Mu Xuan did not return to the hidden chamber.
After leaving the northern corridor, he walked slowly through the rows of stone pillars that connected to the inner court. By now, the morning light had risen higher, spilling across the green stone floor in long streaks, bright yet cold. From the outside, the Mu Clan still seemed to be moving through an ordinary day. Stewards walked between the courtyards, disciples trained in the smaller arenas, and servants swept fallen leaves beneath the ancient trees.
But Mu Xuan knew that the calm on the surface was only a shell.
The inner court trial was about to begin.
The Name Contest was no longer far away.
And the Lin Clan... had already arrived.
The cold current in his meridians was still flowing slowly as before. Compared to yesterday, it had quieted somewhat, but Mu Xuan was not careless because of that. He understood all too well that the "silence" the old man had told him to learn was still only something he had barely touched.
If he truly had to stand before a crowd, before name-testing formations, before people deliberately watching him, he was not certain he could hide himself completely.
Mu Xuan walked a little farther, then stopped beneath the roof of a quiet corridor.
He raised his right hand.
A thread of force, so thin it was almost invisible, gathered at his fingertip.
In front of him, one of the stone pillars bore a simple defensive name pattern, its glow so faint that an ordinary person would have missed it entirely. Mu Xuan watched it for a few breaths, then slowly lowered his finger to touch its outer edge.
One streak of light trembled faintly.
A line of the pattern shifted slightly, then immediately returned to normal.
Mu Xuan withdrew his hand.
It had been only a tiny movement, yet he could still feel his fingertip go numb for an instant. It was not pain in the usual sense, but more like the force within him had brushed against something it instinctively disliked, and then reacted on its own.
His control was still not enough.
If he were to face more complex name patterns, or people with stronger name power, what he had now would not be enough to keep himself hidden.
Mu Xuan lowered his hand, his expression unchanged.
He was not disappointed.
At the very least, from yesterday to today, he had finally begun to see the road he needed to walk.
It was no longer a blind darkness that he had to grope through without direction.
A light breeze drifted down the corridor. At that moment, hurried footsteps sounded from the far end.
An inner court disciple ran past, then abruptly halted when he saw Mu Xuan standing there and quickly cupped his hands in greeting.
"Eldest Young Master."
Mu Xuan looked at him.
"What is it?"
The disciple raised his head slightly. His tone remained respectful, but the urgency in his eyes was hard to hide.
"The Lin Clan's people have already entered the main hall."
"I heard that this time it isn't just their elders. Even their younger generation came with them."
As soon as he said that, it was as if he realized he had spoken too much, and he hurriedly lowered his head again.
"This disciple has spoken out of turn."
Mu Xuan said nothing more. He only gave a faint nod.
The disciple immediately withdrew.
The corridor fell quiet again.
Mu Xuan remained standing there for a few more breaths.
The fact that the Lin Clan had brought their younger generation with them made one thing very clear. If this had truly been nothing more than a formal visit, their elders alone would have been enough. Bringing the younger ones meant they had another purpose.
They wanted to see.
They wanted to see the younger generation of the Mu Clan.
They wanted to see who, exactly, had been touched by the strange phenomenon during the Name Inscription Ceremony.
Mu Xuan turned and continued toward the main hall.
He did not go too close.
Nor did he intend to step inside.
But there were some things that, even if he could not witness them all firsthand, he still wanted to hear for himself.
The Mu Clan's reception hall was located in the southern part of the inner court, slightly larger than the ordinary main hall, with several connected corridors around it. By the time Mu Xuan approached, he could already sense unfamiliar auras.
They were not overwhelming.
But they were sharp.
There were three or four strange auras inside the hall. One belonged to an older figure, while the others were much younger, yet all of them carried the stable feeling of people who had been tempered carefully.
Mu Xuan stopped in a slanted corridor connected to a side chamber.
From this position, he could not see the entire hall, but he could still hear the conversation within.
A middle-aged male voice, gentle on the surface, said,
"It has been a long time since I last had the chance to visit the Mu Clan. I heard that in recent months, the younger generation of your clan has made great progress. This old man also wished to broaden his horizons a little."
That voice clearly did not belong to the Mu Clan.
Immediately afterward came Mu Zhengcang's steady voice, as calm as ever.
"Brother Lin is too courteous."
"The juniors of our clan are still inexperienced. I fear they may not be worthy of outsiders' notice."
The man from the Lin Clan chuckled softly.
"The Mu Clan is too modest."
"Just the disturbance caused during this year's Name Inscription Ceremony... is already enough to make people unable to help but feel curious."
As soon as those words were spoken, the air inside the hall seemed to fall quiet for the briefest moment.
Mu Xuan stood outside in the corridor, his gaze deepening slightly.
As expected, they had come straight for that matter.
A moment later, one of the Mu Clan elders inside the hall finally spoke in a cool voice.
"Every Name Inscription Ceremony carries some degree of fluctuation. Rumors outside always like to embellish things. Brother Lin would do well not to believe too much."
The man from the Lin Clan did not answer at once.
Then he laughed again, his tone mild.
"If it were only rumor, then naturally it would not be worth believing."
"But if even several stabilizing stones in the vicinity of the Mu Clan were said to have fluctuated for a short period of time... then I fear it cannot be dismissed entirely as gossip."
At that, Mu Xuan's eyes shifted ever so slightly.
It seemed the Lin Clan had not come here empty-handed. They had investigated before stepping into Mu territory.
Silence once again settled over the reception hall.
At last, Mu Zhengcang spoke slowly.
"Brother Lin is quite attentive to the Mu Clan. Mu acknowledges the sentiment."
"But what happens within our clan is for the Mu Clan to handle."
His voice remained level.
Not too hard, but not yielding in the slightest.
Mu Xuan could hear it clearly.
His father was still the same. On the surface, he never shielded anyone too openly, yet he would also never allow outsiders to step on the Mu Clan under the guise of courtesy.
At that moment, a younger voice sounded.
"Since it is a matter within your clan, this junior ought not to speak carelessly."
"But... if the inner court trial is only a few days away, and this year's Name Contest is already approaching, then perhaps it would be better to let the younger generation of both sides exchange pointers in advance. It would help lighten the atmosphere as well."
The voice made no attempt to conceal its arrogance.
Mu Xuan had not yet seen the speaker, but he could already imagine the type of person he was.
A genius of the Lin Clan's younger generation.
The air inside the hall seemed to grow heavier again.
One of the Mu Clan elders said coldly,
"You are quite eager, little friend."
The young man laughed.
"I would not dare."
"It is only that I have heard the name of the Mu Clan's younger generation for a long time now. Especially... that rather special Eldest Young Master."
The moment those last words fell, even the corridor outside the hall seemed to cool by another degree.
Mu Xuan stood still, his expression unchanged.
So in the end, they had still brought him up.
And directly, at that.
Immediately afterward, Mu Xuan heard the faint shift of a wooden chair within the hall.
Then Mu Zhengcang spoke again, slower than before.
"If it is the inner court trial, then in three days' time, all of you will naturally see."
"There is no need to be in such a hurry."
The young Lin Clan genius seemed as though he wanted to continue, but the older voice beside him cut in first.
"In that case, we will not force the matter any further."
"This old man only hopes that when the time comes, the younger generation of both sides will not disappoint their elders."
After that, the conversation shifted toward more superficial matters. Mu Xuan did not continue listening.
He turned and left the corridor.
Everything was already clear enough.
The Lin Clan had not come merely to look at the Mu Clan. They had come to push a line of pressure forward, to place that pressure upon the younger generation of the inner court, upon the coming trial, and most of all... to thrust the Mu Clan's "Eldest Young Master" into the center of everyone's gaze.
The more they did so, the harder it would become for the Mu Clan's internal factions to continue avoiding him.
Mu Xuan had not gone far when he met Mu Yurou at the western corridor leading back from the library pavilion.
She was coming from that direction, still holding a thin volume in her hand. But when she saw him, her steps slowed slightly.
"You heard it too?" she asked.
Mu Xuan stopped.
"I heard enough."
Mu Yurou looked at him, then back toward the reception hall behind him.
"The Lin Clan's visit this time is not simple."
"Among the younger generation who came with them, the one who just spoke was Lin Shuyun."
Mu Xuan's brows lifted slightly.
"You know him?"
"A little," Mu Yurou replied. "I've heard he is one of the three most highly regarded among the Lin Clan's younger generation this year. Not narrow-minded... but very proud."
She paused, then added,
"When he said those words in the reception hall, he was not only speaking for the elders to hear."
"He was speaking for the entire Mu Clan."
Mu Xuan gave a faint nod.
Of course he understood.
That statement had not been aimed at him alone, yet it had pushed him into a place that could no longer be avoided in the coming inner court trial.
Mu Yurou looked at him for another moment, then said quietly,
"The branch lines within the clan have already begun talking."
"If outsiders have already brought you up, then in three days, the inner court trial will no longer be a simple selection."
Mu Xuan asked,
"What are they saying?"
Mu Yurou fell silent for a moment before answering.
"Some say that if you do not appear, the Mu Clan will lose face before the Lin Clan."
"But if you do appear and fail to show anything worthy of notice... then it will be even more humiliating."
After saying that, she no longer looked directly at him.
Because even if she was only repeating what others had said, those words were still cold enough.
Mu Xuan listened, his expression unchanged.
"They are not wrong."
Mu Yurou frowned slightly.
"You're not angry?"
Mu Xuan looked at her.
"What use would anger be?"
"What they say matters less than what will actually happen in three days."
Mu Yurou did not answer immediately.
She realized that Mu Xuan was slightly different from yesterday.
Not only in his aura.
But in the way he looked at things.
In the past, every time he had been forced beneath the scrutiny of others, there had always been a kind of stillness on him tinged with restraint. But now, that stillness seemed colder and clearer.
Like a man who had been pushed back for far too long, and had finally stopped retreating.
After a while, Mu Yurou finally said,
"No matter what, you should still prepare."
"If Lin Shuyun has already said as much, then during the trial, he will most likely make an even greater issue of it."
Mu Xuan nodded.
"I know."
With that, he did not remain any longer.
Mu Yurou stood there and watched his back recede into the distance. Her brows drew together slightly, then relaxed.
She did not know what exactly Mu Xuan was preparing for.
But her intuition told her that in three days' time, the one who would shock the inner court might not necessarily be the Lin Clan genius.
The news of the Lin Clan's arrival spread even faster than Mu Xuan had expected.
In less than half a day, nearly everyone in the inner court knew that guests from the Lin Clan had come to the Mu Clan, and had even deliberately brought up the Eldest Young Master in the reception hall. To the younger generation of the Mu Clan, that was almost like a slap delivered in secret.
Especially to those who had always regarded the honor of the Mu Clan's younger generation as something outsiders must never be allowed to trample on.
The eastern training ground was much more crowded than usual that afternoon.
Mu Qinghe was there as well.
He stood in the center of the arena, having just driven a name-infused fist into a stone testing stele, causing the patterns on its surface to vibrate. Several disciples standing nearby immediately exclaimed in admiration.
But Mu Qinghe felt no satisfaction at all.
The words Lin Shuyun had spoken in the reception hall still echoed in his mind.
"Especially... that rather special Eldest Young Master."
The other side had not mentioned him first.
Nor had they asked who else among the Mu Clan's younger generation stood out.
Instead, they had gone straight to Mu Xuan.
That was as good as saying that, at least in the eyes of outsiders, what was most worth watching among the Mu Clan's younger generation was not merely the geniuses who stood openly in the light, but that silent anomaly instead.
A disciple beside him spoke quietly.
"Senior Brother Qinghe, if the Eldest Young Master really appears in three days—"
Mu Qinghe shot him a cold glance.
The disciple immediately fell silent.
At that moment, a strange voice sounded from outside the training ground.
"This is the Mu Clan's inner court training ground?"
Everyone turned at once.
Three young men in blue robes embroidered with gray cloud patterns were standing at the entrance. The one in the center was tall, with long eyes and a face that was not especially striking, yet his expression carried an unmistakable arrogance.
From their clothing alone, everyone could tell they were from the Lin Clan.
And the young man in the middle was clearly Lin Shuyun.
Mu Qinghe narrowed his eyes.
"The Lin Clan?"
Lin Shuyun swept his gaze casually around the arena, then smiled.
"We were only taking a walk to have a look."
"I heard the Mu Clan's younger generation is preparing for the coming trial, and I happened to feel a little restless. I wanted to see how everyone trains."
His tone sounded polite.
Yet the more polite he sounded, the more obvious the provocation became.
One Mu Clan disciple could not hold back and said coldly,
"The Mu Clan's inner court training ground is not a place for outsiders to wander through as they please."
Lin Shuyun turned to look at him and smiled faintly.
"Is that so?"
"I thought that between clans in the same region, a little exchange before the Name Contest would be considered normal."
Mu Qinghe stepped forward.
"You want an exchange?"
Lin Shuyun looked at him.
Their gazes collided in the middle of the training ground, and the air instantly tightened.
Then Lin Shuyun slowly nodded.
"If Brother Mu is interested, then naturally."
No one stopped them.
No one said anything unnecessary.
The training ground, which had been lively moments before, fell abruptly silent.
Mu Qinghe stood at the center of the arena, while name power gradually rose around him. Faint rays of light gathered along his arm, slowly condensing into a stable pressure. Clearly, he did not intend to unleash a true battle here, but he also had no intention of letting the Lin Clan look down upon him.
Lin Shuyun merely smiled and did not draw a weapon.
He raised his right hand, and three dim circular patterns appeared before him, rotating gently.
That single movement alone caused several Mu Clan disciples' expressions to shift.
The other side's name power was extremely stable.
Mu Qinghe said nothing and threw a punch directly.
The force of the punch went straight forward with a low whistling of wind.
Lin Shuyun lifted a hand to block. The three circles before him trembled at once. The two currents of force collided and released a deep, muffled boom before dispersing together.
The ground beneath both men's feet remained unbroken.
But everyone watching knew that this was not because the force was weak. It was because both of them had controlled their strength extremely well.
Mu Qinghe retreated half a step.
Lin Shuyun did not retreat at all.
The faint smile on his lips faded somewhat.
"Not bad."
"It seems the Mu Clan's younger generation still has people worth looking at."
Those words sounded like praise on the surface, yet also like he had only just acknowledged Mu Qinghe as barely acceptable.
The expressions of several Mu Clan disciples immediately darkened.
Mu Qinghe clenched his hand.
Just as he was about to take another step forward, Lin Shuyun suddenly glanced around the arena and casually added,
"It's only a pity... the one I truly wanted to see still hasn't shown himself."
The atmosphere of the entire training ground turned rigid at once.
Everyone understood exactly who he meant.
Mu Qinghe stared at Lin Shuyun and spoke in a voice that had gone completely cold.
"The Mu Clan is not a place where outsiders get to choose whom they want to see."
Lin Shuyun laughed.
"I was only speaking casually."
"If that Eldest Young Master of yours really participates in the trial three days from now, then I'll be below the stage watching closely."
Having said that, he did not remain any longer.
The three members of the Lin Clan simply turned and left the training ground, leaving behind a heavy silence.
Mu Qinghe stood at the center of the arena, his face dark.
A disciple behind him said carefully,
"Senior Brother Qinghe..."
Mu Qinghe did not turn around. He only said coldly,
"If he doesn't show himself in three days, then the Mu Clan will become a joke."
After saying that, he clenched his hand so tightly that his nails nearly dug into his palm.
At the far end of the corridor leading back toward his courtyard, Mu Xuan stood still for a moment before turning and walking on.
He had arrived just as Lin Shuyun had stepped into the training ground.
He simply had not entered.
He had stood outside, heard everything, seen everything.
Mu Xuan understood very clearly that Lin Shuyun had not come merely to exchange a few moves with Mu Qinghe. What had just happened was nothing more than an opening gesture to make that final sentence sound as natural as possible.
They were trying to force the Mu Clan to bring him out.
Not because he was the strongest.
But because he was the strangest.
And in the eyes of outsiders, what was strange was always more worth testing than what was stable.
Mu Xuan walked back toward his courtyard.
The path was not long, but he moved rather slowly.
The evening wind had begun to rise, carrying with it the dry chill of the fading day. In his mind, it was no longer Lin Shuyun's words that remained, but the faint vibration of the name pattern beneath his fingertip from that morning.
A single stroke shifted.
As long as he could make one stroke shift before a dead pattern, then one day he would also be able to do the same before a living pattern, before an active name art, perhaps even before another person's attack.
Three days.
Not enough to make him vastly stronger.
But perhaps enough to ensure that he would no longer stand motionless as he had before.
When Mu Xuan pushed open the gate to his courtyard, someone was already waiting inside.
It was the same middle-aged steward from earlier that morning.
As soon as he saw Mu Xuan return, the man cupped his hands respectfully.
"Eldest Young Master."
Mu Xuan looked at him.
"What is it this time?"
The steward raised his head, his expression serious.
"The Clan Leader sends word."
"The list of those participating in the inner court trial the day after tomorrow... has already been decided."
Mu Xuan said nothing.
The steward looked directly at him, then continued slowly,
"Your name is on it, Eldest Young Master."
The breeze within the courtyard stirred a dry branch, producing the faintest rustling sound.
Mu Xuan stood where he was.
His expression remained calm as ever—neither surprised, nor resistant.
Only after two breaths did he give the slightest nod.
"I understand."
The steward seemed as if he wanted to say something else, but in the end, he did not.
He cupped his hands once more and withdrew.
The courtyard returned to silence.
Mu Xuan stood beneath the shade of the old tree and lifted his eyes toward the late afternoon sky. The sunlight was beginning to slant downward, though it was not yet truly evening. Above the layered rooftops of the Mu Clan, the sky remained broad and bright in a cold sort of way.
Since the day of the Name Inscription Ceremony, one event after another had been pushing him forward.
The Heavenly Dao had looked down.
The main hall had begun watching.
The branch lines wanted to test him.
And the outsiders wanted to see him.
Now, in two days' time, the inner court trial would finally begin.
Mu Xuan slowly clenched his right hand.
His fingertip still remembered clearly the sensation of dragging one line of a name pattern slightly off course in a single instant.
He knew.
This time, there was no path left for him to retreat.
But if there was no longer any road behind him—
then he would step forward with his own feet.