**Cloud Vein Sect — After the Jade Platform Trial**
The sky was quiet again, but it no longer felt the same.
Zeravon stood outside the cavern, his clothes dusted with moss and pale light. His name had been carved onto the temporary ranking stone — not at the top, but not at the bottom either.
He didn't care.
His mind was still echoing.
The reflection of himself inside the illusion — it hadn't been monstrous, or divine.
It had just been **empty**.
> *"That's the scariest part,"* he thought.
> *"There was nothing in those eyes."*
---
**Disciples Rest Area — That Evening**
Most of the outer disciples were celebrating.
Those who passed the Jade Platform were given better meals, temporary inner court access, and cultivation scrolls as reward.
Zeravon sat alone again — as always — beneath the shadow of the tall stone pines behind the main courtyard.
No one spoke to him.
Except…
> *"You look like someone who forgot how to breathe."*
He turned.
Yueyin stood near him again — quietly, as if she'd been there the whole time.
> "You're back," he said flatly.
> "I never left," she replied. "I only step in when needed."
She tossed him a small jade slip. He caught it mid-air.
> "It's not a technique. It's a path-map. A rare one. It'll help you during the next phase."
> "Why are you helping me?" Zeravon asked.
She didn't answer immediately.
Then softly:
> *"Because you… remind me of something we've all forgotten."*
And then she was gone again — no sound, no movement. Just absence.
---
**Meanwhile — Elder Lin's Hidden Tower**
Lin and Instructor Wei stood before a burning scroll — one that carried forbidden text.
> "He passed the Jade Platform. And the Platform… reacted to him."
Wei nodded.
> "Then what next?"
Lin's eyes narrowed.
> "We keep him close… but we prepare for the worst."
Wei frowned.
> "And Yueyin?"
> "She's not to be touched. She's not just from the Upper Realm — she's from one of the Sovereign Clans."
Wei went pale.
> "Then why is she helping him?"
Lin didn't answer.
Because he didn't know.
---
**The Next Day — Quiet Training Fields**
Zeravon unrolled the jade slip Yueyin had given him.
Lines began to shimmer — not a map of land… but of **flow**. Flow of Qi. Flow of weakness. Flow of thoughts.
It was a meditation tool — one so advanced that even inner disciples rarely saw it.
He sat down, closed his eyes, and began to follow the pulses.
For the first time… something opened.
Not a memory.
But a **feeling** — long buried beneath his sealed soul.
Loneliness.
Followed by stillness.
Followed by a **whisper**.
> *"You buried me too deep, Zeravon."*
His eyes snapped open. The training field around him had become still. Even the wind had paused.
He looked at his hands.
They were trembling.
---
**Elsewhere — A Realm Beneath the Mortal Layers**
The Seal of Names trembled faintly.
One of the three remaining locks had begun to stir. Just a flicker.
A shadowed figure knelt before it.
> "The second name… is near the surface."
> "If he remembers it… the First Silence will break."
A voice deeper than eternity replied:
> *"Then break him first."*
> *"Before the memory reaches him."*
---
**Cloud Vein Pavilion — Near Midnight**
Zeravon couldn't sleep again.
Not because of dreams — but because of the **absence** of them.
He stood at the highest roof in the sect, eyes on the stars.
And this time, when he looked up — they weren't just watching.
They were **afraid**.
And something from beyond whispered again.
> *"The next test… won't be a trial."*
> *"It will be a trap."*
---
**Far Beyond — Heavenly Dao's Edge**
The threads of fate twisted slightly.
And a voice whispered to the void:
> *"The second name will wake soon…"*
> *"And when it does… even Time must kneel."*
---