In the Pine Listening Pavilion behind the Seven Mysteries Sect, bamboo shadows wove a mottled net across the bluestone slabs. The sigh of the pines sounded like a distant sea's returning tide, carrying the mountain's spiritual mist into the pavilion.
Han Li sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion, condensing star power into an invisible carving knife at his fingertips as he worked out diagrams for variations of the Magnetic Essence Sword Formation on the stone table.
Nascent Soul profound water surged through his sea of consciousness, engraving every spiritual power current and weak junction in the Seven Mysteries Sect's three miniature earth veins into his divine soul-these were the fruits of seven sleepless nights spent rebuilding the sect's defenses after he had sought refuge there.
Outside the pavilion, the leaves of the Pine Listening Bamboo rustled. Occasionally, a spirit sparrow perched on a bamboo tip and tilted its head toward the figure absorbed in his calculations.
Suddenly, jade ornaments chimed softly, like shattered jade falling onto a dish. Han Li's fingertips paused. Looking up, he saw a woman in a moon-white gown approaching over the bamboo. Her hem brushed the bluestone steps without gathering a speck of dust. At her waist hung a jade pendant engraved with the words "Covering Moon," the emblem of the Covering Moon Sect.
Her beauty was as exquisite as a painting, her brows like distant mountains veiled in blue-black mist, her eyes like autumn waters holding the light. The spiritual power fluctuations of Core Formation great perfection moved like a spring breeze brushing willow branches, yet could not conceal the familiarity in her eyes that spanned a hundred years.
"Fellow Daoist Han Li, have you been well since we parted?"
Her voice sounded like pearls falling onto a jade dish. Han Li abruptly tightened his