After the profound exchange between Steward Yan and Shen Yuan, a lingering silence remained in the hall. The five companions—Tang Jiyan, Xiang Xiaoli, Guo Bohai, Shi Meixiu, and Dong Chen—sat still, as though the echoes of Shen Yuan's enlightenment continued to reverberate within their hearts.
Steward Yan stood before them, arms folded behind his back, voice calm yet profound. "What you saw today was not merely insight," he said, "but a glimpse into a domain few dare to even imagine. Karma—both chain and blade. Most will never touch it. And yet… Shen Yuan is already dipping his brush in that ink."
The five nodded silently. None of them were surprised anymore. Perhaps they had come to expect the unexpected from Shen Yuan. But before they could begin their own comprehension, Steward Yan's voice pierced the air once more.
"There are also two deeper classifications for domains: common and special," he said, turning his gaze toward the candlelit wall. "Original and copy is one measure and more like path, not really types. But common and special… that speaks to the soul's resonance with truth itself. Shen Yuan's, if he succeeds, would fall under the rarest category—an original special domain, one that bends life in ways the Heavens themselves may not have foreseen."
A brief shiver passed among the five. Not of fear—but of awe.
With no more words, they too sat in the lotus position and closed their eyes, retreating into the recesses of their own minds.
Time flowed strangely within the chamber. The lamps flickered. The candles danced. Whether it was day or night outside, none could tell. The Storm Jade Country's skies were forever cloaked in dark thunder clouds—no sun, no moon, only the occasional sound of thunderclaps.
When their eyes opened again, hours—perhaps more—had passed. A newfound clarity shimmered within their gazes. They were still Nirvana Realm cultivators, but now, their souls had brushed against the edge of something more. Guo Bohai's aura carried a scent of wind and rain. Shi Meixiu's eyes glimmered like frozen stars. Dong Chen's presence felt heavier, his presence felt as if it were the night sky itself.
But when they looked around, Steward Yan was already gone.
"Huh," Xiang Xiaoli murmured. "Disappeared just like that?"
"Typical old powerhouses," Guo Bohai muttered, cracking his neck.
With that, they stood, each heading toward their rooms, prepared for the trials to come.
Except one.
Tang Jiyan lingered in his room, standing silently before exiting his room and going toward another room, now standing before a dark room. Shen Yuan's.
There was no light inside. No sound. Not even the faintest fluctuation of Qi. A silence that was somehow more absolute than stillness. He didn't knock. Didn't call out. He simply stood there for a breath longer, then turned and walked away.
Outside, the Storm Jade country was alive. The black sky loomed overhead, torn occasionally by streaks of violet lightning, while the marketplace below pulsed with light and laughter. The lights from the street vendors flickered and glowed, casting orange halos across cobblestone paths. Laughter and chatter echoed, the liveliness of mortals unshaken by the ominous clouds above, while street vendors called out with vigor.
He watched them quietly. Children chasing paper lanterns. A vendor roasting skewers over crimson flames. Couples walking hand in hand beneath shared umbrellas. It felt…. detached. As though he were peering through a veil, into a world he no longer belonged to.
Tang Jiyan wandered through the crowd with hands behind his head, eyes calm but contemplative. There was something surreal about it—how mortals could find joy beneath such a bleak, thundering sky.
"Strange," he muttered. "Not even a glance upward. Are they used to never seeing stars?"
The realization left an odd taste in his mouth. That beneath a sky forever storming, the mortals had simply stopped caring about the stars. About the sky itself. When the mortals of the outer countries go crazy if the weather stays cloudy just for three days.
Before he could muse further, a figure in a dark cloak stepped out of an alley, as if plucked from the shadows themselves.
Bai Chen.
Tang Jiyan's expression shifted instantly. "You."
Bai Chen offered a casual nod. "Strolling under thunderclouds too, I see."
Tang Jiyan stopped a few steps away. "You're following me."
"Don't flatter yourself," Bai Chen replied smoothly. "I'm here for the same reason as you. Phase Two is almost here. Coincidences happen."
Tang Jiyan didn't move. "You're not the type to leave things to coincidence.At least from what I heard from Shen Yuan."
Bai Chen chuckled softly. "And you're not the type to pretend you don't already know what I'm about to ask."
There was a beat of silence between them. Somewhere in the distance, a bolt of lightning split the heavens with a jagged scream.
"Huh… where should i begin, well i will cut to the chase," Bai Chen spoke. His smile faded, replaced by something colder. "So tell me. Why are you and the others still following Shen Yuan?"
Tang Jiyan stared at him.
"You know what he is. How many dangers he just invites as if it's a family reunion. What he's doing. That everything he gives, everything he teaches, it's not out of kindness. He's using you."
Tang Jiyan's expression didn't change. "And?"
Bai Chen blinked, as if the answer had caught him off guard.
Tang Jiyan turned to face the market lights again, eyes reflecting the flickering lanterns. "Of course he's using us. You think we don't know? Shen Yuan doesn't pretend to be a saint. He never has."
"Then why stay?" Bai Chen pressed, stepping closer. "You have talent. All of you do. We could offer you better. Wealth. Resources. Legitimacy. Even status in Elder Tian Xu's division or even in the royal Fengyue's court. You don't have to shackle yourself to a man walking into darkness."
Tang Jiyan's lips curled into a small smirk. But his voice, when it came, was cool and quiet.
"You think we're shackled. That's your first mistake."
He turned back to face Bai Chen fully now, the faint lamplight catching in his eyes like dying stars.
"Shen Yuan walks his own path. One that cuts through rules, elders, and destinies. And yes, it's dark. It's dangerous. But we walk beside him not because he asked us to… but because we chose to. Every step."
Bai Chen scoffed, but Tang Jiyan wasn't finished.
"You offer us power, fame, women and a place in the royal court of Fengyue? What use are those to someone who has tasted real comprehension? To someone who's looked into the abyss and seen the truth staring back?"
His voice had become a whisper now, yet it thundered louder than the sky.
"We follow Shen Yuan not because we believe he's good. We follow him because his existence forces us to become more. And he knows it. He knows we use him as much as he uses us. But unlike the sects and clans, he never lies about it."
Bai Chen's smile had long vanished. His face was unreadable now, only his gaze burning with quiet frustration.
"You sound just like him," he said darkly.
Tang Jiyan laughed, the sound dry. "That may be the highest compliment I could get from an enemy, especially someone, who was blinded by power and fast growth."
Silence stretched again. Then Bai Chen's tone dropped.
"You'll regret it. When his ambition finally turns to madness—when the storm he's stirring consumes you all. And if he succeeds, then he won't go unnoticed by heaven's law and will definitely incur heavenly retribution upon himself… after all he is neither demonic nor righteous but a Heaven-Defying Cultivator. Especially for the type of domain he's trying to comprehend."
Tang Jiyan didn't respond for a while. He only looked up at the sky—the ever-roaring black clouds—and smiled faintly.
"If it comes to that… at least I'll die walking forward, and hey isn't that kind of thrilling, if the heavens act then that would mean, they see Shen Yuan as a potential threat."
Bai Chen stared at him for a moment longer, then scoffed and turned, his cloak rippling behind him.
As he vanished back into the shadows, his voice came one last time, barely audible over the storm:
"Phase Two will prove who was right. Me… or the monster you're helping to rise."
Tang Jiyan stood alone once more in the flickering lights of the market. He exhaled softly, eyes following the wind, the people, the sky.
"Monster or not," he murmured to himself, "he's still the only one breaking the cage."
Tang Jiyan continued to stroll the market.
Elsewhere, Bai Chen returned to the ornate guest hall of the Prince of Fengyue. The prince was sitting beside an open window, fingers tapping a silent rhythm on the armrest of his chair.
The moment Bai Chen entered, the prince didn't look up. Instead, he poured another cup.
"You spoke with him," the prince said, more of a statement than a question.
Bai Chen nodded, stepping forward with a measured gait. "Yes. It was Tang Jiyan."
A moment of silence passed before the prince asked, "And?"
"He's firm," Bai Chen said simply. "Unshaken. They all are from what I understood."
The prince finally looked up. His face was handsome, carved with aristocratic poise, but there was always something vaguely unsettling about his gaze—too cold, too thoughtful. "Still loyal to Shen Yuan, then?"
The prince offered Bai Chen a cup.
Bai Chen exhaled, taking the offered cup but not drinking. "Not loyalty. It's something else. Tang Jiyan admitted it himself, Shen Yuan is using them. But that doesn't seem to matter."
The prince raised an eyebrow. "So what does matter to them?"
"…Growth. Purpose. Comprehension," Bai Chen replied after a pause. "They walk with him because, in his shadow, they feel closer to the truth. As if just being near Shen Yuan forces their own evolution."
The prince's expression darkened slightly.
"How absurd," he murmured. "That kind of idealism gets people killed."
Bai Chen's grip on the cup tightened slightly. "It's not idealism. It's conviction. Tang Jiyan doesn't seek wealth or power or even legacy. He genuinely believes walking beside Shen Yuan is the only way to break through limitations—even if it kills him."
The prince tapped his fingers on the table, deep in thought. Then his voice lowered.
"Did you sense anything strange when you passed near Shen Yuan's quarters?"
Bai Chen nodded slowly. "Yes. A warping of the air. Very faint, but enough for someone attuned to spatial fluctuations to feel it. Like… time rippling."
The prince's brows furrowed.
"You believe he's comprehending a Time Domain?"
"I thought so at first," Bai Chen said. "But now I'm not sure. Time is complex… but it can be influenced by many things—memory domains, fate domains, even other domains that have connection with time or space. What Shen Yuan is touching might be something deeper."
"Deeper than time?" the prince echoed, tone skeptical.
Bai Chen met his gaze. "He's always been an enigma. Even Elder Tian Xu said the boy's fate string had gaps. As if something was hiding him even from prophecy."
The room fell into a thick silence.
The prince looked into his cup, swirling the wine inside. "And you still believe your defection was the right choice?"
Bai Chen didn't answer right away.
Finally, he said, "I don't regret leaving his side. But I… don't think I ever stopped watching."
The prince's eyes flicked up, narrow and sharp.
Bai Chen looked tired then. "There's something terrifying about a man who walks willingly into the abyss… and finds something beautiful there."
The prince's expression didn't change, but the chill in the air deepened slightly.
"No matter," he said at last, setting down his cup. "Let Tang Jiyan and the others believe what they wish. In the end, comprehension won't protect them from reality."
"Do you truly believe that?" Bai Chen asked.
The prince smiled—but it didn't reach his eyes.
"I believe that a man who forgets the world for the sake of understanding it… has already lost it."
There was nothing more to be said. The storm outside rumbled, as if the sky itself was listening.
Bai Chen bowed faintly, turned, and left the chamber.
The prince sat in silence, the light of his wine dimming.
"…What are you trying to comprehend, Shen Yuan?"