Jian remained still for a long moment, the quiet returning to him like a familiar lover. He took a slow, deliberate breath, the subtle tension that had gripped him throughout the elder's intrusion gradually receding. He still felt a profound spiritual fatigue, a dull ache behind his eyes, but it was overshadowed by a chilling sense of triumph.
They send their elders, their probes, their suspicions. Good. Let them send more. Let them try to unravel the enigma of ‘Van’. His crimson eyes, now unveiled in the dim light, burned with a renewed, fierce resolve. They will find nothing but shadows, whispers, and the growing, insatiable hunger of the abyss. They seek to understand me? They will only know despair.
He knew Penatua Wu, despite his confusion, would report his 'failure' to Grand Elder
