Morning arrived quietly at Tianshui Academy.
A thin layer of mist floated above the calm surface of the nearby lake, drifting slowly across the academy grounds as the first light of dawn spread across the eastern horizon. The buildings of the academy—constructed from pale stone and polished wood—stood reflected in the water like faint shadows beneath the morning sky.
Compared to the grand academies that would exist thousands of years later, Tianshui carried a much simpler elegance.
Its courtyards were open and spacious.
Its training fields were surrounded by tall willow trees whose branches swayed gently in the breeze.
And the air itself carried a quiet freshness rarely found in larger cities.
The academy had always been known for its affinity with water.
Streams ran through several of the training courtyards, forming natural channels where students practiced their techniques. The nearby lake provided a constant source of spiritual moisture, allowing water-type cultivators to train more easily.
This morning was no different.
Dozens of young students had already gathered in one of the open courtyards near the lake.
Several thin streams of water floated in the air as the girls practiced basic manipulation techniques under the guidance of their instructor.
"Focus," the instructor said calmly.
Her voice carried across the courtyard without needing to be raised.
"Water responds to balance. If your spiritual power becomes unstable, the flow will collapse."
One of the younger students tried to maintain control of a small sphere of water hovering above her hands.
The sphere trembled slightly.
Then burst apart, splashing harmlessly onto the stone floor.
The girl groaned softly.
"I almost had it…"
Another student beside her laughed.
"You say that every time."
The first girl crossed her arms.
"Well it's harder than it looks."
The instructor shook her head slightly.
"Again."
The students quickly resumed their practice.
Water gathered once more in the air, forming small streams and floating spheres as the girls concentrated on controlling their spirit power.
The training continued peacefully.
For a while.
Until one of the older students glanced toward the lake.
Her expression shifted slightly.
"…Did you hear what happened yesterday?"
The question immediately drew attention.
Several girls looked over.
"What do you mean?"
The student lowered her voice slightly, though curiosity was already spreading across the courtyard.
"They said the sky broke open."
The girl who had been practicing earlier blinked.
"…What?"
Another student leaned closer.
"My roommate told me about it last night."
"She said a spatial distortion appeared above the academy."
The first girl frowned.
"That sounds ridiculous."
"I thought so too," the other student admitted.
"But apparently someone fell out of it."
The courtyard fell silent.
Even the instructor paused for a moment.
"…Someone?"
"Yes."
The student nodded.
"A man."
Several of the younger girls stared in disbelief.
"A man fell from the sky?"
"That's what they said."
Another student spoke up from the back.
"My senior sister saw it happen."
Now the instructor's attention sharpened slightly.
"Focus on your training," she said firmly.
But the students were already whispering among themselves.
"Where is he now?"
"They brought him to the medical hall."
"Is he alive?"
"I heard he's still unconscious."
The girl who had failed her water sphere earlier suddenly leaned forward.
"…Do you think he's handsome?"
Several students immediately burst into quiet laughter.
One of them nudged her shoulder.
"That's your first question?"
"Well he did fall from the sky," the girl said defensively.
"Maybe he's some mysterious wandering cultivator."
Another student crossed her arms thoughtfully.
"…Or maybe he's someone powerful."
That comment drew several curious looks.
"Why would you say that?"
The girl lowered her voice again.
"My senior sister said something strange happened when the teachers approached him."
The students leaned closer.
"What happened?"
"She said… they couldn't understand his aura."
Now the curiosity turned into something deeper.
The instructor finally stepped forward.
"That's enough," she said firmly.
The courtyard immediately fell silent.
"You will focus on your training."
"But teacher—" one of the girls began.
"No."
The instructor's tone softened slightly, but her decision was clear.
"The academy will handle whatever happened yesterday."
She glanced briefly toward the distant buildings near the center of the academy.
"…And it is none of your concern."
The students reluctantly returned to their training.
But their focus had already shifted.
Floating spheres of water trembled slightly in the air as their thoughts wandered elsewhere.
Toward the medical hall.
Toward the mysterious stranger who had fallen from the sky.
And toward the question quietly spreading through the academy.
Who exactly had arrived at Tianshui Academy yesterday?
And how had he broken the sky to do it?
The medical hall of Tianshui Academy was far quieter than the bustling courtyards outside.
Soft light filtered through tall windows carved with simple wooden frames. The air inside carried the faint scent of medicinal herbs, many of them drying on racks along the walls.
A wide bed had been prepared in the center of the room.
And lying upon it was the stranger who had fallen from the sky.
Lin Huang remained completely still.
His breathing was slow and steady, but the faint traces of dried blood along his temple made it clear that the fall had not been gentle.
One of the academy's healers finished applying a thin layer of medicinal paste along a shallow cut on his shoulder.
"He'll recover," she said calmly.
Across the room, two instructors observed quietly.
Neither of them looked relaxed.
One of them finally spoke.
"…Are you certain?"
The healer glanced back.
"There are no internal injuries."
She placed the small jar of medicine aside.
"His body is extremely resilient. Much more than an ordinary cultivator."
The second instructor frowned slightly.
"That isn't what concerns us."
Her gaze shifted toward the unconscious man.
"What concerns us… is his aura."
The healer paused for a moment.
Then she extended her spiritual perception again.
Only slightly.
The moment her senses brushed the faint spiritual fluctuations surrounding Lin Huang, she felt the same strange sensation from the previous day.
Depth.
An immeasurable depth.
The healer slowly withdrew her perception again.
"…Yes."
Her voice carried a quiet seriousness now.
"I felt it as well."
The first instructor crossed her arms.
"When we approached him yesterday, I tried to gauge his cultivation level."
She shook her head slowly.
"I couldn't."
The healer raised an eyebrow.
"Not even an estimate?"
"No."
The instructor looked toward Lin Huang again.
"His spiritual presence feels… deeper than an Intitulado Douluo."
The room fell silent.
Even the healer looked surprised.
"That shouldn't be possible."
"I know."
The instructor exhaled quietly.
"But it's the only way I can describe it."
The second instructor stepped closer to the bed.
She studied Lin Huang's expression carefully.
Despite the dried blood along his temple and the dust still clinging faintly to his clothing, his face remained calm.
Almost peaceful.
But that calmness did not match the strange sensation surrounding him.
She extended her perception slightly.
Carefully.
The result was the same.
His spiritual power did not press outward like the aura of most powerful cultivators.
There was no oppressive pressure.
No overwhelming display of strength.
Instead, the sensation was far stranger.
Being near him simply felt… clearer.
Her thoughts seemed sharper.
The surrounding spiritual energy flowed more smoothly.
Even the faint tension she had been carrying since yesterday felt slightly lighter.
She withdrew her perception immediately.
"…That's unusual."
The healer looked at her.
"What did you feel?"
The instructor hesitated before answering.
"It didn't feel like pressure."
"Then what?"
The instructor searched for the right word.
"…Harmony."
The healer blinked.
"Harmony?"
"Yes."
She glanced toward the open window, where a faint breeze stirred the curtains.
"The spiritual energy around him feels… balanced."
The first instructor frowned.
"That makes even less sense."
A cultivator strong enough to surpass an Intitulado Douluo should radiate overwhelming presence.
Yet the man lying on the bed did the opposite.
The environment around him simply felt… better.
The healer quietly studied Lin Huang again.
"Maybe he's suppressing his aura."
"That's possible," the first instructor admitted.
"But why would someone that powerful arrive here like that?"
The second instructor spoke quietly.
"…Falling from the sky."
None of them had an answer to that.
Outside the room, faint footsteps could be heard as students passed through the corridor.
Curiosity had already begun spreading through the academy.
The healer placed her tools back into a small wooden case.
"Well," she said calmly, "whatever the explanation is, we'll have to wait until he wakes up."
The instructors exchanged a brief glance.
That was the problem.
Neither of them had any idea when that would happen.
The strange fluctuations surrounding Lin Huang had not weakened since yesterday.
If anything—
They had grown slightly deeper.
The first instructor glanced toward the window again.
The lake outside reflected the pale morning sky.
"…The headmaster should be informed."
The second instructor nodded.
"Yes."
Because if the stranger truly possessed power beyond an Intitulado Douluo…
Then the academy needed to know exactly who had just arrived at their doorstep.
Darkness filled the vast expanse of Lin Huang's Divine Sea.
Not an empty darkness.
But a deep, quiet ocean of spiritual energy.
Endless currents flowed beneath the surface of that ocean, carrying fragments of perception and memory through the depths of his consciousness. Normally those currents were calm, moving in stable patterns that reflected the balance of his cultivation.
But now they had changed.
The surface of the spiritual sea rippled.
Subtle distortions moved through the vast ocean like invisible tides.
At the center of that ocean, Lin Huang's consciousness drifted in silence.
The events surrounding the spatial fracture had not ended when his body collapsed in the courtyard of Tianshui Academy.
If anything, they had only just begun.
A faint current passed through the Divine Sea.
Then another.
The spiritual ocean shifted.
And something new appeared.
A thin stream of light cut through the darkness like a flowing river.
Then another.
And another.
Gradually the entire Divine Sea filled with countless drifting currents.
Each one moved slowly.
Each one flowed in a different direction.
At first the pattern seemed chaotic.
But as Lin Huang's consciousness focused on them, the structure gradually revealed itself.
They were not random currents.
They were flows.
Rivers.
And each river carried a different fragment of existence.
Images flickered briefly across the currents.
Moments.
Memories.
Possibilities.
The flow of time itself.
Within the vast spiritual ocean, the currents formed a strange pattern.
past ← present → future
The present moment stood like a narrow crossing point between two endless rivers.
One flowing backward.
One flowing forward.
Lin Huang observed silently.
This was not control.
Not manipulation.
Only perception.
Yet even that perception was profound.
For the briefest moment during the spatial distortion, he had touched something deeper than the laws of space.
A layer rarely perceived by cultivators.
The flow of Time.
A faint realization surfaced within his drifting consciousness.
"…So this is the structure."
Time was not a straight path.
It was a river.
Countless rivers.
Intertwined currents flowing through the structure of the world.
But even as Lin Huang perceived them, he understood something important.
He could not influence them.
Not even slightly.
The currents flowed far beyond his reach.
All he could do was observe.
For now.
A faint ripple moved through the Divine Sea.
Then a familiar presence stirred.
Within the depths of the spiritual ocean, a crimson glow appeared.
The light gathered slowly, forming a graceful figure surrounded by nine drifting tails.
Tushan Honghong opened her eyes.
Her crimson gaze moved across the strange currents filling the Divine Sea.
"…Well."
Her voice echoed quietly through the spiritual ocean.
"That's new."
She stood slowly, her tails swaying behind her as she observed the flowing rivers of time surrounding them.
Even for someone like her, the sight was unusual.
The currents moved endlessly through the Divine Sea, weaving past each other like drifting threads of existence.
Honghong crossed her arms thoughtfully.
"So this is the law you touched."
Lin Huang's consciousness remained silent.
He continued observing the flow.
Honghong glanced toward the center of the Divine Sea.
Then her expression changed slightly.
"…Hmm."
Something else had changed.
The ocean itself felt different.
The Divine Sea had always been vast.
But now it felt deeper.
The spiritual currents within it moved more smoothly.
More naturally.
As if the entire structure had quietly expanded.
Honghong's eyes narrowed slightly.
"…Interesting."
She stepped lightly across the surface of the spiritual ocean.
The currents of time passed harmlessly around her form.
"You didn't gain control."
She looked toward the drifting consciousness at the center of the sea.
"But you gained perception."
Her voice carried a faint hint of amusement again.
"Time Law."
"Perception."
Not much.
But not insignificant either.
Even sensing the flow of time was something most cultivators would never achieve.
Honghong glanced upward toward the distant ceiling of the Divine Sea.
Beyond the flowing rivers of time, something else could be felt.
Something deeper.
A quiet pressure.
Not oppressive.
But absolute.
The structure that kept the currents stable.
"…And something else stopped it from going further."
She murmured softly.
The moment Lin Huang's perception had touched the deeper flow of time, another force had appeared.
A stabilizing presence.
Something vast.
Something distant.
The authority of Heavenly Law.
Honghong smirked faintly.
"So even time has limits."
The currents of time continued flowing silently through the Divine Sea.
Gradually, the rivers began fading.
One by one, the streams of light dissolved back into the calm darkness of the spiritual ocean.
The perception was ending.
Lin Huang's consciousness slowly returned to stillness.
The Divine Sea settled once more.
Honghong sighed softly.
"Well."
She stretched slightly, her tails swaying lazily behind her.
"That was interesting."
Her crimson gaze drifted upward again.
Beyond the depths of the Divine Sea, Lin Huang's physical body still rested quietly in the academy's medical hall.
Unmoving.
But not for much longer.
Because far above the calm surface of the spiritual ocean…
His consciousness had already begun returning to the waking world.
Nearly a full day passed after the stranger fell from the sky.
By the time the sun rose again above the lake beside Tianshui Academy, the event had already become the most discussed topic within the academy grounds.
Students whispered about it during training.
Servants carried the story between buildings.
Even some of the younger instructors had quietly exchanged theories.
Of course, none of the students had been allowed near the medical hall.
The instructors had made sure of that.
Still, curiosity was difficult to suppress.
Near one of the stone walkways that overlooked the lake, a group of students gathered between morning training sessions.
"…So he still hasn't woken up?"
One of the girls leaned forward eagerly.
"That's what my senior sister said."
Another student frowned slightly.
"But if he fell from the sky like that, shouldn't he be seriously injured?"
The first girl shrugged.
"Apparently not."
A third student crossed her arms thoughtfully.
"My instructor said the healers couldn't find any major injuries."
"That's even stranger," someone else said.
"If he survived a fall like that…"
"…he must be very strong."
Several girls nodded.
One of them lowered her voice slightly.
"I heard the instructors couldn't even determine his cultivation level."
That statement drew several surprised looks.
"What do you mean?"
"They said his spiritual aura is extremely deep."
Another student tilted her head.
"…Deep how?"
The girl hesitated before answering.
"My senior sister said one of the instructors described it as… deeper than an Intitulado Douluo."
Silence spread through the small group.
For a moment none of them spoke.
Then one of the girls laughed nervously.
"That has to be exaggerated."
"It probably is," another agreed.
"But still…"
Her gaze drifted toward the central buildings of the academy.
"…it's strange."
Nearby, two instructors walked slowly along the stone path.
Their conversation was quieter.
"…The headmaster has been informed."
"Good."
One of them glanced toward the medical hall in the distance.
"Has there been any change?"
"None."
The second instructor shook her head.
"He hasn't moved since yesterday."
They continued walking for a moment before the first instructor spoke again.
"…Did you try sensing his aura?"
"Yes."
"And?"
The second instructor hesitated slightly.
"It's… unusual."
The first instructor raised an eyebrow.
"In what way?"
"There's no pressure."
That answer caused her companion to frown.
"No pressure?"
"None."
She gestured lightly toward the surrounding environment.
"Yet the spiritual energy around him feels strangely stable."
The instructor paused before continuing.
"It almost feels easier to concentrate when standing near him."
The first instructor considered that.
"…That's odd."
"Yes."
The second instructor nodded.
"But it's real."
Neither of them noticed the faint breeze passing through the willow branches overhead.
Or how the spiritual energy in the surrounding area flowed just a little more smoothly near the medical hall.
Inside that quiet building, Lin Huang still lay motionless on the bed prepared for him.
The morning sunlight filtered softly through the windows, casting pale reflections across the wooden floor.
The healer who had treated him the previous day stood nearby, quietly examining several jars of medicinal herbs.
Every so often, she glanced toward the unconscious stranger.
His breathing remained calm.
Steady.
Almost too steady.
It was the breathing of someone in extremely deep rest.
Not someone recovering from a violent spatial accident.
The healer frowned slightly.
"…Strange."
She stepped closer to the bed again.
Carefully, she extended her spiritual perception once more.
The same sensation returned instantly.
Clarity.
Her thoughts sharpened slightly.
The spiritual energy in the room flowed more smoothly.
The healer immediately withdrew her senses.
"…What kind of cultivator are you?"
She murmured quietly.
Outside the window, the surface of the lake shimmered gently beneath the morning sun.
Within the academy grounds, the students continued their training.
The rumors continued spreading.
And inside the quiet medical hall…
The stranger who had fallen from the sky had still not woken.
But deep beneath the calm surface of his consciousness—
Something had already begun to stir.
The first sensation Lin Huang felt was silence.
Not the silence of emptiness, but the quiet stillness that existed before awareness fully returned.
For a moment, his consciousness drifted between waking and sleep.
Then slowly, the world began to return.
His breathing deepened slightly.
The faint scent of medicinal herbs reached his senses first.
Clean.
Natural.
Simple.
Then came the feeling of the bed beneath him.
Soft cloth.
Wooden structure.
A quiet room.
Lin Huang's eyelids moved slightly.
Then opened.
For several seconds he did not move.
His gaze rested quietly on the wooden ceiling above him as his mind adjusted to the waking world.
Memories returned slowly.
The spatial fracture.
The spiraling vortex.
The pull of distorted space.
And the faint current he had sensed beneath it all.
Time.
Lin Huang inhaled slowly.
The spiritual energy in the room flowed into his body with the movement.
The moment it did—
His eyes sharpened slightly.
"…The spiritual energy…"
It felt different.
Not weaker.
But cleaner.
More natural.
The flow of qi around him moved smoothly, without the faint disturbances caused by centuries of cultivation activity.
It felt… younger.
Lin Huang remained still as he quietly observed the environment through his spiritual perception.
The structure of the world felt subtly different.
The laws surrounding him were simpler.
Less refined.
Less developed.
Yet strangely pure.
The sensation was almost nostalgic.
Then footsteps approached.
The healer who had been organizing herbs at the far side of the room turned slightly.
She froze the moment she noticed his open eyes.
"…You're awake."
Lin Huang slowly turned his head toward her.
His movements were calm, unhurried.
Even after the violent spatial accident that had brought him here, his composure remained steady.
The healer walked closer to the bed, her expression carefully controlled.
"I'm glad to see your consciousness has returned."
She studied his face for a moment.
"How are you feeling?"
Lin Huang considered the question.
"…Clear."
It was the most accurate answer.
Aside from the lingering memories of the spatial distortion, his body felt completely stable.
His cultivation remained intact.
His spiritual energy flowed normally.
Even the faint perception of time he had touched within the vortex still lingered quietly in the depths of his awareness.
Lin Huang slowly sat up.
The healer instinctively stepped back slightly, giving him space.
"You shouldn't move too quickly," she said.
"You experienced a violent spatial impact yesterday."
Lin Huang paused.
"…Yesterday?"
The healer nodded.
"You arrived nearly a full day ago."
Lin Huang absorbed that information silently.
So his unconscious state had lasted roughly one day.
That matched the depth of the epiphany he had experienced inside his Divine Sea.
The healer continued speaking.
"You fell directly into the academy courtyard."
Her gaze carried a faint curiosity.
"None of us have ever seen anything like that before."
Lin Huang swung his legs gently over the side of the bed and stood.
His movements remained steady.
No dizziness.
No instability.
The healer watched him carefully.
"…Your recovery speed is remarkable."
Lin Huang glanced briefly around the room.
The interior was simple.
Wooden furniture.
Medicinal herbs.
Basic healing equipment.
This was clearly not a hospital designed for powerful cultivators.
It was the kind of medical room found in an academy.
Lin Huang turned his gaze back to the healer.
"…Where am I?"
The healer answered calmly.
"You are currently inside the medical hall of Tianshui Academy."
Lin Huang's eyes remained steady.
"Tianshui Academy…"
The name immediately triggered several memories.
But he did not show any reaction.
Instead he simply nodded once.
"I see."
The healer hesitated slightly.
"…May I ask your name?"
Lin Huang was silent for a brief moment.
Then he answered calmly.
"Lin Huang."
The healer repeated the name quietly to herself.
"…Lin Huang."
She studied him carefully.
"You arrived under unusual circumstances, Mister Lin."
Her tone remained polite.
"But the academy will likely want to understand how you came here."
Lin Huang's gaze drifted briefly toward the window.
Beyond the glass, the lake beside the academy reflected the pale morning sky.
"…That will take some explaining."
The healer raised an eyebrow slightly.
"I imagine it would."
But before either of them could say more—
Another presence approached the doorway of the medical hall.
Someone had arrived.
A calm presence entered the room.
The moment the door slid open, the healer instinctively stepped slightly aside.
An older woman walked in.
Her robes were simple but elegant, marked with the faint crest of Tianshui Academy. Her long dark hair was tied neatly behind her back, and her eyes carried the quiet steadiness of someone who had spent decades guiding students.
Lin Huang immediately understood who she was.
The headmaster.
Her gaze moved first to the healer.
"He's awake?"
"Yes, Headmaster."
The woman nodded slightly before shifting her attention to Lin Huang.
For several seconds she simply observed him.
Not aggressively.
But carefully.
The same strange sensation the other instructors had described immediately returned.
Standing near him made the surrounding spiritual energy feel smoother.
More balanced.
Yet beneath that calm sensation, she could also feel something else.
Depth.
A depth so profound that it made her instincts uneasy.
Her expression remained composed.
"…So you are the one who fell from the sky."
Lin Huang inclined his head slightly.
"That appears to be the case."
The headmaster studied him a moment longer.
Her perception extended carefully outward.
She did not try to probe deeply.
Only enough to feel the surface of his spiritual presence.
The result was the same.
It was impossible to measure.
She withdrew her senses calmly.
"…Your recovery is impressive."
Lin Huang remained standing beside the bed.
"The injuries were minor."
That much was true.
His body had already repaired the damage during his unconscious state.
The headmaster folded her hands behind her back.
"You caused quite a disturbance yesterday."
Her tone was neutral.
"Breaking the sky above the academy courtyard is not something that happens often."
Lin Huang allowed a faint smile.
"I imagine it would attract attention."
The headmaster did not return the smile.
Instead she spoke more directly.
"Who are you?"
Lin Huang remained silent for a brief moment.
Then he answered with the same calm tone.
"A wandering cultivator."
The answer was simple.
Deliberately vague.
The headmaster did not appear surprised.
Cultivators who traveled alone were not uncommon.
But the circumstances of his arrival made the situation… unusual.
She decided not to press the matter immediately.
Instead she changed the subject slightly.
"You may remain here while you recover."
Lin Huang nodded once.
"Thank you."
A short silence followed.
Then Lin Huang spoke again.
"…May I ask something?"
The headmaster gestured slightly.
"Go ahead."
Lin Huang's question was simple.
"What year is it?"
The healer glanced at him in mild surprise.
The headmaster's expression did not change.
But she did answer.
She calmly stated the current year according to the continent's calendar.
The moment the number reached Lin Huang's ears, his thoughts moved instantly.
Ten thousand years.
Almost exactly ten thousand years before the era he knew.
His expression did not change.
But the calculation was already complete.
That meant one thing.
At this point in history…
A certain boy from Shrek Academy would likely be entering the academy for the first time.
Lin Huang dismissed the thought quickly.
That matter was irrelevant for now.
The headmaster observed him quietly.
"You seem thoughtful."
Lin Huang's gaze shifted briefly toward the window again.
"…I was simply confirming something."
The headmaster waited a moment.
Then spoke again.
"If you are a wandering cultivator…"
"…do you have somewhere to go after leaving here?"
Lin Huang shook his head slightly.
"Not immediately."
That answer appeared to satisfy her.
She nodded once.
"In that case, you may stay at the academy for the time being."
Lin Huang turned his attention back to her.
Her reasoning was simple.
Someone with strength beyond an Intitulado Douluo was not an individual she wanted wandering away from the academy without understanding who he was.
Better to keep him close.
Where she could observe him.
Lin Huang seemed to understand that as well.
But he did not object.
Instead he spoke calmly.
"I wouldn't stay without contributing."
The headmaster raised an eyebrow slightly.
"Oh?"
Lin Huang's tone remained relaxed.
"If the academy allows it…"
"…I can assist with training."
For the first time, a faint smile appeared on the headmaster's face.
"Assist with training?"
Lin Huang nodded.
"Yes."
The headmaster studied him for a moment.
Then she laughed quietly.
"…Very well."
Her eyes held a trace of curiosity now.
"In that case, Mister Lin Huang…"
"…we may have much to discuss."
The conversation in the medical hall gradually came to an end.
After confirming that Lin Huang had fully regained consciousness, the healer insisted he rest a little longer before moving around the academy. The headmaster did not object, though her expression made it clear that their discussion would continue soon enough.
For the moment, however, she allowed him time to recover.
"Someone will prepare a room for you," the headmaster said before leaving. "You may remain at the academy while you recover your strength."
Lin Huang inclined his head slightly.
"I appreciate the hospitality."
The headmaster studied him one last time before turning toward the door.
"Rest for now."
With that, she left the medical hall.
The healer followed soon after, closing the wooden door quietly behind her.
Silence returned to the room.
For a few moments Lin Huang did not move.
Then slowly, he walked toward the open window.
Outside, the lake beside Tianshui Academy shimmered beneath the late afternoon sun.
The surface of the water reflected drifting clouds across a sky so clear it almost felt unfamiliar.
Lin Huang rested one hand lightly against the window frame.
Then he extended his perception outward.
The spiritual energy of the surrounding world flowed into his senses immediately.
And the difference was unmistakable.
"…So it really is this era."
The spiritual energy of the environment moved far more naturally than what he had grown accustomed to.
There were fewer distortions.
Fewer chaotic fluctuations caused by large populations of cultivators.
The flow of qi across the landscape was stable.
Pure.
Almost untouched.
Lin Huang watched the gentle waves moving across the lake.
Even the water itself carried faint spiritual resonance.
It reminded him of the early stages of a world still developing its cultivation system.
Not weak.
Just… young.
Behind him, a faint ripple stirred within his Divine Sea.
Honghong's voice appeared in his mind.
"So."
Her tone carried its usual lazy amusement.
"You've finished confirming it?"
Lin Huang's gaze remained on the lake.
"Yes."
Honghong appeared within the depths of his spiritual sea, her crimson eyes reflecting the faint currents of spiritual energy flowing around them.
"…Ten thousand years."
Lin Huang nodded slightly.
"The timeline matches."
Honghong crossed her arms.
"That means the boy from the legends should still be around."
Lin Huang allowed a faint smile.
"Most likely."
Somewhere on the continent, a young soul master named Tang San was probably beginning the journey that would eventually reshape the entire structure of the Douluo world.
But that was not Lin Huang's concern right now.
His attention returned to the surrounding environment.
The laws of the world here were clearly less developed than in his original era.
But that also meant they were easier to perceive.
Less interference.
Fewer distortions.
For someone studying the deeper structure of laws…
This era was almost ideal.
Honghong seemed to reach the same conclusion.
"…Not a bad place to be stuck."
Lin Huang nodded slightly.
"For cultivation… no."
His gaze drifted across the academy grounds outside.
Students continued training in the courtyards.
Water techniques moved through the air.
Their movements were simple.
Their cultivation levels relatively low.
But the fundamentals were stable.
Honest.
Untouched by the countless layers of technological influence that existed in his original era.
Honghong tilted her head slightly.
"So what now?"
Lin Huang considered the question.
He had already made one decision.
Staying temporarily at Tianshui Academy would allow him to observe the world of this era without attracting unnecessary attention.
At the same time, the academy would gain something from his presence.
Knowledge.
Guidance.
A different perspective on cultivation.
Lin Huang looked back toward the lake.
The sunlight reflected softly across the water.
"…For now," he said quietly, "we stay."
Honghong smirked faintly.
"Teaching water spirit masters how to cultivate?"
Lin Huang's eyes reflected the calm surface of the lake.
"…Something like that."
But deep within his thoughts, another realization had already settled.
The spatial anomaly had not simply thrown him into the past.
It had placed him in one of the most influential eras in the history of the continent.
An era where the foundations of the future were still being written.
Lin Huang's voice lowered to a quiet murmur.
"…Ten thousand years."
The lake rippled softly beneath the evening wind.
And somewhere beyond the horizon of that younger world…
History had only just begun.