The infirmary door shut with a soft click, a sound utterly insignificant, yet it sealed Liu Jin's former life away. He didn't look back. There was no need. The data was conclusive: the Azure Sect's methods were insufficient. Their rules, irrelevant. Their compassion, a weakness. Lin Xueru was dying, and the only logical course of action was to acquire the Sutra of the Frozen Heart.
The day had bled into twilight, painting the mountain peaks in shades of bruised purple and grey. A thin, cold mist, reminiscent of the valley, began to creep through the sect grounds. Liu Jin welcomed it. It cloaked him, a natural extension of the cold radiating from his core.
His first task was to map the sect’s night patrols. His mind, honed by the Sutra’s nascent influence, processed information with chill
