Wandao 011
The wind had stilled, and the clouds had quieted. Night flowed like water over the forest outside the Trial Valley, casting everything in a hushed silver glow.
Wan Xiaochuan sat quietly atop a moss-covered bluestone. His Wind and Thunder Sword rested across his knees, its blade reflecting a faint trace of moonlight. His eyes were closed, his mind still immersed in the soul-stirring resonance of the Dual-Heart Sword Pact formed earlier that day. The afterimage of the thunder soul had yet to fade. In his dantian, spiritual energy surged—the twin forces of wind and thunder coiled like two silver serpents, clashing violently as they raced through his meridians.
He drew in a deep breath to settle his spirit when a soft laugh rang out behind him—light and playful, like silver bells swaying in the breeze.
"Sitting here in a daze—were you thinking about me?" came a gentle voice, laced with mischief. It was Renee.
Wan Xiaochuan opened his eyes slowly and turned. She was walking toward him, her silhouette graceful beneath the night sky. A light purple robe draped over her slender form, its hem brushing soundlessly over the dew-kissed grass. Moonlight shimmered on her figure, casting silvery highlights along her outline—the kind of glow that seemed to flow naturally from her spiritual essence, like stardust lingering between her brows.
He was momentarily dazed, then turned away, voice slightly awkward as he muttered, "No… I was just… sensing the lingering echo of the sword soul."
"Oh? And here I thought you might admit it." Renee took a seat on a nearby stone, her legs swinging lightly as she rested her hands on her knees, eyes dancing with amusement. "But honestly, just now… you really looked like you were thinking about me."
Wan Xiaochuan faltered, momentarily tongue-tied by her teasing. The corner of his mouth twitched, but no words came.
He never thought of himself as inarticulate, yet whenever he faced Renee, he found himself caught in a tangle of feelings too complex to express. She was unlike the reserved girls from his village or the aloof sword cultivators of the sect. Lively, clever, and mischievous—yet at times, disarmingly sincere, stirring his heart in ways he couldn't explain.
The night wind rustled softly through the treetops, carrying with it the faint chill of dew.
"I know you have many questions," Renee said suddenly, her voice gentler now, like a slow-moving stream, "You want to ask what I am, how I could form a bond with you, why I chose you—a mere novice, barely stepping into cultivation?"
Wan Xiaochuan didn't reply. He simply turned his face toward her. Her gaze was soft, like a clear spring beneath the night sky, reflecting the unspoken ripples in his heart.
"I'm not some exalted sword spirit, nor a daughter of fate," she said with a faint smile. "I'm Renee. And it just so happened, when your blood touched the heart of the sword, I felt… you were someone worth walking this path with."
His throat moved as he swallowed. Finally, he asked quietly, "So… do you truly exist within this sword?"
"You could say that." Renee's eyes shimmered faintly in the moonlight. "More precisely, my spirit is tied to this sword through some unknown connection. Perhaps a fate left unresolved in a previous life… or perhaps, just the beginning of a bond in this one. Who's to say?"
"Then… will you always stay with me?" His voice was soft, almost a whisper, like a dream taking form.
Renee didn't answer immediately. She gently rested her head on her knees, looking up at the dim, pale moon hanging in the sky.
"Maybe," she said at last. "As long as you don't disappoint me. As long as you remember the sound of tonight's wind… and the song of the sword."
Silence fell between them once more. The night deepened, and distant insect cries and the rustling of unseen creatures brought a wildness to the forest that was both eerie and real.
Wan Xiaochuan broke the stillness. "I never imagined I would cultivate. That I'd witness such strange things. I came from a tiny village—and yet now, in just a few days, it feels like I've already walked so far."
"This is the path of immortality," Renee replied softly. "You haven't even truly entered the gates, yet you've already set foot on a path split between wind and thunder. Wan Xiaochuan… within your name lies ten thousand fates and ten thousand trials. You were never meant to be ordinary."
He pressed his lips together and laid the Wind and Thunder Sword flat upon his knees, staring into the shifting currents of wind and lightning that danced within the engraved runes.
"What about you?" he asked. "Renee, what do you want to achieve?"
She didn't respond right away. Instead, she slowly raised a finger and traced a circle in the air, as if sketching some distant, unreachable dream.
"I want to see my own future," she said at last. "To be more than a sealed sword soul… more than just an echo bound to some cultivator's will. I want to exist. To live. To smile. To be like you—someone with memories… and a story of their own."
Wan Xiaochuan gazed at her, and suddenly, something stirred deep within him. He realized then—this girl before him was not just a sword spirit.
She was Renee—a being with thoughts, with emotions, with dreams.
"I'll help you," he said at last, voice resolute. "I'll make that dream come true."
She turned toward him, smiled, and said, "Then remember what you said tonight, Wan Xiaochuan. With wind and thunder joined, only then do the myriad paths begin."
Under the moonlight, the two figures were gently wrapped by the night breeze—like a pair of young warriors just stepping onto the road of cultivation, forging their first promise beneath the stars where fate and destiny entwined.