The depths beneath the Ninefold Sect ran far deeper than most disciples knew.
Even Xian Lei, in his first life, had only scratched the surface—just a few minor ruins, one forbidden chamber, and a sealed tomb he'd dared not breach.
But now…Now he stood before something he never knew existed.
A massive stone door, half-buried in earth and age, revealed itself after a spirit beast's stray attack shattered the wall during a scouting mission in the sect's southern ridge. Xian Lei had followed the residual spiritual energy, still sore from the bond's silence, hoping distraction would dull the emptiness.
Instead, he found this.
The runes etched into the door weren't from this era.
No disciple training glyphs. No elder inscriptions.
These were ancient—pre-Imperial, written in a flowing script that shimmered faintly as if resisting time itself.
He raised his hand, letting a strand of frostfire Qi seep into the first rune.
A deep hum echoed.
The door began to part—stone grinding over stone like the yawning mouth of a slumbering beast.
Cold air flowed out.
So did whispers.
Old ones.
System Alert:Hidden Location Discovered: Vault of Nine Veins (Classified Subrealm)
Danger Level: UnknownOrigin: Pre-Ascension Era – Ninefold Bloodline Root
Warning: Presence of Bound Entity is advised.Soul Signature Match Detected — Partial.
Time Remaining Before Collapse Seal Reactivates: 4 hours
Ninefold Bloodline Root…?
The meaning didn't register—until he saw what lay beyond the door.
Not bones.
Not treasure.
But books.
Scrolls. Tablets. Ancient silk-bound volumes preserved in frost-sealed shelves that defied time.
It was a library.
A buried cultivation library.
And more importantly—
It responded to him.
The moment he stepped in, a symbol lit on the far wall.
A symbol he recognized from a forgotten tapestry…
The mark of the Frost Empress Lineage.
Yue Qianlan's bloodline.
"System… this vault—why is it connected to her?"
System Response:This subrealm is a sealed inheritance archive.Original Bloodline Key: Frost Empress – Lineage Class [Primordial Noble]
Host's soul link grants partial bypass via tether.
Emotional Tether: 82.0%Sync Status: Muted
Key Access Level: 1 of 3 unlocked
He exhaled slowly, stepping past the first row of tomes. His fingers brushed over spines bearing unfamiliar names:
"Iceheart Sutra of Grieving Flames.""Nine Petal Sorrow Lotus Cultivation.""Heirloom of the Winter Monarchs: A Doctrine of Suppressed Feelings."
Each title felt like a wound.
She doesn't even know this exists.
And yet… it's hers.
A sudden presence stirred behind him.
A whisper of cold.
A familiar silence.
He didn't turn.
"You followed me."
"You triggered a soul tremor in the tether," Yue Qianlan said evenly, though her voice was quieter than usual. "I thought you might have… fallen."
"Still care, then?" he asked, not masking the bitterness.
"Don't push me."
He finally turned.
Their eyes met.
And the library reacted.
Sigils along the shelves flared to life.
Dozens. Hundreds.
Scrolls unfurled.
An entire altar shifted upward from the floor behind them.
And at its center—hovering in pale blue flame—was a crystal-bound manual.
Unlike the others, this one bore no title.
Just a symbol.
A single snowflake pierced by fire.
System Update:Inheritance Manual Detected: [Soulbind Frostflame Codex]
Classification: Forbidden / Dual-Soul Path
Requirement: Tethered Souls in Spiritual Discord
Status: LockedProgress: 2 of 3 Keys Aligned
"It's reacting to us," he muttered.
Yue approached slowly, her steps uncharacteristically hesitant. "I've seen that sigil before…"
Her brow furrowed. "It was etched into the collar my mother wore when she died. Before the sect erased her name."
Xian Lei looked sharply at her.
"You never told me that."
"I never told anyone that."
Silence.
Then she whispered, "This isn't just mine, is it? You feel it too."
He nodded. "It's calling to both of us."
They stood before the floating manual in silence.
For the first time since their clash, there was no tension in the bond.
Only the hum of something ancient and shared.
"What if this teaches us how to… survive the tether?" he asked. "Or… strengthen it?"
Yue didn't respond.
Her hand reached out, hovering just over the crystal.
Then she stopped.
"Are you sure?" she asked softly. "Once we touch it together… we can't pretend to be strangers anymore."
Xian Lei met her gaze.
"We stopped being strangers the moment you wept into me."
Her lips parted.
But no words came.
She nodded.
And they touched the crystal together.
Flash.
Their bodies froze.
But their minds—
Plunged into memory.
Not their own.
A vision—no, a reconstruction.
Two souls.
Tethered.
One of flame.
One of frost.
Twisting. Struggling. Consuming each other.
But not to destroy.
To ascend.
A voice—ancient, female, barely audible over the howl of wind and fire:
"Only those who embrace one another's pain may surpass death.""Only together may the tethered rise."
They awoke on the floor.
Hands still joined.
Breathing hard.
System Alert:
Codex Synchronization Initiated
Progress: 1%
Ability Unlocked: [Synchronous Meditation (Locked)]
When emotionally aligned, Host and Bound Entity may accelerate cultivation by 300%.
Warning: Emotional Discord will cause backlash if attempted prematurely.
Xian Lei let go of her hand.
But Yue didn't pull away immediately.
She stood, brushing frost from her sleeve, then glanced back at the pulsing codex.
"…I need time," she murmured.
"So do I."
"But don't mistake my silence for indifference."
"I don't."
They left the library side by side, but still separated by inches that felt like miles.
Yet neither of them—
Closed the tether.
System Notification:Emotional Tether: 82.0% → 83.5%
Shared Discovery Bonus Applied
Trait Progression: Dual-Soul Synergy (5%)
Archive Seal: Will Close in 3 Hours