The Azure Wind Sect was nothing like Li Wei had imagined.
He had pictured a serene sanctuary high in the clouds, filled with sages meditating under waterfalls and graceful sword dances beneath the moon.
Instead, he was greeted by walls of cold jade, spiraling towers lined with spirit runes, and disciples who looked at him like a beggar who had wandered into a royal banquet.
At the sect's outer gate, two guards in silver-stitched robes stepped forward. Their eyes narrowed as they looked at Li Wei's tattered clothes and blood-streaked arms.
"Who's this?" one of them asked, barely masking his disdain.
Yan Rui stepped forward. "He opened a meridian on his own, killed a Spirit Beast with raw qi manipulation, and he's not affiliated with any sect. Elder Mo needs to see him."
The guards exchanged glances.
One of them gave a curt nod. "Wait here."
The moment they were out of earshot, Yan Rui whispered, "You're about to see how sects really work. Strength impresses some. Threatens others. Either way, keep your head down."
Li Wei didn't answer. His gaze had drifted to a wide stone path ahead—the Trial Corridor.
At its end stood the sect's main hall, its roof covered in wind-chime tiles that jingled faintly even without a breeze.
He didn't belong here.
Not yet.
But something deep inside—something older than fear—kept him rooted in place.
A few minutes later, the guard returned. "Elder Mo will see you."
Yan Rui grinned. "Told you."
⸻
The inner sanctum of the Azure Wind Sect was quiet, too quiet.
Li Wei knelt before an old man seated upon a dais carved from cloud jade. His beard was long, silver, and untouched by time. A blue spirit flame hovered above his left palm, gently flickering without burning.
This was Elder Mo Tianren, head of the Azure Wind Sect's outer disciple selection.
"Your name?" he asked.
"Li Wei."
"You have no sect, no master?"
"No, Elder."
"You opened your first meridian by cultivating the Breath of the Verdant Sky. Where did you learn it?"
Li Wei hesitated. "A scroll… from someone who found me."
Mo's eyes narrowed. "May I see the scroll?"
"I… don't have it. I memorized it."
A tense silence.
Then, surprisingly, the elder chuckled. "A sharp tongue hides a sharp spirit."
He stood and walked forward. As he neared, the pressure in the room thickened. Li Wei could barely breathe.
Elder Mo placed a hand above Li Wei's chest—not touching, but probing. Qi surged outward in invisible waves.
Then—he paused.
The elder's expression darkened slightly.
"…You are bound," he murmured. "There is something sealed within your spiritual root. Something not of this generation."
Li Wei's eyes widened. "You see it too?"
Mo Tianren nodded slowly. "Your potential is high. But your presence is… problematic."
Li Wei swallowed hard. "What does that mean?"
"It means," the elder said, returning to his seat, "that I cannot admit you as a full disciple without causing unrest. You'll join as a provisional outer disciple. If you survive the coming trials, the sect will reconsider."
"Trials?" Li Wei asked.
Yan Rui winced in the background.
Elder Mo gestured.
Behind him, a curtain parted—and beyond it was a vast courtyard, ringed with tall pikes and training posts. Young cultivators sparred with real weapons. One boy had a missing arm. Another limped away, holding his side.
"Five days from now, you will enter the Spring Ascension Trial. If you pass, your place here will be secure. If not… you will be removed."
He paused.
"And Li Wei—do not trust anyone here too quickly. Power breeds ambition. And ambition kills more disciples than any beast ever has."
⸻
As Li Wei was led to his quarters, he noticed the looks he received—curiosity, contempt, envy. His name was already being whispered.
But in the privacy of his small stone chamber, he sat cross-legged once more.
The jade pendant pulsed faintly.
He placed his hand over it.
"I don't know what's inside you," he whispered. "But I'm not leaving this place crawling."
He inhaled.
The breath of the Verdant Sky flowed again.
⸻
Far below the Azure Wind Sect, in a sealed cavern lit by glowing moss, an ancient statue cracked slightly at its base. The air trembled as a presence long dormant stirred awake…