The village burned.
Flames licked the wooden rooftops, streaking the dawn sky with angry streaks of red and orange. Smoke twisted upward, thick and choking, carrying the scent of charred wood and scorched earth. Screams cut through the chaos—sharp, fleeting, desperate.
An Bo Tiankong froze. Heart pounding, instincts screaming to flee. And yet, he stayed. Something… off.
His mentor… gone. One moment alive, the next—a heap of ash, scattered across the ruined courtyard. Grief clawed at him, but beneath it was something darker: fear. And curiosity. Why him? Why now?
A subtle tremor ran through the air. Energy, foreign yet faintly perceptible. Though he was Level 1, Body Tempering Stage—Early Stage, his presence slightly disturbed Level 4, Spirit Channel Stage—Mid Stage demons circling the edges of the village. Their claws faltered mid-air. Steps hesitated.
Smoke clawed at his lungs. Villagers fled, tripping over debris, dragging the injured. Somewhere, metal clashed against metal—sharp, deliberate, precise. Too precise for mindless marauders.
Then he saw it.
A shadow moved among the chaos. Not panicking. Not fleeing. Observing. Calculating.
Instinct propelled him forward. Not fast. Not blurred. Simply… precise. He dove into a narrow alley, weaving between collapsed carts and shattered beams.
A faint tingle danced across his scalp. His pink hair shimmered in the smoke, strands glowing softly. Body Tempering Stage—Early Stage. Weak? Yes. But the aura, though subtle, left a ripple in the surrounding space. A tremor only perceptible to those with cultivation.
The figure loomed ahead. Draped in flowing black robes, moving with an almost unnatural grace. Its aura bent the air itself. Dust swirled. Buildings trembled. Even the distant screams of villagers barely registered.
An Bo Tiankong's fists clenched. He had never faced anyone like this. Nothing in his training—**Level 1 Early Stage—**could prepare him. But instinct was enough. He grabbed a fallen beam and swung.
It shattered mid-air. Nothing hit, yet the air itself quivered.
A soft, chilling whisper grazed his ears.
"Curious little anomaly."
Blood ran cold. Not fear exactly. Recognition. A spark hummed deep within him—pink-bloodline energy, dormant, impatient, awakening. He realized: the world was larger than he had imagined. And he—he was insignificant.
He rolled across debris-strewn ground. Every sense stretched. Every nerve screamed. Level 1, Early Stage, but he felt it—the eyes of something far older, far stronger. Watching. Testing.
A flicker in the smoke. A ripple of energy, subtle, almost invisible—but unmistakable. Even at Level 1 Early Stage, he sensed the weight of a being centuries beyond him.
An Bo Tiankong's heart raced. Fear clawed at his chest. Curiosity burned brighter.
"What… is this?" he whispered.
The answer would not come today. Not yet.
Then, above the rooftops, a shadow detached itself from the smoke. Its aura stretched outward—vast, patient, ancient. Level 9, Law Touch Stage—Peak Stage. Its presence was absolute. No Early, Mid, Late, or Peak. No subdivisions. A single overwhelming force. Even the faintest ripple pressed down on the village like gravity. Time itself seemed to hesitate.
The wind tore through the streets, carrying the whispers of destruction. Dust swirled in a small vortex around the figure. Even Level 4 Mid Stage demons froze, sensing power centuries beyond them.
An Bo Tiankong pressed himself against a broken wall, heart hammering, senses taut. His pink strands glimmered faintly, responding to the unseen energy. Level 1 Early Stage, but he could feel it: this was only the beginning.
Something stirred in the shadows behind the figure. Another ripple of energy, subtler, but unmistakable. Strategy. Calculation. Watching him. Learning. Measuring.
He swallowed. His mind raced. Survival… was possible. But understanding? That was another matter.
A crack of air split the street. Debris lifted slightly, then fell. Villagers screamed, stumbling away, unaware of the silent calculation above.
He would survive. Somehow.
But the world… had just begun to reveal its teeth.
And somewhere far above, something smiled.
Ancient. Patient. Unstoppable.