They did not travel far after leaving the valley.
Shen Yuan led them off the main road before noon, guiding them into a quiet stretch of woodland where the air was clean and the spiritual energy flowed without turbulence. It was not a cultivation ground—just a place where interference was unlikely.
That was enough.
Su Yao stood a few steps away, hands clasped tightly before her, still adjusting to the feeling of walking without watching the ground. Every so often, she caught herself slowing, as if waiting for permission she no longer needed.
Shen Yuan noticed.
He always did.
"Sit," he said.
She obeyed at once, lowering herself onto a flat stone beneath a tree.
Lin Qiu sat opposite her, posture straight, eyes attentive. He did not speak. This moment was not his.
Shen Yuan studied Su Yao calmly.
Not her posture.Not her expression.
The structure beneath.
The seal had loosened, but it remained present—adaptive, patient, ready to tighten again if she retreated into old habits. It would not yield to force.
Good.
Seals that broke easily were rarely worth breaking.
"From this point on," Shen Yuan said, "I will dismantle your cultivation."
Su Yao's fingers twitched.
"You will lose what little progress you think you have," he continued. "Your aura will weaken. People who already look down on you will find new reasons to do so."
She inhaled slowly.
"And if I refuse?"
"Then we part here," Shen Yuan replied evenly. "And nothing more happens."
No threat.No persuasion.
Just clarity.
Su Yao bowed her head—not in submission, but acknowledgement.
"…Please," she said. "Do it."
That was enough.
At the moment her words settled, something unseen responded.
Not in the world.
Within Shen Yuan alone.
"Disciple Accepted."(Heavenly Sect Creation System — Founder Authority)
No sound.No pressure.
Only confirmation.
"Second Disciple Registered."
Information unfolded—precise, efficient.
"Founder Reward Issued.""Seal-Resolution Authority (Minor) unlocked."
Shen Yuan felt it immediately: a subtle sharpening of perception where seals were concerned. Patterns resolved faster. Variables clarified.
Useful.
"Customized Cultivation Blueprint Generated."
He absorbed it in silence.
Shen Yuan looked back at Su Yao.
"Kneel," he said.
Her breath caught—but she did not hesitate. She knelt once, deliberately, on her own terms.
"From this moment," Shen Yuan said, "you are my disciple."
Lin Qiu exhaled quietly.
Su Yao bowed—not deeply, not desperately.
"This disciple greets Master."
Shen Yuan nodded once.
"Stand."
She did.
The seal did not tighten.
Shen Yuan moved behind her.
"Your cultivation is built on resistance," he said. "Every method you were taught told you to push, to endure, to force progress."
He placed two fingers lightly between her shoulder blades.
"That was wrong."
He withdrew his hand.
"Close your eyes."
She did.
"Do not circulate Qi," he instructed. "Do not guide it. Let it settle."
Su Yao frowned slightly. "…That's all?"
"Yes."
Minutes passed.
At first, nothing happened.
Then discomfort surfaced—not pain, but unease. Her spiritual energy, long accustomed to being forced along narrow paths, resisted stillness.
Her breathing quickened.
"Do not fight it," Shen Yuan said calmly. "You are not cultivating. You are listening."
The tension eased—slowly, reluctantly.
Her Qi shifted.
Not forward.
Downward.
It spread gently through her meridians, filling gaps that had never been addressed. The seal responded, not by tightening, but by… adjusting.
Su Yao's eyes snapped open.
"…It's warm," she whispered.
"Correct," Shen Yuan replied. "That is how it should feel."
Lin Qiu stared, stunned.
This was nothing like his own beginning.
"For the next three months," Shen Yuan continued, "you will not advance realms."
Su Yao nodded without complaint.
"You will practice this method only at dawn and dusk," he said. "Outside those times, you will work. Walk. Observe. Speak when spoken to."
She listened intently, committing every word to memory.
"And one more thing," Shen Yuan added.
She looked up.
"If you kneel out of habit," he said, "we start over."
A pause.
"…Understood."
That night, as Su Yao practiced her first true cultivation—slow, gentle, unsettling in its restraint—Shen Yuan sat apart beneath the trees.
The system stirred once more.
"Second Disciple Integration Complete."
No reward followed.
No fanfare.
Because this reward had already been given—in capability, not spectacle.
Shen Yuan opened his eyes and looked toward the darkened road ahead.
Two disciples.Three remaining.Five years already moving.
The sect was still invisible.
But it was no longer theoretical.