"So," Lin Feng said carefully, watching Elder Lian's face for any hint of her thoughts, "you know about the Jade Lotus Sect." They sat across from each other in Elder Lian's private quarters—a sparse room hardly larger than Lin Feng's own, notable only for the hundreds of scrolls stacked nearly floor to ceiling along one wall. A single jade lamp cast emerald shadows across their faces. "Know about it?" Elder Lian smiled thinly. "I was born into it." She gestured to the crumpled note still in her hand. "Your friend Liu Mei is correct. The Jade Lotus Sect was not destroyed. At least, not in the way the cultivation world believes." Lin Feng's mind raced with questions. "But how does she know about it? I never mentioned—" "The jade mark on your chest," Elder Lian interrupted. "It resonates with other jade energy. The pendant she wears—did you notice it?" Lin Feng nodded slowly. "A jade pendant. She wasn't wearing it before." "It's a betrothal token from the Crimson Phoenix Sect. Their young master, Ren Zhao, comes from a bloodline that hunted the Jade Lotus Sect for centuries." Elder Lian's eyes hardened. "That pendant isn't just jewelry—it's a detection tool, designed to resonate in the presence of our sect's energy." "So she knows what happened to me? That I found—" "She suspects," Elder Lian corrected. "The pendant would have reacted subtly when she was near you. Not enough to confirm anything definitively, but enough to raise questions." Her lips curved in a small, satisfied smile. "Which explains her warning. It seems your friend's loyalty to you outweighs her duty to her master." Lin Feng rubbed his temples, trying to process everything. "You said you were born into the Jade Lotus Sect. But all the cultivation texts claim it was destroyed three hundred years ago." "A convenient fiction." Elder Lian rose and moved to the wall of scrolls, running her fingers along the spines until she found the one she wanted. "Three hundred years ago, the Jade Lotus Sect was the most powerful cultivation sect in the Eastern Territories. Our techniques for manipulating time itself were unrivaled." She unrolled the scroll, revealing a map of a mountain range Lin Feng didn't recognize. "But power attracts envy, and envy breeds alliances. The Crimson Phoenix Sect led a coalition of seven major sects against us, claiming our time manipulation violated the natural order." "Did it?" Lin Feng asked quietly. Elder Lian's eyes met his, violet and ancient. "All cultivation violates the natural order, Lin Feng. Mortals were not meant to harness the energy of heaven and earth. The difference is merely one of degree." She tapped the map. "The coalition laid siege to our sect's mountain for one hundred days. On the hundredth day, when defeat seemed inevitable, our Sect Master made a decision that would preserve our legacy." "What did they do?" "He created a time lock—a technique so profound it required the combined cultivation of every sect elder." Elder Lian's voice grew soft with reverence. "They sealed the entire mountain and everyone within it into a bubble of slowed time. One year inside became one hundred outside. It was meant to be temporary—a way to outlast our enemies and emerge when they had grown old or died." Lin Feng leaned forward. "But something went wrong?" "The technique was imperfect. The time lock... drifted. Became unstable. Some parts of the mountain experienced different time flows than others. Some sect members aged decades in what felt like days. Others found themselves frozen in moments that stretched for years." Elder Lian rolled up the scroll. "I was just a junior disciple then. I was outside the mountain on a mission when the time lock was enacted. When I returned..." Her voice caught slightly. "The mountain was gone. Not destroyed—simply not there. As if it had never existed." "How is that possible?" "Time and space are more closely linked than most cultivators realize," she replied. "By manipulating one, you inevitably affect the other." Lin Feng touched his chest where the lotus mark lay hidden. "And this? What does this mean?" Elder Lian studied him for a long moment. "The Jade Lotus was our sect's symbol, but it was also more than that. It was the physical manifestation of our founder's cultivation technique—the Original Jade Scripture. When the mountain disappeared, fragments of that technique were scattered throughout the world as jade marks, waiting for those with the proper bloodline to find them." "Proper bloodline?" Lin Feng repeated, his heart beginning to race. "Are you saying—" "Your father was Feng Wuying, the youngest son of our sect's last Grandmaster," Elder Lian said simply. "My sworn brother and the most talented time cultivator of his generation." Lin Feng felt as if the floor had dropped away beneath him. His father—the quiet farmer who had died of a fever when Lin Feng was only ten—had been a cultivator? The son of a sect Grandmaster? "That's not possible," he whispered. "My father never showed any signs of cultivation. He was just a farmer." "A disguise," Elder Lian said. "After the time lock failed, those of us who remained scattered and hid. Your father took the most drastic approach—he sealed his own cultivation base completely, becoming effectively mortal, and hid in the most mundane life he could find." Her expression softened slightly. "He hoped it would keep you safe." "Safe from what?" "From those who still hunt us. The Crimson Phoenix Sect may tell the world they defeated us, but they know the truth—that our sect is merely hidden, not destroyed. They've spent centuries searching for survivors, for fragments of our techniques." Elder Lian's eyes grew distant. "Your father believed if he lived as a mortal, if he never taught you cultivation, they would have no reason to look for you." Lin Feng's mind was reeling. "But then why did he let me join the Soaring Dragon Sect? If he wanted me to stay hidden—" "He died before he could complete your protection," Elder Lian said gently. "The fever that killed him was no natural illness. It was the consequence of sealing his cultivation for too long. His last message reached me too late to prevent you from joining the Soaring Dragon Sect." She reached out, placing a hand on Lin Feng's shoulder. "I've watched over you from a distance all these years, waiting for the right moment to reveal the truth. When I felt the jade lotus awaken two weeks ago, I knew the time had come." "You've been watching me for ten years?" Lin Feng's voice rose with disbelief. "While I struggled and failed and was humiliated day after day?" "It was necessary," Elder Lian said, her voice firm. "If I had intervened too soon, before your bloodline was ready, before the jade lotus called to you, I would have only drawn attention to you. The techniques you were taught at the Soaring Dragon Sect were useless to you, yes, but that failure protected you. No one looks twice at the sect's worst disciple." Lin Feng stood abruptly, needing to move, to process the storm of emotions swirling within him. "So everything—my whole life—has been a lie? A... a cultivation strategy?" "Not a lie," Elder Lian rose as well, her eyes compassionate but unyielding. "A necessary detour on your true path. And now that detour has ended." She moved to a small chest in the corner of the room, opened it with a touch infused with qi, and withdrew a small jade box. "This belonged to your father," she said, holding it out to him. "I've kept it safe, waiting for the day you would be ready." Lin Feng hesitated, then slowly accepted the box. It was warm to the touch and seemed to pulse slightly in time with his heartbeat. When he lifted the lid, he found a jade pendant identical in design to the one Liu Mei wore, but with a subtle difference—where hers was a reddish-orange, this one gleamed with the same verdant jade as the lotus mark on his chest. "A detection tool, like you said?" he asked, lifting it from the box. "Similar in form, different in function," Elder Lian replied. "The Crimson Phoenix pendants detect our jade energy. This pendant conceals it." She motioned for him to put it on. "It will hide the resonance of the lotus mark from detection, even from someone standing right beside you." Lin Feng slipped the pendant over his head, and immediately felt a subtle shift—as if a sound he hadn't even been aware of had suddenly stopped. The constant warmth of the lotus mark cooled slightly. "Your friend Liu Mei has given us both a gift and a warning," Elder Lian continued. "If she's been sent to investigate you, others will follow. We must accelerate your training." "To what end?" Lin Feng asked. "What's the point of all this?" Elder Lian's expression grew solemn. "The time lock is failing, Lin Feng. After three hundred years, the barriers are thinning. Soon, the mountain will return to this realm—along with everyone trapped inside it." "Including the sect Grandmaster? My grandfather?" "If they survived the time distortions, yes." Elder Lian's eyes took on an intensity that made Lin Feng straighten instinctively. "But they will emerge into a world where the Jade Lotus Sect is believed long dead, where our enemies have grown strong in our absence. They will need allies. They will need someone with the bloodline who understands this new world." She placed both hands on his shoulders, her grip surprisingly strong. "They will need you, Lin Feng. The son of Feng Wuying. A true disciple of the Jade Lotus Sect." --- Liu Mei's journey back to the Soaring Dragon Sect was swift, courtesy of the spirit bird Master Han had provided. The magnificent creature—resembling an eagle with feathers of deepest blue—covered in hours distances that would take days on foot. Yet speed did nothing to settle the turmoil in her mind. Lin Feng had lied to her. She was certain of it. Something had happened to him on the journey to Cloudhaven. The pendant at her throat had grown warm the moment she embraced him, a reaction that, according to Master Han's instructions, indicated the presence of jade energy. But she had not reported this to Master Han in the message she'd sent ahead via a smaller spirit bird. Instead, she had written exactly what Lin Feng had told her—that nothing unusual had occurred on his journey. Why was she protecting him? A disciple who lied to his sect committed one of the most serious infractions possible. If Lin Feng had indeed found some ancient legacy or technique, proper protocol demanded it be reported to the elders immediately. Yet she had not only failed to report it—she had actively warned him. *Because despite everything, you're my friend.* Her own words echoed in her mind. But was friendship enough to justify such disloyalty? And to what end? If Lin Feng was discovered—and he would be, eventually—both of them would face severe consequences. The magnificent white spires of the Soaring Dragon Sect appeared on the horizon, gleaming in the morning light. Soon she would face Master Han. She would need to look him in the eye and maintain her deception. For Lin Feng. For a boy she had known since childhood, who had become something more than a friend over the years, though neither of them had ever spoken of it. For a boy who was now forbidden to her in every way that mattered. The betrothal pendant felt suddenly heavy against her skin. In six months, she would travel to the Crimson Phoenix Sect to meet her future husband. Young Master Ren Zhao, heir to one of the most powerful cultivation clans in the Eastern Territories. A political alliance that would benefit both sects enormously. Her personal feelings were irrelevant in the face of such considerations. She had always known this. Had accepted it as the price of her position within the sect. Until now. Until Lin Feng had looked at her with those too-perceptive eyes and asked the one question that had broken through her carefully maintained facade. *"Not even you?"* The spirit bird began its descent toward the sect's main courtyard, where she could already see Master Han waiting, his tall figure unmistakable even from this height. Liu Mei took a deep breath, steadying herself. She had made her choice. Now she would have to live with the consequences. --- "Again," Elder Lian commanded, her voice betraying no fatigue despite the fact that they had been training since well before dawn. Lin Feng moved through the sequence of forms once more, drawing on his metal affinity as she had taught him. His movements were precise, his control of qi impressive for someone who had struggled with even the most basic techniques just weeks ago. But Elder Lian was not easily impressed. "Your intent is muddled," she said, circling him like a predator. "Metal affinity requires absolute clarity. Each motion should be as decisive as a blade's cut." Lin Feng gritted his teeth and tried again. Two weeks had passed since their conversation about his father, about his true heritage. Two weeks of training more intensive than anything he had experienced at the main sect. And he was thriving. The jade lotus responded eagerly to Elder Lian's techniques, accelerating his progress far beyond what would normally be possible. He had "officially" reached the third level of Qi Condensation—a feat that would have astonished the elders at the main sect. In private, however, guided by the knowledge flowing from the lotus mark and Elder Lian's specialized instruction, he had actually reached the peak of the fourth level—just shy of breaking through to Foundation Establishment. "Better," Elder Lian acknowledged as he completed the sequence again. "Now, incorporate the time aspect." This was the true challenge—the unique technique of the Jade Lotus Sect. Not merely manipulating qi, but manipulating the flow of time within that qi. It was subtle, counter-intuitive work that required a level of perception most cultivators never developed. Lin Feng closed his eyes, focusing inward. He could feel the jade lotus pulsing in time with his heartbeat, its energy flowing through his meridians. Following Elder Lian's instructions, he imagined that flow not as continuous, but as discrete moments—like individual beads on a string. Once he had that visualization firmly in mind, he began the sequence again. This time, as he moved, he concentrated on adjusting the "speed" at which the qi flowed through each meridian. Slowing it in some, accelerating it in others. The effect was immediate and profound. His movements became impossibly smooth, as if parts of his body were flowing through water while others moved through air. The very atmosphere around him seemed to warp slightly, creating a visual distortion that made it difficult to track his precise location. "Yes," Elder Lian said, a rare note of satisfaction in her voice. "That is the beginning of true Jade Lotus technique. Time Flow Disruption." Lin Feng completed the sequence and allowed the technique to dissipate. He was breathing hard, not from physical exertion but from the intense concentration required. "It's... incredible," he said. "I felt like I was in multiple places at once." "In a sense, you were," Elder Lian replied. "By varying the time flow through different parts of your body, you create a state where certain movements have already completed while others are just beginning—all within the same objective moment." She handed him a water skin. "In combat, this makes you virtually untouchable. Opponents cannot predict your movements because, from their perspective, your actions defy the normal sequence of cause and effect." Lin Feng drank deeply, considering the implications. "Is this why the other sects sought to destroy the Jade Lotus Sect? Because our techniques gave us such an advantage?" "Partly," Elder Lian acknowledged. "But their fear went deeper than mere combat applications. The Crimson Phoenix Sect in particular believed that manipulating time was... unnatural. That it risked disrupting the fundamental laws that govern cultivation itself." "Were they right?" Elder Lian's expression darkened. "The time lock's failure suggests they may not have been entirely wrong. Our techniques push against the boundaries of what should be possible. There are... consequences to such ambition." Before Lin Feng could ask more, a sharp cry from above drew their attention. A spirit bird—smaller than the one that had brought Liu Mei, but clearly of the same species—circled the training yard once before landing on Elder Lian's outstretched arm. She removed the tiny message container from its leg, opened it, and read the slip of paper inside. Her expression revealed nothing, but Lin Feng sensed a subtle tension in her posture. "What is it?" he asked. Elder Lian's violet eyes met his. "The Crimson Phoenix Sect has requested permission to send representatives to all Soaring Dragon Sect outposts. Ostensibly to discuss the upcoming alliance between the sects." "But actually?" "To search for what their detection pendants have sensed." She crushed the message in her fist. "They will be here within a week." Lin Feng's hand went instinctively to the jade pendant he now wore constantly. "Will this be enough to hide the lotus mark's energy?" "From passive detection, yes," Elder Lian said. "But if they bring more sophisticated tools, or if they have a particularly sensitive bloodline detector among them..." She let the sentence hang unfinished. "Then what do we do?" Elder Lian was silent for a moment, her gaze distant, calculating. "We accelerate your training further," she finally said. "You're close to breaking through to Foundation Establishment. Once you do, you'll have access to more advanced concealment techniques." "That could take months," Lin Feng protested. "You said they'll be here in a week." A slow smile spread across Elder Lian's face—not one of warmth, but of anticipation. "For most cultivators, yes. But we have an advantage they don't." She gestured to the lotus mark hidden beneath his robes. "We have time." --- Master Han was not pleased. "Nothing?" he repeated, his normally gentle voice taking on a dangerous edge. "You spent a full day at Cloudhaven, and you observed nothing unusual about the failed disciple?" Liu Mei knelt before him in his private study, her posture perfect, her expression appropriately deferential. "Nothing beyond his apparent improvement in cultivation, Master. Elder Lian's training seems to suit him better than the methods used at the main sect." "And the pendant?" Master Han gestured to the jade ornament at her throat. "It gave no reaction? No warmth, no vibration?" Liu Mei had prepared for this question. "It grew somewhat warm when I embraced him in greeting, Master, but I attributed that to his normal body heat. The reaction was not sustained." Master Han's eyes narrowed. "Show me." Liu Mei removed the pendant and handed it to him. Master Han held it up to the light, examining it with both physical and spiritual perception. After a moment, he closed his eyes and infused it with a strand of his own qi. Liu Mei held her breath. If the pendant somehow recorded its reactions... "Curious," Master Han murmured, opening his eyes. "The resonance matrix appears to have been activated recently, but the pattern is... confused." He handed the pendant back to her. "Put it on." Liu Mei complied, returning the jewelry to its place around her neck. It felt heavier than before, weighted with deception. "The scouts were quite certain about what they sensed," Master Han said, moving to the window that overlooked the sect's main courtyard. "A surge of ancient energy, precisely in the area where your friend would have been traveling." "Perhaps it was something else, Master," Liu Mei suggested carefully. "An unrelated phenomenon." "Perhaps." Master Han turned back to her, his aged face unreadable. "Or perhaps your friendship with Lin Feng has clouded your judgment." Liu Mei felt a chill run down her spine, but kept her expression neutral. "I have always put the sect's interests first, Master." "Have you?" Master Han's voice was soft. "Then you will not object to a more thorough investigation." He moved to his desk and picked up a scroll. "The Crimson Phoenix Sect has requested permission to send representatives to all our outposts. Given our upcoming alliance, the elders have agreed." Liu Mei's heart raced. "The Crimson Phoenix Sect? But why would they—" "Young Master Ren Zhao himself will be leading the delegation to Cloudhaven," Master Han continued, as if she hadn't spoken. "I've recommended that you accompany him, as someone familiar with both the outpost and its inhabitants." Liu Mei struggled to maintain her composure. Ren Zhao—her betrothed, whom she had never met—going to Cloudhaven? To investigate Lin Feng? "When?" she managed to ask. "You leave in three days." Master Han rolled up the scroll and handed it to her. "This contains the official authorization from the elders. You will serve as the Soaring Dragon Sect's representative and guide to Young Master Ren." Liu Mei accepted the scroll, her fingers numb. "Yes, Master." "One more thing, Liu Mei." Master Han's voice hardened. "Young Master Ren's bloodline gives him extraordinary sensitivity to certain types of energy. If there is anything to find at Cloudhaven, he will find it." He leaned closer. "For your sake, I hope your report was accurate." The threat was unmistakable. Liu Mei bowed her head. "I understand, Master." "Good. You are dismissed." Liu Mei rose and left the study, the scroll clutched tightly in her hand. Once outside, she leaned against the corridor wall, fighting to control her breathing. Three days. She had three days to warn Lin Feng that her betrothed was coming to Cloudhaven—and that he possessed abilities specifically designed to detect exactly what Lin Feng was trying to hide. But how? Spirit birds were too easily tracked. A message talisman might be intercepted. And she herself would certainly be watched until the delegation departed. As she pushed away from the wall, a realization struck her with such force that she nearly stumbled. The pendant. Master Han had examined it with his own qi, but had found only confusion. What if the jade pendant didn't just detect Jade Lotus energy? What if it could also communicate with it? Liu Mei touched the ornament at her throat. If that were true, if there was even a chance it could serve as a connection... She hurried toward her quarters, mind racing. She would need privacy, time to experiment. And if she was right—if the pendant could indeed form a connection—then perhaps she could warn Lin Feng without anyone being the wiser. And if she was wrong? If no such function existed? Liu Mei pushed the thought aside. She couldn't afford doubt. Not now, not with so much at stake. For Lin Feng's sake. For her own. And perhaps, though she hardly dared admit it even to herself, for the sake of a future that did not include marriage to a man she had never met, from a sect that hunted those with jade energy. A future that, against all odds and expectations, might still include the boy who had once promised to climb the highest tree in their village just to pick her favorite blossoms. The boy who had kept that promise, even after falling twice and breaking his arm. The boy who had never given up, no matter how many times he failed. *Hold on, Lin Feng,* she thought, quickening her pace. *I'm coming.*