The meditation chamber felt different tonight. Colder, maybe. Or perhaps it was just Yu Jingming's heightened awareness making everything sharper, more immediate.
He sat cross-legged on the worn mat, eyes closed, breathing controlled. The spiritual energy in the room swirled around him like invisible currents, responding to his will in ways that would've been impossible just weeks ago. His Spiritual Sea—once a pathetic puddle—had grown into something respectable. Not impressive by his previous standards, but enough to make people notice.
And tonight, he was going to break through to Spiritual Palace realm.
The problem was doing it without anyone realizing just how abnormal his cultivation speed really was.
His meridians hummed with accumulated energy, qi circulating through channels that he'd painstakingly reconstructed using techniques no one in this era should know. The foundation was perfect. Too perfect, if anyone looked closely. But perfection was what separated geniuses from corpses in the cultivation world.
He'd learned that lesson the hard way.
"Focus," he whispered to himself, drawing the ambient spiritual energy inward. The breakthrough would happen naturally—he'd engineered it that way—but the timing needed to be right. Too fast and people would ask questions. Too slow and he'd waste precious time when enemies were already circling.
The assassins from three nights ago had left him paranoid. Well, more paranoid than usual. Someone knew he was dangerous, or becoming dangerous, and they wanted him dead before he became a real problem. The silver dagger still sat hidden in his desk drawer, its etched symbols a constant reminder that this world wasn't any safer than his previous life had been.
Maybe less safe, actually. At least as Ye Fan he'd had the power to defend himself properly.
His qi condensed, spiraling inward toward his core. The Spiritual Sea began to transform, energy compressing and restructuring itself into something more complex. He could feel the Palace taking shape—rooms and corridors of power that would house his cultivation base and anchor his techniques.
Pain lanced through his chest. Not the physical kind, but the spiritual burn of qi pathways expanding beyond their limits. This body wasn't meant for this kind of progress, not this quickly. But he'd forced it anyway because survival demanded it.
A knock at the door shattered his concentration.
"Young master?" Xiao Mei's voice, hesitant as always. "Elder Wu is here. He says the king requested your presence for cultivation evaluation."
Damn it. Worst possible timing.
Yu Jingming opened his eyes, letting the breakthrough pause halfway through completion. The energy in his core churned uncomfortably, stuck between realms, but he couldn't finish now. Not with Elder Wu, the palace cultivation instructor, standing outside ready to examine him.
"Tell him I'll be out in a moment."
He stood carefully, feeling the instability in his cultivation. This was going to be tricky. Elder Wu was sharp—Divine Lord realm, decades of experience—and if he examined Yu Jingming's qi flow right now, he'd notice the irregularities immediately.
Think. Adapt. Survive.
Yu Jingming pulled on his formal robes, the dark blue ones with gold embroidery that made him look like he was trying too hard to be impressive. Then he deliberately circulated his qi in a slightly sloppy pattern, creating the appearance of someone struggling to maintain control rather than someone on the verge of breakthrough.
When he opened the door, Elder Wu was waiting with the kind of patient expression that suggested he'd been dealing with pampered princes for far too long.
"Prince Yu Jingming." Elder Wu bowed slightly, respect that was probably more habit than genuine. "His Majesty has taken interest in your recent... improvements. He's requested I evaluate your cultivation progress personally."
Of course he had. Because nothing Yu Jingming did could stay under the radar anymore.
"I'm honored by His Majesty's attention," Yu Jingming replied, keeping his tone neutral. "Though I'm afraid my cultivation is nothing special. Just consistent effort."
"We'll see about that." Elder Wu gestured toward the door. "The king is waiting in the Eastern Garden. We'll conduct the evaluation there."
This was getting worse by the minute.
They walked through the palace corridors, Elder Wu slightly ahead, Yu Jingming following while trying to stabilize his half-completed breakthrough without making it obvious. His qi roiled internally, threatening to surge forward and complete the transformation whether he wanted it to or not.
Not yet. Control it. Just a little longer.
The Eastern Garden was beautiful at night, lit by spirit lamps that cast everything in soft blue light. King Yu Zhen stood near the central pavilion with several advisors and—great—Minister Wei, who'd started this whole mess by calling attention to Yu Jingming at the gathering.
"Seventh son." The king's voice carried that natural authority that made everyone straighten automatically. "Elder Wu tells me your cultivation has progressed unusually quickly."
"I've been working hard, Your Majesty."
"Show me."
Not a request. A command.
Yu Jingming stepped forward into the pavilion's center, acutely aware of all the eyes on him. Elder Wu moved to his side, preparing to examine his qi flow. This was it. The moment where his careful facade either held or crumbled.
"Circulate your qi," Elder Wu instructed. "Don't hold back. Let me see what you've accomplished."
Yu Jingming did as ordered, but carefully. He let the energy flow through his meridians in patterns that were clean and efficient—showing genuine skill—but not too clean. Not too perfect. He deliberately introduced minor fluctuations, small imperfections that suggested someone talented but inexperienced.
Elder Wu's eyes widened slightly. "You're at the peak of Spiritual Sea realm. Near breakthrough."
"I think so, yes."
"You think?" Elder Wu's hand moved to Yu Jingming's wrist, directly examining his qi flow. His expression shifted from surprise to confusion to something that looked like alarm. "Your foundation... this isn't normal."
Here it comes.
"What do you mean?" King Yu Zhen asked, stepping closer.
"His foundation is nearly perfect. The kind of quality you'd expect from someone who'd trained under a Sovereign-level master for years, not—" Elder Wu looked at Yu Jingming with something approaching suspicion. "Not from someone who's been cultivating seriously for less than a month."
"Is that a problem?" Yu Jingming asked innocently.
"It's unusual. Very unusual." Elder Wu released his wrist but continued staring. "How did you achieve this?"
"I..." Think. Improvise. "I found some old cultivation manuals in my mother's belongings. She was from a minor sect before becoming a concubine. I thought they might help, so I followed the techniques described there."
It was a lie, but a believable one. Minor sects sometimes had surprisingly advanced techniques that major powers overlooked.
"What sect?" Minister Wei asked, leaning forward with interest.
"The Flowing Cloud Sect. It dissolved about twenty years ago, I think."
Another lie. There'd been no such sect. But proving that would take time and investigation, and by then the lie would be so established it wouldn't matter.
King Yu Zhen studied his son with calculating eyes. "If your foundation is this strong, you should break through immediately. Elder Wu, supervise the process. I want to see what my seventh son is truly capable of."
No. This was exactly what Yu Jingming wanted to avoid. Breaking through in front of witnesses, especially skilled ones, would reveal just how abnormal his cultivation really was.
But refusing the king's command wasn't an option.
"As you command, Your Majesty."
Elder Wu gestured to a meditation platform in the pavilion's center. "Sit. Begin the breakthrough when you're ready. I'll monitor your progress and intervene if complications arise."
Yu Jingming sat, mind racing through possibilities. He couldn't hide the quality of his breakthrough—Elder Wu would sense everything. But maybe he could control the narrative, make it look like natural talent combined with good fortune rather than the reincarnation of a Martial Sovereign with centuries of theoretical knowledge.
He closed his eyes and let go of the control he'd been maintaining. The qi in his core surged forward, completing the transformation he'd started earlier. His Spiritual Sea collapsed inward, compressing and restructuring into the complex architecture of a Spiritual Palace.
Pain. Real pain this time, not the controlled discomfort of careful cultivation. The energy tore through his meridians, expanding them by force, rebuilding them into something stronger. He felt his consciousness expand, touching the boundaries of spiritual space that existed between the physical and the ethereal.
The Palace took shape. Not the simple structure most cultivators formed, but something elegant and efficient, with rooms and corridors designed according to principles that wouldn't be discovered for decades. He couldn't help it—his knowledge demanded perfection even when perfection was dangerous.
Power flooded through him. His qi reserves tripled instantly, then continued growing as the Palace stabilized and began drawing in ambient spiritual energy automatically. This was still nothing compared to what he'd had as Ye Fan, but for someone supposedly at the bottom of the cultivation world, it was extraordinary.
He opened his eyes to find everyone staring at him with expressions ranging from shock to concern to what looked like genuine fear.
"What..." Elder Wu's voice was barely a whisper. "What did you just do?"
"I broke through to Spiritual Palace realm," Yu Jingming said calmly, though his body was shaking from the exertion. "Was something wrong?"
"Wrong? Your Palace structure is—I've never seen anything like it. The efficiency, the complexity..." Elder Wu turned to the king. "Your Majesty, your son is either a once-in-a-century genius or something else entirely."
The "something else" part sounded ominous.
King Yu Zhen approached, his presence pressing down like physical weight. "Let me examine him."
Yu Jingming couldn't refuse, couldn't resist as his father placed a hand on his shoulder and sent a thread of Divine King level qi into his cultivation base. The examination was thorough, invasive, feeling like someone rifling through his most private possessions.
After a long, uncomfortable moment, the king withdrew.
"Remarkable," he said quietly. "Elder Wu is correct. This cultivation base is exceptional. Too exceptional for someone who was considered a waste just months ago."
The unspoken question hung in the air: what are you really?
"I'm your son," Yu Jingming said carefully. "And I'm finally living up to the potential I always had but was too weak to cultivate properly. My illness... when I recovered, something changed. I could suddenly feel the qi flows I'd been missing before. It was like someone had removed a blockage I didn't know existed."
Another lie. But again, a believable one. Spontaneous breakthrough in cultivation talent after serious illness was rare but documented.
King Yu Zhen studied him for a long moment. "You'll continue training with Elder Wu. Daily sessions, personal instruction. I want to see what you become."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"And you'll participate in the Royal Tournament next month. If you're truly as talented as this suggests, you'll need to prove it publicly."
That was both an opportunity and a trap. Prove himself too well and he'd paint a target on his back even larger than the one already there. Perform poorly and he'd disappoint the king who was finally taking interest in his forgotten son.
"I'll do my best to honor our family, Your Majesty."
The king nodded and turned away, advisors following. Minister Wei lingered, giving Yu Jingming a long, considering look before departing.
Only Elder Wu remained, still staring at Yu Jingming like he was some kind of fascinating puzzle.
"You're lying about something," the old instructor said bluntly. "I don't know what, but there's more to your sudden improvement than you're admitting."
"I've told you everything I know."
"No. You haven't." Elder Wu stepped closer, voice dropping. "But I'll figure it out eventually. In the meantime, be careful. Talent draws attention, and not all of it friendly. You've already had one assassination attempt. There will be more."
How did he know about that?
"I'll be careful," Yu Jingming promised.
"See that you are. It would be a shame to lose such an interesting student before I've had a chance to properly train him."
Elder Wu left, and Yu Jingming was finally alone in the garden, surrounded by spirit lamps and the soft sounds of night.
He looked down at his hands, feeling the power coursing through his new Spiritual Palace. Stronger now. Safer. But also more visible, more vulnerable to scrutiny.
The careful path he'd been walking had just gotten a lot narrower.
But he'd manage. He always did.
He just hoped he wouldn't have to kill anyone important before he was strong enough to do it properly.