Spring wind swept across the plaza of Azure Cloud Sect.
On the western stone platform, a young man in red robes sat cross-legged.
His name was Lu Chen.
Inner sect disciple.
Early-stage Foundation Establishment.
Unremarkable aptitude.
But his mental state was steady as stone.
At least… it had been until today.
Three days ago, after a minor breakthrough, he discovered something unusual within his sea of consciousness.
It was not a talisman.
Not a seal.
Nor did it resemble a heart demon.
It was simply
A point of ligago
So small it was like a speck of dust drifting in the void.
When he directed his spiritual sense toward it
The light trembled faintly.
As if responding.
Lu Chen immediately withdrew his awareness.
The sea of consciousness was a cultivator's most sacred domain.
Anything that appeared there without origin
Could be a calamity.
For three days, he told no one.
He tested it with his spiritual sense.
No backlash.
No killing intent.
Only an extremely faint fluctuation.
So faint that without deliberate focus, it was almost nonexistent.
He tried guiding a thread of spiritual energy toward it.
The light quivered.
Then
A vague sensation surfaced in his mind.
As if something…
Far away.
Had also trembled.
Lu Chen opened his eyes.
His heartbeat slowed by half a beat.
No one was around him.
Spiritual energy flowed normally.
But he knew
That had not been an illusion.
At the very moment he broke through three days ago
It seemed something had "recorded" it.
At the same time.
More than a thousand miles away from Azure Cloud Sect.
Within a cave dwelling belonging to the Profound Yin Pavilion.
A young woman in white slowly opened her eyes.
Her face was slightly pale.
For the past three days, whenever she entered meditation, a faint point of light appeared within her sea of consciousness.
At first, she suspected a deviation in her cultivation.
But repeated checks showed her meridians were clear.
Her dantian was stable.
Only that point of light
Remained in silent existence.
Moments ago.
It trembled.
Just once.
And in that instant
She sensed another fluctuation.
Not her own.
Yet it carried no malice.
She stood and stepped out of the cave.
Mountain wind brushed against her white sleeves.
A trace of doubt flickered in her eyes.
"There's someone… like me?"
That night.
Two people.
Two separate places.
Without any agreement, both tried again.
Lu Chen closed his eyes.
This time, he did not resist.
He relaxed.
He stopped controlling it.
He allowed the point of light to resonate on its own.
Far away.
The woman in white did the same.
In that instant
The two points of light flared simultaneously.
Within the void of their seas of consciousness, a thread as thin as mist quietly formed.
Connecting the two ends.
Fragile.
Delicate.
A single strong thought
Could sever it.
Yet it existed.
There were no words.
No images.
Only a simple awareness:
"There is someone else."
Both of them stiffened.
The thread trembled once.
Then
It vanished.
As if it had never appeared.
Lu Chen opened his eyes.
His breathing slightly unsteady.
He looked toward the eastern horizon.
He could not determine the direction.
But he understood.
In this vast world
He was not the only one who had encountered this anomaly.
Far away.
The woman in white tightened her sleeve.
Her gaze gradually turned serious.
If this was a demonic technique
It could not have affected only one person.
And if it was not…
Then what was it?
Night wind passed over two different sects.
No one knew.
Deep within the sea of consciousness
Something extremely small
Had completed its first resonance.
And in a layer even deeper than their awareness
It seemed that something…
Had quietly taken note.