by ArkGodZ | DaoVerse Studio
Dawn arrived like a golden mist, spreading across the jade rooftops of the Cloud Sky Sect. But something in the air felt different. As if the heavens themselves hesitated to wake.
Jian Yu stood silently before the once-dead cherry tree, now blooming, watching crimson petals dance with the wind. Each flower was a reminder — he had crossed a threshold. There was no turning back.
Behind him, Yuan approached slowly. She wore her training robes, but her stance was less firm than usual. Her eyes locked onto the tree — a sight that, to others, would seem beautiful. But to her, it was a sign of something she couldn't control.
"That tree was dead," Yuan said softly. "Even before I joined the sect. No one could cultivate it. Not a single elder."
"I didn't cultivate it," Jian Yu replied, eyes still on the blossoms. "It bloomed... on its own."
Yuan was quiet for a long moment before asking, with an uncommon hesitation:
"Do you remember everything that happened last night?"
He turned slowly, his gaze calm, but deep.
"I remember the sensation. The qi pulsing like a melody inside me. I remember your presence. Your hand."
Yuan folded her arms, uneasy.
"It wasn't... normal. What happened to me. I felt... desire. But it was different. Like my body... my soul... was being pulled."
"I know," Jian Yu said. "I felt it too."
"I'm not saying I regret it," she added quickly, as if convincing herself. "But... I don't understand. We're not like that."
"Not yet," he murmured. "But we're changing."
A heavy silence settled between them. Not uncomfortable — but full of unspoken thoughts, untaken paths, unnamed wants.
Yuan took a deep breath and shifted the topic.
"The elders know. About the tree. About the sky last night. About... everything."
Jian Yu nodded.
"They've been watching me for a while. Now they must be wondering whether to contain me... or use me."
"So what will you do?"
He looked toward the horizon.
"Find out what's inside me. And decide whether this power is a curse... or the key to something greater."
Later, Jian Yu walked through the corridors of the Mist Library, one of the oldest and most protected places in the sect. Shelves stretched to the ceiling, filled with scrolls and spiritual jade, pulsing with living runes.
A third-stage disciple guided him in silence, visibly uncomfortable. No one wanted to be near Jian Yu since the night before.
At the end of the oldest corridor, he found a scroll sealed with black threads — a rarity. The seal read: Fragmented Dao – Dark Tier Seal.
"You're not authorized to touch that," the disciple said nervously.
Jian Yu didn't respond. He raised his hand. And as if recognizing something within him, the seal unraveled without resistance.
The disciple stepped back in shock.
Inside, the scroll held a single phrase:
"He who desires the world shall become the world he desires."
And beneath that, nearly erased:
Dao of Desire – Last recorded 932 years ago. Cultivator unknown. Disappeared without trace.
Jian Yu's heart pounded. His body recognized the words before his mind could process them. As if it had waited for them.
He left the library without a word, leaving the stunned disciple behind.
Back in the courtyard, the sky had already begun to turn orange. Yuan sat on the outer wall, her feet dangling freely.
"Did you find what you were looking for?" she asked, feigning indifference.
"I found something that may have been searching for me far longer than I imagined."
She studied him for a moment, her gaze softer.
"Are you afraid?"
Jian Yu sat beside her. For a moment, he said nothing. Then he gave a faint smile.
"I am. But I'm also curious. And... resolute."
Yuan leaned her head against his shoulder. For the first time, without hesitation.
"Then go," she whispered. "But don't go alone."
And in that simple gesture, more than a thousand promises were made.
End of Chapter.
Next Chapter: The Path of Forgotten Desires