The place where QingLian stayed didn’t look like a meeting room.
After passing through two layers of corridors in the Council complex, Xue Ji stopped before a very ordinary wooden door. She pointed inside and said: "From here, you go alone. I’ll take Laira and Ruo Yan to the treatment ward. See you later."
Ethan nodded and pushed the door open.
Behind the door was a garden.
He paused for a few seconds. A large pond occupied nearly all the space ahead, surrounded by lush greenery, low flowering bushes, and a few species of plants he’d never seen before. In the middle of the pond was a small island only a few dozen meters across, on which stood a simple pavilion with a set of wooden table and chairs.
QingLian was sitting there.
The distance from the shore to the island was at least a hundred meters.
Ethan looked at the pond’s surface. There was no bridge.
Just as he was about to find another way, the water ahead suddenly rippled. Black characters rose to the surface one by one, arranging themselves into a single word.
’Stone.’
The moment the character formed, it sank beneath the surface. The water bulged upward, a perfectly square block of water appeared, but in an instant it froze solid into a flat stepping stone. A second character rose.
’Stone.’
Another slab.
Then dozens of characters appeared in continuous succession, each transforming into a stone floating on the water’s surface, forming a straight path leading to the island.
Ethan stood watching for a few seconds.
’This again.’
Sword.
Stone.
Scroll.
Seals.
He was genuinely starting to wonder what that woman’s ability actually was.
Ethan stepped onto the first stone. It was perfectly solid. He walked slowly toward the pavilion, and QingLian never turned around. She simply sat by the wooden table, one hand raising a teacup. The breeze from the pond caused her pale red outer robe and jade-green silk sashes to sway gently, but her manner of drinking tea remained unhurried, as though the world outside had absolutely nothing to do with this place.
Only when Ethan stepped onto the island did QingLian set her cup down.
"Sit."
Ethan pulled out the chair across from her. QingLian picked up the teapot and poured a stream of pale green tea into the cup before him. Not a single drop spilled.
At this closer distance, Ethan could see that her beauty didn’t carry the kind of overwhelming force Laira’s did, nor the cold, sharp elegance of Ruo Yan’s. QingLian gave off a feeling of something clean and distant, like a lotus blooming on a mountain lake amid snow-capped peaks, right before your eyes yet seemingly belonging nowhere near the noisy world beyond.
QingLian didn’t look at him, only gazing out at the pond.
"You’re very special."
Ethan didn’t respond. He waited for what came next.
After a moment, QingLian asked: "What do you plan to do from now on?"
Ethan looked at the teacup before him. Thin wisps of steam rose and quickly dissolved into the air. The question sounded simple enough, but he knew the person across from him hadn’t called him here just to ask about an ordinary life plan.
In the end, he told the truth. "Get stronger."
QingLian slowly turned to him. "That’s all?"
"That’s enough." Ethan leaned back in his chair, his gaze drifting across the quiet pond. "I used to think just living a normal life would be fine. Having money for tuition, enough to eat, not owing anyone, not needing anyone’s respect. But after awakening, I realized there are times when you don’t go looking for trouble, but trouble still finds you."
He looked at his left arm, encased in the Primordial Armor. "I just want to be strong enough that when someone decides they want me dead, they have to think first about whether they’re qualified."
QingLian didn’t judge right or wrong after hearing that. She simply turned the teacup gently in her hand.
"You don’t want anyone to be able to push you around."
"Exactly."
"A very ordinary reason."
Ethan raised an eyebrow. "I thought you’d say my ambitions are too small."
"Why?" QingLian looked at him. "Most people who want to grow stronger do so for very ordinary reasons: wanting to live, wanting to protect what they have, wanting to not be stepped on. The ones who start off saying they want to save the world are usually the more worrying ones."
Ethan laughed. "I’m starting to like the way you talk."
QingLian didn’t react to that. She looked into the distance again, but the silence lasted only a few seconds.
"Something is watching you."
The smile on Ethan’s face vanished. The hand resting on his knee tightened slightly.
QingLian still didn’t turn. "You don’t need to be tense. It can’t reach this place."
Ethan looked at her for a long time. "Do you know what it is?"
"Not entirely."
"Then how do you know it’s watching me?"
"A feeling."
Ethan frowned. "That’s it?"
QingLian gave a slight nod. The answer was far too simple, but Ethan didn’t believe everything was really that simple. The woman before him had just swung a sword that cut through an Elite’s technique, someone near Sovereign no less. She knew something was watching him, and she’d even stated with certainty that it couldn’t come here. She clearly knew far more than she was saying.
QingLian seemed to understand that thought but offered no explanation. She simply raised her teacup, took a sip, and said: "You don’t need to know too much yet. Knowing too early without the strength to match only costs you sleep."
Ethan immediately thought of Owin, thought of the world that resembled a cage, and also remembered that Gold wasn’t the peak, that even Sovereign and Emperor might not have touched the full truth.
QingLian set her cup down. "After you step into Gold, you’ll truly begin to touch the path leading out of this world."
This time Ethan couldn’t maintain his composure. His gaze locked onto her instantly.
"You know?"
QingLian tilted her head slightly. "You know too?"
That single exchange was enough for both of them to understand. Ethan didn’t reveal his source, and QingLian didn’t ask.
After a moment, she continued: "Gold isn’t simply another level. Before that threshold, most Awakened are only using what the Mystery Box gave them. Past Gold, the path you chose from your very first awakening truly begins to take shape."
Ethan sat up straighter. "What do you mean?"
"You chose the Partner Mystery Box as your first Mystery Box."
Ethan’s pupils contracted slightly.
"After you cross into Gold, subsequent Mystery Boxes will gradually become influenced by that first choice. Weapons, skills, talents, special items, their drop rates still exist, but their contents will increasingly lean toward the Partner path."
Ethan immediately understood the implications. If someone’s first choice had been Weapons, their future path would gradually tilt toward combat through weaponry. If they’d chosen Skills, later rewards would increasingly serve the skill system.
And he had chosen Partner.
QingLian watched his expression, then continued: "If you don’t want to continue down that path, Gold is the last relatively safe opportunity to change."
"Change how?"
"Sever the bond with your current Partners, cut away the influence of your first choice, then establish a new path."
Ethan barely needed to think. "No."
QingLian paused slightly. "I haven’t finished."
"No need." Ethan looked straight at her, his voice still calm. "I won’t break the contract."
In his mind appeared Laira, the tall woman who had shielded him when she herself was covered in wounds, who had shared every portion of energy, who had held him when the flame inside his body flared. Then Ruo Yan, three wooden puppets, Soul Threads, the small house in Spring Village.
Those weren’t equipment to be traded away just because a different path might be more efficient.
Besides, he still had the Eye of Truth. As long as he continued encountering Mystery Boxes, he could see choices others couldn’t. The Partner path might consume more resources, but for him, resources might not be the biggest bottleneck.
QingLian watched him for a few more seconds. "You decided very quickly."
"Because this doesn’t need deliberation."
"The more Partners you have, the more the energy you absorb will be divided. Someone on a different path can put ten shares of resources into themselves, while you have to split them between two, three, or even more. The further you go, the more terrifying the resource gap becomes."
"I know."
"Still choosing to continue?"
"Yeah." Ethan lifted the teacup and took his first sip. The taste was slightly bitter at first, then a very faint sweetness emerged. "I’ll find ways to earn more."
QingLian fell silent. Then she exhaled softly, not in disappointment or resignation, more as though she had already guessed he would answer that way.
"Fine."
She set her cup down. "If that’s your choice, I can help make this path a little easier for you."
Ethan raised an eyebrow. "You’re going to give me resources?"
"No."
"Then?"
"You’re misunderstanding something." QingLian looked at him. "For an Awakened who truly wants to go far, absorbing Energy Crystals has never been the most effective method."
Ethan immediately thought of the eighteen floors of the Abyss Tower, the Celestial Gate evolution, and how his level had risen only to be pushed back down to Silver tier one, yet his foundation had become far stronger.
QingLian continued: "Crystals help you accumulate. Trial Gates are what help you transform. Rules, rewards, Mystery Boxes, skill evolution opportunities, even things that exist outside the normal ranking system, they all appear there."
"So you want to introduce me to a Trial Gate?"
"Yes." QingLian gazed at the pond. "In one month, a Trial Gate I’m overseeing will open. It’s different from the one you just went through. The difficulty is much higher, and the participants aren’t limited to the seven Safe Zones."
"Who else?"
"Other races."
Ethan’s eyes shifted.
"Humanity isn’t the only race with Awakened, and certainly not the only race that knows how to use Mystery Boxes. This Gate will have participants from many regions and many races entering together."
Ethan was silent for a few seconds. "Level restriction?"
"Below Diamond."
The restriction was wide enough that he could encounter true Gold-tier geniuses, even those already close to Diamond. But Ethan’s first reaction wasn’t fear. It was interest.
The more dangerous it was, the more likely the rewards would be worthwhile.
QingLian saw that look in his eyes. "My group departs in three days. The location is very far, so we need to arrive before the gate opens."
Ethan nodded, then frowned slightly. "There’s one thing."
"Say it."
"Why are you helping me?"
The corner of QingLian’s mouth curved slightly. "Finally asking."
"I’m not used to receiving good things for free."
"That’s very good." QingLian turned the teacup in her hand, her gaze resting on the small ripples. "I’m placing a bet."
Ethan said nothing, only waiting for her to explain.
"I’m about to leave this world."
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