The frost-wreathed halls of the Ninefold Sect's inner court were unusually loud that morning.
Disciples whispered in corners. Servants bowed lower than usual. Even the wild spirit cranes nesting above the Icefall Tower circled uneasily, their cries echoing in the cloud-draped air.
Something had shifted.
Something dangerous.
At the heart of it all sat Yue Qianlan.
Clad in silvered robes that shimmered like moonlight, she sat cross-legged upon a dais of glacial crystal, silent and unmoving. Cold mist curled around her body, kept at bay by her qi alone. Her long lashes were lowered, but her eyes burned behind them.
She was not meditating.
She was boiling.
And the one responsible knelt two paces before her, shivering from more than cold.
Elder Xun.
Outer Council member. Steward of resource allocation. A man known for his smooth tongue and oily gaze.
He had miscalculated.
Greatly.
Xian Lei, meanwhile, stood far below the palace tier, deep in the outer court archives.
He wasn't cultivating.
He was observing.
The tether pulsed like a war drum in his soul.
System Warning: Emotional Spike IncomingSource: Bound Entity – Yue QianlanPrecursor Detected: Suppressed Rage
⚠️ Rare Event – High-Intensity Emotional Feedback Pending
His breath stilled.
She's not irritated this time.
She's livid.
Earlier that day, Yue Qianlan had reviewed the quarterly distribution logs for the outer sect.
The numbers were wrong.
Spirit herb quotas cut.
Weapon allocation rerouted.
Cultivation pills "delayed."
For the third cycle in a row.
At first glance, it looked like standard inefficiency.
But Yue Qianlan was not a fool.
Hidden in the footnotes were forged seals and backdated adjustments. Contribution points diverted. Spirit materials sold off-record.
She traced the seals to Elder Xun.
She could have reported it quietly.
Could have taken it to the Grand Elders.
But something in her snapped.
"You stole from the disciples," she said, voice flat.
"I merely reallocated surplus," Elder Xun replied quickly. "The inner court—"
"Lies." One word. Icy. Sharp.
The temperature dropped sharply.
The guards at the edge of the hall backed away.
The frost under Elder Xun's knees cracked loudly.
Still, he persisted. "Lady Qianlan, surely this isn't worth—"
She raised a single hand.
Her eyes opened.
And he froze.
Not from cultivation.
From terror.
System Alert: Emotion Detected – Focused WrathSource: Bound Entity – Yue Qianlan
⚡ Emotion Intensity: EXTREMEQi Surge: +2,704
Trait Activated: Spiritual Resonance CascadeHost enters enhanced state: +45% Qi Absorption for 1 hour.
Xian Lei choked on the wave of power.
His meridians surged like rivers in flood. His core twisted, grew, split—like lightning tearing through a mountain.
He gripped the edge of the archive table.
And broke it in half.
All across the outer sect, disciples paused.
A wave of spiritual pressure rolled over them like a low thunder.
Several of them collapsed, eyes wide.
"What—what was that?!"
"A breakthrough? No, this—this is…"
Even elders in the mid-tier halls felt it.
Xian Lei staggered out into the open air, his qi blazing like a banner.
BREAKTHROUGH ACHIEVEDQi Condensation – Stage 9 → FOUNDATION REALM (Initial)
Synchronization Spike: 24.1%
He exhaled.
Steam poured from his lips, not from cold—but from the sheer force of energy still roiling through him.
Foundation Realm.
Already.
He'd done in three weeks what most took three years.
And all from her anger.
Back in the Ice Court, Elder Xun whimpered as ice crept up his legs.
"P-please…"
Yue Qianlan's expression didn't change.
"You sold spirit herbs meant for healing the wounded."
"I—only a portion—!"
"You stripped disciples of tools and pills, then punished them for underperformance."
Her voice remained calm.
But her eyes were storming.
"I trained with no pills. No favors. No shortcuts. But I never stole from those beneath me."
"Mercy, Lady Qianlan—!"
"Mercy," she repeated.
Then raised her palm.
"[Moon-Frozen Pulse]."
The technique struck like silent lightning.
A beam of blue-white cold pierced the hall.
It didn't explode.
It simply erased everything it touched.
Elder Xun's cry was brief.
When the light faded, only a statue of frost remained.
His face frozen mid-beg.
Forever.
Word spread faster than fire.
Elder Xun—executed on the spot by the sect's Ice Sovereign for corruption.
No trial.
No appeals.
Just one pulse of power.
Many were terrified.
But more were… grateful.
In private corners, outer disciples whispered with awe:
"She did it for us."
"She noticed."
"She cared."
Xian Lei returned to his quarters in silence.
The System still hummed like a living thing.
Emotion Sync: Resonance AchievedTemporary Buff: Linked WillFor 12 hours, host gains passive insight into bound entity's intentions. Limited predictive intuition enabled.
He sat cross-legged.
His breathing slowed.
He could still feel the aftershock of her fury. Like fire over ice. Like the crack of a glacier splitting under strain.
And beneath it…
Guilt.
Yes.
There it was.
Not spoken.
Not seen.
But felt through the tether.
She had been angry.
Righteously so.
But a part of her regretted losing control.
And that…
Was the first crack in her shield.
He smiled faintly.
You're not heartless.
Not yet.
That night, as rain finally fell across the mountaintops, Xian Lei stared into the storm from his window.
His thoughts weren't triumphant.
They were sharp.
Because now he understood the truth of this system.
It wasn't just a tool.
It wasn't just a bond.
It was a mirror.
He had felt her fury.
And through it, awakened something within himself.
My cultivation path is no longer my own.
It's entwined with hers—rage for rage, sorrow for sorrow, step by step.
If she breaks… I will break too.
And so he made a vow.
Never let her fall so far again.
Not until he was strong enough to carry her.
Or destroy her.