But the golden light inside the door remained, waiting for it to be opened again.
Xiao Xiao had come to the dormitory once to see Mu Chen, carrying a box of cookies she had baked herself.
Wang Dong opened the door. The two girls stared at each other for three seconds, a subtle current crackling in the air between them.
In the end, Mu Chen came out, accepted the cookies, and thanked her. Xiao Xiao said, "You're welcome," then ran off, her green twin ponytails whipping behind her as she hurried down the corridor.
Wang Dong shut the door, looking like a cat whose territory had been invaded.
"What did she come here for?"
"To give me cookies."
"Why would she give you cookies?"
"I don't know."
"Have you eaten them?"
"Not yet."
Wang Dong snatched the box, opened it, and gave it a sniff. Then she took out a cookie and popped it into her mouth. Speaking around it, she said, "I'll taste them for you first, in case they're burnt."
Over the next half hour, she "tasted" every cookie in the box, commenting on each one as she went. When she finally returned the empty box to Mu Chen, a crumb was still clinging to the corner of her mouth.
Mu Chen reached out and wiped the crumb away. The gesture was casual, but Wang Dong's ears instantly flared red. She blurted, "I'm going for a run," and bolted out the door.
Mu Chen watched the door sway in the wake of her departure, then looked down at the empty cookie box and shook his head.
And so, the days passed peacefully, alternating between cultivation and everyday life, until the night of the fifth day.
As usual, Mu Chen circulated the Mysterious Heaven Skill while meditating.
The Sea of Consciousness was peaceful. Old Tang's golden form sat cross-legged in the void, eyes half-closed as if dozing.
The Life Blade had transformed into a jade-green orb of light, suspended at the center of the Sea of Consciousness and radiating a gentle pulse of vitality. Each pulse was like the beat of a heart.
Then the gray light within the green orb stirred.
For days, the gray mass had remained dormant.
It had come from that chance encounter on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest: the remnant consciousness drawn to the Life Blade. Electrolux, the Necromancer Holy Mage, a being who had once stood at the pinnacle of power in another world.
After the Life Blade had taken him in and brought him into Mu Chen's Sea of Consciousness, he had been quiet as a sleeping seed—so quiet that Mu Chen sometimes forgot there was a third person living in his head.
But now, he had awakened.
The gray light began to pulse, its rhythm quickening from slow to rapid, its color brightening from dull gray to a faint glimmer.
It was not the lifeless gray of death, but a cold light somewhere between silver and white, imbued with an ancient, mysterious rhythm.
Old Tang opened his eyes.
His golden eyes lit up in the void of the Sea of Consciousness like two lamps being kindled.
He rose to his feet, golden light slowly flowing around him. His gaze settled on the awakening gray orb. His expression did not change, but the aura around him surged several levels in an instant.
It was a silent warning: Behave yourself on my turf.
The gray orb flashed violently, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. Then a voice rang out through the Sea of Consciousness.
"Where... is this?"
The voice was old and frail, broken and halting, like a guttering candle in the wind.
Every word trembled with exhaustion, making it painfully clear how weak its owner was.
"The Sea of Consciousness. You're lucky. You managed to hang on to your life." Old Tang's reply was brief and cold.
The gray orb fell silent. It was sensing its surroundings: the Sea of Consciousness under Old Tang's control, the jade-green orb constantly radiating vitality, and Mu Chen's consciousness standing not far away.
A moment later, an old, blurry face appeared within the gray light. Its features were barely discernible, and its cloudy eyes remained sharp.
"Who are you?" Electrolux's voice was steadier than before, but still weak.
"You can call me Old Tang. Now it's my turn to ask. Who are you? Why are you reduced to a wisp of a remnant soul? And why did you appear on this continent?"
Electrolux fell silent. An expression too complicated to describe surfaced on his blurred face. There was sorrow, anger, longing, and the weariness that had settled in after the passing of countless years.
"My name is Electrolux, the Necromancer Holy Mage. I once ruled the Undead Half-Plane. In my world, I fought the heavens, the gods, and fate. In the end, I lost. Only this wisp of a remnant soul remained, drifting through spatial rifts for who knows how many years, until the aura of life on that blade drew me in and led me to this place where I could take temporary shelter."
By the end, his voice held a touch of bitter self-mockery. "The mighty Necromancer Holy Mage, reduced to clinging to a carving knife just to survive. What a joke."
Old Tang did not reply at once. The golden eyes of his luminous form met the blurred face in the gray orb, and a subtle, oppressive atmosphere settled over the Sea of Consciousness.
Then Old Tang spoke, his voice as flat as a landlord discussing rent with a tenant.
"You want to recuperate here?"
"Yes," Electrolux answered without hesitation. At his level, there was no point in beating around the bush.
"You may. But there's a condition."
The gray orb flickered faintly. "What condition?"
"The master of this Sea of Consciousness is him. As you recuperate here, you'll consume its Soul Power and spiritual power. In return, you'll teach him what you know." Old Tang pointed toward Mu Chen's consciousness.
Electrolux turned to Mu Chen. The cloudy eyes within the gray orb looked him up and down, taking in everything from the pool of Soul Power in his dantian to the structure of his Sea of Consciousness, from the vitality of his body to the resilience of his soul.
He watched for a long while. Then the corner of his blurred mouth twitched slightly.
"You certainly know how to bargain on behalf of your disciple," he said to Old Tang.
Old Tang did not correct him about the word "disciple." He only said calmly, "He's a promising talent. If your skills are in his hands, they won't bring your name to shame."
Electrolux was silent for a long time.
Long enough for Mu Chen to think he would refuse. Then the gray orb suddenly brightened. It was no longer the faint flicker from before, but a steady light, filled with resolve.
"Very well. I can teach him necromancy. But I have one condition: none of what I teach may be used to slaughter innocent living beings. Necromancy is a path concerning life and death, not a path of slaughter. If he ever uses it to massacre innocents, I will take back everything I have passed on."
Old Tang looked at Mu Chen.
Mu Chen stepped forward and bowed slightly to the gray orb.
He did not make a solemn vow or thump his chest in assurance. He simply said, calmly, "Understood."
Those two words carried more weight than any grand declaration.
Electrolux fell silent again for a while. The curve of his blurred mouth seemed to deepen, forming the dry, familiar shape of a smile. Amid all that age and weariness, he was truly smiling.