The next morning, whispers flooded the halls of the Holy Orchid Institute like wildfire.
"Did you hear? Xiao Ning'er's soul force jumped two ranks overnight!"
"That's impossible… No one cultivates that fast without a forbidden technique!"
"She's hiding something. Maybe she has a secret treasure!"
Ling Tian leaned casually against a column outside the alchemy building, listening with mild amusement. Predictable, he thought. Jealousy always surfaces when someone rises too quickly.
He wasn't surprised. After practicing the Moonshadow Breathing Method even for a few hours, Xiao Ning'er had broken through a bottleneck that had shackled her for months.
He glanced across the courtyard.
There she was — Xiao Ning'er — her silver spear strapped to her back, walking with a quiet, measured grace. But now, she drew stares wherever she went — not admiration, but suspicion. Greed. Resentment.
Among the most venomous gazes was a young man clad in rich blue robes: Shen Yue of the Sacred Family.
Ling Tian's eyes narrowed.
In the original timeline, Shen Yue had humiliated Xiao Ning'er for rejecting a political marriage proposal — a humiliation that had cost her dearly in reputation and opportunity.Now, he was eyeing her with the same calculating gaze, but this time… with something darker simmering beneath.
Ling Tian pushed off from the column.
He wouldn't allow history to repeat itself.
Later that day, as Xiao Ning'er practiced in the training grounds, Shen Yue approached her with two lackeys trailing behind him.
"Xiao Ning'er," Shen Yue said, a smirk playing at his lips. "Your growth lately has been... impressive. Suspiciously impressive."
She said nothing, merely adjusting her spear and preparing to leave.
"Perhaps we should… investigate," Shen Yue added smoothly. "For the good of the Institute. After all, if you're using improper methods—"
Ling Tian appeared beside her without a sound.
"Is there a problem here?" he asked mildly.
Shen Yue's smirk faltered. He hadn't even sensed Ling Tian approach.
"No problem," Shen Yue said, though his fists clenched at his sides. "We're merely concerned for a fellow student's wellbeing."
"Good," Ling Tian said, smiling thinly. "Then concern yourself elsewhere."
The threat was subtle but unmistakable.
Shen Yue paled slightly, then turned with a swirl of his robes and stormed off, his followers scrambling behind him.
Xiao Ning'er looked at Ling Tian, a flicker of warmth in her normally cool amber eyes.
"You didn't have to step in," she said.
"I didn't do it because you're weak," he replied. "I did it because you shouldn't have to dirty your hands with insects."
A rare, genuine smile curved her lips.
For a moment, the world around them — the gossip, the dangers, the burdens of lineage — faded.
Only the two of them stood there, in a fragile pocket of calm.
But both of them knew:
This peace would not last forever.
The waters had been stirred.
And soon, the storms would come.