"You all returned to the sect seven days ago, unconscious and heavily poisoned. The elders found you at the sect gate."
The three exchanged looks of complete disbelief.
Seven days...? The sect...? How?
Then Yu Lianxue, her voice tight, asked the question they had all been dreading:
"…And Chu Feng?"
The attendant straightened.
"He is in seclusion with his master. Elder Han Long personally carried him away."
The room fell silent once more.
Their expressions shifted—from concern to dawning realisation, and then to deeper worry.
What state must Chu Feng be in for Han Long to intervene personally?
Deep within a quiet bamboo grove, Han Long stood outside a secluded chamber, a jug of wine in hand.
Inside, Chu Feng sat cross-legged. His eyes were unfocused, his breath uneven, and his skin pale. His body no longer trembled, but his mind had clearly not returned.
His lips moved faintly, muttering words that cut to the heart:
"I killed someone… I killed…"
Han Long exhaled slowly, his gaze softening.
"So you have reached this point too."
He had expected it.
But not this soon.
This boy came from a family of artificers and rune makers, not warriors. Not killers. Even with his mutated cosmic soul, he had not grown up surrounded by bloodshed.
After hearing Chu Feng's father recount how Chu Feng had obtained his cosmic soul, Han Long understood more than he let on. It made sense that the boy's first kill would shake him so deeply.
A week had passed.
And Chu Feng was still trapped in the echo of that moment.
Han Long finally stepped inside.
He placed his hand on Chu Feng's back and pushed a wave of stabilising energy through his meridians, clearing some of the fog but not enough to fully awaken him.
Then he tapped several acupoints on Chu Feng's chest and temples, not forcibly awakening him, but pulling him just far enough from the abyss that his senses began to resurface.
Chu Feng's body flinched. His eyes moved, unfocused but alive.
Han Long grabbed Chu Feng by the collar and vanished.
The first stop was a forest clearing.
Bandits surrounded a merchant caravan. Swords were raised. Pleading voices echoed.
Then, blood splashed across broken wagons as families were cut down without hesitation.
Chu Feng's eyes widened faintly.
Han Long whispered beside him,
"This is the cultivation world. Not fairness. Not mercy. Strength."
In a blink, they vanished again.
They reappeared atop a rooftop overlooking a city alley.
An assassin leapt from the shadows, stabbing a man in broad daylight and snatching a ring from his corpse before fleeing into the crowd.
Greed. Profit. Death. One heartbeat after another.
Chu Feng's breath hitched.
Han Long's voice remained calm.
"Those without strength die. Those with strength take. Whether they are good or evil means little."
Again, they vanished.
They appeared atop a grassy hill.
Two cultivators clashed over a glowing herb. Blades rang through the air. The battle was fierce, but one man barely prevailed. Wounded and panting, he chose to spare his opponent.
The defeated man bowed deeply before limping away.
Chu Feng's eyes softened, a trace of relief..., a flicker of hope.
Han Long shook his head.
"Watch."
The world blurred forward to the next day.
The spared cultivator returned. Not alone.
Dozens of armed men stood behind him.
They stormed the victor's small home. Screams filled the valley. A family was wiped out.
The one who showed mercy perished along with everything he had tried to protect.
Chu Feng's heart clenched.
Han Long finally looked at him, eyes unusually sharp.
"This is the world you walk in."
He placed a heavy hand on Chu Feng's shoulder.
"It is not mercy that is wrong, but weakness is. If you wish to spare your enemies, then you must be strong enough that though they resent you, they never dare act."
The words cut through the fog clouding Chu Feng's mind.
Han Long's tone softened only slightly.
"And if you must kill, kill cleanly, without hesitation. Better your enemy dies than you."
With that, he dragged Chu Feng one last time.
Back in the courtyard of his residence, Han Long released him and stepped back.
"I've shown you enough. The rest is for you to comprehend."
His voice lingered faintly in the air.
Then he vanished, leaving Chu Feng alone.
The courtyard was silent.
A single leaf drifted across Chu Feng's knees.
His trembling slowed, his breath steadied, and his eyes began to sharpen for the first time in a week.
Images flooded his mind—
Yu Lianyan was poisoned, Yu Lianxue was collapsing, and Jìn Bǎo... The three attackers, closing in.
His sword, cutting through flesh, blood... blood everywhere.
His heart recoiled.
But then he remembered—
The spared cultivator, returning with an army.The family that died screaming.The assassin, taking a life for a ring. The caravan, slaughtered for supplies.
His fingers clenched.
Han Long's words thundered through his mind:
"Be so strong that they dare not act against you."
Chu Feng's lips parted.
His voice, rough but awakening, escaped in a whisper:
"…Strength."
He looked down at his hands, still sensing the phantom warmth of blood that had long been washed away.
This time, he did not recoil.
He inhaled.
"…Strength."
His cosmic soul throbbed faintly within him, stirring with purpose.
Chu Feng remained in the courtyard long after Han Long had disappeared, letting the quiet settle into his bones.
As his mind cleared, something within him shifted. His eyes became sharper, more focused.
But the change was not merely in his state of mind.
It was his consciousness, the unseen root of perception, awareness, and spirit.
Most cultivators never walked this path. Even among geniuses, only a fraction broke past the first layer.
Consciousness was divided into several realms:
Mortal Sense – perceiving only what the body allowed.
Awakened Sense – perceiving beyond sight, sound, and distance.
Spirit Gaze – seeing the flow of the world, hidden qi, and intent.
Heaven's Perception – understanding patterns in nature, sensing danger before it manifests.
Manifest Insight – glimpsing the laws behind heaven and earth.
Most inner court disciples lingered at the first level, while a few prodigies touched the early stages of the second realm.