The Lin family estate sprawled across the eastern quarter of Azure Wing City like a declaration of wealth. Not clan-level opulence, but impressive for merchants. Red-lacquered gates, marble courtyards, gardens that whispered of expensive taste.
Lin Fang led him through with the pride of someone showing off a beloved home.
"My father built all this from nothing," he said as they walked. "Started with a single medicine stall forty years ago. Now we supply half the city's physicians."
Jue Xuanyi made appropriate sounds of admiration. Noted the formations protecting the walls. Quality work, but nothing a Saint couldn't bypass.
The main hall was warm with lamplight. A man in his fifties rose from a cushioned seat, broad-shouldered and sharp-eyed. Merchant blood, but cultivator awareness. Peak Core Formation at best.
"Father!" Lin Fang called. "This is the cultivator I told you about. The brother who saved our hall from those Black Viper dogs."
Lin Zhen's bow was deep, genuine. "Young Master Jue. My family owes you a debt we can never fully repay."
"I only did what was right. Please, there's no need for formality."
"Nonsense! You must stay for dinner. I insist." Lin Zhen's smile was warm. The smile of a man who'd built an empire through charm and shrewdness. "My cook has prepared spirit beast meat from the Azure Mountains. And I have wine aged in formations for fifty years."
A young woman appeared in the doorway. Perhaps seventeen, with her brother's features softened into something delicate. She bowed gracefully.
"My daughter, Lin Yue," Lin Zhen said with obvious pride.
Her eyes met Jue Xuanyi's for just a moment. Something flickered there. Wariness? Recognition?
She looked away quickly.
"Honored guest," she murmured.
Interesting.
The dining hall was a study in merchant luxury. Jade tableware, silk cushions, paintings that weren't quite masterworks but close. The kind of wealth that said we've arrived without the arrogance of old power.
The spirit beast meat was excellent. The wine better. Lin Zhen was a natural host, filling silences with stories of his merchant adventures. Lin Fang hung on his father's every word, eyes bright with wine and admiration.
Lin Yue ate quietly, stealing glances when she thought no one was watching.
"Tell me, Young Master," Lin Zhen said as servants cleared the third course. "What brings a cultivator of your skill to Azure Wing City? Surely you have a sect? A master?"
"I'm unaffiliated," Jue Xuanyi said smoothly. "A wandering cultivator seeking fortune and enlightenment."
"Unaffiliated?" Lin Fang leaned forward. "But your techniques! The White Lotus Palm is legendary! You must have learned from someone."
"I've been blessed with unexpected teachers." He let the words hang, an echo of Lin Fang's own phrasing earlier.
Lin Fang's eyes widened. Understanding passed between them, or so the boy thought. Fellow travelers on the path of fortunate discovery.
"You know," Lin Fang said, wine loosening his tongue. "Brother, I wasn't always confident about the cultivation path. A year ago, I was just a merchant's son with mediocre talent. Stuck at Foundation Establishment with no hope of advancing."
His father stiffened slightly.
"Then I found something. In the ruins outside the city. An ancient…"
"Fang." Lin Zhen's voice was gentle but firm. "Perhaps we shouldn't burden our guest with family matters."
Lin Fang blinked, catching himself. "Ah. Yes. Forgive me, I've had too much wine."
"Your secrets are safe with me, Brother Lin." Jue Xuanyi's smile was warm. Trustworthy. "We all have our fortunes. I would never judge another's path."
Lin Fang relaxed visibly. His father did not.
Across the table, Lin Yue set down her cup. Her hands trembled slightly.
"Brother," she said softly. "Perhaps our guest is tired from his journey."
"I'm fine, little sister."
"Still." Her eyes flicked to Jue Xuanyi. "We shouldn't keep him up late with our chatter."
Perceptive girl. She would become a problem if she had any power.
"Your sister is wise," Jue Xuanyi said, rising. "The day has been long, and I fear the wine is catching up with me. Perhaps I should retire?"
"Of course!" Lin Zhen stood quickly, relief evident. "We've prepared our finest guest quarters. Fang, show our benefactor to the eastern wing."
The guest room was luxurious. Silk bedding, a view of the gardens, formations maintaining perfect temperature. A water basin enchanted to stay warm. Every comfort a merchant family could provide.
Lin Fang lingered at the door. "Brother, I… thank you. For not judging me. For understanding."
"We're fellow wanderers, Brother Lin. Of course I understand."
After Lin Fang left, Jue Xuanyi sat on the bed. Didn't lie down. Just waited.
"The ruins," the Schemer Supreme said. "He visits them regularly."
"I can still taste it," the Soul Devourer added. "Ancient power. Clinging to him like perfume."
"The sister knows something is wrong with you," the Seduction Emperor observed. "She's smarter than her brother, and prettier."
"Then she'll watch him die anyway," the Heartless Sage said. "Intelligence without power is just prolonged suffering."
Jue Xuanyi waited until midnight. Then rose, moved to the window. Opened it soundlessly.
Saint Realm stealth was effortless. He became a shadow, he became wind. The formations around the estate noticed nothing as he passed through them like smoke.
The ruins were three miles north, tucked against a forested hillside. Old temple grounds, mostly collapsed. Azure Sky Sect territory, but abandoned after whatever disaster had destroyed it centuries ago.
He descended into what remained of the underground chambers. A pressure in the air bent towards him, then yielded, as if the ruins themselves had chosen silence.
The young man, Lin Fang, knelt in a small intact room, eyes closed in meditation. Before him, a jade slip floated in the air, glowing with soft green light.
A voice emanated from it. Old, refined, carrying the weight of ages.
"Good, disciple. Your foundation grows stronger each day. The Azure Void Scripture's first three layers are nearly complete."
"Thank you, Master." Lin Fang's voice held reverence. Devotion.
"When we reach the conference, I will guide you to the legacy grounds. There, you will claim what is rightfully yours as my inheritor. The Azure Void Emperor's complete inheritance."
Azure Void Emperor. Peak Saint Sovereign from the ancient era. Died in some forgotten war.
And left his soul imprint in a jade slip, waiting for a successor.
Jue Xuanyi watched from the shadows. His Fate Reader showed the connection clearly. Golden threads wound between Lin Fang and the jade, binding them. A master-disciple bond recognized by Heaven itself.
Breaking it would be painful for both.
Perfect.
"The other sects will not expect someone of your background," the voice continued. "When you reveal your Azure Void heritage, they will have no choice but to accept you. Perhaps even the Azure Sky Sect will offer you a core disciple position."
Lin Fang's face shone with hope. Dreams made manifest.
"I won't disappoint you, Master. I'll make you proud."
"You already have, child. You already have."
Jue Xuanyi had seen enough. He withdrew as silently as he'd come.
Back in his guest quarters, he lay on the bed and stared at the ceiling.
"Azure Void Emperor," the Fate Weaver mused. "I remember him. Arrogant. Believed himself destined for True Immortal ascension. Died stupidly in a territorial dispute."
"His techniques were sound," the Formation Master added. "Spatial manipulation specialty. Valuable."
"When do we take it?" the War Devil growled. "Tonight?"
"No," the Schemer Supreme said. "Too risky. The soul might alert others. We need him isolated. Away from the city."
"I want to taste it," the Soul Devourer whispered. "Ancient soul. Aged like fine wine."
Jue Xuanyi closed his eyes. Calculations spun.
Tomorrow, he'd suggest they travel together toward the conference. A journey of mutual benefit. Fellow wanderers seeking fortune.
Somewhere on the road, far from witnesses, he'd stop playing.
The Azure Void Emperor's inheritance would be his. The jade slip, the techniques, the remnant soul itself. All of it.
And Lin Fang…
"You're enjoying this," the Seduction Emperor purred.
He didn't deny it.
Lin Fang. Heaven's chosen child. Beloved son. Student of an ancient master. Destined for greatness at the conference.
Would have been destined, anyway.
Now his thread would be cut. His fortune harvested. His master devoured.
And Jue Xuanyi would walk into the Immortal Dao Conference wearing a protagonist's stolen glory like a second skin.
Tomorrow, the mask would stay on a little longer.
Just long enough.