Wuya stood there long after Xueyi disappeared into the woodland path that led toward the village. The faint sound of her footsteps faded quickly, swallowed by the rustling pines and the whispering wind. Yet her presence lingered—like a soft, cold fragrance that clung to the air around him.
He brought a hand to his chest, feeling the faint pulse of golden warmth beneath his skin.
"Was it really just… static?" he muttered to himself.
He replayed the moment of their touch, the spark that jumped between them. It didn't feel like static. It felt like… something waking up. Something ancient. Something that recognized him.
His inner world pulsed softly in response to his thoughts. A faint glow spread from his dantian, and the miniature world expanded slightly, no larger than a small orb but now more vibrant.
Tiny forests rustled.
Rivers shimmered with silver light.
Clouds drifted lazily.
The faint hum of Dao threads wove across the sky of his inner world like shining strands.
Wuya closed his eyes, focusing on the sensation.
"My inner world… it's growing on its own."
His fingers trembled slightly.
"And it reacted to Xueyi."
He wasn't sure what that meant. He wasn't sure he wanted to know—not yet. Everything was shifting too quickly.
Just yesterday, he was a boy with no talent.
Today, the world inside him was alive.
---
Xueyi's Path Home
Lan Xueyi walked swiftly through the trees, the cold air swirling around her. Frost gathered around her steps, melting moments later. Her breath was soft and steady, yet her heart beat with uncharacteristic intensity.
When she reached a secluded clearing surrounded by ancient pines, she finally stopped. Her legs trembled slightly beneath her.
She placed a hand on her chest.
The star-shaped sigil under her robes pulsed again—faint, but undeniable.
"His awakening… it triggered my seal more strongly than before," she whispered, lifting her hand and watching frost bloom across her palm.
The frost shaped itself into a delicate snowflower, glowing faint blue.
"What does this mean… Mother?"
Her words carried into the woods, but only the quiet sigh of wind responded.
Then—
a whisper echoed in her mind.
A fragment of memory.
A woman's voice. Cold yet gentle.
Powerful yet sorrowful.
"The Primordial Son's awakening will shake the realms."
"When he takes his first true step… your seal will tremble."
"When he takes his second… the worlds will stir."
The memory faded, leaving Xueyi breathless.
"He didn't just awaken a path…" she muttered. "He awakened three."
Her eyes widened.
"Then the worlds will tremble sooner than expected."
She tightened her fists, grief and determination crossing her gaze.
"I must protect him. No matter the cost."
---
Back to Wuya — A Sudden Disturbance
Wuya walked deeper into the valley, attempting to calm his mind. But every step he took, he felt a new sensation. A subtle one. A whisper.
It was as if the world was… watching him.
Crack.
A twig snapped somewhere behind him.
Wuya froze, instincts sharpening. He'd never had strong intuition before, but now—now he felt danger like a cold blade against his neck.
He turned slowly.
Nothing.
Yet he felt it again. A presence. A gaze.
He steadied his breathing.
"Is someone there?" His voice echoed faintly.
No response.
But Wuya wasn't reassured. The hairs on his arms stood on end. He felt watched. Judged. Weighed. And it wasn't Xueyi… he could always sense her differently. Softer. Warmer.
This sensation was cold.
Intrusive.
Predatory.
Then—
The silver Dao threads inside him vibrated.
A warning.
Wuya's eyes widened as the Dao threads projected a fragment of vision.
A shadow moving through the woods.
Silent.
Fast.
Non-human.
The vision vanished as quickly as it came.
"What was that?" he whispered, chest tightening.
The golden bloodline glow around his heart flared faintly, as if responding to the unknown threat. His inner world trembled, tiny clouds swirling faster.
The danger was real.
He took a slow step backward.
---
The Hidden NPC Appears — First Enemy Foreshadowing
Something crouched behind a thicket twenty meters away. Hidden under a veil of darkness that the ordinary eye could not perceive.
A creature with pale skin stretched too tightly over bones.
Eyes black as pits.
Limbs elongated unnaturally.
Faint aura leaking—corrupted, twisted.
An Abyssal Scout.
One of the first-stage infiltration organisms used by the Abyssal World Eaters to locate world-seeds and bloodline anomalies.
It stared at Wuya with silent hunger.
But it did not attack.
Not yet.
It was observing.
Calculating.
Confirming.
World-seed detected.
Bloodline potential confirmed.
Primordial fluctuation noted.
It crouched lower, preparing to retreat and report to its hidden master.
But the golden aura around Wuya flared sharply again.
The creature hissed silently.
"This foreign entity… is dangerous," Wuya muttered, not knowing where the words came from.
His bloodline was speaking to him. Warning him.
But Wuya was unaware.
He only felt the danger increasing.
The Dao threads began weaving around him instinctively, forming thin layers of silver patterns across his skin.
He took another step back.
The creature tensed.
---
A Father's Distant Intervention
Far above, unseen, an invisible figure remained on the cliff where he had stood earlier.
Wuya's father.
Jian Aotian.
His gaze followed the movements of the Abyssal Scout with silent intensity.
"An Abyssal creature… already?" he murmured.
His voice carried a hint of displeasure.
"They move faster than expected."
He lifted a hand.
The entire valley froze for an instant.
Time stopped.
Wind halted.
Leaves hung in midair.
Even the golden light paused.
With a gentle gesture, he crushed the creature's existence.
No blood.
No sound.
No struggle.
Just erasure.
He murmured into the frozen valley:
"Not yet. He is not ready."
He lowered his hand, and the flow of time returned.
Wuya blinked—
The dangerous feeling vanished instantly.
The wind blew normally again.
The trees swayed.
Birds resumed their calls.
The predatory gaze was gone.
As if nothing had happened.
But Wuya felt the shift in reality.
Felt something disappear.
Felt a breath he didn't know he was holding finally release.
"What… was that…?" he whispered.
He shivered.
It wasn't cold.
It was instinct.
Instinct honed by the three paths within him.
Something had been watching him.
Something had died.
And he never even saw it.
---
Wuya Sits — and the Inner World Expands Again
He forced himself to sit cross-legged beneath a pine tree, trying to calm his racing heart.
He closed his eyes.
Golden warmth.
Silver hum.
Blue expansion.
His inner world pulsed again.
The rivers glowed brighter.
The air within it thickened.
Small specks of life flickered into existence — tiny motes, creatures too small to be seen.
He felt… stronger.
As if something dangerous had been removed from existence.
His body relaxed, but his mind remained sharply alert.
"Xueyi…" he whispered softly.
He didn't know why, but thinking about her eased him.
He touched the faint blue glow on his fingertips.
"Tomorrow… I should tell her more."
He didn't realize that she already knew far more than he did.
He didn't realize that his father had saved him again.
He didn't realize that enemies from endless realms had already sensed his existence.
All he knew was one thing:
The world was changing.
And so was he.