The sect had grown tense. Days that once flowed with the dull routine of cultivation, chores, and
sparring now felt sharp-edged, every corner hiding watchful eyes. Jianyu sensed it as keenly as a blade
pressed to his throat. Wu Shifen's absence no longer lingered as rumor alone—it had fermented into a
quiet storm. Elders moved with increased frequency, their steps measured but heavy, their gazes
lingering on disciples with unspoken suspicion. Conversations that once carried the laughter of youth
had b...
For Jianyu, every breath became an act of discipline. He woke each morning before dawn, donned the
plain robes of an outer disciple, and joined the line of mediocrity. His hands, though steady with hidden
strength, carried buckets of water that sloshed clumsily, as though too heavy for his frail frame. During
drills, he swung his sword without vigor, his blade too slow, his footing too uneven. Other disciples
jeered, their contempt an old and familiar cloak. To them, he remained the same Jianyu, the ...
But beneath that fragile mask, a tempest brewed. His qi pulsed with vigor, strengthened by his recent
breakthrough. His body carried the vitality of someone who had torn down one wall and stepped firmly
into the second stage of Qi Refining. Every night, he slipped into the forest, devouring beast cores,
refining ambient qi, pushing his Heaven Devouring Art to the limits of its hunger. He knew better than to
grow complacent. The sect was restless, and danger pressed closer with each passing day.
The first signs of tightening control came when Elder Ming announced mandatory training sessions for
outer disciples. No longer were they left to drift in self-paced mediocrity. Instead, they were gathered on
the practice fields, rows upon rows of young cultivators lined under the morning sun as elders
observed. Blades flashed, qi circulated, bodies strained against wooden dummies. Elders with sharp
eyes moved among them, watching, judging, whispering among themselves.
For Jianyu, it was a battlefield of subtlety. He could not lag too far behind, lest he draw suspicion as
someone who was deliberately underperforming. Yet he could not excel, for excellence was an
invitation for scrutiny. He walked the razor's edge, presenting himself as mediocre, yet not dangerously
so. When ordered to demonstrate a basic qi circulation technique, he stumbled midway, coughing as
though blocked. The elder supervising frowned but moved on, dismissing him as just another
unremarkable dis...
Whispers circulated swiftly after each session. Disciples who once ignored the elders' presence now
worried about every misstep. "They're searching for something," one muttered. "Or someone," another
replied. Jianyu kept his silence, but his thoughts churned. He had buried Wu Shifen deep, erased all
obvious traces, yet suspicion was a poison that spread even without evidence. All it took was one gaze
too sharp, one slip too obvious, and his disguise could unravel.
The pressure mounted when missions were assigned. Disciples were sent out in groups rather than
alone, an unusual move for the sect. Elder Ming explained it as a precaution, but Jianyu saw the truth:
they wanted eyes on one another. Trust was fraying, and the sect was weaving a net to catch what
could not be seen.
Jianyu's group was sent into the outskirts of the forest to gather spirit herbs. A simple task, yet made
heavy by the presence of two inner disciples assigned to supervise. Their gazes lingered on every
movement, their questions casual yet prying. Jianyu kept his head bowed, his words clipped and
humble. He let others take the lead in harvesting herbs, fumbling clumsily when he tried, drawing
ridicule but not suspicion.
Yet in the shadows of the forest, danger prowled. A low-ranked beast, a horned boar, burst from the
underbrush, its eyes glowing with feral hunger. The group scattered in panic, blades flashing as
disciples shouted. Jianyu gripped his sword, heart hammering. The beast was nothing to him now; with
his strength, he could have crushed it swiftly. But too swift a kill would unravel his facade.
So he stumbled back, letting another disciple intercept. The clash was messy, steel against tusk,
shouts echoing. The beast wounded one, goring his leg. Jianyu's instincts screamed to end it cleanly,
but he forced restraint. Only when the beast lunged toward him did he move, his blade trembling as
though out of fear, striking weakly at its side. The wound was shallow, barely slowing it. Another
disciple finished the job, panting heavily, glaring at Jianyu with disdain. "Useless," he spat. Jianyu
bowed h...
On the return, the inner disciples questioned them. "Why did you hesitate?" they asked Jianyu. He
lowered his head. "Fear, seniors. I could not control myself." His answer earned scorn, but not
suspicion. They dismissed him as worthless, their gazes already shifting to others. Jianyu endured the
humiliation, but within, he burned. Every insult was fuel, every dismissal a stone upon which he
sharpened his will.
Back at the sect, the investigation deepened. Jianyu heard whispers of elders interrogating disciples
about their whereabouts on the night of Wu Shifen's disappearance. Questions were asked about rival
sects, about hidden grudges, about treasures. Some disciples returned from such questioning pale and
shaken, muttering of elders who stared too long, who seemed to pierce into their very souls. Jianyu was
summoned too, seated before Elder Ming himself.
"Jianyu," the elder said, his voice deceptively calm. "You were assigned to the same mission as Wu
Shifen, were you not?"
"Yes, Elder," Jianyu replied, his tone humble, eyes lowered.
"Tell me what you saw."
Jianyu spoke carefully. "We hunted beasts. I struggled to keep up. Wu Shifen moved far ahead. When I
tried to follow, I lost sight of him. I thought he returned before me. I… I did not see him again." His
words carried hesitation, just enough to match the image of a cowardly outer disciple.
Elder Ming studied him for a long moment, silence stretching heavy. Jianyu forced his breath calm, his
pulse steady. At last, the elder waved him away. "Go. Cultivate harder, if you can." Jianyu bowed low
and retreated, the weight of that gaze still pressing on his back.
Nights grew more dangerous. Jianyu no longer trained openly in the same places. He shifted from
grove to grove, wary of being tracked. The Heaven Devouring Art continued its endless hunger, pulling
in qi from beast cores and the world itself. He felt himself inching closer to the third stage, but restraint
was vital. Too swift a rise, and even the blind would notice.
One evening, while skulking through the shadows of the outer courtyard, Jianyu overheard two inner
disciples speaking. "Elder Ming is convinced Wu Shifen found something before he disappeared," one
said. "A treasure, perhaps."
The other nodded grimly. "If that's true, whoever has it will not remain hidden forever. Treasures reveal
themselves—through power, through arrogance, through fate."
Jianyu clenched his fists in the dark. They were right, in a way. Power left traces, even if one tried to
bury it. His only hope was to walk the line so finely that no one could grasp his secret until it was too
late.
The following days brought an announcement that made Jianyu's blood run cold. A sect-wide trial was
to be held, testing outer disciples on their progress. The elders claimed it was to encourage diligence,
but Jianyu understood its true purpose: to force hidden talents into the open, to see who had grown too
quickly, who might hold answers to Wu Shifen's fate.
Standing among the gathered disciples in the main square, Jianyu kept his face blank, but inside, his
mind raced. A trial meant demonstration. A trial meant exposure. He could not afford to shine, yet he
could not afford to fail too miserably either. The blade's edge grew sharper, the storm closer.
As Elder Ming's voice carried across the crowd, Jianyu whispered within his heart, "So be it. If this is the
path, I will tread it. Let suspicion deepen, let trials test me. I will endure. I will devour. And still, I will
rise."
The sect's eyes turned upon its disciples, and in the shadows of their scrutiny, Jianyu prepared for the
next step in his climb against the heavens.