Lu Xue Entered Their Sea of Consciousness

Deep in the void of Spiritual Sense

Lu Yao's spirit body jolted.

Her emerald eyes blinked in confusion, then flew wide. Reflected in her pupils was a figure who should never have appeared here.

"M-Mom?!"

Her voice echoed through the void, no longer the clear voice of a young girl but carrying the ethereal tremor unique to a spirit body.

That tremor held pure astonishment and a trace of instinctive longing for her mother that nearly broke through the tension around them.

Her spirit body drifted half an inch forward before she forced herself to stop, as though unsure whether the figure before her was an illusion or real.

Xiao Shenghe's consciousness shuddered too.

Fine ripples spread across his once-calm sea of soul, like a stone dropped into a deep pool.

The clan leader?

His thoughts drew taut. His consciousness grew more solid, giving off a faint glow of caution.

In this void formed by his spiritual resonance with Lu Yao, any outsider was an unknown factor—especially this ancient Soul Beast clan leader, who had long since passed away.

How could she be here?

This goes far beyond what the ancient texts say about the Secret of Symbiosis—and beyond anything I understand.

But his confusion lasted only an instant.

Years of experience let him suppress his shock and begin to analyze the situation calmly.

Either the ritual of the Secret of Symbiosis has touched some rule even the ancient records never described, setting off a chain of events we couldn't predict...

Or...

Xiao Shenghe's "gaze" swept instinctively over Lu Yao's spirit body, so full of longing and alarm.

Or her mother used the last of her strength before she fell to bury some protective safeguard deep within her bloodline inheritance.

A final safeguard Yao'er herself could never detect, triggered only when their spirits are on the verge of fully merging—or when she faces a terrible crisis.

Lu Xue's "presence" gathered slightly in the void, sending out a clear, restrained ripple of intent. It held neither attack nor welcome, only inquiry and wariness.

Lu Xue's projected spirit body slowly steadied.

She was clearer than Xiao Shenghe remembered her from any of their meetings. Every strand of hair, every fine pattern on her robes, stood out in exquisite detail.

Yet beneath that clarity lay an unsettling transparency. She seemed less a physical being than a glass lamp formed from the energy of the void itself—brilliant, but fragile enough to shatter.

The gentle smile that had once reassured her entire clan was gone from her face.

In its place was deep concern, and something else...

The gravity of someone who had made up her mind.

It was so powerful that even the surrounding void of Spiritual Sense seemed to grow sluggish.

She turned to Xiao Shenghe first.

Her gaze was like water in a deep pool: still, yet piercing. It seemed almost tangible as it passed slowly over the outline of his consciousness, missing not the slightest fluctuation of thought.

There was no hostility in it, but there was an almost severe scrutiny, as though she were checking whether a vital piece had been fitted into place—or weighing whether the core of his soul could bear the burden to come.

Her scrutiny lasted several breaths, so long that the void itself seemed to hold its breath.

Only then did she turn her gaze to Lu Yao.

Her eyes softened at once, like a frozen lake thawing beneath the spring sun, brimming with love and tenderness. Yet that tenderness did nothing to lessen the heaviness in her gaze. It only made it stand out more sharply.

She looked at her daughter's small face, caught between joy and unease. The halo around the edge of her spirit body trembled almost imperceptibly.

"Yao'er..."

Lu Xue's voice sounded. It did not reach them through their ears; it echoed directly within the core of their consciousness, carrying the strange resonance of this void.

It was more ethereal and crystalline than her voice in the waking world. Each word struck deeper into their souls, undeniable in its reality.

"My appearance was an accident," she said slowly, weighing every word. "But perhaps it was also inevitable."

She paused, her gaze passing over the faint band of spiritual light connecting Xiao Shenghe and Lu Yao.

The band pulsed softly now, like hearts beating in resonance.

"Your spirits have touched too deeply. Deeply enough to stir the bond buried in the depths of our bloodline—a bond even time could not entirely erase."

The void seemed to resonate with her words. Tiny points of light flickered silently around them.

She paused again, this time as though struggling to overcome a powerful emotion.

Fine ripples passed through the glasslike radiance at the edges of her projected spirit body, like wind ruffling still water.

"Listen, child."

Her voice grew lower and clearer. Her gaze moved slowly between Lu Yao and Xiao Shenghe, drawing them both into her words.

"And you, Shenghe."

"Do you think what you are opening is merely a passage between the two of you?"

As her fingertip moved, rings of pale golden ripples spread through the void.

Within them appeared faint, intricate lines that stretched and intertwined like the roots of a great tree—or a web expanding without end.

"The ripples stirred by the Secret of Symbiosis reach farther and run deeper than you imagine."

Her fingertip touched a node at the edge of the shadowy web. It bore an aura strikingly similar to the band of light connecting Xiao Shenghe and Lu Yao.

"My projection here is proof."

Her voice carried a sigh of resignation.

"Your ritual has already begun to touch—and may change—the edges of a preexisting network of symbiosis connected to Yao'er through her bloodline."

Lu Yao's spirit body swayed violently. Unease swept away the confusion in her emerald eyes.

"Mom, do you mean... our ritual will affect you? And Grandpa Xuan, and..."

"Yes."

Lu Xue's answer was brief and certain. It fell like a heavy hammer, crushing every hopeful possibility her daughter had left unspoken. Her projected spirit body seemed to expend considerable strength with that answer, growing more transparent as the halo at its edges flickered more visibly.

"But that—"

She took a deep breath and forced her form to steady.

"—is not why I have appeared before you now."

Her gaze turned sharp and focused once more, fixing on the two young people before her.

"What matters is that you must understand more clearly—and with greater reverence—"

Her voice suddenly rose, carrying the authority and ancient sorrow of a Soul Beast clan leader as it thundered through the void of Spiritual Sense.

"What it is you are about to forge!"

The moment the words fell, she seemed to make a decision. The light of her spirit body drew inward slightly, and she slowly "sat" with a more solemn bearing.

The void, too, seemed to fall silent and wait.

Lu Xue gazed into the endless distance, as though looking through time and space to an age so ancient that even its memories had blurred. A distant sorrow entered her voice.

"Before anything else begins, let me tell you a story."