[Yuexi's POV]
The demon's claws sliced through the air where my head had been a second ago.
I rolled sideways, my heart trying to punch through my ribs. Too close. Way too close. The creature roared, and the sound rattled my teeth.
What am I doing? I can barely make a spark!
But behind me, a little girl was crying, clutching her mother's body. The woman wasn't moving. If I ran, that child would die next.
The demon charged again. I didn't think—just moved.
My body remembered the techniques I'd practiced in secret for two years. Dodge left. Duck low. I grabbed a fallen tree branch—not a real weapon, but it was something.
The demon's claw caught my shoulder. Pain exploded through me, hot and sharp. Blood soaked through my sleeve. I bit back a scream.
Focus! Remember the manual. Channel the energy!
I closed my eyes for one heartbeat and reached deep inside where that hidden warmth lived. The blocked power that nobody knew about. I pulled at it desperately.
Please. Please work. Please!
The energy answered.
It flooded through my arm like lightning, making the branch in my hand glow with a faint golden light. Not much. Not enough. But more than I'd ever managed before.
The demon lunged. I swung.
The branch connected with its chest, and the creature shrieked. Smoke poured from where I'd hit it. It stumbled backward, confused. How could a powerless human hurt it?
I pressed my advantage, hitting it again and again. Each strike drained more of my tiny reserve of energy. My vision blurred. My legs shook. But I didn't stop.
The demon finally collapsed, its body dissolving into black smoke that smelled like rotten eggs.
I dropped the branch and fell to my knees, gasping. Everything hurt. My shoulder bled badly, and I felt dizzy from using too much power too fast.
"The demon's dead!" someone shouted.
"Who was that?"
"Did you see? Someone in a mask!"
The villagers were coming closer, trying to see their mysterious savior. I couldn't let them. If anyone recognized me, if they told Father I could cultivate...
I forced my shaking legs to stand and ran into the forest before anyone could stop me.
I barely made it to my cave before collapsing.
The wound on my shoulder throbbed with each heartbeat. When I pulled my torn shirt aside, I saw three deep claw marks. They looked bad. Really bad.
This is what happens when you play hero, I thought bitterly.
But I'd saved that little girl. I'd actually killed a demon. Me. Powerless, worthless Yuexi.
Except I wasn't powerless. Not completely.
I pressed my hand against the wound and tried something I'd read in the stolen manual but never attempted. A healing technique. It required control I didn't have, but I was bleeding too much to walk home like this.
I closed my eyes and focused on the warmth inside my chest. This time, instead of pushing it out for attack, I guided it inward. Toward the wound.
Heal. Close. Stop bleeding.
The energy moved like honey—slow and sticky and hard to control. But gradually, impossibly, I felt the torn skin start to knit together. The bleeding slowed. The pain dulled from screaming agony to a fierce ache.
When I opened my eyes ten minutes later, the wounds were closed. They'd left ugly red scars, but I wasn't dying anymore.
I stared at my bloody hand in shock.
"I did that," I whispered to the empty cave. "I actually did that."
For two years, I'd been teaching myself cultivation in secret, managing only tiny sparks and gentle breezes. But tonight, facing death, my power had surged. I'd channeled energy into a weapon. I'd healed myself.
What if I wasn't weak? What if something really was blocking my full power, like a dam holding back a river?
The stolen manual lay open on the ground where I'd dropped it. I picked it up with trembling hands and flipped to a page I'd always skipped before—the section on "Recognizing Sealed Cultivation Roots."
"Some practitioners have their spiritual roots artificially sealed through formation arrays or forbidden techniques. Common signs include: sudden fatigue when attempting to cultivate, a feeling of 'hitting a wall' when gathering energy, and power that only emerges during extreme stress or danger."
My breath caught.
That was me. All of it.
"Sealed roots are often placed on children to prevent them from surpassing a rival. The victim appears powerless to normal testing, but the energy remains locked inside, growing stronger each year. If the seal is not removed, the accumulated power can eventually explode, killing the practitioner."
My hands shook so hard I almost dropped the book.
Someone had sealed my cultivation. On purpose. To make me seem worthless.
And there was only one person who would do that.
Father.
He'd found me as an orphan, tested my spiritual roots, saw they were strong, and... sealed them. So I wouldn't threaten Qingwan. So his real daughter would be the talented one, the valuable one.
He'd stolen my future. My power. My entire life.
Rage burned through me hotter than any demon fire.
I wanted to march back to the mansion right now and confront him. Make him confess. Make him hurt the way he'd hurt me for eighteen years.
But I couldn't. Not yet. If he knew I'd discovered the seal, he'd strengthen it. Or worse, he might kill me to hide his crime.
No. I needed to be smart. I needed to get stronger first. Find a way to break the seal myself.
Then I'd make him pay for everything.
I looked down at the manual again, flipping through pages with new determination. If I could break the seal, all that locked-away power would be mine. I could become a real cultivator. Maybe even join a sect. Escape this nightmare life.
But breaking a seal required knowledge I didn't have. I needed to find someone who could teach me, or at least get better cultivation manuals.
The tournament. Qingwan's tournament tomorrow. The Heavenly Sword Sect would be there—powerful cultivators who might have knowledge about seals.
A dangerous plan formed in my mind.
I'd go to the tournament as Qingwan's servant like Father ordered. But I'd also watch. Learn. Maybe even find a way to get close to one of the sect members and ask questions.
It was risky. If anyone discovered what I was doing...
But I was done being careful. Done being powerless.
The sun was starting to rise, painting the sky pink. I needed to get back before the servants woke up.
I cleaned the blood off my skin as best I could and pulled on a spare shirt I kept hidden in the cave. The new scars on my shoulder burned, reminding me of what I'd done tonight.
I'd killed a demon. Healed myself. Discovered the truth about my sealed power.
Everything was changing.
I climbed out of the cave and started running toward the mansion, my mind racing with plans.
Behind me, I didn't notice the shadow watching from the trees. Didn't see the tall figure in dark robes who'd been following me since the demon attack.
Didn't know that someone else now knew the worthless Lin daughter had power.
And he was very, very interested.