The courtyard of the Silent Heavens Sect had become a scene of confusion.
Stone pathways were split with spreading fractures. Dust rolled through the air in pale clouds. Several younger disciples had already retreated toward the outer halls, while others stood frozen, staring at the ground as if expecting the mountain itself to break apart.
The tremors had stopped, for now. But the silence afterward felt worse.
Lin Aether stood in the center of the cracked courtyard, chest rising and falling.
His hip still throbbed from Jian Wu's strike. Every shift of weight sent a sharp pain through his side. The smaller cuts across his arms had nearly closed, leaving only thin red lines, but the deeper wound remained stubbornly open.
Volt prowled in a slow circle near him, low growls rumbling in its throat.
Across from Lin— Su Lian stood unmoved.
Her robes fluttered softly in the unsettled wind. One hand rested on the hilt of her sword. Her expression remained calm, as if the shaking mountain and panicked disciples were little more than background noise.
Elder Qiu Ren frowned. "Su Lian. Stand down."
She did not look at him. "With respect, Elder," she said quietly, "I have not yet seen what I came for."
The Silent Heavens elder immediately stepped forward. "This is hardly the time for sparring—"
Su finally moved her gaze. To Lin.
"Begin."
The single word cut through the courtyard. Lin blinked. "...Right now?"
The ground beneath them still groaned faintly.
Su's eyes narrowed slightly. "It doesn't matter of you are injured. If you cannot fight while the earth trembles, then you are simply not worth investigating."
Several Jade River disciples stiffened. Even Elder Qiu Ren gave a small sigh of resignation.
Lin rubbed the back of his neck. "You people really love challenging injured men."
Mei's voice echoed in his mind. "Do not underestimate her."
"...I wasn't planning to."
"Good. Because if you lose in one exchange, I'll be embarrassed."
Lin nearly snorted. Then he exhaled slowly. "...Fine." He stepped forward. Pain shot through his hip. His face twitched despite himself.
Su Lian noticed, and so did everyone else. Yet she did not offer mercy.
The wind moved first, not her body, not her sword, but the wind. It curved around her feet, gathered at her side, then sharpened.
Then Su Lian vanished.
Gasps erupted.
Lin's eyes widened. Lightning surged instinctively through his limbs as he twisted sideways—
Steel flashed.
Her blade passed inches from his shoulder.
Lin stumbled, barely avoiding the strike, and retaliated with an open palm. Blue lightning burst forward in a jagged arc.
Su pivoted cleanly. Her sword tapped the lightning aside.
A crack of thunder echoed through the courtyard. The impact sent sparks across the fractured stone.
The watching disciples froze.
"That wasn't sword intent..."
"She redirected lightning with the flat of the blade..."
Again. Su stepped in. Lin unsheathed and raised his chipped sword this time.
Their weapons met—
Clang!
A broken half of Lin's chipped sword flew into the air and fell on the fractured ground. A burst of Qi rolled outward like a shockwave, kicking dust into the air.
For a moment neither moved. Whispers arose. "Did Su just break off Lin's sword?!"
"...That was way too effortless!"
Then Lin's injured hip buckled. Su's eyes sharpened instantly.
She twisted her blade and sent him sliding backward across the cracked ground.
Lin caught himself with one knee down and his broken sword pierced into the ground.
Pain tore through his side. "...Yeah," he muttered. "Still there."
Volt growled loudly from the edge of the arena.
Su lowered her sword slightly. "You're slower than your lightning." Lin rose carefully. "I've had a busy morning fighting our Rank 9."
But inside— He knew she was right. His reactions were improving. His instincts sharper. Yet his body lagged behind. Every movement dragged against the wound in his hip.
He inhaled once. Then let the noise of the courtyard fade. He focused. On the pain, on the wound, on the strange warmth beneath his skin whenever he concentrated.
The cut across his hip pulsed.
A faint thread of lightning moved through his torn flesh.
Then— It began to close. Lin's eyes widened slightly. "Shit, sorry Mei, I did not meant for this to happen."
Mei's voice echoed, "It's fine, there is nothing we can do about something that isn't a secret. Besides rumors would've exposed it nonetheless."
Su saw it. So did Elder Qiu Ren. The Jade River disciples exchanged startled looks.
"He is healing during combat?"
"That's impossible at Qi Awakening..."
Mei's voice turned sharp. "Do not lose focus now."
Lin steadied his breathing. The warmth intensified. The wound tightened further. His stance became firmer.
And deep down within his chest— The golden seal reacted.
CRACK...
Lin stiffened.
A bright fracture spread across the first layer of the intricate mark near his heart. Then another, then another.
Mei's voice changed instantly, from calm to urgent. "STOP."
"What?"
"Too much focus. You're forcing it open."
But it was too late. The first layer of the seal shattered.
Golden fragments of light broke away inside him and dissolved into his meridians. Power flooded through his body. Not wild, not violent, but precise.
Every blocked pathway within him burst open at once. Qi surged through channels that had slept since birth.
Lin gasped. Lightning exploded around him in a ring of blue sparks with hints of purple.
The cracked courtyard shook again. Harder than before.
Far beneath the Silent Heavens Sect— Something answered.
A deep pulse rose through the mountain. Not sound, not Qi but recognition.
Above Mount Yun— The clear sky darkened. Clouds gathered with terrifying speed. Thunder rolled across the heavens. Every elder present looked upward. Elder Qiu Ren's calm expression finally cracked.
"...Heavenly response?" The Silent Heavens Elder staggered back. "This pressure... It feels as if someone broke through into Immortal Realm - Saint Ascension... But this kid is barely in the Mortal Realms - Qi Awakening. He is still 8 realms way too far from experiencing something of this level."
Mei's voice whispered in disbelief.
"Meridian Opening?!"
Lin stood motionless in the center of the courtyard. The pain in his hip was gone. His wound had sealed completely. Lightning crawled along his arms like living veins.
He looked at his own hands. "I..." The pressure inside his body had transformed. He could feel every pathway. Every breath of Qi in the air. Every heartbeat nearby.
He had broken through Qi Awakening— Into Meridian Opening - Third Realm.
As soon as Su opened her mouth to talk, another tremor split the courtyard. A deeper fracture tore through the central arena stone.
Dust erupted. Disciples shouted and retreated. Volt bared its fangs toward the ground itself.
Beneath the Sect— That hidden presence stirred again. Stronger now, hungry. Awake enough to know one truth: The bloodline it had waited for... Was right above the ground.
Parallelly the sky was growling louder than ever. The mountain and sky roared equally.
The heavens themselves were rumbling, getting ready for a Heavenly Seal Tribulation.
And somewhere deep below the Silent Heavens Sect—
Metal screamed.