The courtyard no longer felt like stone and air.
It was a battlefield of unseen forces. Every step they took vibrated under the weight of divine scrutiny. Shen Yueyin's muscles ached, her body trembling from exhaustion, but she couldn't stop moving. She had to stay close, had to stay alive, and he had to stay alive too.
Yin Beichen's gaze was sharp, calculating, yet even in his calm, there was a flicker she had never seen before, anticipation, perhaps, or acknowledgment of the danger pressing in.
"You feel it, don't you?" she whispered, gripping the hilt of her blade tighter.
He nodded once. "Heaven is coming."
The wind twisted violently around them. The sky above blackened, clouds roiling unnaturally. A sound, not of thunder, not of wind, but of a thousand whispers, filled the air, pressing against her eardrums, threading through her thoughts.
Heaven had stopped testing. It was acting.
Shen Yueyin's chest tightened. Every instinct screamed at her: kill him. Obey. Survive.
She didn't.
Yin Beichen stepped forward, chains clinking softly, and raised a single hand. The ground trembled violently under the pressure of divine energy. Arrows of light descended from above, searing stone and flame alike.
"Move!" she shouted, but he didn't.
He stood there, calm, as if the storm above were nothing more than a breeze.
A massive pillar of blinding light slammed into the courtyard, the force enough to crack stone walls. She was thrown back, landing hard against the cold floor. Pain exploded across her ribs, but she scrambled to her feet, heart hammering.
Heaven's wrath was real. And this time, it wanted him.
"Yueyin," he said quietly, voice steady even as the world around them broke apart, "stay close. Trust me."
The words should have comforted her. Instead, they set her heart aflame, a mixture of fear, desire, and the terrible pull of knowing she had no choice.
Another wave of energy descended. This time, it wasn't aimed at them, it was aimed at their bond. The air shimmered, attempting to sever the invisible thread connecting them.
Shen Yueyin froze, seeing it. The cruel, divine intent was unmistakable. Heaven wanted them broken. To test her obedience. To punish him before he could awaken fully.
Her hands shook, nails digging into her palms. She wanted to reach for him. She wanted to scream at Heaven. She wanted to defy it all and hold him, even if it meant her life.
And then, with a movement so fluid it seemed almost impossible, Yin Beichen stepped between her and the next strike of divine energy.
He didn't attack. He didn't fight. He merely stood, calm as death itself, and the energy shattered against him like water against rock.
Shen Yueyin's breath caught violently. He was alive. Unyielding. Untouchable.
And yet, even as her heart ached, she realized the truth.
If Heaven wanted to destroy them… it would have to destroy them together.
Her body trembled as she took a step closer to him, every nerve screaming with the impossible pull of desire and fear. She would not leave him. She could not.
Heaven could send its wrath. It could bend the world. It could try to tear them apart.
But some fires… refused to burn.
And some hearts… refused to obey.