C46 A Small Earthquake Only Happened in One Family!

The night sky shimmered with stars, and the moonlight flowed like water.

In the northern part of the city, the Yu family's residence lay in silence.

Two figures descended quietly, without a sound, landing behind the Yu family's home, hidden in the shadows of a street, silently observing the household.

Yuan Lianyao alternated between closing her eyes and opening them, each time her beautiful gaze growing more perplexed.

Su Yan, who had forsaken her conspicuous Celestial Plume Raiment, had not yet attained the Subtlety Realm, and thus could not employ her spiritual sense to perceive the surroundings.

Nevertheless, she could feel a profound sadness enveloping the entire Yu family.

"That fan, those four words—they harbor a sorrowful intent. Yet, that sentiment was so faint; how did it amplify to such an extent?" she pondered internally.

Her encounter with Yu Yuan at the Vault of Wonders earlier that day was kept secret from her uncle Su Yin, and she hadn't confided in Yuan Lianyao either.

Su Yin was oblivious to the peculiar happenings at the Yu family's place. He continued his cultivation practices, undisturbed as she slipped away.

In the vast Asvetaesi, only Yuan Lianyao had detected that something was amiss.

It must be not intuition, but the power of her Subtlety Realm cultivation.

—Insight into Subtlety.

This made her somewhat dismissive of the other cultivators in Asvetaesi.

She was convinced that in any other city of the Empire, an anomaly like the one at the Yu family would have raised alarm among many, drawing those with keen senses and unique perceptions, much like herself, to investigate.

"Yuanyuan?"

Out of the blue, Su Yan sensed something and turned to the mayor of Asvetaesi, calling out softly in astonishment.

The red lotus, renowned throughout the Empire and coveted by many men, was brimming with grief, seemingly influenced by the melancholy that shrouded the Yu family.

Her repeated calls went unnoticed by Yuan Lianyao.

Su Yan's face registered her awe, "Incredible!"

Yuan Lianyao, a cultivator in the Subtlety Realm, had unwittingly been ensnared by the pervasive sorrow, so deeply immersed that she couldn't even hear Su Yan's cries.

If she intended to harm Yuan Lianyao, the esteemed mayor of Asvetaesi, it would surely be a tragic end. With this thought, Su Yan no longer dared to take any rash actions, nor did she dare to probe the Yu family's anomalies carelessly. She feared that she might, like Yuan Lianyao, inexplicably lose her mind.

In the dead of night, with the streets silent and the old woman not by her side, she couldn't afford to take any risks.

Inside the Yu family, every member was enveloped in a sweet slumber. Both cultivators and mortals alike were deep in sleep, seemingly unaffected by the shroud of sorrow that enveloped the family. They were simply overcome with sleepiness, succumbing to a profound rest.

Yu Yuan, the instigator of it all, was no exception. He too was lost in a profound dream. Yet his dream differed from the others in the Yu family. He could sense his heaven soul, part of the triad of heaven, earth, and man, drifting from his mind, drawn to the White Paper Fan.

The four black characters on the fan—To Know All is to Suffer All—held his heaven soul's attention. It condensed into a consciousness that navigated each stroke of the characters, absorbing the embedded sorrow, as if catching glimpses of fragmented scenes.

Meanwhile, his mortal soul experienced a whirlwind of disorientation within his own mind. It felt as though the entire northern sector of the Yu family was spinning in unison.

After what seemed like an eternity, he was overcome by an unusual exhaustion. With a jolt, he snapped back to reality. In that instant, he felt the earth beneath the family's estate tremble ever so slightly.

He also noticed that the four characters on the White Paper Fan shone with an unusual brilliance.

Clang!

A flower pot crashed to the ground outside.

Yu Yuan paused, momentarily taken aback, then quickly went to investigate. He discovered that numerous potted plants around his home had been knocked over.

The scene was one of utter disarray.

Oddly enough, the rest of the Yu family remained undisturbed, still locked in their deep sleep.

"No, it wasn't an illusion. It was a real quake," Yu Yuan realized with amazement. Under the bright moonlight, he roamed the family grounds.

The sight of numerous fallen pots and plants only confirmed his suspicions.

As he continued to explore, he noticed that the walls and stone pillars of the family seemed to shine with a newfound luster, more polished and radiant than ever before.

He couldn't tell if the moon's unusual brightness was to blame for the night's strangeness.

"Odd."

Filled with questions, he ventured out alone in search of answers.

Stepping out the front door, he surveyed the surroundings, finding everything as it should be.

Yet, unbeknownst to him, at the Yu Family's back entrance, in the street's shadows, two people were engaged in hushed conversation.

"Yuanyuan, you seemed off just now."

Su Yan gazed at the suddenly awakened mayor, her eyes sparkling with intense curiosity. "Something's not right with you, and the Yu Family is off too. Right before you came to, there was a minor earthquake."

"An earthquake?" Yuan Lianyao was still groggy.

"Yes, I witnessed it myself. The Yu Family's buildings were all trembling," Su Yan stated earnestly.

"That's not unusual," Yuan Lianyao said, massaging her forehead, trying to clear her head. "Asvetaesi does experience minor quakes from time to time."

"No, it's different," Su Yan clarified. "It wasn't Asvetaesi, it was just the Yu Family. The rest of the street, other buildings, they didn't budge. Only the Yu Family's houses were quivering and seemed to emit a faint glow."

"What?" Yuan Lianyao was now fully alert.

"I'm telling you, the earthquake affected only the Yu Family in the northern part of the city!" Su Yan reiterated.

"Are you certain?"

"I have no reason to deceive you."

"The Yu Family, an earthquake at midnight, and a glowing house," Yuan Lianyao mused aloud. Then, using her spiritual sense, she detected no anomalies at the Yu Family's residence at that moment.

Except that while everyone else was deep in slumber, one person had awakened and was wandering about.

With her spiritual sense honed by the Subtlety Realm, she instantly recognized the individual.

"Yu Yuan!"

Yuan Lianyao whispered, giving Su Yan a nod. "Please keep tonight's events confidential."

"Mmm," Su Yan responded nonchalantly.

"I'm going to see Yu Yuan."

No longer hesitating with her mind swirling with doubts, she left her words hanging in the air and departed swiftly, like a streak of arc light.

"Count me in," Su Yan said as she caught up.

At the entrance of the Yu family estate, Yu Yuan, having roamed for a bit, was ready to return and examine the peculiar White Paper Fan to understand what had just transpired. At that moment, his heaven soul had already settled back into place. The fatigue he had felt earlier had vanished, and he found his spiritual wisdom to be exceptionally clear, as if he could grasp the truth of matters more swiftly.

"The three souls of heaven, earth, and man: the earthly soul bears memories, while the heaven soul unlocks spiritual wisdom and the Third Eye. The clarity of my thoughts suggests a subtle change in my heaven soul."

"The White Paper Fan, To Know All is to Suffer All!"

"The heaven soul, it once wandered within!"

Thoughts raced through his mind like lightning. Perhaps it was this newfound clarity of spiritual wisdom that led to his sudden realization.

"The heaven soul was drawn out and refined within those four words!"

Yu Yuan was thunderstruck.

The next moment, his eyes blazed with enlightenment, "Soul Sharpening of the Heaven Soul."

"Yu Yuan!"

Yuan Lianyao's voice reached him as she swiftly approached.

A verdant figure also arrived, trailing just seconds behind Yuan Lianyao.

"You two?"

Yu Yuan was momentarily taken aback.

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