Long Jinshu's death was so sudden that Jin Shu didn't even know what he was supposed to feel. Anger? Sorrow? Regret? He wanted to be mad at him, but… how could he? Long Jinshu wasn't someone separate—he was him. His soul. His other self. They were one and the same.

He looked toward Shuang and Gold, hoping one of them might say something, but their expressions were just as lost as his own.

"What…" his voice broke. "What do we do now?"

"Live on," Gold said softly. "Honor his memory."

Shuang gave a slow nod.

Jin Shu hesitated, then let out a long breath. "No… you're right."

He glanced down, his resolve hardening. "When we come back, let's find the Azure Dragons."

Both nodded in agreement.

"Jin Shu!"

The shout tore him from his soul space. He blinked and found himself surrounded by curious faces.

"What…?"

Tian Li stared at him. "You… you're crying."

He reached up and felt the wetness on his cheeks. Tears. Quickly, he wiped them away and turned his head aside.

"Ahem. It's nothing," he said, straightening his posture.

"Sure…" Tian Li muttered, but the others soon turned away—though not without stealing glances at him every so often.

Two small pairs of arms suddenly wrapped around his head from either side.

"Don't be sad, Daddy. Everything's going to be okay," Yin'er said gently.

"Yeah, don't worry, Daddy. We're here," Ji Ji chimed in.

Despite their warmth, Jin Shu couldn't help the faint sigh that escaped him. Ji Ji's insistence on calling him Daddy was almost certainly a leftover from that prank the three of them had cooked up before the forest trip. Still, he chose to play along—for now.

"Thanks, you two. I'm fine," he said, patting their heads.

"Jin Shu!" Nano's voice cut through his mind, sharp and urgent.

"What?" he replied internally.

"Something's happening to your meridians."

His focus sharpened instantly. "What do you mean, 'something'? Be specific."

"I'm not sure—they're changing. Only a portion of them. They're… taking on a strange shape."

"What kind of shape?"

"A dragon."

He focused inward, sensing the flow of his energy. His meridians were twisting—slowly weaving themselves into the faint outline of a long, coiled dragon. Yet he couldn't feel them move. If Nano hadn't pointed it out, he wouldn't have noticed at all.

There was only one explanation he could think of—this must be another remnant left behind by Long Jinshu. Whether it was a blessing or a curse, he couldn't yet tell.

"Keep an eye on it," he instructed. "Let me know if it changes."

"Understood."

By the time they reached the sect gates, nothing had changed. His meridians continued to morph, the coiled dragon shape now nearly complete, its form more defined and solid. Still, no pain, no shift in qi flow—just silent transformation.

Jin Shu exhaled slowly. Whatever this is, he thought, I'll find the answer when it's finished.

"We've made it back safely, children," Ming Qin said with a gentle smile. "You may go about your affairs. However, the Sect Master has summoned the top eight tournament winners to her abode."

She gave Jin Shu and the others a quick wink before turning away with Wu Ya. The two immediately began bickering about something trivial as they walked off.

"I'm tired of walking," Li Xue groaned. "Can you take us, Jin Shu?"

"You'd still have to walk through the slipspace," he replied.

"Yeah, but not as far."

He sighed, but a faint grin tugged at his lips. "Sure."

With an almost theatrical flip of his hand, a watery portal shimmered open beside them.

"You two coming?" Li Xue asked Bing Hou and Zhu Ren.

"Where?" Zhu Ren asked, head tilted.

Li Xue pointed at the portal.

"What is it?" Zhu Ren asked again.

"It's Jin Shu's technique—the one he used to vanish and reappear during the tournament," Bing Hou explained before Li Xue could answer.

Jin Shu turned to her, brow raised. "How'd you know that?" He didn't remember ever showing it to her. He'd gone out of his way to hide it during his matches.

"Well, you used it in your duel against Tian Li," she said, "but that's not how I recognized it."

He waited, but she didn't elaborate. "So… how then?"

"I've been studying the tournament recordings," she said matter-of-factly, "in case I encounter a similar technique again—one I can't counter as easily as I did yours."

His eyebrow twitched. Easily countered? Even Liu Hua couldn't counter his Ripple Walk. Bing Hou just happened to be the perfect antithesis—dual affinities for fire and water, with an innate mastery of ice.

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"I see…" he said dryly. "Would you care to join us—through this easily countered technique of mine?"

She tilted her head, expression earnest, completely missing the sarcasm. The other four women broke into quiet giggles.

This girl definitely has a bit of the tism, he thought.

I regret giving you uninhibited access to my memories… Gold groaned, facepalming in the soul space.

What? Am I wrong?

Gold didn't bother answering. He didn't need to.

"I would like to observe the technique up close," Bing Hou said, stepping nearer. "Even better if I can witness its use firsthand." She began circling the shimmering portal with curious precision.

"How about you?" Jin Shu asked Zhu Ren.

She shrugged. "I'm curious too."

"Then let's go." He extended a hand to her.

Zhu Ren glanced at it, then at him, brow furrowed in confusion.

"Oh…" He pulled his hand back sheepishly. "Sorry. You have to physically touch me, or I can't take you."

"Why's that?" Bing Hou asked, peering around the portal's edge.

"Because he likes touching beautiful women," Li Xue teased, grinning mischievously.

Both Bing Hou and Zhu Ren immediately took a step back, eyeing him suspiciously.

"That's not why!" he snapped, flicking Li Xue on the forehead.

"Ow!"

"The real reason," he said with emphasis, "is that I haven't fully mastered the technique. Er… well—technically I have, but I can't use it to its full extent yet."

He gestured toward the portal. "The ripple is formed using my wind and water affinities, which makes it genetically locked to me. Without a physical connection, I can't transfer that lock due to my current cultivation limits."

"What is a 'gennatak lock'?" Bing Hou asked, trying to mimic the foreign term.

"Uh… it means it's bound to my soul," he clarified.

"How does touching you change that?" she asked, pressing further.

"It lets me cover you with my elemental energy," he explained. "That essentially gives you a temporary… uh, soul resonance with mine."

"I see." She nodded, satisfied by the answer.

"Still want to come with us?"

"Sure." Another nod.

"I guess that's fine," Zhu Ren said. "But I'm not taking your hand."

Tian Li and Biyu—silent through most of the exchange—stepped up beside him and each took one of his hands.

"You don't have to," Biyu said to Zhu Ren with a small smile. "You can take mine."

She held her hand out, and Tian Li mirrored her gesture toward Bing Hou.

"That works, right?" Biyu asked, glancing at Jin Shu.

"It should."

"Good."

Li Xue suddenly hopped onto his back, wrapping herself around him like a clingy octopus. "I'm ready!"

He sighed, already exasperated, especially when he noticed a few nearby disciples staring at the bizarre arrangement.

Once everyone was connected, he stepped through the portal without delay.

Inside, Bing Hou and Zhu Ren looked around with the same wonder the others had shown the first time they traveled through slipspace.

"This is the Water Realm?" Bing Hou asked, reaching toward a drifting mote of blue light.

"Yeah. Don't touch those."

She glanced at him. "Why?"

"You need to coat your hand in water elemental energy to interact with anything here."

"Oh."

Thin frost glimmered around her hand as she covered it with ice qi. She reached out again and caught the floating mote between her fingers.

"Don't absorb that," Jin Shu warned quickly.

Her eyes widened. "How did you know I was going to absorb it?"

"Because it was the first thing I did when I came here," he said dryly. "Those lights are pure water energy. Humans—and dragons—can't handle them. Too much exposure makes you sick. Absorb too many, and you'll die. That's why we can't stay here longer than an hour."

"Even Azure Dragons?" she asked curiously.

"Yes," he replied. "Unless they're the true Azure Dragon."

"I see. Interesting." She released the mote, watching it drift away and join the countless others swirling through the blue expanse.

"Daddy?" Yin'er called from his shoulder.

"Yes?"

"Who's stronger—a dragon or a tiger?"

He blinked, caught off guard. "…Trick question. Yin'er's the strongest," he said with a faint chuckle.

Yin'er nodded proudly. "I am."

"What about a dragon or a roc?" Ji Ji chimed in.

His eye twitched at the mention of rocs but he answered with the same teasing tone. "Another trick question. Ji Ji's the strongest."

Ji Ji puffed up like a little bird. "Yup!"

"But if I'm the strongest, how is she also the strongest?" Yin'er pouted.

"You're both equally strong," he said. "And if you work together, you'll be invincible."

"Really?" "Really?" they asked in unison.

"Jinx!" "Jinx!" they echoed again, before bursting into giggles. Their laughter rippled through the empty slipspace, bright and pure, filling the tranquil blue around them.

The joyful energy was infectious. The others smiled, and for a time, even Jin Shu laughed along. Yet beneath the laughter, a quiet sadness lingered. He knew what was coming—soon, the women beside him would leave for the southern region, and he'd be alone for the first time in years. Long Jinshu's death still weighed heavy in his heart.

But for now, he buried the ache and let himself enjoy the moment, carried by the warmth of their laughter echoing through the endless blue.