The night was thick with spiritual pressure. The moon above hung like a silver blade, cold and watchful, casting its pale light over the endless peaks of Azure Orchid Mountain.
Wang Li stood alone on the edge of the cliff.
The blood in his veins was boiling.
Not from injury… but from the memory of her.
Lin Ruoyan.
Her lips still haunted him. That kiss—brazen, unexpected, yet full of longing—wasn't something he could forget even if he tried. But in the end, she left him with nothing but silence and a faint, mocking smile.
"I see you're still as weak as ever, Wang Li," she had said before turning away.
Those words had carved deeper than any sword.
And now, as the winds screamed across the mountain, he stood motionless—his heart a battlefield.
Suddenly, the oppressive silence shattered.
A ripple tore through the air.
BOOM!
The cliff cracked beneath his feet as a figure descended from the skies in a storm of white lightning. Her presence was as blinding as it was furious.
Feng Yuling.
Her ice-pale robes flared in the wind, and her silver hair danced like ribbons of moonlight. But her eyes—those frosted sapphires—burned with fire.
"You're avoiding me again," she said coldly, stepping forward.
Wang Li met her gaze. "You nearly froze my meridians last time. Forgive me if I've been hesitant to engage in another near-death cultivation session."
"You survived." Her lips curled slightly. "Barely. But I didn't come here to coddle you."
"I didn't ask you to."
"And yet, here I am." She raised a hand, and a swirl of ice qi condensed in her palm. "The Azure Sky Sect's envoy arrives in three days. You'll be tested, and the entire sect will be watching. You're not ready."
"I know that."
"Then stop playing with your ex-girlfriends and start acting like someone who wants to survive."
Her voice cracked like a whip.
And yet… it wasn't her scolding that struck him hardest.
It was the subtle tremble in her hands.
He stepped closer. "Why do you care?"
She looked away, biting her lower lip.
There it was—the truth beneath her frost.
"You think I'm going to die, don't you?" Wang Li said softly.
Feng Yuling didn't answer. She simply turned, arms folding across her chest.
"You're reckless. Too emotional. And your cultivation technique is unstable. If you don't rein it in, you'll implode before the envoy even opens his mouth."
Wang Li smiled.
Then laughed.
It wasn't a happy laugh. It was bitter, unrestrained—almost mad.
"Everyone wants me to survive. Everyone wants me to rise. But none of you really believe I can do it, do you?"
Feng Yuling's jaw tightened. "You're wrong."
"No, I'm right. I'm the joke of the Inner Court. The 'lucky trash' with a few exes and a mysterious system. Everyone's waiting for me to fall so they can say they told me so."
His voice rose with every word.
"I'm tired of it. I'm tired of being looked at like some fluke."
And then… something shifted.
His aura exploded.
WHOOM!
Flames erupted around him—not of fire, but of pure qi. Crimson and gold, they surged from his dantian, spiraling upward like a storm.
Feng Yuling staggered back.
"You're… breaking through?!"
He was. His body convulsed as raw power surged through him, ripping open barriers, snapping apart walls he'd never even seen.
His veins lit up with molten light. His meridians stretched, strained—and then shattered forward like a dam bursting.
Mid-Stage Core Formation.
But it wasn't just that.
Something else awakened.
A voice whispered from deep within his soul.
> "You are more than they know. You are the vessel of a forgotten god. Burn them all. Rise."
His eyes snapped open—glowing red-gold like twin suns.
Feng Yuling stared, frozen.
"Wang Li…" she whispered. "What… are you?"
He didn't answer.
He just collapsed.
She caught him before he hit the ground, cradling him against her chest.
His head lolled against her collarbone, his breath ragged. Her heart thundered beneath his cheek, and for a moment, the cold cultivator trembled.
"Stupid," she muttered. "You were supposed to wait."
He smiled faintly. "Couldn't let Lin Ruoyan have the last word."
"You idiot."
"Your idiot," he murmured.
She stiffened.
Then, without warning, she kissed him.
There was no ice in her lips this time. Only heat.
And that heat ignited something in him far more dangerous than any cultivation technique.
When he woke hours later, the stars were brighter, the air clearer, and his heart... heavier.
Feng Yuling was gone.
But she had left behind something wrapped in silk.
A talisman.
With her name on it.
And a single message: "Meet me at the Peak of Eternal Snow after the envoy leaves. Alone."
He tucked the talisman into his robes, his fingers curling tightly around it.
Then turned—
Only to find Mu Qingling standing a few paces away, her arms crossed, and her expression unreadable.
"I guess you're collecting kisses now, too?"
Wang Li froze.
"Crap."
Mu Qingling stepped forward, the moonlight catching the glint in her eyes.
"Let's talk, Wang Li. Now."