The scent of burning incense and sterility hung in the air, clinging to the high arched ceiling of the Spirit Hall's healing chambers. The flickering of soul lamps cast long shadows across the polished marble floor, their golden light dancing like whispers across the walls. A low hum of spirit power saturation lingered, dense and warm like an invisible cocoon.
Li Wei opened his eyes.
Or rather, they drifted open—slow, heavy, like tearing through layers of fog. The first thing he felt was not pain, but silence. A serene, suffocating silence. Then came the weight. His entire body felt like it had been buried under a mountain. His limbs refused to obey, and when he tried to move his fingers, he found them stiff and sluggish.
Bandages.
He blinked slowly and turned his head slightly. His peripheral vision confirmed what he already suspected. His entire torso was wrapped tightly in spiritual bandages, each one inscribed with glowing silver runes that pulsed faintly in sync with his heartbeat. A sealing array. His soul power was locked—he could feel it thrashing behind the seal, like a beast pounding against cage bars.
"…You're awake."
A familiar, gravel-edged voice rang out softly, reverberating through the chamber like a gong in a quiet temple.
Li Wei gaze drifted toward the sound.
Golden Crocodile Douluo.
The old man stood by the chamber's window, arms folded behind his back, the dark gold of his robe catching the light like molten metal. His expression was unreadable as always, but there was a certain softness in his eyes that most would miss—except Li Wei. He knew that look. It was relief. Subtle, restrained, but genuine.
"…Grandfather," Li Wei murmured, his voice rasping like parchment.
Crocodile Douluo turned to him fully. "You've been unconscious for seven days. The wounds nearly ruptured your meridians. The backlash from your spirit burning technique was severe."
Li Wei tried to sit up. He barely moved an inch before Crocodile Douluo raised a hand.
"Don't," he said sternly. "The sealing array is not just to contain your power—it's to protect your body from yourself. You went far beyond your limit. Any further, and even I might not have been able to pull you back."
The words settled like a cold stone in Li Wei chest.
Seven days.
His mind raced, but clarity came sluggishly. Memories of the battle blurred together with fleeting images—flames, roars, black mist, and pain. And something else.
A vision.
"…I had a dream," Li Wei said slowly.
Crocodile Douluo raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
Li Wei stared at the ceiling. "No… not a dream. A vision. Someone spoke to me. Build…"
At the mention of the name, a faint pulse rippled through his Diendriver martial soul which inside his body.
Crocodile Douluo remained silent, waiting.
"He said… 'we failed to survive.' And that he left a failsafe inside Goksumr," Li Wei murmured. "He spoke of a king… a power the Veil Envoy themselves don't know governs them. Sealed long ago by our seniors. If we want to win… we must defeat the king."
The silence that followed was thick.
Crocodile Douluo's expression didn't change, but his eyes sharpened. "This 'Build'... did he give you direction?"
Li Wei closed his eyes, the image still fresh in his mind. The crimson sky. The gears turning. A figure in a lab coat, holding a cracked beaker. And then—the final words:
"You're the key. But remember… even keys can rust inside a cage."
"…He showed me a cage. And a key," Li Wei finally said.
Crocodile Douluo nodded slowly. "Cryptic. As always. This kind of thing never been said directly."
A knock echoed through the chamber doors before either could say more.
The double doors opened with a hiss.
She walked in.
Bibi Dong.
Clad in ceremonial white robes embroidered with violet spider lilies, she was a vision of majesty and death in equal measure. Her steps were soundless, her presence chillingly regal. Twin pupils regarded Li Wei with a hawk's scrutiny. No pity, no sentiment—only calculation.
"Your resilience continues to defy expectation," she said coolly, stopping at the foot of his bed. "Even among the Spirit Hall chosen, few would have survived that."
Li Wei didn't respond immediately. He had always found her aura oppressive. Not in a suffocating way—but the kind that reminded him of walking a tightrope above a storm.
"You speak like you expected me to fail, aunt Bibi Dong" he said.
A ghost of a smile touched Bibi Dong's lips. "I expected you to endure. Whether your body could withstand the consequences… was another matter."
Crocodile Douluo remained silent, letting her speak.
She turned to glance at him, then back to Li Wei.
"Golden Crocodile Douluo has kept your role in this incident from the court. As far as the rest of Spirit Hall is concerned, you've been undergoing cultivation isolation. Not even the Elder Hall suspects the truth."
Li Wei's fingers tightened slightly against the sheets. "…Good."
She leaned forward just a fraction, eyes narrowing. "But know this, Li Wei. Your power has grown. And so has the weight it carries. Power breeds envy. And envy breeds assassination."
Her words were silk wrapped around steel.
"I know," Li Wei replied softly. "Which is why I never show it unless necessary."
Her smile widened, colder this time. "Golden Crocodile Douluo may shield you for now. But the moment your existence disrupts the delicate balance of the Spirit Hall… no secret will protect you."
Li Wei didn't flinch.
"…Let them come," he said simply.
There was a long pause.
Bibi Dong straightened, the brief tension dissipating. "You'll recover here under the seal. When your body stabilizes, we'll talk again."
She turned to leave—but paused at the door.
"You should just enter Spirit Hall academy, why do you need to enter no name academy?"
Hearing the question from Bibi Dong, he can only answer the best he can. "I want to pave my own road and it might be my destiny."
Then she vanished beyond the doors, leaving only a soft echo in her wake.
Li Wei exhaled slowly.
"She still doesn't trust the Elder Hall," he muttered. He understands the reasons. If it was not because he was a reincarnator, he will not know the reason.
When young Bibi Dong has been brought to the chamber and been done unspeakable thing by Qian Xunji. Then Qian Renxue born. Qian Daoliu only let her because she is the mother of Qian Renxue, he want her to take care of the position as the Supreme Pontiff until Qian Renxue ready to ascends.
Crocodile Douluo finally stepped closer, sitting beside the bed. His weathered hand rested lightly on Li Wei arm.
"Nor should she. But she also knows your value. That's why she's keeping you close. For now."
Li Wei turned his head to the ceiling again. He could still feel it—the faint buzz within his soul sea. The Watch.
Another Shinobi Ridewatch… no, it had changed. Its malevolent presence was gone, purified during the unconscious storm. Now it pulsed calmly, like a blade sheathed at his side. Its transformation meant something.
"…My cultivation channels," Li Wei murmured. "They feel… different. Denser. Stronger."
Crocodile Douluo nodded. "Your spiritual network collapsed during the battle, then reknit itself during the healing wave from the member of Spirit hall. The process… changed you. You'll understand once you recover."
Li Wei felt it in his own Martial spirit. Even now, it pulsed faintly, like a heartbeat synced to his own.
He felt the shift.
His martial spirit was changing. Slowly. Irrevocably.
He had touched the edges of something greater during that vision. A truth hidden beneath layers of illusion and silence. The Veil Envoy… the sealed King… the legacy of Riders like Build who once stood in defiance of the void.
He wasn't just a pawn anymore.
He was becoming the key.
"Grandfather…" he said after a long pause.
"Hm?"
"If I open the cage… what if I can't close it again?"
Crocodile Douluo looked at him, eyes deep with a thousand battles.
"Then make sure you're strong enough to survive what's inside."
Li Wei closed his eyes, the hum of spirit lamps washing over him like a lullaby.
And somewhere, deep within his soul sea, the gears of destiny turned once more.