"What stage?"
"Qi Training, fifth layer."
Lin Qingling didn't respond right away. She raised a hand—and a burst of energy surged toward Li Shuang.
Li Shuang's instincts reacted instantly. She stepped back half a pace, raising her hand to form a defensive seal.
The two strikes met.
It was brief.
The blow didn't contain killing intent—but it wasn't weak either. Lin Qingling had tested her.
When the spiritual energy dissipated, Lin Qingling nodded slightly. "Stable foundation. You're not faking it."
Luo Mingyue grinned and stepped forward. "Master, I told you she was real!"
Lin Qingling stared at Li Shuang again."You abandoned your previous cultivation willingly?"
"Yes," Li Shuang said.
"Why?"
Li Shuang answered without hesitation.
"Because the world turned its back on me. I have no more attachments."
For a moment, Lin Qingling was silent.
Then—she smiled.
It was brief and subtle, but unmistakably sincere.
"You pass."
From that day forward, Li Shuang officially became a disciple of Wuqing Peak.
The other three disciples were quiet but respectful. No one treated her like an outsider.
She began again from scratch.
Each morning, she practiced sword movements on the open platform at sunrise.
Each evening, she sat in silent meditation beneath the ancient pine trees that lined the peak's edge.
There were no interruptions.
No noise.
No lies.
Only clarity.
Only cultivation.
And the Black Abyss Sword remained with her always—quiet, unawakened.
But every time she meditated, the Heaven and Earth Furnace within her soul flickered with faint light, sensing the dormant power within that sword.
It was only a matter of time.
Meanwhile, down at Lingxu Peak, unrest brewed.
Ye Zhaozhao smashed a porcelain tea cup against the floor of her room.
"That old woman—Lin Qingling—actually accepted her?!"
The system buzzed in her mind.
"Host, Li Shuang's negative emotion value remains at 0. However, surrounding disciples' favorability toward her is rising."
Zhaozhao clenched her fists.
She had spent years orchestrating Li Shuang's downfall—building up resentment, isolating her from allies, destroying her trust.
But now the girl had risen from the ashes—clean, powerful, and protected by Wuqing Peak.
No one in the Sword Sect dared mess with Lin Qingling's disciples.
And worse…
Zhaozhao had given her the Black Abyss Sword.
The same sword she had carelessly thrown away—yet now, for some reason, the system kept pinging alerts whenever that sword appeared in a scan.
It was dangerous.
It was unknown.
And it was in Li Shuang's hands.
Back on Wuqing Peak, Li Shuang stood at the cliff's edge.
Wind tugged at her robes as she stared down into the foggy chasm below.
The silence was perfect.
She took a slow breath and whispered,"I am no longer what I was."
Behind her, the Black Abyss Sword pulsed faintly.