Morning arrived quietly.
The city was different at dawn.
Mist lingered low between buildings, thin and pale like a veil not yet lifted. Vendors were only just setting up their stalls. The smell of steamed buns and roasted chestnuts drifted through narrow streets. Somewhere in the distance, a temple bell rang once.
Su Yanluo stood at the entrance of his small house and watched.
This world felt… solid.
His previous life had been filled with urgency, bloodshed, and endless cultivation competition. But this city was still mortal. Ordinary people moved without sensing spiritual currents. Children laughed without knowing about Dao. Merchants argued over copper coins instead of cultivation techniques.
It was peaceful.
And unfamiliar.
He stepped out.
He wanted to see everything.
Not as a conqueror.
Not as a genius.
But as someone reborn.
---
As he walked, he became aware of something subtle.
People were looking at him.
Not suspiciously.
Not fearfully.
Just… looking.
He passed a bronze mirror displayed outside a shop and paused.
For a moment, he studied his reflection carefully.
His features were delicate but not weak. His jaw was soft, his eyelashes long, his skin unusually pale. His dark hair fell past his shoulders, framing a face that carried a quiet, distant beauty.
His eyes were the most striking.
They were not the eyes of a child.
They were deep. Observing. Ancient.
In his past life, he had been handsome in a sharp, disciplined way. But this body—
This body carried an almost unearthly grace.
He exhaled slowly.
"So this is how I look now…"
A pair of girls walked past and immediately began whispering.
A shopkeeper stared a moment too long.
An old woman smiled at him as if seeing something auspicious.
He realized then: this vessel did not just carry cultivation potential.
It carried presence.
And he would need to learn how to carry it properly.
---
The city streets twisted more than he expected.
He had meant to explore casually, but without realizing it, he had walked far from the familiar outer district. The houses grew larger. The stone roads cleaner.
He turned down an alley, expecting to circle back.
Instead, the path split into three unfamiliar streets.
He paused.
He turned left.
Then right.
Then back again.
The sounds of the market faded. The air grew quieter.
"…I'm lost."
The realization came calmly, not panicked.
He had died once. Getting lost in a mortal city was hardly a catastrophe.
Still, he had underestimated how little this body knew about its surroundings.
He stepped forward again, choosing a random direction.
The alley narrowed.
The mist had not yet fully cleared here. Sunlight barely reached the ground.
He walked for several minutes before noticing something strange.
Footsteps.
Behind him.
Not rushed.
Not threatening.
Just following.
He stopped.
The footsteps stopped.
He turned slowly.
A young man stood at the entrance of the alley.
Tall.
Broad-shouldered.
A spear was strapped across his back, simple but well-maintained.
His clothing was not luxurious, but it was clean. Practical.
But none of that was what caught Su Yanluo's attention.
It was the expression on the young man's face.
He looked stunned.
Not frightened.
Not aggressive.
Just… completely captivated.
For a long moment, neither of them spoke.
The mist drifted between them like a curtain.
The young man swallowed slightly before finally managing words.
"Are you… lost?"
His voice was steady, but there was something beneath it. A tightness. As if he were trying very hard not to stare too openly.
Su Yanluo tilted his head slightly.
"Yes," he answered honestly.
The single word seemed to hit the young man harder than expected.
He had not anticipated the voice.
It was calm. Low. Gentle.
The young man stepped forward cautiously.
"My name is Li Fengyun," he said, almost reflexively. "You're near the eastern inner district. The outer district is in the opposite direction."
Su Yanluo studied him carefully.
Strong posture.
Stable breathing.
Subtle but present spiritual energy.
This one was not ordinary.
He was preparing for cultivation recruitment.
"Su Yanluo," he replied.
Li Fengyun repeated the name silently in his mind.
Su. Yan. Luo.
It felt like something sacred.
He had never seen someone like this before.
Not just beautiful.
But… luminous.
As if the morning mist bent around him.
As if the world softened in his presence.
He realized he had been staring again and quickly looked away.
"You shouldn't walk here alone," Li Fengyun added, clearing his throat. "Some rough types gather in this part of the district."
Su Yanluo's eyes flickered faintly.
"I can handle myself."
There was no arrogance in the statement.
Just certainty.
That certainty unsettled Li Fengyun slightly.
He could sense something strange about this person. The way he stood. The way he breathed. Even without an obvious cultivation aura, there was weight.
Not heavy.
But deep.
Like standing at the edge of still water and knowing it could be unfathomably deep beneath the surface.
"I believe you," Li Fengyun said quietly.
And he did.
Which surprised him.
They stood in silence again.
The alley did not feel threatening anymore.
It felt… charged.
Finally, Li Fengyun gestured toward the brighter street behind him.
"I'll walk you back."
"You don't have to," Su Yanluo replied.
"I know."
A small pause.
"But I want to."
The words left his mouth before he could stop them.
He immediately felt heat rise to his ears.
Su Yanluo noticed.
And for the first time since his rebirth, something inside him shifted slightly—not Dao, not cultivation.
Human warmth.
He nodded once.
"Then thank you."
---
They walked side by side.
Li Fengyun kept half a step behind unconsciously, as if guarding him.
Neither spoke much at first.
But the silence wasn't uncomfortable.
After a few moments, Li Fengyun asked, "Are you planning to join the Azure Blue Sea Sect?"
"Yes."
The answer came without hesitation.
Li Fengyun's grip tightened slightly on the strap of his spear.
"So am I."
A brief pause.
"Then we may become fellow disciples."
The idea felt… strange.
But not unwelcome.
Li Fengyun glanced at him again.
Sunlight had finally broken through the mist, illuminating Su Yanluo fully.
For a second, Li Fengyun forgot how to breathe.
He had thought the mist made him look ethereal.
But in direct light—
He looked unreal.
Not fragile.
Not soft.
But refined.
Like something carved carefully by the heavens themselves.
Li Fengyun quickly looked forward again.
He had never reacted like this to anyone before.
And it unsettled him deeply.
But beneath the confusion, something steadier was forming.
Resolve.
He did not know why.
He did not know how.
But he felt certain of one thing:
He wanted to stand beside this person.
Not behind.
Not beneath.
Beside.
And if that meant growing stronger—
He would.
---
They reached the outer district shortly after.
Su Yanluo stopped.
"This is where I live."
Li Fengyun nodded.
"I'll see you at the recruitment next month."
"Yes."
Another pause.
Neither seemed eager to leave.
Finally, Li Fengyun spoke again, softer this time.
"Be careful… until then."
Su Yanluo looked at him fully.
"I will."
And something in that gaze made Li Fengyun's chest tighten painfully.
Not because it was cold.
But because it was distant.
As if Su Yanluo was walking a path far beyond mortal streets.
Li Fengyun watched until he disappeared inside the small house.
Only then did he exhale.
"What was that…" he muttered to himself.
He pressed a hand lightly against his chest.
His heartbeat had not slowed.
And he knew, with unsettling clarity—
The recruitment next month would not just change his cultivation path.
It would change his life.
---
Inside the house, Su Yanluo leaned lightly against the door.
He closed his eyes.
The Infinite Vessel within him stirred faintly.
Not from cultivation.
From connection.
A thread had formed.
Small.
Delicate.
But real.
Li Fengyun.
He repeated the name once in his mind.
Then he walked toward the window and looked toward the distant mountains beyond the city walls.
One month.
The mortal realm was quiet.
But beneath that quiet—
The world was preparing to move.
And so was he.mk