The Immortal Realm did not pursue Ling Yue.
That alone told her everything.
No guards followed.
No officials summoned her back.
No seals descended a second time.
Heaven was deciding.
She stood alone on the terrace long after the others had withdrawn, lotus petals faintly aglow against her palm. The air around her felt thinner now — stretched, as if something had been pulled too tight and not yet released.
Her knees trembled.
Only now, when the danger had passed, did the weight of what she'd done settle into her bones.
"I didn't mean to challenge you," she whispered into the open sky. "I just… didn't mean to let go."
The sky did not answer.
But somewhere far beyond it—
---
Ye collapsed.
Not dramatically.
Just suddenly — knees striking fractured ground as the suppression finally tore through him completely. Shadow peeled away from his body in violent waves, power ripped from its anchor like threads pulled too fast.
He coughed, dark blood staining the stone.
"…Too much," he muttered, forcing himself upright. "I knew better."
Answering the pull had never been safe.
This time, it was worse.
The bond had strengthened — which meant Heaven's counterforce had too.
He pressed a hand to his chest, fingers digging in as pain flared anew.
If he answered again—
He did not finish the thought.
---
Back in the Immortal Realm, the silver-haired immortal found Ling Yue sitting on the steps, arms wrapped around herself.
"You've forced a decision," the woman said quietly.
Ling Yue looked up. "Whose?"
The woman's gaze softened. "Everyone's."
She hesitated, then added, "Including his."
Ling Yue's breath hitched.
"He's hurting," she whispered.
"Yes."
"Because of me."
"Because of the bond," the woman corrected. "Which you both chose to preserve."
Ling Yue clenched her hands. "Then tell me how to stop it."
The woman studied her for a long moment.
"You can't," she said at last. "Not without severing it entirely."
Ling Yue's heart lurched. "And if we don't?"
"Then the next time Fate Resonance activates," the woman said carefully, "someone will not survive the backlash."
---
Silence fell.
Ling Yue lowered her head, shoulders shaking once before she steadied herself.
"Then I won't call him again," she said.
The woman did not look relieved.
"You don't control that anymore," she said gently. "Neither of you does."
Ling Yue closed her eyes.
Of course.
Fate never allowed clean choices.
---
Far away, Ye stood again, bracing himself against the ruins of a broken realm.
He felt it — the thinning of the bond, not because it was sealed, but because she was pulling back.
He laughed weakly.
"She's always like this," he murmured. "Protecting others first."
His expression hardened.
"No," he corrected himself. "Not this time."
If Heaven meant to turn the bond into a blade—
He would decide who it cut.
---
Ling Yue rose slowly to her feet.
The lotus petals trembled, responding to her resolve.
"I won't reach for him," she said quietly. "But I won't let Heaven use him either."
The silver-haired immortal's eyes widened slightly.
"That path leads to confrontation," she warned.
Ling Yue lifted her chin.
"I know."
---
Above them both, unseen and calculating, Heaven finished its deliberation.
And chose escalation.