Morning dew clung to the edge of the Dreamveil Forest, glinting faintly like shards of light on every blade of grass. The mist whispered lazily through the trees, coiling around the mansion that stood at its heart — Dreamveil Estate, the home of the man even the world itself seemed to hold its breath around.
The birds didn't sing near it.
The wind didn't blow too strong around it.
And time… somehow, felt slower there.
Ryugan had wandered the edge of that forest many times during his patrols, but today — something drew him deeper. The scent of an unfamiliar energy brushed against his senses. It wasn't divine, demonic, or spiritual. It was something far older. Something that existed before existence decided what "existence" meant.
He landed lightly on the dirt path, his azure robes flowing behind him. The faint crackle of qi around his body dimmed as he approached the mansion gates.
"What… is this place?" he muttered under his breath.
The closer he got, the heavier the air became. Not oppressive — no, not even suffocating. It was aware.
Every step he took, the ground seemed to know. The trees turned toward him slightly, as if the forest itself was watching.
When the obsidian gates of Dreamveil Estate came into full view, Ryugan froze. The mansion's walls seemed to shimmer between form and void — black marble threaded with veins of radiant blue light. He could feel the pulse of creation itself behind those doors.
Then, they opened.
"Enter."
The voice came calm, casual… but the single word carried enough authority to shake his heart.
Ryugan's body moved before his mind did. He stepped through the threshold, and immediately his knees almost buckled. The air inside was thick — no, divine. Each breath felt like inhaling galaxies.
The interior was unlike anything he had ever seen: floating staircases, halls lined with constellations, floors that reflected entire universes beneath the glassy surface.
And there, sitting at the far end of the grand hall, was a man sipping tea.
Lucien Dreamveil.
His eyes were calm — impossibly calm — like the surface of a still black ocean that could drown creation itself if stirred.
"Welcome, Ryugan," Lucien said softly, setting his cup down. "I was wondering when you'd wander close enough."
Ryugan immediately bowed. "I—I did not intend to intrude, senior. I felt an aura I couldn't comprehend and came to investigate."
Lucien raised an eyebrow, faint amusement in his tone. "Investigate? You sound like one of those old sect elders who think they can measure what they don't understand."
"I…" Ryugan swallowed hard. "Forgive my presumption."
Lucien stood, his presence alone dimming the light in the room for a moment. Even though he didn't release a single drop of energy, the entire mansion responded — the walls humbly shifting, the air thickening in reverence.
"Relax," Lucien said, waving his hand lazily. "If I wanted you gone, you wouldn't be standing."
That sentence alone sent a shiver down Ryugan's spine.
Then, a small giggle echoed from the stairs.
Aelira came running down, her silver hair bouncing in waves, her eyes bright like molten starlight. "Papa! You have guest?"
Lucien's expression softened instantly. "Seems so. Aelira, this is Ryugan — one of the sect masters from Azure Blue."
Ryugan blinked. The girl's aura was… impossible. It wasn't cultivation; it was existence refined. She carried within her the faint pulse of void and creation intertwined.
Lucien crouched slightly beside her, brushing her hair behind her ear. "Aelira will be visiting your sect soon," he said, looking up at Ryugan. "But before that, I want to make one thing clear."
The air shifted.
Every atom in the hall trembled.
"If she is ever harmed—" Lucien's tone didn't rise, but the sky outside cracked faintly, as though reality itself braced for something catastrophic. "—by anyone, for any reason other than a duel, a spar, or something she herself chooses to face… I will erase not only the sect, but the memory of its existence from this realm."
Ryugan's breath caught. His body instinctively knelt lower, not out of choice — but because the weight of that promise commanded it.
"D-does Senior mean… erase, as in—"
"As in," Lucien said simply, "never was."
For the first time in centuries, Ryugan — the Supreme Elder of the Azure Celestial Sect, a man who had stood before primordial beasts and ancient gods — felt fear. True, deep, paralyzing fear.
"I… understand," he said quickly, bowing his head to the floor. "No harm shall ever come to her. On my name, and on the heavens that witness it."
Lucien's aura vanished instantly, replaced with the faint calm of gentle night.
"Good." He smiled faintly and looked down at Aelira. "You'll like it there, I think. They have other children who can play with you."
Aelira beamed. "Play?"
Lucien nodded. "Yes. But listen to Ryugan. And remember what I told you: always think before you fight."
"Mm!"
Ryugan took a deep, shaky breath as Lucien turned back to him.
"I'll visit tomorrow," Lucien said casually, as though he hadn't just threatened to collapse an entire sect from existence. "I'd like to see where my daughter will be spending her days."
Ryugan stood, bowing again. "Of course. I'll… make preparations."
Lucien waved him off. "Don't overdo it. I don't need fanfare."
Ryugan forced a strained smile. "N-no, of course not."
He left the estate trembling slightly, sweat running down his back despite the cool air.
Azure Celestial Sect
High atop the floating mountain range known as the Skydrift Peaks.
Ryugan returned that evening in a flash of blue light. The guards bowed low immediately.
"Sect Master Ryugan!"
"Summon the elders," he ordered sharply. "Now. And the vice sect leader as well."
Within minutes, the grand hall filled — elders in golden robes, masters of various divisions, and the vice sect leader, a calm woman with silver eyes named Lady Rinshou.
Ryugan stood at the head of the chamber, his expression deathly serious.
"I will make this brief," he began. "Tomorrow, we will receive a guest of the highest order. His daughter, Aelira Dreamveil, will be joining our sect as the Heavenly Daughter — a title above even the Saintess."
A murmur spread through the room instantly.
"The Heavenly Daughter?!" one elder gasped. "Sect Master, that title is reserved for divine lineage only—"
"She is divine," Ryugan snapped, cutting him off. "More divine than any of us can comprehend."
The room went silent.
Lady Rinshou folded her arms. "Sect Master… forgive my bluntness, but you sound shaken."
Ryugan turned to her slowly. His eyes, which had seen countless battles and centuries of peace, were still filled with lingering terror.
"You did not stand before him," he said quietly. "You did not feel what it was like to breathe in his presence. The air itself obeys him. The world bends around him without effort. He… is not a man, Rinshou. He is something that creation itself answers to."
A long silence.
Then, another elder spoke carefully. "And his daughter?"
"She will join us," Ryugan said, regaining a fraction of his composure. "She must be treated with utmost respect. She will be untouchable. If any harm comes to her… we do not merely die."
The elders exchanged nervous glances.
"What do you mean, Sect Master?"
Ryugan turned, his tone dark and absolute.
"He said — and I quote — if she is harmed for anything beyond her own choice, he will erase our sect from reality. Not destroy. Erase."
The entire chamber went cold.
Even Lady Rinshou paled. "Erase…?"
"Yes," Ryugan said grimly. "Gone. Forgotten by time itself."
He looked around at them, one by one. "Tomorrow, when he visits, every disciple, elder, and spirit beast will bow. You will smile, you will be respectful, and you will say nothing that displeases him. Am I understood?"
A chorus of fearful "Yes, Sect Master!" echoed.
Ryugan exhaled heavily, pressing a hand to his temple.
"Good. Now, prepare the Sky Courtyard for his arrival. Everything must be perfect. Dismissed."
As the elders hurried out, Lady Rinshou stayed behind.
"Ryugan," she said quietly, "you're trembling."
He forced a weak smile. "You would too, if you'd seen him."
"Is he… truly that strong?"
Ryugan stared out the window, toward the distant horizon where the Dreamveil Forest lay hidden in mist.
"He didn't release a single ounce of power," he whispered. "And yet… when he smiled, the world held its breath."
The next morning, every peak of the Azure Celestial Sect was bustling. Disciples swept courtyards that hadn't seen visitors in decades, masters ordered their divisions into perfect formation, and the banners of the sect fluttered under the rising sun.
And at the center of it all, Ryugan stood waiting.
Above him, the sky rippled faintly—like the world itself was preparing for the arrival of something far, far beyond its measure.
Lucien Dreamveil was coming.
And the world would remember this day as the moment even gods stood still.