Chapter 220: Breakthrough

Yun Shu’s lips curved in a deceptively sweet smile.

Anyone who knew her would have recognized it as a warning.

She rose slowly from her place on the picnic mat, brushing imaginary crumbs of dessert from her sleeves, her gaze sweeping the crowd with casual disdain.

’You dare?’ her eyes seemed to say. Her aura wasn’t as powerful as that of the great sect leaders here, but the air around her distorted faintly, carrying a subtle sharpness that none of them could quite place.

In truth, the sharpness came from her resolve, not her cultivation.

’If anyone dares disturb him, I’ll make them regret it.’

The Palace Lord’s guards moved at the same time, stepping forward in synchronized formation. They formed an unshakable barrier around the lotus platform, their armor glinting with moonlight, weapons drawn and pointed toward any who looked as though they might move an inch closer. The killing intent rolling off them was suffocating.

Together, Yun Shu and the guards formed a wall of silent threat.

At that exact moment, another group arrived at the lakeside. The disciples of the Azure Sect, who had earlier crossed paths with Yun Shu and received her unexpected help, stood frozen at the edge of the crowd.

“Senior Sister! Look—!” one of them whispered, nearly breathless.

Their leader, a calm-eyed young man with a scholar’s composure, stared at the lotus platform in shock. He had heard the legends of the Northern Palace Lord, but seeing the man in person, and seeing him chosen by the artifact, was something else entirely.

And then his gaze shifted, and recognition struck him like lightning.

“That woman…” His voice trailed off.

It was Yun Shu.

Though disguised as a chatterbox, sitting casually at the heart of the storm as though she belonged there, it was undoubtedly her. The one who had once stepped in to help them without hesitation, who had carried herself with infuriating lightness and humor even while facing danger.

To see her now, standing protectively by the side of the Palace Lord himself, was like staring at a completely different person.

“…She… she’s with him?” another disciple stammered.

The Azure Sect disciples exchanged bewildered glances. Some felt admiration, others disbelief, and more than one felt a twinge of envy. After all, cultivators lived their lives chasing fated opportunities. Wasn’t this the greatest opportunity of them all? To be so close to a man like the Nine Hall Palace Lord, a man who now holds the divine artifact in his hand?

But when they looked closer, when they saw the subtle possessiveness in Yun Shu’s posture, the way she stood between Bai Yunxian and the crowd without hesitation, the envy turned into something else.

Respect.

Because even if her cultivation wasn’t the highest, even if she appeared silly at times, she alone was willing to stand there with no fear.

The murmurs of the crowd turned more heated.

“We can’t let him finish his breakthrough!”

“If he succeeds, he’ll rise to an even higher realm, and none of us will be able to challenge him!”

“But… that guard formation… and that woman—”

The “woman” in question tilted her head, her eyes narrowing.

She took a single step forward, placing herself right at the edge of the lotus platform. From her sleeve, she drew out a delicate-looking fan, the kind one might use for leisure during a hot day. With a soft snap, it unfolded.

“Really?” Yun Shu said, her tone light but her words sharp. “You’re going to interrupt a cultivator’s breakthrough? How utterly shameless. Haven’t your masters taught you better manners?”

The sarcasm in her voice made several elders bristle with rage. But none dared to step forward.

The tension stretched thin. Spiritual energy continued to whirl into Bai Yunxian’s body, his cultivation climbing higher and higher, the force of it pressing down on everyone like a mountain.

And Yun Shu waited. Her fingers tapped the fan lightly against her palm, her stance relaxed but unyielding. She thought back to her earlier life, to the countless times she had stood alone against a hostile crowd, to how much it had taken to survive betrayal and schemes.

Compared to that, these people? They were nothing.

The Azure Sect disciples, watching from the sidelines, could hardly breathe. One of the younger ones whispered, almost in awe:

“She’s really… protecting him. Alone.”

The eldest disciple answered softly, his gaze fixed on Yun Shu’s small but unshakable figure:

“No… she isn’t alone. She has him. And he has her.”

The breakthrough reached its peak. The lotus platform blazed with radiant light, the ripples spreading across the entire lake. Trees bent as though bowing, the stars above dimmed as though ashamed to compete.

And then, there was a long silence.

Bai Yunxian opened his eyes.

The pressure of his new cultivation realm swept out like a storm, forcing weaker cultivators to their knees. His gaze flickered once to Yun Shu, and though his expression remained cold and composed, something deep in his eyes softened almost imperceptibly.

She smiled at him, relief washing over her.

He had succeeded.

’Hehe, as expected of the male lead!’

And because she had stood there, because no one had dared to cross her, his cultivation had advanced without interruption.

The brick gleamed faintly in his hand. No one else understood it, no one else even knew its true name, but to Yun Shu, that ordinary object had just become a symbol of something extraordinary.

Because it had chosen him, and she had made sure it was his.

And in that moment, as the crowd buzzed with disbelief, envy, and fear, Yun Shu felt a quiet, mischievous pride swell in her chest.

The artifact was no mere brick.

At first, Yun Shu had been convinced it was nothing more than a remnant of her modern world, some construction material that had been pulled across dimensions and mistaken for a relic. But when Bai Yunxian held it in his palm, when his qi wrapped around it and resonated with its dormant essence, the truth revealed itself.

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