chapter 2

Chapter 2 — Silver ResonanceSun City

Xu Family Courtyard

Morning sunlight slowly illuminated the Xu Family courtyard.

Several younger disciples trained near the stone platforms while servants moved busily between buildings carrying water and spirit herbs.

Completely normal.

Unfortunately for Xu Yuan—

normal mornings usually meant getting lectured by elders.

"Again."

An old man's irritated voice echoed across the courtyard.

Xu Yuan stood lazily in the center of the training ground while holding a wooden sword loosely in one hand.

Across from him, Third Elder Xu Jian looked seconds away from dying from anger.

"I told you to circulate spiritual energy through the lower meridians first!"

"I did."

"You absolutely did not."

Xu Yuan thought seriously for a moment.

"…Maybe emotionally."

CRACK!

The wooden sword immediately smacked against his head.

"That hurt!"

"You deserve worse!"

Nearby disciples instantly lowered their heads trying not to laugh.

Xu Yuan rubbed his forehead dramatically while Third Elder glared at him furiously.

"You're seventeen already," the elder continued. "Even Xia Yu cultivates more seriously than you."

Xu Yuan immediately pointed toward the nearby pavilion.

"That's because she's terrifying."

Several disciples secretly nodded in agreement.

Inside the pavilion, Xia Yu calmly drank tea while reading a cultivation manual quietly.

Beautiful.

Elegant.

Cold.

Completely different from Xu Yuan.

Third Elder snorted.

"If you cultivated half as seriously as your fiancée, this old man would already die peacefully."

"That sounds less like encouragement."

"That's because it isn't encouragement."

Before Xu Yuan could answer—

a loud voice suddenly echoed from the courtyard entrance.

"Xu Yuan!"

A young man rushed inward while breathing heavily.

Lin Hao.

One of Xu Yuan's few actual friends inside Sun City.

Mostly because Lin Hao somehow tolerated his personality.

"What happened?" Xu Yuan asked.

Lin Hao immediately lowered his voice dramatically.

"The Liu Family genius returned."

Several nearby disciples instantly reacted.

"Liu Feng?"

"I heard he entered Spirit Vein Realm already."

"He was gone training for almost two years…"

Xu Yuan looked completely uninterested.

"Okay."

Lin Hao stared at him blankly.

"That's your reaction?"

"What else am I supposed to say? Congratulations?"

"He challenged people immediately after returning!"

"That sounds exhausting."

Third Elder sighed deeply while holding his forehead.

"Look at you. No ambition at all."

Xu Yuan pointed toward Xia Yu again.

"My fiancée is beautiful, life is peaceful, and nobody's trying to kill me yet. I'm very satisfied."

"You're hopeless."

"Thank you."

Inside the pavilion, Xia Yu quietly closed her cultivation manual.

"Liu Feng asked about you earlier."

Xu Yuan blinked.

"…Why?"

"He heard you're engaged to me."

Silence.

Several nearby disciples immediately turned toward Xu Yuan with expressions full of sympathy.

Xu Yuan looked genuinely offended.

"So I'm being challenged because of your face again?"

Xia Yu calmly nodded.

"Probably."

"That's unreasonable."

"You say that every time."

"Because it keeps happening every time!"

Lin Hao suddenly leaned closer.

"To be fair… if I looked like you and had a fiancée like Xia Yu, people would probably want to fight me too."

Xu Yuan stared at him silently.

"You're a terrible friend."

"I'm an honest friend."

The courtyard slowly became lively again as disciples continued training nearby.

Third Elder eventually walked away muttering something about "wasted talent" under his breath.

Xu Yuan immediately sat beneath a nearby tree lazily.

Finally.

Peace.

At least for a few minutes.

Xia Yu quietly walked over before sitting beside him naturally.

"You're avoiding cultivation again."

"I'm preserving my energy."

"For what?"

Xu Yuan thought carefully.

"…Future problems."

"That's not how cultivation works."

"You can't prove that."

Xia Yu sighed softly.

Then without warning—

she grabbed Xu Yuan's wrist gently.

A faint silver spiritual current slowly flowed between them.

Xu Yuan immediately froze.

The spiritual energy inside his body unexpectedly became calmer.

Warmer.

Like his circulation naturally stabilized just from her touch alone.

This happened often whenever they stayed close.

Neither truly understood why.

But over the years—

they stopped questioning it too much.

Nearby disciples secretly stared with jealous expressions.

"Are they cultivating together again?"

"That doesn't even look fair…"

"Must be nice…"

Xu Yuan looked toward Xia Yu suspiciously.

"You're cheating."

"How?"

"You make cultivation easier just by existing."

"That sounds more like your problem."

Xu Yuan stared at her seriously for several seconds.

"…You're surprisingly arrogant today."

A faint smile appeared briefly on Xia Yu's face again.

Very small.

But enough to completely silence Xu Yuan for a moment.

Then suddenly—

BOOOOM!

A loud explosion echoed faintly from somewhere beyond Sun City's outer walls.

The entire courtyard became silent instantly.

Several disciples immediately stood up.

Even Third Elder stopped walking.

Another distant rumble followed shortly afterward.