Zhao Tian leaned back slightly, his eyes sharpening as he looked at Rui Lian's expression.
"How long do we have?"
Rui Lian hesitated "The preparations are still ongoing. They said… the ceremony will begin during the next full moons. Twelve days from now."
Yan Zijin clenched her jaw "So we have time."
Zhao Tian glanced at her, then at Rui Lian. "Where is this soul being kept? The urn."
Rui Lian's eyes shifted nervously. "In the ancestral sanctum. Deep underground, guarded day and night. Only the High Priestess and a few elders have access."
Zhao Tian's gaze grew distant "And this urn… has it ever reacted before? Or only after you came of age?"
"...They said the Matriarch stirred the moment I performed my first bloodline awakening ritual,"
Rui Lian murmured, guilt flashing in her eyes. "I… I didn't know what it meant at the time. Everyone just kept congratulating me."
Yan Zijin's expression darkened "They were preparing you from the beginning."
