Qin Yami continued to observe the scene with keen interest. The entire poor village, in an ear-piercing silence, watching the girl. The stone remained quiet without a single light, without any reaction. The air was dense.
Suddenly, with a sudden noise, the stone glowed with a vivid blue. A soft but constant glow stretched toward the girl's hand. The crowd momentarily closed their eyes, trying to believe, their gazes widening with shock and amazement.
She continued to touch the stone, her honey-brown eyes shining with determination. Her face dirty with the sun reflecting off her person and the wet tears almost dry.
The talent stone, slowly, its blue color became intense, shining with growing force. It was incredible to see, even more so in the situation that happened. The color jumped from a pale blue to a sea-blue in a frantic cycle, intensifying rapidly each instant.
The crowd, which once laughed and mocked Xiao Fan's pathetic attempt, now looked at the scene with gazes burning with envy. No one spoke. No one moved. It was as if they had stopped time.
"She has talent!" "I can't believe it, why I never treated her and her brother well" Everyone felt beyond envy, regret, after all if they had helped her before, they could have her favor. She will be a Cultivator.
"Fifth category... no, wait..." Elder Mo Zhen murmured, his eyes narrowing as he observed the growing intensity.
The blue became green, which made Elder Mo Zhen's expression become a little less casual. "Fourth... Fourth catego—"
He didn't finish the sentence. The stone burned with a pure emerald green, a glow so intense it seemed the air around them was heating up. The crowd murmured in surprise. This was the color of fourth category talents in the purest form they had ever seen in their lives. Good, but rare in such a small and remote village only. However, its color changed again to Amethyst Purple: It would indicate a superior category talent, A person being able to be evaluated between third and second category could be a great elder of any powerful group. A rare Force.
"Impossible for this to be only her talent" Qin observed convinced.
"Impossible," Disciple Liu Yanran whispered, her eyes fixed on the stone. "In a village like this..."
Mo Wuba leaned forward, his expression changing from desirous disdain to something more... hungry. "Second category is more than enough to—"
His words were abruptly cut off.
With a gleaming roar that made the "earth tremble," the green light began to pulse violently. And then, as if reality itself was being molded around her, the color began to change again.
Golden!
A sparkling gold, as if a thousand suns had been melted and molded into pure light. It was intense.
Qin closed his eyes, not even he expected it to be so strong the light. "I always thought it was just sensationalist, not that it was really intense"
"No!" Elder Mo Zhen breathed, taking a step back. "It can't be."
The stone wasn't just glowing now - it was singing happily. A crystalline sound, like celestial bells echoing through the now bright clouds. The golden light expanded, forming a pillar that pierced the clouds and touched the sky itself.
Qin Yami felt his knees weaken before such grandeur but steadied himself again. He knew what that meant. He had read about it in hundreds of webnovels, but seeing it in real life was... Incredible.
"First category," Mo Zhen whispered to himself, his voice almost inaudible. "First category talent. She's not just special. She is... legendary."
The golden light broke into a thousand bright fragments like dust spreading through the air, each one dancing around Lin Mei like obedient stars. The wind that rose wasn't natural - it carried with it the smell of flowers that never existed and the sound of melodies that made the heart race.
The clouds above separated, revealing a sky that seemed bluer, vaster, as if the universe itself was paying attention to the birth of a genius in over a thousand years. Such talent was also recognized as...
"FIRST CATEGORY!" Elder Mo Zhen shouted, his composure finally broken. "A TRUE DIVINE SEED!"
The crowd exploded. Some people fell to their knees; several began to cry. It was the birth of a being Blessed by the Heavens, it was a shocking revelation, the moment when common mortals realize they are in the presence of something that transcends their mortal understanding.
Qin observed everything with a mixture of fascination for what he saw. Coming from Earth, it was something beautiful, indescribable to see. But... a growing discomfort arose in his heart. Because he knew - oh, he knew very well - what happened to divine seeds in stories like this.
"She's going to die or be tortured like a precious object too precious to let go" the thought came cold and clear, it was something he already knew. "If not today, it will be tomorrow. Or next week. Because everyone will want a piece of her now."
Lin Mei, at the center of all that madness, seemed small and scared. She looked at Xiao Fan, who was open-mouthed with tears flowing while watching his sister, The Person who caused all this.
At the same time, then at the cultivators, who stared at her as if she were a newly discovered treasure. Definitely, she must go with them. Their sect would grow ravines.
Elder Mo Zhen took a deep breath, as if recovering from a punch to the stomach. His eyes, which moments before shone with casual disdain looking at so many Worms in his view, now fixed on Lin Mei with clear intensity.
"Change of plans," he announced, his voice loaded with an authority that admitted no questioning. "The selection is over."
Qin Yami observed the transformation of these people, Selfish. It was like watching a predator change prey in the middle of the hunt. Lin Mei had gone from "irrelevant child" to "world treasure" in a matter of seconds.
"Naturally," Elder Mo continued, approaching Lin Mei with measured steps, "a First Category Divine Seed cannot be left in... inadequate conditions."
The euphemism almost made Qin laugh. "Inadequate conditions." As if poverty were a contagious disease that could contaminate the girl's precious talent. Even here, Lin Mei would flourish at some point.
"The Purple Blue Sect will be your new family, child," Elder Mo said, his voice taking on a tone he probably thought was paternal. "You will receive the best resources, the best masters, everything a person of your... caliber... deserves."
Lin Mei took a step back, instinctively approaching Xiao Fan. "But I already have family," she said with a small but firm voice. "My brother—"
"Your brother?" Mo Wuba laughed interfering, that oily sound echoing through the square. "Child, you don't understand. People like you transcend these... mundane connections. I Can be your brother" He licked his lips.
Qin Yami felt something twist in his stomach. It wasn't just disgust - it was recognition. He had read this exact conversation in dozens of webnovels. The "superior destiny" dialogue that always came before separating protagonists from their families.
"She'll cry for a few chapters, then she'll accept and eventually thank them for having 'liberated' her. Then the Protagonist will make her have emotions again..." he thought automatically. "Classic script."
But looking at Lin Mei - an eleven-year-old child with tears beginning to form in her eyes again - the cold observation that Qin Yami had gotten used to since coming to this world seemed... inadequate. Like commenting on something casual during a funeral.
"Please," Lin Mei said, her voice tremulous but determined, "I don't want to leave my brother. He took care of me since I was little, he—"
"He is a mortal," Disciple Liu Yanran cut coldly. "You are a Divine Seed. The difference between you now is like the difference between an ant and a dragon that will fly beyond the heavens"
Xiao Fan, who until then had been paralyzed by shock, finally moved. He placed himself between Lin Mei and the cultivators, arms open in a protective gesture that was as brave as it was useless.
"No," he said, his voice cracked but firm. "You can't take her. She is... she is all I have."
The silence that followed was different from the previous ones. It wasn't expectation or surprise. It was the silence of someone who had just witnessed something completely surreal.
"Excuse me?" Elder Mo Zhen slowly turned to face Xiao Fan, as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "A worm... is giving me orders?"
"Here it comes," Qin murmured to himself. "The classic heroic speech of the failed protagonist. Even knowing his weakness, he NEVER surrenders. He knows he'll die if he continues, why does he continue anyway?"
But even knowing this, even knowing how it would end, Qin couldn't look away. It was like watching a car accident in slow motion.
"I promised," Xiao Fan continued, completely ignoring the deadly tone in Elder Mo's voice. "I promised I would always take care of her. That I would never let anyone hurt her. And I won't break that promise now."
"A promise?" Mo Wuba laughed, but this time the sound had nothing funny about it. It was pure cruelty. "Boy, do you think your mortal promises have any weight before destiny?"
"I know I'm not strong," Xiao Fan said, and for the first time, Qin saw something beyond delusion in his eyes. There was despair, but also a determination that transcended human logic, something similar that he understood for the first time, when he tried to survive in that bottom of the mountain when he woke up in this place. Everything said it was the end, But still, he defies destiny to survive.
"I know I have no talent. But I love her more than any cultivator ever could. That has to be worth something in this cruel world. I AM HER BROTHER! I won't leave her, even if I die" Tears fell, but his posture didn't bend.
For a moment - just a moment - Qin Yami felt something stir in his chest. It was as if a part of him that had been asleep for a long time had awakened just to whisper: "He really believes this."
But Elder Mo Zhen just laughed. Literally laughed, head thrown back, as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world.
"Love?" he repeated, as if the word were a curse. "Boy, do you think love feeds a talent like hers? That affection opens meridians? That your mortal tears can compete with millenary cultivation techniques?"
"You are just a delay for such talent"
Each word was like a slap. Xiao Fan staggered slightly, but didn't retreat.
"Perhaps we should show the young hero what his true place is," Mo Wuba suggested, that oily smile widening. "A lesson in humility, so to speak."
"Good idea," Elder Mo agreed. "A practical demonstration of the difference between mortals and cultivators."
Qin Yami saw what was coming before it happened. Elder Mo's movement, the blue energy concentrating around his fingers, the clear intention to cause pain without killing.
"No," Lin Mei screamed, trying to place herself in front of Xiao Fan.
But Mo Wuba quickly appeared and held her by the wrists, his grip light but impossible to break. "Ah, ah, ah. A Divine Seed shouldn't hurt herself trying to protect... that." Liu Yanran just watched. Ready to help them if necessary.
Elder Mo raised his hand, blue energy crackling through his fingers. "Meridian Collapse Technique. It won't kill him, but it will ensure he's never again capable of... dreaming high."
The technique hit Xiao Fan like an invisible lightning bolt. He screamed - not from pain, but from something worse. It was the sound of someone feeling their soul being shattered.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!"
When the blue glow disappeared, Xiao Fan collapsed to the ground. But it wasn't just the body that had broken. His eyes, which always shone with that determination beyond comprehension, were now... empty. Like windows of an abandoned house.
The crowd collectively recoiled, as if the protagonist's stupidity were contagious. Qin saw mothers pulling children further away, fathers looking away. No one protested. No one questioned. That's how the world worked - cultivators did what they wanted, and mortals just... watched.
"Xiao Fan!" Lin Mei fought against Mo Wuba's grip who released her, tears streaming down her face. "Xiao Fan, get up! Please, get up!"
But Xiao Fan didn't get up. He stayed there, breathing heavily, but it was as if the person he was had simply... left. What remained was just an empty body with dead eyes.
"Perfect," Elder Mo said, cleaning his hands as if he had just finished a particularly unpleasant and disgusting task. "Now we can proceed without more... interruptions."
Qin Yami observed the scene with a mixture of fascination and something he couldn't name. It was exactly as he had predicted. The failed protagonist, broken. The girl being taken against her will. The classic cycle of humiliation before transformation.
But looking at Lin Mei - an eleven-year-old child sobbing while being dragged away from her destroyed brother - something inside Qin began to... hurt.
It was a strange pain, not physical. As if someone were poking a part of his soul that he thought had been dead for a long time.
A pain that he thought had been "Subtracted", Compassion...
"Shit," he thought, trying to push away the feeling. "Why is this bothering me? It's just another cliché. It happens in all stories. They'll overcome this someday"
But while Mo Wuba dragged Lin Mei toward the horses by force, completely ignoring her sobs, Dona Isaura's voice echoed in Qin's mind:
"Surviving is just the first step, my boy. Even cockroaches survive a nuclear bomb. But living... living requires choice."
"No," Qin shook his head, trying to push away the memory. "It's not my problem. I'm just an observer. A survivor. Not a hero."
But his feet moved anyway.
"WAIT" the word left his mouth before he could stop it.
The three cultivators stopped, turning to look at him with expressions that varied from surprise to annoyance at being challenged again.
"Excuse me?" Elder Mo said, his voice loaded with dangerous calm. "The injured trash wants to say something" The three focused.
Qin Yami stood there for a moment, feeling the weight of the entire village's gazes on him, including three dangerous cultivators for a poor injured mortal like him. Part of his mind - the rational part, the part that wanted to survive - was screaming for him to shut up and return to the corner shadow where he was.
But another part, a part he thought had died long ago, was whispering something different.
He looked at Lin Mei, at those honey-brown eyes full of tears and terror. He looked at Xiao Fan, broken on the ground like a discarded toy.
And then, for reasons he couldn't completely explain, Qin Yami made the stupidest choice of his life so far.
"Blade of Will," he whispered, and felt the tattoo on his arm burn like liquid fire, its glow was above previous standards. It was as if it were happy with Qin's choice. Anxious to emerge.
The world slowed down.
Qin moved with a speed and precision he shouldn't possess for a mortal, his hand cutting through the air toward Mo Wuba's wrist. It wasn't a martial technique - it was pure intention transformed into action, sharpened by the Blade of Will until it became something that could cut more than flesh. Something similar to the known Sword Intent.
Mo Wuba screamed with his hand precisely severed, his grip loosening long enough for Lin Mei to break free.
"Run," Qin shouted at her, already moving toward her, Pulling her to him, changing objective to exit the square. "RUN!"
Chaos exploded around them. Elder Mo Zhen roared with rage, blue energy exploding from his body. Disciple Liu Yanran began conjuring something that made the air crackle with electricity. Mo Wuba was moaning in pain while crying like a kitten. "YOU...DAMN" He screamed madly in his thrashing.
But Qin didn't stop to run. He took Lin Mei by the hand and ran, using every gram of speed the Blade of Will granted him.
As they ran through the around mud and straw houses of the poor village, Qin felt something being born inside him. It wasn't just Subtracting something - it was something more fundamental. Different. As if the Blade of Will was bringing back parts of who he used to be, lost pieces finally finding their way back home.
"What did you do this time?" he thought desperately while running seeking the farthest exit from these cultivators. "My fear? My sanity? Or just my ability to stay invisible?" He still had doubts that he really didn't lose something.
It doesn't make sense.
But there was no time for answers. There was only the escape, the sound of furious cultivators behind them, and a scared child whose small hand was clinging to his as if it were the only real thing in the world.
"Shit" Qin murmured as they ran toward the forest that surrounded the village. "Dona Isa, if you're watching this from somewhere, I hope you're proud. Because I just traded one life for a certain death sentence."
Behind them, he could hear Elder Mo Zhen shouting orders for the villagers themselves to follow. Mobilization. Hunt. Pursuit.
The life as Lin Mei knew it had officially ended.
And for the first time since awakening in that world, Qin Yami didn't know if he should feel terrified or relieved. But inside himself, he knew he wasn't truly sorry for his idiotic attitude. His heart warmed gently.
He was still Human... "While I'm alive, right" He thought ironically with fear of really dying.
And continued deeper into the forest next to the poor village. A forest almost nonexistent, due to the drought. There was no way to hide. So Qin Yami and Lin Mei kept running.