When Lin Shisan stepped out of the pillar of light in the Yellow Dragon Realm, Zi Yuner was pacing at the far end of the corridor.
She wore plain casual clothes, her deep-purple hair loosely pinned up with a single wooden hairpin. She looked as though she had hurried straight over from the Bedchamber. But her eyes were bright, as bright as two little flames burning quietly in the morning light.
As Lin Shisan approached, Zi Yuner said nothing. She merely reached out and gently took his wrist.
The moment her fingertips touched his skin, she felt a warm current of Dragon Breath Qi flowing from his pulse.
Steady and sustained.
It was far more substantial than that of any Yellow Dragon Realm cultivator she knew, and faintly carried a trace of the distinctive quality of the Dragon Clan's bloodline.
"You..."
"Mm..."
Lin Shisan nodded gently.
He could feel Zi Yuner's fingers tightening slightly, her fingertips pressing against his pulse a little harder than usual.
"Yun'er, I've broken through to the Yellow Dragon Realm, and I've gained an initial grasp of the Dragon Breath Art."
Lin Shisan took the initiative to turn his hand and clasp Zi Yuner's fingers. Even his form of address had changed to Yun'er.
"I know."
"The whole Dragon Palace knows. The Fortune Golden Dragon's manifestation startled all the Grand Elders awake while they were sleeping in."
Zi Yuner spoke very softly, her gaze resting on their clasped hands as she said this.
A maiden's blush still mottled her face.
Only then did Lin Shisan notice that the faint golden halo around him had not completely faded. He instinctively drew back his hand.
"Your father..."
"I've already sent someone to Wish-Repayment Ridge to inform him."
Zi Yuner paused, lifting her gaze slightly, a young girl's shyness