The Blue Pearl Sect was livelier than usual. Disciples trained harder, guards stood straighter, and for the first time in months, laughter filled the courtyards.
Yet beneath the hum of energy, Raon felt something off.
**Qi density reading: fluctuating. You've got turbulence in paradise.**
"You sure it's not just excitement?"
**If excitement feels like spiritual indigestion, sure.**
He ignored it, for now. After all, things were finally improving. Jin had subtly incorporated Raon's training patterns into group sessions, and no one questioned it. The "Young Master's new rhythm" was praised by elders and copied by disciples across divisions.
Raon, meanwhile, remained the same quiet guard in worn armor.
He preferred it that way.
While patrolling near the southern practice field, he stopped. The air rippled. Not from movement but Qi. A faint distortion, like oil in water.
**Unregistered Qi detected. Composition: unstable. Origin: unknown.**
Raon frowned, following the sensation. His perception wasn't strong enough to see it clearly, but the system's readings made his skin crawl.
He found a disciple kneeling by the training stones, trembling. "You okay?"
The boy looked up, pale. "I...my Qi... it's not flowing right."
Raon knelt, pressing his hand against the disciple's back.
The Qi pulse was chaotic, too sharp. It felt wrong. Like a foreign current trying to overwrite his own.
**That's not local Qi. It's corrupted. Someone's been tampering with flow methods.**
Raon helped the disciple steady his Qi flow, quietly guiding him into the new rhythm. The trembling stopped.
"Better?"
"Yes, sir. What was that?"
Raon smiled faintly. "Bad circulation."
**Smooth save.**
Later that evening, Raon found Jin training alone by the cliffside. The moonlight turned his Qi a pale silver.
He watched Jin's movement, yet something still strained beneath.
"Your flow's better," Raon said, stepping forward.
Jin lowered his sword, smiling. "You think so?"
Raon nodded. "You're pushing too much energy into the left arm, though. Try letting it fall naturally."
Jin followed the advice, and the next swing cut through the air like silk.
He turned to Raon, astonished. "How do you keep noticing things like that? Even the elders—"
Raon cut him off gently. "They see power. I see mistakes."
**Ouch. Somewhere, an elder just felt that burn across dimensions.**
Jin laughed, shaking his head. "You talk like you were meant to lead."
Raon looked up at the stars. "Leaders get remembered when they fall. Guards get to make sure they don't."
The next morning, another disciple collapsed during training, Qi overload.
Whispers spread like wildfire.
And Raon realized the ripples were growing stronger.