CHAPTER 6: THE REUNION OF FIRE AND ICE
The sky above the Blue Cloud Sect didn't just open; it shattered. A blinding pillar of white light erupted from the void, carrying with it a pressure so immense that the weaker disciples in the outer courtyard collapsed instantly, blood leaking from their ears. This was the might of an Empress, a being who had reached the pinnacle of the world.
Lin Yue stepped out of the light. Her golden-trimmed robes billowed in the wind, and her long hair flowed behind her like a river of starlight. Her eyes, usually cold and indifferent to the lives of mortals, were now wide and frantic, darting across the sect grounds until they locked onto the figure standing on the highest balcony of the Elder's Peak.
She didn't fly; she teleported in short bursts of speed, appearing before the pavilion in a heartbeat. The sect elders, including Elder Gu, felt their knees buckle under the sheer weight of her Sword Intent. They were like candles in a hurricane.
Li Xiao didn't move. He didn't bow. He didn't even acknowledge the terrifying power she exuded. He simply stood there, his violet eyes meeting her golden ones with a cold, terrifying indifference.
"Master..." Lin Yue's voice was a broken whisper. The word carried five centuries of longing, pain, and a despair that no commoner could ever understand. She took a trembling step forward, her hand reaching out as if to touch a ghost. "It's you. I can feel the rhythm of your soul. The way the air bows around you... the sorrow in your gaze... I knew you wouldn't leave me alone in this cold world."
Li Xiao tilted his head, his expression as unreadable as a stone tablet. "Empress Lin Yue," he spoke, his voice a chilling melody that lacked any hint of recognition. "You travel a great distance and use an Imperial Teleportation Array just to address a minor disciple of a third-rate sect as 'Master'? I fear your cultivation has affected your mind."
Lin Yue froze. The coldness in his voice was a weapon sharper than any sword she had ever forged. "What? No... Li Xiao, or whatever name you take now... look at me! Look into my eyes! Do you not remember the five hundred years on Cloud-Mist Peak? Do you not remember the nights you spent healing my frostbitten soul? Do you not remember the Nine-Fold Tribulation where you gave everything for me?"
She was pleading. The Empress of the Eternal Sword, the woman who had executed kings without blinking, was now begging for a word of recognition from a youth at the Golden Core stage.
Li Xiao walked closer to her, stopping just inches away. He was taller than her now, and he looked down at her with a gaze that was both profound and empty. "I remember a simulation," he lied, his voice dropping to a whisper that only she could hear. "I remember a life where I gave a girl wings, and she used them to fly away and forget the one who stayed in the dirt. But that was a dream, Empress. A story written in the stars. The man you seek died five hundred years ago. I am merely the Architect who inherited his sorrow."
"You... you acknowledge the dream?" Lin Yue's breath hitched. "Then you *are* him! You have his memories! Why won't you just say it?"
"Because that man was a fool," Li Xiao said, his voice hardening like steel. "He loved a girl who was too blinded by the peak to see the valley. He sacrificed his soul for a throne he never wanted to sit upon. I am not that fool. I am Li Xiao. And in this life, Empress, I am the one who holds the strings. You are but a guest in my sect. If you wish to stay, you will follow my rules. If not... then return to your empty palace and continue your reign of loneliness."
The cruelty of his words made Lin Yue stagger. It was a different kind of pain than the lightning tribulation—this was a slow, methodical destruction of her heart. "You hate me," she realized, the tears finally overflowing and tracing paths down her jade-like skin. "You came back just to make me suffer."
"Hate requires effort, Empress," Li Xiao replied, turning his back on her and walking toward his throne. "I simply do not care. You are powerful, yes. A useful tool for the future of this continent. If you want to repay your 'debt', then stay here and guard the gates of this sect. Be the guardian you never were for me."
"I will!" she shouted, her voice filled with a desperate resolve. "I will stay! I will guard this mountain until the end of time if I have to! I will prove to you that I am no longer that arrogant girl!"
Li Xiao sat on his throne, leaning his head on his hand. He looked at her kneeling figure—the most powerful woman in the world, reduced to a weeping disciple. Inside, the System hummed with pleasure.
[ Ding! 'The Empress's Eternal Regret' has reached the 'Bone-Deep' level. ]
[ New Function Unlocked: Karma Harvesting. ]
[ You are now absorbing a portion of the Empress's Luck every second she stays near you. ]
"Then stay," Li Xiao said, his voice echoing through the pavilion. "But do not call me Master again. To you, I am only the Lord of this Sect. Any attempt to bridge the gap between us will result in your immediate expulsion. Am I clear?"
"Yes... Lord Li Xiao," she whispered, bowing her head to the floor.
The sect elders watched in absolute horror and disbelief. Their 'trash' disciple had just forced the Empress of the world to kneel and accept the role of a gatekeeper. They realized then that they weren't just witnessing a rise to power; they were witnessing the birth of a monster who could manipulate the hearts of gods.
Li Xiao looked out over the sect, his violet eyes reflecting the cold stars. The first piece of the puzzle was in place. The world would soon become his simulation, and he
would be the only one who knew the ending.