Eva woke up the next morning and began to meditate like before.
Almost at once, she noticed two strange things.
First, the concentration of Qi particles around her was very low compared to the dark space.
Second, even the energy she managed to absorb slipped away quickly, as if her body could not hold it.
She sighed softly. Maybe the technique needed structure. Maybe it had to be divided into stages.
She divided the technique into 5 parts. The surface, the bones, the organs, the blood and the cells.
Eva began designing the Qi training manual again in her mind. The more she thought, the deeper her focus became. Time lost all meaning. Hours, maybe days, passed like minutes.
When she finally heard loud knocks on her door, she woke up confused and starving.
She dragged herself to the door and opened it.
John was standing there with a police officer, looking both worried and annoyed.
"Eva, what's going on? You've been missing for three days. No calls, no messages. We were worried sick."
Her mind went blank. "Three days? That can't be right."
She quickly made up a story. "I was really sick, and my phone stopped working. I must have slept through most of it. I'm sorry."
John exhaled heavily. "Please take some time off. See a doctor."
She nodded, called her manager, and got a few days off.
That evening, John stopped by to help her with some cooking. Eva played along, smiling and pretending to recover. When he left, she sat quietly, thinking about the Qi training method again.
She needed to pass it on to someone else to see if it could work for normal people. But there was a risk. She remembered the warning from the golden page. If her Dao descendants shared it too widely, they might die from the backlash.
Eva picked up a blank sheet and began writing the verses using the language of the Eternal Verse. The symbols formed naturally under her hand, glowing faintly before fading into the paper. It amazed her how much knowledge could fit in such little space.
When she was done, she added one line at the end:
Qi Refining Practitioners: Only one student at a time.
That night, she went to John's house quietly. She avoided the cameras and slid the folded paper through the chimney opening, then left unnoticed.
The next morning, John found a plain white sheet on his kitchen counter.
He frowned. "What's this?"
The writing looked strange, like some foreign script. As he stared at it, a sudden wave of dizziness hit him. His head pulsed with pain, and his vision went dark.
When he opened his eyes again, he was lying on the floor. His mind was full of strange information about Qi, meditation, and energy flow. There were even details about taking disciples.
He didn't understand any of it, but curiosity pushed him to try. He sat cross-legged and followed the breathing technique that had somehow appeared in his memory.
After ten minutes, he sensed faint ripples in the air. Something invisible was moving toward him.
Nothing else happened, so he gave up and went to work.
He tried again for several days, but saw no results. Eventually, he forgot about it.
Eva hadn't forgotten.
She watched him closely at work, pretending to go through her reports. Under certain light, she could see it. His skin had a faint, silvery glow. The Qi had started to gather around him.
It worked.
But she wasn't sure if John had noticed anything.
A day later, Eva came up with a way to test it. She took a hot cup of coffee and walked toward him.
She pretended to trip and spilled it on his hand.
"Careful, Eva!" he said, startled.
But then he froze. The coffee was steaming, yet there was no pain. No burn. His skin was untouched.
John looked at her, confused. "I'll get this checked," he muttered and left the office early.
At home, he boiled water in a pot and dipped his hand into it.
Nothing happened. No burn. Only warmth.
Fear and excitement surged through him. He rushed to his study, opened his safe, and placed the white paper inside. Then he sat on the floor, heart pounding.
He felt alive. More alive than he ever had before.
More than the day he got into his favorite college.
More than the day of his first kiss.
More than any other moment in his life.
He didn't understand what had changed, but he knew one thing for sure.
His life would never be the same again.