The air in the training room was thick with the sharp scent of iron and sweat. Liang Yue stood poised before the target, her breathing steady, her gaze focused. She had been here for hours, striking, dodging, repeating every move until it etched into her bones. Her muscles ached, but she refused to stop. Not when there was more to master.
Her father's words echoed in her mind: "Power comes at a cost, Yue. You cannot afford weakness." Those words weren't just a mantra—they were a commandment.
She flexed her fingers, grounding herself. The training mannequin before her was finely crafted—wooden but fitted with motion sensors to mimic an opponent's rhythm. Precision was the goal, not brute force.
"Focus," she whispered, lunging into a seamless flow of strikes.
From the shadows, Liang Jin, her twin brother, observed silently. Leaning against the wall, arms crossed, he tilted his head with a half-smile.
"Still pulling your punches," he said casually.
Yue didn't break rhythm. "Still running your mouth?"
"Always." Jin smirked, pushing off the wall. "You're getting faster. But there's still hesitation. You should ask Zhen-ge for sparring. He'll kick the doubt out of you."
Yue shot him a glare, wiping sweat from her brow. "Don't think I won't take you down first."
He laughed, dodging her thrown towel.
Just then, footsteps echoed in the corridor. Both siblings turned as Liang Zhen appeared at the doorway, towering and composed as always. But what caught Yue's eye wasn't him—it was the person behind him.
Wu Xian.
Dressed in a fitted black shirt beneath a sharp, slate-gray coat, the Wu Family heir looked every bit the modern aristocrat. Sleek boots, subtle silver cufflinks, and that unmistakable serpent crest at his collarbone. His presence, cool and unhurried, seemed to pause the air in the room.
"You're early," Zhen noted.
"I left ahead of schedule," Wu Xian replied, then glanced toward Yue. His eyes, dark and unreadable, lingered just long enough to register something. Not quite recognition. Not quite curiosity. But something.
"Training," Zhen explained. "Yue's improving."
Wu Xian nodded. "I can see that."
Yue wiped her hands on her uniform, fighting the heat rising to her face. "I didn't expect you'd be visiting again so soon."
"I came for Zhen," he said simply, then added, "but this wasn't an unwelcome sight."
Jin leaned closer to Yue, whispering with a grin, "He's smoother than a mirror."
She elbowed him.
"Tech proposal," Wu Xian continued, handing Zhen a sealed case. "Our fathers want field testing to begin by year-end. It's encoded. Only your clearance can unlock it."
Zhen nodded, taking the case. "Understood. We'll begin testing immediately."
As the two older boys moved into conversation, Yue stepped back, her eyes occasionally flicking to Wu Xian.
He hadn't said much. But he didn't need to. His presence was like a ripple on still water—subtle, but undeniable.
Moments later, Wu Xian and Zhen exited the room, the conversation fading into the halls. Yue stood in silence, the air still echoing with the weight of his gaze.
"You okay?" Jin asked.
"I'm fine," she replied. "It's nothing."
But it wasn't nothing. It lingered.
Far above, Liang Mei stood in her lab, reviewing footage from the training room. She paused the video at the moment Wu Xian looked at Yue.
A slow smile crept onto her face.
"Interesting," she murmured.
And in her heart, she knew—Wu Xian's presence had stirred something. Not just in Yue, but in the bloodline itself.