Courtyard of Mount Four Tributaries
The courtyard of Mount Four Tributaries was simple.Ancient stone slabs. A rock garden. An entrance arch covered in moss.And silence.
Sai walked ahead.The three disciples followed behind.
But they were not alone.
Beyond the arch, figures watched quietly: Lin Yao and the three Ancestors.No one spoke. No one approached.
Not because they didn't wish to—but because the mere presence of the golden-haired boy imposed distance.
As if the air around him were heavier.
Sai sat down and poured the tea.Four cups. Precise movements.
Then he raised two fingers.
An invisible veil spread outward.
Sound vanished.The wind stopped.Even the bamboo ceased its creaking.
---
Outside the veil, the observers could still see everything—but no words reached them.
Lin Yao took an involuntary step back.
"A sound-isolating barrier…" he murmured.
Guo Zhen narrowed his eyes.
"It isn't to hide the ceremony.It's to conceal the contents of the conversation."
Mu Chen snorted indignantly—but remained silent.
---
Inside the veil, Sai drank his tea slowly, as if time itself had slowed.
"Before I accept you as disciples," he said without lifting his gaze,"you must understand what you are asking for."
Wang Tao kept his posture straight, but his chest felt heavy.
Yan Li clenched the fabric of her spatial pouch, seeking grounding in something tangible.
Wei Lian could barely breathe.
Sai set the cup down.
"The manual I cultivate is not ordinary.It was never meant to be practiced alone."
The words settled like stones.
"It is called the Dao Bond Manual.Or, if you prefer—the Manual of Fated Bonds."
Wei Lian swallowed hard.
"Fated… bonds?"
Sai nodded.
"A bond acknowledged by the Heavens."
He raised his hand.Above the table, a thin line of light appeared—like a silk thread.It shimmered briefly, then vanished.
"When a direct disciple is accepted by this manual, a bond forms between my Dao and theirs."
Something tightened in Wang Tao's chest.Yan Li forgot to breathe.Wei Lian could only stare.
"This bond has two sides," Sai continued calmly."First—it is not a contract of servitude. It will not erase your will or force obedience."
"You remain yourselves.Your sins remain yours.Your choices remain yours."
---
Wang Tao's stomach clenched.
My sins. My choices.The Invisible Hand. The poison. The dagger.Nothing erased.
Yet disbelief stirred.
A Dao Bond Manual? Such a thing truly exists? What kind of path is this?
---
Sai continued.
"The second side: the bond is not decorative.It affects cultivation."
Heavy silence.
"Whenever I teach something true—and you truly comprehend it, not with words but with heart and practice—the Dao will acknowledge the transmission."
He took another sip.
"When that happens, my foundation stabilizes."
Yan Li's eyes widened.
"And what do we gain?"
Sai was not offended.If anything, he smiled faintly.
"You gain a clearer path.The bond allows teachings to 'adhere' more easily to the soul.Understanding approved by the Dao becomes harder to lose."
He turned to Wei Lian.
"For one without cultivation, the bond serves as an initial bridge.It stabilizes the first steps.Prevents fatal deviations."
Wei Lian's throat went dry.
"Then… if I fail… does that affect you?"
Sai answered without hesitation.
"It does."
The word fell like a blade.
"If you walk in circles, my foundation does not grow.If you understand crookedly, the Dao will not recognize it.And if you accept my teachings while harboring lies in your heart…"
A long pause.
"…the bond will become a burden."
Absolute silence.The tea cooled, forgotten.
Then Sai finished, with the calm of one who sought no persuasion:
"That is why I do not accept disciples based on talent.I accept disciples based on sincerity."
"Not moral sincerity.True sincerity."
Something cracked inside Wang Tao—not pain, but recognition.
Is this… my chance to change my life?
He clenched his fist, conflicted.
Sai continued, relentless:
"This bond may last a lifetime.It may last several.And it does not break on a whim."
"If you accept it, do so knowing you are placing your path in contact with mine."
---
Wang Tao froze completely.
His disciplined heart nearly stopped.
This was not a casual decision.This was a choice—the kind that reshapes a life.
He closed his eyes and thought not with reason, but with heart.
---
Yan Li, on the other hand, was certain.Her intuition screamed acceptance, as if her soul wanted to leap forward and seize the opportunity.
And Yan Li trusted her emotions.
She relaxed, eyes closed.
---
Wei Lian was lost—not confused, but truly lost.
He understood everything, yet nothing.
Dao of Fate? Bonds? Comprehension?
He knew the words, not their meaning.
His thoughts collided within him.He gently clenched his hands to steady himself.
I don't know who I'll become if I accept.But I know that if I refuse, I'll never know who I am.
He closed his eyes.
---
Sai did not rush them.
Time passed.Three minutes. Five.
The tea went cold.
Then Wang Tao stood first.He brought his fists together.
"Master. I accept."
Yan Li rose next, without hesitation.
"I accept."
Wei Lian lingered.His fingers dug into his palm, searching for certainty in pain.
Then—
"I… accept as well."
Sai nodded, as if he had always known.
"Then… now we begin."
He raised his hand.
The isolating veil dissolved.Sound returned.The wind resumed.
Outside, the observers straightened, as if invisible pressure had brushed their necks.
Sai looked at the three.
"Kneel."
They obeyed.
The ground beneath the table began to glow.
No circles had been carved beforehand, yet ancient inscriptions emerged from the stone—as if awakened after millennia.
Spirals. Patterns. Symbols none of them recognized.
Ambient Qi converged—slowly, then faster.
---
Outside, Lin Yao stepped back.
"This…" he whispered, unable to finish.
Guo Zhen clenched his fist inside his sleeve.
"This isn't a common formation.It's as if the world itself is responding."
---
Sai's voice was low, but firm.
"By the path I tread, I accept you as my direct disciples.May the Dao witness our bonds.And may the Heavens record a new destiny."
The sky above the mountain darkened—not like a storm, but as if the clouds were pulled aside for something greater.
Three threads of light descended.Pure. Golden. Untouched.
They touched the foreheads of Wang Tao, Yan Li, and Wei Lian.
For an instant, a translucent mark appeared on each—a different symbol etched into each soul.
Wang Tao felt the mark burn.
Not poison.Not chains.
Choice—burning where only obedience had existed before.
Yan Li felt as though an invisible brush painted across her heart—warm, not painful.Like ink spreading on a pristine canvas.
Wei Lian felt direction for the first time.
Not power.Not strength.
A path.
As if a light had been lit in the dark.
Then a sound echoed from the Heavens.
Deep. Resonant.Like a bell—but different.
As if the world itself had acknowledged something.
The sound was brief—yet eternal.
An ancient pressure swept the mountain—not threatening, merely heavy.
A silent witness.
---
The Ancestors' eyes widened.
Mu Chen found no words—for the first time.
Han Xun exhaled deeply.
"The Heavens… the Dao has manifested."
Lin Yao felt a chill down his spine.
He did not know what Sai had said to the three—but what the world had just acknowledged was clear.
Three disciples had been accepted under an uncommon Dao.
And the Dao had responded.
---
Then the sky shifted.
The clouds returned, gathering darker—like an omen.
A thunderclap erupted—not as a storm's warning, but as dissatisfaction.
Sai opened his eyes.
The Heavens' thunder… as always, meddling where it wasn't invited.
He sighed.
"The Heavens never cease to be petty with their rules."
His voice was tired—as if he had expected this.
The inscriptions dimmed.The clouds dispersed.The wind returned.The bamboo creaked once more.
The world returned to normal.
Sai looked at the three disciples, still kneeling, still processing.
"The ceremony is complete.Rise."
They obeyed.
Yet none of them were the same.
Wang Tao felt the weight of the mark in his soul—and for the first time, it was not a chain.
Yan Li touched her chest, as if sensing the invisible brush.
Wei Lian looked at his hands and saw no masks.
Only possibility.
Outside, the eyes of the entire sect had changed.
As if, from that moment onward, a new future had begun to move.