A calm yet authoritative voice echoed across the hall…
"Everyone, assemble."
Mu Chen's steady tone rolled like distant thunder as countless gazes turned toward him. Earlier, he had already stepped out of the formation and now stood quietly at its edge. From there, he noticed something unusual—Fang Lin had stopped moving, frozen in the same spot as if something was holding him back.
Mu Chen's brows lowered slightly, a faint sense of curiosity flickering in his eyes, but he kept his composure as he continued:
"From this point onward, every step you take will shape your future. Do not lose focus."
His eyes swept across the disciples—each one eager, nervous, or trembling with anticipation. Even the wind seemed to still itself, waiting for the moment to unfold.
"Fang Lin… step forward."
At the call of his name, a subtle stir rippled through the crowd. Fang Lin drew a quiet breath, his heartbeat tightening under the weight of countless expectations as he prepared to move.
Elder Baishan, who had been standing at the edge of the stage, narrowed his eyes and murmured under his breath, "That boy… his willpower is incredible."
Fang Lin was still trapped in the same unmoving state, yet the moment Mu Chen's voice reached him, something inside him ignited—a blazing spark urging him to move forward, pushing against the invisible pressure around him.
For a few tense seconds, his body trembled as if resisting chains only he could feel.
Then, gathering every ounce of strength and determination he possessed, Fang Lin forced himself past the fourth circle—
and in the next breath, he stepped directly into the fifth.
The instant he crossed the boundary, a brilliant yellow beam burst out from his body like a pillar of dawn.
Gasps erupted around the hall.
Yellow light—
A-grade aptitude.
A sword master who possessed overwhelming potential…
and someone who held real chances of stepping into the Immortal Realm in the distant future.
But Fang Lin never even got the chance to see what color shone from him.
The overwhelming pressure of the formation crashed down all at once, and his vision blurred.
---
A stunned silence swept across the hall.
For a heartbeat, no one breathed.
No one moved.
Then—
The hall burst into noise the moment the yellow beam erupted.
"See… yellow colour! That means A-grade aptitude—someone who can become an Immortal!"
Children gasped, excitement spreading like wildfire.
Another whispered in disbelief,
"He's so lucky… an A-grade aptitude, unbelievable."
Elder Baishan's expression stiffened. His eyes widened to their limits.
"What… A-grade aptitude? How could a boy like him awaken something so rare… something is wrong."
Across the hall, elders from other families were equally stunned.
A boy no one had expectations for…
A boy many had simply overlooked…
And yet he had done the impossible.
The one most overwhelmed with joy was Fang Qinxian, head of the Fang Family.
For years he had waited, hoping for a miracle.
Now, he finally found a treasure—
a "gold mine" capable of surpassing even the Tian Clan.
His heart swelled with pride and relief.
But not everyone felt joy.
Fang Qing's entire expression twisted the moment the yellow light erupted.
Shock stabbed through him, but it was instantly drowned beneath a darker, heavier fury.
A suffocating pressure leaked out of him — so cold that disciples nearby felt their backs stiffen.
His voice trembled with quiet rage as he muttered:
"Fang Lin… you slipped away once."
His eyes narrowed, burning with poisonous hatred.
"But next time… I will crush every path you try to walk."
His teeth pressed together, jaw tight with resentment.
"That man was right… you'll try to take everything I desire."
"But I will never allow it."
From the far shadowed corner, the mysterious man stood calmly.
A gentle breeze brushed past as he slowly waved his fan, a faint smile forming on his lips.
"Interesting…" he murmured softly.
"It seems… an extra lion has appeared in the forest,"
"Now let's see… will he survive, or end up as someone's toy?"
Not far away, Tian Xueya stood frozen.
Her eyes trembled as she stared at the glowing formation, disbelief carving through her like ice.
A boy…
Not from the Tianjian main disbanded family,
not even from a recognized Tian branch family—
just a quiet, overlooked child from another family
And he, of all people, awakened A-grade aptitude.
Tian Xueya's fingers curled tightly, knuckles whitening.
Her jaw clenched so hard her lips pressed painfully together as anger surged inside her.
"Why…?"
Her voice cracked in her throat.
"What was lacking in me? Why did he receive that gift… and not I?"
Jealousy, frustration, and disbelief twisted inside her chest, leaving her breath unsteady as she kept staring at Fang Lin—
the boy who shattered every expectation.
******
The moment Mu Chen's gaze fell upon Fang Lin—collapsed at the very center of the formation—his expression darkened sharply.
A ripple of alarm flashed across his usually calm eyes.
Without a second of hesitation, he turned toward the elders and shouted:
"Quickly! Shut down the formation—now! Fang Lin is still trapped inside!"
His voice carried an urgency that made every elder stiffen.
Even the crowd fell silent as the pressure of the situation became clear.
Elder Baishan, seeing the situation changing rapidly, stepped forward.
There was fear and doubt mixed in his voice as he spoke:
"Everyone, be silent!
Do not try to enter the formation.
This is not the kind of formation you all think it is.
Please stay away from the array."
Inside the formation, Fang Lin's will, which had been unconscious till now, suddenly awakened.
As soon as he woke up, he immediately felt that the original Fang Lin's soul was no longer pressing on him—
it had already left.
He wasn't too worried by this, because something similar had happened once before…
after that incident when his body was lying on the bed during treatment.
But now he felt that something was wrong.
He quickly checked the situation around him.
He knew very well that he could never truly claim this body;
he could only stay inside it, nothing more.
When he focused, he realized that he was inside some kind of formation,
and from the body he was inhabiting, a yellow-colored aura was constantly flowing out.
At first he didn't understand anything—
not until Elder Baishan's voice reached him from outside.
At that moment, everything became clear.
He finally understood where he was
and what had happened.
But what he couldn't understand was —
why everyone outside was looking at him in such a strange way,
as if he had done some huge mistake.
Then he realized it:
The body he was inside was lying at the center of the formation, completely unconscious.
Panic rose inside him and he shouted,
even though he knew no one could hear his voice from in here:
"Where did you go at such an important moment…?
Did you return to your world again…?"
His voice carried heat, anger, frustration, and fear all at once.