Azure Cloud City became memory, Iron Bone Sect's subsidiary arrangement providing departure cover. Lin Xuan—now officially Lin Clan head but operationally independent—traveled south toward Flowing Cloud Sect's rumored remnant headquarters.His alliance with Hong Ming required renegotiation. The other reborn soul had consolidated Crimson Stone City similarly, both recognizing that remaining in established territories invited Enforcer attention. They agreed to relocate simultaneously, different directions, coded communication through merchant networks.
The southern provinces offered advantages: less sect density, more ancient ruin sites, rumors of Temporal Anchor—artifact supposedly stabilizing reborn souls against Enforcer detection. Lin Xuan treated this as probable fiction but investigated thoroughly.Travel provided testing ground for Foundation Establishment capabilities. Bandits, beast hordes, hostile cultivators—all became measurement tools. Lin Xuan maintained "Qi Refinement peak" public cultivation, defeating stronger opponents through "superior technique," actually overwhelming power differential disguised.
He accumulated combat experience rapidly, techniques from previous life integrating with new body's capabilities. The Shadow Walking evolved, incorporating spatial principles that would become legendary in later eras. His sword finger technique killed without weapons, leaving no evidence.Three months' travel brought him to Misty Mountain Range, where Flowing Cloud Sect remnants supposedly hid. The mountains breathed spiritual energy differently—older, wilder, less structured by human cultivation. Ancient formations remained active, dangers unpredictable.
Lin Xuan navigated carefully, Foundation Establishment senses detecting traps that would destroy careless travelers. He found the sect remnants not through searching but by being found: they observed intruders, selected worthy, approached silently.The woman who emerged from mist—Mei Ling, tournament opponent from his Crippled Crow identity—recognized him despite different face, different age, different everything."You move like water," she said. "Only one person moved like that."Identity compromise. Lin Xuan prepared killing technique, calculating escape routes through unfamiliar terrain.
"Peace," she continued, sensing his tension. "Flowing Cloud Sect protects temporal anomalies. We are... similar to you."The revelation expanded his world again. Not just individual reborn souls, but organized sanctuary. The sect's destruction in his previous timeline suddenly seemed less complete than history recorded.He followed her into mist, calculating probabilities, preparing betrayal if necessary.Trust remained impossible. But information was invaluable.