Zeravon looked up.
The sky above was deep and dark, stars glittering like shards of a broken memory. The moon hung low over the Cloud Vein Mountains, its light soft — yet distant. Yueyin stood across from him, arms behind her back, her gaze fixed on the glowing mist in the valley below.
Neither spoke.
The silence between them wasn't awkward — it was *weighty*. Like the world had paused to listen.
> "You didn't fight back today," Yueyin finally said, without turning around.
Zeravon didn't answer immediately. His gaze remained on the horizon.
> "I didn't know how."
> "You dodged perfectly. You could've countered."
He paused. "It didn't feel right."
Yueyin turned to look at him. The moonlight made her features seem ethereal — otherworldly, as if she didn't truly belong here. And yet… something about her *grounded* the space around her.
> "You're holding something back," she said.
> "I don't know what it is," he replied. "But it's there."
> "Maybe you're afraid of it."
Zeravon finally turned toward her. "Aren't you?"
Yueyin didn't smile. But her eyes softened.
> "I don't fear what I don't understand. I observe it."
---
They stood there in silence for several moments.
A soft breeze moved through the valley, rustling the leaves like distant whispers. Somewhere, a spiritual beast howled — far enough to be ignored, yet close enough to remind them this was not a peaceful world.
> "You shouldn't be here," Zeravon said after a while.
> "Neither should you," she replied.
> "You're not an outer disciple."
Yueyin tilted her head slightly, amused.
> "And you're not just an ordinary cultivator."
Zeravon's hand twitched slightly. "...What do you know?"
> "Enough to stay quiet."
---
She stepped forward and extended her hand.
In her palm lay a small, crystal-shaped talisman — translucent, engraved with an ancient symbol that flickered faintly like a heartbeat.
> "Take this."
> "What is it?"
> "Something from the Upper Realm. It won't unlock power… but it will unlock *clarity*."
Zeravon didn't move. "Why give it to me?"
Yueyin looked directly into his eyes.
> "Because I don't want to watch you break before you understand why you were whole."
> "Because you're standing on the edge… and I don't know if you're meant to fall."
---
Zeravon slowly reached out and touched the talisman.
The moment his fingers brushed it, a soft pulse spread through his palm — like water rippling across his veins.
But it wasn't energy.
It was **recognition**.
> *This isn't power… this is permission.*
The talisman fused into his skin — vanishing, leaving behind only a faint mark beneath his wrist. Yueyin stepped back, folding her hands again.
> "Don't misuse it. It won't work if you rush."
> "Then what should I do?"
> "Walk. Cultivate. Lose. Learn. And wait — until it calls *you*."
---
They stood under the moonlight for several moments more.
And then Yueyin turned to leave — not toward the sect, but toward the deeper mountains. She didn't say goodbye. She didn't need to.
Zeravon watched her silhouette fade into the night.
His eyes closed for a brief moment.
> *She gave me something precious… and not just the talisman.*
He sat down by the cliff edge once more, the wind brushing his hair, the mountain quiet around him.
No dreams disturbed him.
No seal stirred.
But for the first time… the **Dao around him began to flow slightly smoother**.
Tiny, but real.
And so, without power, without memory, without recognition…
Zeravon began to **cultivate again**.
---
**Far beyond the heavens, in a cracked void once sealed—**
A golden thread twitched.
Not awakened. Not opened.
But waiting.
> *"He has started again…"*
> *"Then the test begins now."*
---