Chapter 1

The incense was the first thing Wei Lian smelled—bitter, like crushed herbs and old secrets. It hung heavy in the freezing air of the meditation cave, a scent designed to steady the spirit but one that now only made Wei Lian’s stomach turn. He shifted on the fur-lined dais, his limbs heavy and unresponsive. His once-fabled cultivation, capable of splitting rivers, was now a hollow echo in his chest.

Behind him, the soft rustle of silk signaled his shadow’s arrival.

"You’re awake, my pearl," a voice murmured. It was a beautiful sound, melodic and serene, belonging to a man the world worshipped as a saint.

High Priest Xuan moved into Wei Lian’s line of sight. He looked every bit the divine sovereign in his white-and-gold robes, his long hair fastened by a jade pin. He held a silver-backed brush. Without waiting for an invitation, Xuan sat behind Wei Lian and began to stroke the brush through Wei Lian’s tangled dark hair.

"The frost is heavy today," Xuan said, his fingers occasionally grazing the nape of Wei Lian’s neck. The touch sent a shudder through Wei Lian that had nothing to do with the cold. "The arrays are humming at full strength. You are safe here. No one can reach you."

Wei Lian looked toward the cave’s entrance. Beyond the shimmering blue veil of the sealing formation, the world was a blur of white wind and jagged rock. "I miss the sun, Xuan. I feel like I am decaying in this dark."

The brushing stopped. The silence that followed was deafening, the kind of silence that precedes a landslide.

"The sun would only burn your skin, Lian," Xuan whispered, leaning closer until his breath warmed Wei Lian’s ear. "The world outside is cruel. It broke you. Have you forgotten the day your meridians snapped? The way you fell from the sky like a bird with broken wings?"

"I haven't forgotten," Wei Lian said, his voice trembling. "But I don't understand why the seals must be so tight. I have no power left to flee."

Xuan’s grip on the brush tightened. "Flee? Why would you flee from the only soul who treasures you? Last night, as you tossed in your sleep, you whispered a name from your old sect. You thought of the East Valley. You thought of the spring blossoms."

Wei Lian froze. He had only thought of those things in the privacy of his own mind. He hadn't spoken.

"I see your heart, Lian," Xuan continued, his voice dropping to a terrifyingly sweet register. "I see every flicker of your spirit through the veil. I know you better than you know yourself. I had to make sure of it. I had to ensure that when the 'accident' happened during your tribulation, I was the only one there to catch the pieces."

The realization hit Wei Lian like a physical blow. The "accident." The rogue energy that had turned his golden core to ash. Xuan hadn't just been there to save him; he had been the architect of the ruin.

"You did it," Wei Lian breathed, horror dawning in his eyes. "You broke me."

Xuan didn't deny it. Instead, he dropped the brush and wrapped his arms around Wei Lian’s frail frame, pulling him back against his chest in a suffocating embrace. "I perfected you. Without your power, you are finally mine. You are no longer the world’s prodigy. You are just Wei Lian. My Wei Lian."

Xuan reached into his sleeve and produced a small, translucent pill that glowed with a faint, sickly light. "You are distressed. Your spirit is fluttering too wildly. Take this. It will help you sleep, and when you wake, the world will be quiet again."

He pressed the pill against Wei Lian’s lips. It was a command disguised as a gift.

Wei Lian looked at the man he had once trusted with his life, seeing the frantic, jagged madness behind the Priest’s calm eyes. Xuan was a god who had burned a world just to possess a single flower.

Wei Lian opened his mouth, allowing Xuan to place the pill on his tongue. The bitterness of the medicine spread instantly. He didn't swallow. He stared out at the cave entrance, at the snow piling up against the magical barrier, wondering if the man holding him was his protector or his executioner.

The wind howled outside, a lonely, reaching sound, as Wei Lian sat motionless in the dark, the pill a lead weight in his mouth, waiting for the courage to either sink or swim in the Priest’s divine madness.