The doors of the audience hall opened with a low, resonant groan.
Lu Tianming stepped out, his gaze sharp, his footsteps composed. He didn't rush. He didn't hesitate.
> "Time to face him."
But not as a genius.
Not as the anomaly that defied the heavens.
> "If they knew I could alter the foundation of ancient cultivation techniques…"
"Even Supreme Beings would fight to control me. Or erase me."
He had no interest in becoming a puppet of empires, sects, or clans. Not yet.
That was why the version of the Foundation Compression Manual he would present was the original one—not the perfected form carved into his mind.
> "He gave me three days."
"I'll act like I barely managed it in two."
His pride remained, but it was sharpened by strategy.
To rise in this world, it wasn't enough to be powerful—one had to know when to hide their claws.
As he approached the Sky Pavilion, where Master Yun awaited, his aura remained calm and steady. His cultivation was still at the mortal level. That part, at least, was no act.
But his mind...
His comprehension...
And his ambition...
Those were already beyond the grasp of most.
> "You wanted to test me, Master Yun?"
He stepped through the golden doors.
> "Then let's see how good your eyes really are."
Inside the Sky Pavilion, spiritual incense drifted through the air, calm and timeless—just like the man who sat at its center.
Master Yun Zhenhai.
His appearance was that of a refined elder in his sixties, but behind those calm eyes hid a being who had walked this world for over ten thousand years.
At his age, very few things could stir his interest anymore.
Even the rise and fall of empires had long become a blur.
Talented youths? He had seen thousands. Geniuses? Hundreds. Prodigies? Dozens.
But as Lu Tianming stepped through the pavilion doors, something shifted.
This time, Yun Zhenhai didn't look at him as a child.
Not as a brat with royal blood.
But as someone who might one day… make his ancient bones remember what it was like to be curious.
> "He walks like he's seen the heavens."
The old cultivator narrowed his eyes slightly.
> "And yet… he hasn't even stepped onto the path."
He gestured lightly. "Come forward."
Lu Tianming bowed respectfully, not humbly. He didn't grovel—he never would. But his etiquette was clean, and his eyes met his master's with unwavering clarity.
> "As requested, I have comprehended the scroll."
The words were simple.
But to Yun Zhenhai, they struck harder than thunder.
Because despite his calm face, he was still reeling inside.
> "This boy… comprehended it in two days?"
His plan had been simple. He intended to humble the young prince—let him struggle with the scroll, feel frustration, and understand his own insignificance.
Even geniuses took three days just to scratch the surface.
And yet this six-year-old…
He didn't struggle.
He mastered it.
In two days.
> "He wasn't supposed to succeed. He was supposed to fail. Then I would teach him the path properly."
But now, the boy sat before him like a mirror—unmoving, yet dangerous.
A sharp
glint passed through Yun Zhenhai's gaze.
> "Interesting."
Master Yun Zhenhai rose from his seat with a casual wave of his sleeve. The spirit incense coiled around him like obedient mist, dissipating in his presence.
> "Now that you've grasped the method, let us begin the true path of cultivation."
His voice was calm, but his gaze was sharp—observing Lu Tianming not as a child, but as a potential peer in the distant future.
He waved a hand, and a faint blue orb floated out from a jade box behind him. Inside the orb, a delicate miniature of a cultivator's meridian system shimmered with energy pathways.
> "Start with what you've learned from the scroll. Circulate the qi through the prescribed routes," he instructed. "Then, concentrate that energy into your dantian."
Lu Tianming closed his eyes.
For any normal person, this command would've been absurd. Storing qi in the dantian was something only a cultivator at Level 2 or above could achieve. For the average genius, that could take years. For commoners, even reaching Level 1 might take decades—if they succeeded at all.
But this was no ordinary boy.
He had the personal guidance of a Level 8 powerhouse.
He had an empire's worth of resources, pills, and formations backing him.
And more than anything…
He had a perfected version of the Foundation Compression Manual locked deep inside his mind, stronger than any manual the Empire had ever known.
---
Yun Zhenhai folded his hands behind his back as he observed.
He expected Lu Tianming to stumble a bit—not fail, but show inexperience.
> "With everything provided, he should be able to reach early or middle Level 2 in a few weeks. A miracle by ordinary standards, but acceptable under imperial conditions."
But what happened next made the ancient cultivator's pupils contract slightly.
As soon as Lu Tianming began circulating his qi…
> It flowed smoothly.
It responded instantly.
It obeyed perfectly.
And then—before even a full incense stick had burned—
He felt a ga
thering of qi in the boy's dantian.
> "Already?"
An hour passed in total silence.
Golden rays filtered through the carved windows of the Sky Pavilion, falling on the still figure of Lu Tianming, seated with perfect posture, his breathing calm, steady, and refined beyond his years.
Then—his eyes slowly opened.
They gleamed with a subtle brilliance, the kind seen only in those who had stepped onto the path of true cultivation.
He could feel it.
The smooth current of qi weaving through his meridians.
The firm knot of energy gathered in his dantian.
He focused inward, trying to sense the depth of his cultivation.
> "So… this is what it feels like to cultivate."
His mind was calm. But somewhere inside, he was curious.
> "What level have I reached?"
He hadn't rushed. He hadn't forced anything. He had simply followed the technique—and allowed the energy to settle as naturally as breathing.
Across the chamber, Master Yun Zhenhai watched closely.
And then… his ancient, unmoving gaze sharpened.
His pupils contracted.
> "…Impossible."
It was subtle—just a twitch of the brow—but to those who knew him, it was more than a storm.
> "Peak of Level 2…?" he muttered under his breath.
"No… not just peak. He's already on the brink of breaking through to Level 3."
It wasn't shock. It was something deeper—disbelief.
> "This boy was a mortal less than two hours ago…"
Reaching early Level 2 would have been absurd for most.
Late Level 2 would have been a once-in-a-generation miracle.
But Peak Level 2—
And so close to stepping into Level 3?
Even with his personal guidance…
Even with the full treasury of the Great Empire behind him…
It was something not even he had seen in ten thousand years.
> "No… this has never happened. Not in this world. Not in all the heavens I've walked."
If anyone else had told him this, h
e would've laughed.
But it was happening before his very eyes.