The Spirit Testing Hall of Starfall Academy buzzed with whispers and anticipation. Hundreds of new initiates, clothed in plain white robes, queued one after the other to stand before the jade crystal orb. Its purpose was simple—identify spiritual roots and potential for cultivation.
It had never failed.
Until today.
Celeste Ai stepped forward, her presence light, almost translucent. There was nothing extraordinary about her—no shimmering aura, no explosive pressure, not even a flicker of qi response. Her silver eyes were dull as winter clouds, her expression calm, even indifferent.
"Next."
She obeyed.
The moment her palm touched the orb, it flickered. Once. Then faded. Silent. Dead.
A murmur ran through the hall like wind on dry leaves.
"No reaction?"
"Zero affinity?"
"She's... completely rootless?"
The examiner frowned. "Step aside," he said curtly, gesturing for her to make way.
Celeste didn't protest. She stepped down, lips pressed in a thin line. The humiliation didn't touch her. The whispers didn't sting. Inside her, there was only silence.
But far away, beyond flesh and form, something stirred.
**
In the depths of her mind—no, somewhere far stranger—a simulation hummed to life.
[Initialization complete.]
[User: Celeste Ai detected.]
[Executing Simulation Protocol: Origin.]
[Awakening process: 1.3%]
Unaware of the code that pulsed through her soul like divine blood, Celeste wandered through the outer courtyard. The instructors had already dismissed her as trash, unworthy of cultivation.
She sat beneath a flowering jade tree, its petals crystalline in the morning light. She watched them fall, entranced by their perfect descent.
"Why are you so calm?" asked a soft voice. It belonged to a boy, maybe fifteen. His name didn't matter. What mattered was the pity in his eyes.
"No spiritual root, no dantian... You should be crying."
Celeste tilted her head, as if pondering the question seriously. "Why cry over something that isn't real?"
He blinked. "What?"
She didn't respond.
Because even she didn't understand why those words had come so easily, like truths written into her bones.
**
That night, she dreamed again.
She stood in the void—no sky, no stars, only endless darkness and the echo of a woman's voice.
"You must forget in order to awaken. You must awaken in order to return."
She reached out, but the dream shattered.
**
Meanwhile, in a tower miles away, a Demi-God meditating in isolation suddenly opened his eyes.
He looked toward the east. Toward Starfall Academy.
"The Simulation has begun…"