The sky above Tianxun Sect's imperial palace was painted gold with restraint. Clouds moved slowly, almost artificially, as if time itself was being stretched thin. Guards stood like stone statues around the high gates. Talisman arrays hummed faintly over the walls. The entire palace had become a prison disguised in silk.
Ling Xi stood quietly in the courtyard of the Eastern Pavilion, her robes rippling gently with the breeze. The once wide-eyed little girl who used to admire Lin Xuanji(Mo Tianzun) who save their village from ghost was no where to find. In her place stood a composed young woman whose presence whispered duality—Yin and Yang, moonlight and sunfire—woven into a single breath.
She adjusted the clasp at her sleeve, her fingers brushing the jade emblem Sect Leader Ruyan had given her years ago. Her lips curled faintly.
"It's time."
Inside the inner chambers of the palace, Longxuan sat on a cushioned bench by the window, his back straight despite the chains of politics pressing around him. The Liu Twins paced outside his room, keeping an ear out for any movement, while Jiang Fenglie sat with a steaming cup of untouched tea, eyes narrowed.
"They've tightened the formations again," Zhenhai whispered, glancing at the flickering golden talismans outside the doors. "Escape won't be easy."
"They think we're hostages." Fenglan rolled his eyes. "Like Tianzun would ever take us as prisoners. He's too prideful for that. He'd sooner leave us behind than drag us around like a conquering general."
Longxuan lowered his gaze. "They're scared. Not of what Tianzun has done... but what Liu Shengjie told them he might do."
The room turned quiet.
Outside, Ling Xi passed silently between guards, her spiritual aura suppressed so low she may as well have been a shadow. Her Yin energy cloaked her presence like cold fog, while a thread of Yang flared in her palm to gently distort perception.
She stepped into a secluded storeroom and took a breath.
With a single palm strike, she activated a hidden seal on the floor—one placed long ago when she was just a servant girl sweeping this very wing. The tiles shimmered and peeled back, revealing a long, narrow tunnel lined with silver.
A secret escape route.
"It's open," she whispered, sending a silent signal through the talisman thread she'd passed to Longxuan days ago.
In the chamber, Longxuan's eyes snapped open.
"It's time."
Moments later, muffled footsteps echoed down the corridor. Fenglie swung the door open. "We move now."
With silent precision, the group slipped through the palace, taking only what they needed. Longxuan left behind the royal jade pendant his father had forced upon him—a quiet symbol of refusal.
When they reached the tunnel entrance, Ling Xi was already waiting.
"You came through," Longxuan said, eyes softening at the sight of her.
"I promised," she said simply. "This tunnel bypasses the talisman layers. But it won't stay hidden for long."
Huayin, his nine tails restrained into a single glimmering thread behind him, nodded. "Then we vanish without a trace."
"Where will we go?" asked Fenglan, as they ducked into the cool, tight space.
"To him," Longxuan replied, voice low but burning. "To Tianzun."
As they moved through the passage, their footsteps silent and steady, Ling Xi lingered behind.
"Ling Xi," Zhenhai called, pausing. "Aren't you coming?"
She smiled faintly. "No. Someone has to close the gate. If I vanish too, they'll know."
"But you'll be in danger—" Fenglan began.
"I'm not a child anymore," she interrupted gently. "Besides, I've spent my whole life learning to be unseen. I'll stay behind, and I'll feed you information from the inside."
Before anyone could argue, she lifted her palm, sending a surge of Yin energy to activate the closing mechanism. The gate began to seal.
"Go," she whispered. "Find him."
The gate closed.
Above, in the false sunlight of the palace courtyard, Ling Xi straightened her robes and turned—her eyes hardening as she faced the approaching footsteps of an imperial envoy.
She bowed low. "The prisoners remain where they were. I was told to deliver a report."
Behind her calm face, however, her Qi simmered like a sleeping volcano. Quiet. Dangerous.
The spark had been lit.