Chapter One: The Failed Awakening In the realm of Lingyuan, power was forged through contracts.
From the moment one's spiritual sense matured, they were summoned to the Awakening Stage, where a single moment would decide their fate. With a hand upon the Soulstone, they would attempt to resonate with their soul—a living thread that would link them to a spirit beast, elemental force, or ancient soul.
Success meant strength, recognition, a path to cultivation.
Failure meant exile, shame, and a lifetime in the shadows.
Snow fell soundlessly over the vast stone platform. A hundred and twenty candidates stood in orderly rows, robes fluttering as wind swept across the altar.
Excitement buzzed in the air, but also fear.
At the far end of the line, Yue Yao stood alone.
She was tall and slender, her figure cloaked in simple black robes. Her hair was neatly bound behind her head, her glasses slightly fogged with cold. She had not spoken a word since dawn.
She didn't need to.
She knew what everyone around her was thinking. "Is that Yue Yao?"
"Why's she even here?"
"Didn't they say her soul sense was sealed years ago?"
"Her mother died under suspicious circumstances. Maybe she inherited that same cursed fate." The whispers were not quiet. No one cared to hide them.
Yue Yao didn't flinch.
Her gaze remained downcast, her shoulders still. Snow gathered at her feet, but she did not move.
The Soulstone pulsed in the center of the altar, a crystalline monolith twice her height. Candidates stepped forward one by one. Most succeeded. A few failed and wept. Some were lifted away in silence.
Time passed. The last name was never called, only acknowledged with a glance.
The elder's eyes landed on her. Cold. Bored.
He gave a brief nod.
She stepped forward, walked to the Soulstone, and placed her hand against the surface.
The stone remained dim.
She waited.
A second passed.
Then two.
Then three.
Nothing.
No glow.
No hum.
No sign of life.
The elder withdrew the stone and spoke with finality. "Yue Yao. Soul resonance failed. No pact formed." "By decree of the Yue Clan, failure to awaken disqualifies one from inheritance, resources, or protection.
From this day onward, Yue Yao is stripped of name and status. Her bloodline is severed." A soul-seal descended from the high table, fluttering through the wind. It landed at her feet, pale parchment inked with her name—and her rejection.
She bent down and picked it up.
Not a single elder looked at her.
On the highest platform, seated in ritual robes, the clan patriarch—her uncle—did not speak.
He watched as if she were a stranger, or a ghost.
Perhaps she always had been.
Yue Yao bowed once, then turned.
She said nothing.
No defense.
No tears.
She walked away.  That night, the mountain slept beneath a white blanket.
The outer courtyard was long abandoned, its bamboo curtains frozen stiff. Yue Yao stepped inside and slid the panel shut behind her.
There was no fire. No food. No light.
She sat in the corner, back to the wall, and pulled from her robes a broken jade pendant—small, sharp-edged, cracked in two. Her mother's.
She traced the fracture with her thumb.
Not to remember.
Just to feel something real. "Mother…" Her voice was barely audible, breath fogging in the cold air.
She closed her eyes. She didn't cry. The tears had long frozen inside her.  And then—a voice. "Well. That was dramatic." She sat bolt upright. "What—" "Took you long enough to notice me. Honestly, you soul cultivators are all the same. So stoic. So silent. So emotionally constipated." A voice. Male. Smooth. Somewhere between amused and deeply annoying. "You're not real," she muttered. "Define 'real.' I'm in your head. That counts for something." "Who are you?" "Xuan Jin. Your soul pact. You know, the one you failed to form three years ago?
Correction: the one your beloved clan sealed before it could activate." She pressed her fingers to her temple. "This is a dream." "Sure. Let's call it that." "Shut up." "Impossible. I'm part of your consciousness now. We're literally bound. You silence me, you silence yourself.
Which, judging by today's performance, wouldn't change much." She exhaled slowly. "You're irritating." "You're freezing." She stood.
The door creaked open. Snow swirled through the courtyard.
Wind howled.
And then—
a pulse. Behind her.
Unsteady. Sharp. Wrong. "Ah," Xuan Jin murmured. "That's not wind. That's someone sneaking through your soul field.
Did your clan seriously send someone to finish the job already? Efficient." Yue Yao did not turn her head. Her fingers flexed slightly. "Xuan Jin." "Yes, dearest partner?" "Get ready." In her mind, he grinned. Someone will die tonight.