The sword rested against Ling Yue's neck, cold and unwavering.
The sword did not tremble.
For the briefest moment, fear flickered across her face. She had felt it — the instant his consciousness awakened, he had sensed the faint current of life power flowing within her body. That same mysterious force that had resonated violently between them inside the Abyss.
Yet he could not see her expression.
His eyes, once sharp enough to pierce through battlefields and read the intent of thousands, now stared into endless darkness.
"Who are you?" he asked quietly.
His voice was calm. Too calm.
Ling Yue swallowed the fear rising in her throat and forced out a small laugh.
"You wake up and the first thing you do is threaten the person who saved you?" she said. "That's very ungrateful."
The blade remained in place for another heartbeat.
Then slowly, it lowered.
Ling Yue stepped back immediately, rubbing her neck dramatically as if deeply offended.
"I carried you out of the Abyss on my back," she complained. "Your meridians were shattered. Your breath was barely there. I fed you recovery pills and used my spiritual energy to keep you alive. And this is how you repay me?"
His posture did not change.
"Answer my question," he repeated.
Ling Yue exhaled.
She began to explain.
She told him about the cliff, about falling into that desolate land of broken stone and raging spiritual winds. About the suffocating darkness and violent storms that surrounded the place where she found him.
"It was terrifying," she admitted quietly. "Most cultivators wouldn't dare step near it. I don't even know how I survived."
Mo Xuan remained silent.
The Endless Void Abyss devoured the strong and erased the weak. It did not spare the innocent.
Yet she had entered it.
Walked within it.
And emerged alive.
Was it because of the life power they shared?
Or had fate decided to bind their destinies that night?
After a long moment, he inclined his head slightly.
"…Thank you."
Ling Yue blinked.
"Oh? The blind swordsman knows manners too?"
A faint trace of something almost resembling amusement touched his lips — gone as quickly as it appeared.
"What is your name?" she asked.
He paused.
His cultivation was gone. His spiritual sea fractured. His enemies were not merely rivals — they were rulers and elders across realms.
If his true name spread within the Celestial Radiance Realm, death would not be far behind.
"I don't remember," he said quietly. "My name… my past… everything is unclear."
Ling Yue studied him carefully.
His bearing was too composed.
His aura too restrained.
Even blind and weakened, he did not feel fragile.
'He must have come from a powerful background,' she thought.
'Someone must have tried to erase him.'
When he thanked her again and admitted he could not repay the debt, she shrugged casually.
"If you have nowhere to go, join my sect."
"Your sect?"
"Yes. Moonlight Immortal Sect. You have no memory and no home. Start from the beginning."
He considered the suggestion carefully.
Remaining near her would allow him to study the life origin resonating within her body.
Staying in a heavenly sect was dangerous — but it was also concealment.
And concealment meant time.
"I agree," he said.
Ling Yue's face brightened immediately.
"Good! From today on, you're my junior."
She tilted her head thoughtfully.
"You need a name. I can't keep calling you 'Hey You.'"
Her gaze lingered briefly on his pale silver hair.
"Yue Chen."
"Yue," for moon.
"Chen," for dust before dawn.
A name like quiet light before sunrise.
A beginning after ruin.
He repeated it softly.
"Yue Chen…"
For now, that name would be enough.
Later, she guided him through the sect grounds.
The Moonlight Immortal Sect floated among clouds like a palace carved from starlight. White jade walkways connected terraces suspended in air. Disciples practiced sword techniques in wide courtyards, their blades cutting arcs of pale light.
"Our cultivation path begins with the Mortal Foundation Realm," Ling Yue explained as they walked slowly.
"Qi Gathering. Foundation Establishment. Core Formation. Nascent Soul."
She continued, "Above that is the Spirit Realm — Spirit Transformation, Heaven Ascension, Celestial King, Celestial Emperor."
She glanced at him playfully.
"You are currently at Qi Gathering First Stage."
He nodded slightly.
"And you?" he asked.
"Foundation Establishment Early Stage," she replied honestly.
"It took me three years to break through from Qi Gathering Peak."
There was no self-pity in her tone.
Mo Xuan sensed the truth immediately.
The life origin sleeping within her subtly disrupted her meridians. It slowed her progress, causing stagnation.
Yet she endured it without complaint.
Strength was not measured only by realm.
It was measured by clarity.
"My father once said I disappointed him," he murmured before he could stop himself.
"Your father?" she asked gently.
"He was… a sect leader."
Ling Yue did not pry.
Instead, she smiled softly.
"Then we're the same."
"I'm weak too."
Her voice carried quiet determination.
"Let's become strong together."
The words were simple.
Yet something inside him stirred.
As night fell, she led him to a quiet place hidden behind the Sixth Branch grounds.
A small lake rested beneath the moonlight. At its center stood a white tree heavy with glowing blossoms.
"The Moonlight Blossom," she said softly. "When I'm sad or happy, I come here."
The moon reflected perfectly in the water.
White petals drifted slowly down like falling snow.
The air was cool. Still.
Time seemed to slow.
"Why show me?" he asked quietly.
"You forgot your past," she replied calmly. "You don't know who wants you dead."
"Before painful memories return… I wanted you to see something beautiful first."
The petals brushed lightly against his sleeve.
For the first time since the Abyss—
His heart did not feel burdened by hatred.
Back in her room, she pointed toward a wooden bench.
"You sleep there tonight. Tomorrow, you officially join the sect."
Before lying down, he asked quietly,
"If I regain my memory… and I turn out to be a bad person… will you regret saving me?"
Ling Yue did not hesitate.
"No."
"Why?"
"Because I trust my heart."
"If you were truly evil, I would have left you in the Abyss."
Her words were steady.
She soon drifted into peaceful sleep.
Yue Chen remained awake beneath the silver light filtering through the window.
He could hear her breathing.
Soft. Even.
What kind of person was she?
Weak in cultivation.
Yet firm in conviction.
Was it resonance?
Fate?
Or simple kindness?
His thoughts returned to his goal.
Restore his cultivation.
Repair shattered meridians.
Search the sect library for ancient restoration techniques.
Somewhere within this sect—
There had to be a method.
Under the quiet glow of the moon,
while Ling Yue slept peacefully,
Yue Chen remained awake.
And in that silence,
a new destiny began to take shape.
End of Chapter 3...