The storm raged overhead as Jin Xiyue finished her oath, the words still hanging in the air. "I will never be weak again."
Something shifted. Not in the physical world, but deeper—in the space between thoughts. A vibration pulsed through her consciousness, sharp and insistent. The artifact clutched in her hand erupted with crimson light, casting bloody shadows across the rain-soaked ground. The glow wasn't merely illumination; it carved itself into her very being.
A name unfurled in her mind like an ancient scroll: Voidpulse Chaos Breathing.
The world around her dimmed. The storm, the rain, the broken body she inhabited—all faded to insignificance as images crashed through her consciousness.
A figure stood atop a desolate mountain peak, silhouetted against a sky fractured with lightning. Not human—or at least, not entirely. Their form shifted and blurred at the edges, as if reality itself couldn't decide what shape they should take.
They breathed.
Just breathed.
But each inhalation pulled something viscous and dark from the air—energy that existed before elements had names, before order had meaning. It swirled around them, black-red tendrils that defied natural law. With each exhalation, cracks appeared in the very fabric of existence, spreading outward like fractures in glass.
The mountain beneath them trembled. The air shattered. Reality itself seemed to bow before this being who commanded chaos with nothing more than the rhythm of their lungs.
Jin Xiyue watched, entranced and terrified. This wasn't cultivation as the memories of this body understood it. This was something older. Wilder. Forbidden.
The vision shifted. The figure turned toward her, their features impossible to discern yet somehow familiar. They reached out—
And the connection snapped.
Jin Xiyue gasped, air rushing into her lungs with painful intensity. The artifact pulsed once more in her hand, its glow fading to a subtle shimmer. But something remained. Knowledge. Understanding. The first whispers of a technique that should not exist in this world.
Her chest tightened as her breathing unconsciously shifted, trying to match a rhythm she'd glimpsed only moments before. Her meridians burned in protest, unprepared for what she was attempting.
Jin Xiyue stared at her trembling hands, the knowledge of the Voidpulse Chaos Breathing technique burning in her mind like forbidden fruit. The power it promised was intoxicating—raw, primordial energy that existed before the elements themselves. Jennifer would have dismissed such things as fantasy, but Jin Xiyue knew better. This was real. This was possible.
And she wanted it desperately.
Her fingers twitched with the urge to attempt the full technique, to draw in that chaotic energy and make it her own. The old Jin Xiyue would have hesitated, terrified of such dangerous knowledge. But Jennifer's pragmatism tempered her desire. Now wasn't the time.
"Patience," she whispered to herself, her voice unfamiliar in this new throat. The storm still raged, and whoever had tried to kill this body might still be nearby. Displaying power now would only confirm she had survived—and invite a second attempt.
She forced her breathing to normalize, suppressing the alien rhythm that threatened to take hold. The artifact quieted in response, its glow dimming to a faint pulse against her palm.
Jin Xiyue looked down, truly seeing her surroundings for the first time since the lightning strike. The ground beneath her had fractured in a perfect circle, hairline cracks radiating outward like a spiderweb. The soil itself looked different—darker, almost crystallized at the edges of each fissure. Whatever had happened when the artifact chose her, it had physically altered the world around her.
The air felt wrong too. It hung heavy and charged, as if the storm had left something behind. Each breath tasted metallic, electric. Her newfound sensitivity to energy patterns revealed distortions in the atmosphere—ripples and eddies where there should be smooth flow.
"Like scars in reality," she murmured, reaching out to touch one of these invisible aberrations. Her fingertips tingled unpleasantly.
Jin Xiyue withdrew her hand, cold calculation replacing wonder. If these disturbances were visible to her, they might be visible to others with sufficient cultivation. Evidence of her survival, of the artifact's activation.
She needed to move. Now.
She had no clue if she sensed the changes because she was the owner of the artifact or if everyone could sense it.
Jin Xiyue rose from the scarred earth, her body feeling simultaneously foreign and familiar. She examined herself with clinical detachment.
Her once-fine silk robes hung in tatters, stained with dried blood and caked mud. Despite the damage to her clothing, her body showed no signs of the fatal wounds that had nearly claimed her life. The artifact had healed her completely.
She brushed dirt from her sleeves with measured movements, noting the quality of the fabric even in its ruined state. These were expensive clothes—further evidence of Jin Xiyue's former status.
"Not completely useless, at least," she murmured, adjusting the torn fabric to ensure she remained adequately covered. Appearances mattered in this world of cultivation and hierarchy.
She scanned her surroundings with narrowed eyes. The storm had passed, leaving behind a landscape transformed by its violence. Fallen trees, scattered branches, and mud-slicked paths stretched in every direction. No signs of pursuit. No witnesses to her resurrection.
Good.
Jin Xiyue oriented herself using the position of the sun and Jin Xiyue's memories of the area. Cloud Forest City lay to the east, perhaps half a day's journey through difficult terrain. With a final glance at the lightning-scarred ground where she'd been reborn, she set off.
The Cloudy Forest lived up to its name. Mist clung to the undergrowth, transforming mundane shadows into phantom shapes. Jin Xiyue moved with purposeful strides, her breathing measured and controlled. Each step carried her further from death and closer to whatever future awaited.
Twice she paused, sensing the presence of forest beasts nearby. Once, she caught glimpse of glowing eyes tracking her movement from dense foliage—a fifth-rank predator, according to Jin Xiyue's memories. Not a threat to most cultivators, but potentially deadly to her in her current state. She changed course, avoiding confrontation.
Hours passed. The forest gradually thinned, giving way to managed woodlands and then scattered farmland. And finally, as the afternoon sun began its descent, the silhouette of Cloud Forest City appeared on the horizon.
Relief flickered across her face before she smoothed her expression back to neutral. Smoke rose from countless chimneys, and cultivators soared above the walls on swords and magical beasts. City guards in crisp uniforms checked papers at the gates while merchants argued over taxes and tariffs.
Nothing had changed. The world had continued, oblivious to her death and rebirth.
Jin Xiyue approached the city gates with measured confidence. Her torn robes and mud-streaked appearance drew only passing glances from the guards—just another cultivator returning from training or battle in the wilderness.
She kept her head slightly lowered, not from shame but strategic caution. The city's gatekeepers paid more attention to those entering with valuable goods than to a lone, bedraggled cultivator.
"Next," a bored guard called, barely looking up from his ledger.
She stepped forward, producing the jade token that Jin Xiyue's memories told her would grant passage. The guard waved his hand over it, confirming its authenticity with a flicker of spiritual energy, then nodded her through without a second glance.
"Welcome back to Cloud Forest City."
Jin Xiyue nodded curtly and moved past, suppressing a bitter smile. How simple it was to return from the dead when no one expected you to be dead in the first place. The city buzzed with activity around her—merchants hawking spiritual herbs, cultivators discussing formation arrays, servants rushing on errands for their masters. None spared her more than a passing look.
The original Jin Xiyue would have walked proudly down the main thoroughfare, chin high, demanding recognition. Jennifer knew better. Visibility was a liability until she understood who had tried to kill her and why.
She turned left at the first intersection, following a narrow alley that wound between towering buildings. Jin Xiyue's memories unfolded like a map in her mind, revealing shortcuts and hidden passages known only to those who had grown up in the city's embrace. The back routes were quieter, frequented by servants and lower-tier cultivators rather than the powerful and well-connected.
Perfect.
Jin Xiyue navigated the winding paths with practiced ease, her feet remembering what her conscious mind was still absorbing. Past the Crescent Moon Teahouse, through the covered market where spiritual beast parts traded hands in hushed transactions, beneath the shadow of the Elders' Tower with its ever-watching formation arrays.
Jin Xiyue paused at the end of the narrow alleyway, her eyes fixed on the imposing structure ahead. The Jin family estate rose before her, its walls gleaming with embedded formation stones that shimmered faintly in the fading light. Protective arrays hummed with power, invisible to most but clear as daylight to her newly enhanced senses.
Home. Yet not home.
She approached with measured steps, analyzing the security with cold precision. Two guards stood at attention by the ornate iron gates, their postures rigid with training. Both wore the silver-trimmed uniforms of the Jin family's personal guard—Earth Grade cultivators, if Jin Xiyue's memories served correctly. Capable of killing most threats without breaking a sweat.
The taller guard noticed her first, his hand drifting to his sword hilt. The second guard's eyes narrowed, scanning her disheveled appearance with open suspicion.
"Halt," the first guard commanded. "State your business."
Jin Xiyue didn't answer immediately. Instead, she studied their faces, noting the lack of recognition in their eyes. Her appearance—bloodied robes, mud-caked skin, tangled hair—had rendered her unrecognizable even to those who saw her daily. A tactical advantage, perhaps.
She stepped closer, deliberately entering the pool of light embedded in the gate pillars.
"I require entry to my home," she stated, her voice calm and measured. Not pleading, not demanding—simply stating a fact.
The guards exchanged glances, confusion evident in their expressions.
"Your home?" The second guard scoffed. "Move along, beggar. The Jin family doesn't welcome street trash."
Jin Xiyue tilted her head slightly, allowing the light to fully illuminate her face. She wiped a smear of dirt from her cheek with one deliberate motion.
The taller guard leaned forward, squinting. His eyes widened suddenly, recognition dawning in them like a sunrise.
"Young Miss Xiyue?" he gasped, immediately dropping to one knee. "Heavens, what happened to you Why are your ropes like that Before Jin Xiyun could respond to them.
There was a rumbling sound that could be heard behind them, along with an enraged voice that could be heard a few meters away from them Jin Xiyun footsteps stopped, turning around.