The change in Li Yao was imperceptible to the naked eye, but the very air in the cultivation cave seemed to bow around him, not in submission, but in recognition. He had become a fixed point of absolute stillness in the turning world. Stepping out of the cave after his successful connection, the vibrant life of the Verdant Mountain Sect felt like a gentle, pleasant dream.
His first stop was not Elder Guo, but the Ancestral Prayer Pavilion. He found Liu Mei there, not sweeping, but sitting in meditation, her brow furrowed in intense concentration. She was attempting the "valley" method he had suggested, trying to perceive the Earth Law not as a force to possess, but as a presence to coexist with.
He did not announce himself. He simply stood and observed. He could now see the flows of energy with a clarity that was almost architectural. Liu Mei's spiritual sense was stretched thin, like a delicate net, trying to catch the "patience" of the earth rather than its "power." She was failing, but failing in a new and interesting way. She was straining against the limits of her Mist Talent, not by trying to break them, but by trying to see past them.
After a long while, she sighed in frustration and opened her eyes, jumping slightly when she saw him.
"Senior Brother Li! You're out of seclusion."
"I am," he said, his voice a calm that seemed to settle the very dust in the air. "You are trying to grasp the concept by force of will. That is still the way of the mountain. The valley does not grasp. It accepts. It is defined by what it does not hold."
He knelt beside her and placed a hand on the stone floor. "Do not reach for the earth. Let the earth reach into you. Feel its weight, not as a burden to carry, but as a truth to acknowledge. Your talent is not a limit on your power; it is a definition of your relationship. A Mist-Talent's relationship with the law is subtle, pervasive, and gentle. Be the mist in the valley, not the miner in the mountain."
As he spoke, he exerted a minute fraction of his Void Connection. He didn't manipulate the Earth Law. He simply softened the boundary between Liu Mei's perception and the law itself. He created a temporary, gentle invitation for the "patience" of the earth to make itself known to her.
Liu Mei's eyes widened. She felt it. Not a surge of power, but a profound, deep stillness, a slow, rhythmic certainty that had been there all along. It wasn't something to be taken; it was a truth to be realized. Her straining spiritual sense relaxed, and in that relaxation, she finally felt the Earth Law as a partner, not a resource.
A tear traced a path down her cheek. It was the first time her cultivation had felt peaceful instead of struggle. The bottleneck that had constrained her for years didn't break; it simply dissolved, rendered irrelevant by a change in perspective. Her aura, once tense and striving, settled into a calm, stable hum. She had not advanced a realm, but she had advanced immeasurably in comprehension. The path was now open.
"Thank you," she breathed, the words filled with more emotion than he had ever heard from her.
"The understanding was always yours," Li Yao said, standing. "I merely swept away some of the noise."
He left her there, bathed in her newfound peace, and went to find Elder Guo.
The Elder was in his study, surrounded by scrolls, looking older and more worried than Li Yao remembered. He looked up as Li Yao entered, and his eyes narrowed. He couldn't sense any change in Li Yao's power level—the boy was still a complete blank—but the quality of his presence was different. It was deeper, more final.
"The seal," Elder Guo said immediately, forgoing any greeting. "It's stable. More stable than it's been in centuries. What did you do?"
"I had a conversation with the principle behind it," Li Yao replied. "We have an understanding now."
Elder Guo shook his head, a gesture of bewildered acceptance. "And your cultivation?"
"I have connected with my path. The next stage is to achieve resonance."
"Resonance?" the Elder leaned forward. "With what? The Void? How does nothing resonate?"
"That is the question I must answer," Li Yao said. "To do so, I cannot remain within the sect. My understanding is now beyond the Earth Law that defines this place. To achieve Void Resonance, I must travel. I must experience the full spectrum of the world's 'something'—the raging Fire Laws of the North, the boundless Water Laws of the South, the ephemeral Wind and Time Laws of the East. I must feel what I am to balance."
It was a declaration of intent to wander, to become a true independent cultivator.
Elder Guo was silent for a long time. He knew he could not stop him. Li Yao was no longer just a disciple; he was a force of nature the sect was hosting.
"You will go alone?" he finally asked.
"For now. The path I walk is solitary. But," Li Yao added, "the sect will have a guardian in my absence. Sister Liu Mei's comprehension has deepened. She may not have the power of a Stone Talent, but she now has an understanding that could make her the sect's wisest elder in time. Nurture that. It is a different kind of strength."
Elder Guo nodded slowly, seeing the truth in it. The Verdant Mountain Sect, in trying to produce mighty oaks, had forgotten the strength of deep, patient roots. Liu Mei represented those roots.
"When will you leave?"
"Now," Li Yao said. "There is no need for ceremony. I am a void; I leave no ripple when I depart."
He bowed to the Elder who had, in his own way, protected and enabled his strange journey. Then, he turned and walked out of the study, out of the main hall, and down the mountain path.
He carried no pack, no weapons, no treasures. He needed nothing. The world was his textbook, and his body was the pen that would write the final verses of the Void Scripture upon it.
His goal was the peak of mortality, the Transcendent Mortal Realm. To get there, he had to harmonize his void with all of creation, to make his silence resonate with every note in the universe's song. He walked away from the Verdant Mountain Sect, not as a departing disciple, but as a wandering fulcrum, seeking the weights he was meant to balance.
His journey to the corners of Tai Xuan World had begun.