The sun rose higher.
Canglan City hummed with the faint noises of life.
Merchants shouted. Carts rattled along uneven streets.
The smell of smoke, wet stone, and cooking filled the air.
Everything looked normal.
But beneath the surface, energy flowed, shifting, searching.
Lin Xuanye moved through narrow alleys.
Silk pouch at his side.
Eyes scanning every shadow.
Every crack in the walls.
Every rooftop.
Every stray vibration in the ground.
Two regressors remembered the future.
Most others did not.
Most others were dangerous in their ignorance.
A low-grade vein pulsed beneath a collapsed warehouse.
Early-stage, unstable.
Not impressive to most cultivators.
To Lin Xuanye, every pulse mattered.
Every resource was a step toward dominance.
He stepped lightly over broken bricks.
Palms pressed to the ground.
Black threads of energy extended into the crystals.
Control. Stabilization. Compression.
The crystals responded, lifting faintly, shimmering.
Another resource secured.
Spiritual Density sixty-three.
Above, a ripple of wind brushed rooftops.
Han Tianyu.
Always present. Always observing.
Testing. Waiting.
Lin Xuanye allowed a faint smile.
"You never stop."
He moved again.
Through alleys, over rooftops, across narrow bridges between buildings.
Every step precise. Every breath controlled.
A flicker of light in a side street caught his attention.
A group of novice cultivators argued over a small abandoned vein.
Unaware of what had formed beneath their feet.
Lin Xuanye approached slowly.
Threads of energy spiraled outward, subtle but precise.
Crystals floated silently into his control.
The three froze.
No words. No resistance.
Another minor victory stacked.
Spiritual Density sixty-four.
He continued across the city, roof to roof.
Each step calculated.
Each breath measured.
A faint tremor beneath an abandoned shrine.
Early-stage mid-grade crystals forming in the rubble.
Perfect for a hidden cache.
He leapt down silently.
Energy flowed into the veins.
Crystals shimmered, responding to his presence.
Stored, compressed, refined.
From the shadows, faint movement.
Two low-tier cultivators had followed him.
Greedy. Unaware.
Lin Xuanye allowed a slight leak of energy.
Fear spread instantly.
They froze.
They ran.
Another threat neutralized. Another hidden advantage secured.
He climbed a crumbling rooftop overlooking warehouses, alleys, and the river.
The city pulsed with faint energy threads.
Rooftops shimmered subtly.
Han Tianyu's wind threads brushed the edges of buildings, probing.
Testing. Waiting.
Lin Xuanye allowed himself a small smile.
"You are always close," he murmured.
Another pulse of energy drew him to a side alley behind a marketplace.
Low-grade crystals forming faintly.
He entered quietly.
Debris crunched under his feet.
Energy spiraled into the veins.
They responded, shimmering.
Another resource secured.
Spiritual Density sixty-five.
The wind shifted again.
Han Tianyu moved across rooftops, always watching.
Lin Xuanye exhaled.
Every hidden advantage mattered.
Every minor victory counted.
He continued.
A collapsed shrine behind a forgotten temple.
Mid-grade crystals, early formation.
He stepped over broken stones.
Energy flowed into his meridians, spiraling into the vein.
Crystals shimmered and lifted.
Stored in hidden compartments.
Spiritual Density sixty-six.
The sun climbed higher.
People walked the streets unaware.
Vendors shouted. Children ran along sidewalks.
All of them oblivious to the currents beneath their feet.
The city was a battlefield invisible to ordinary eyes.
Lin Xuanye paused, crouched on a broken rooftop.
He scanned every alley, every rooftop, every hidden courtyard.
Each pulse of energy told a story.
A vein forming.
A novice cultivator hiding.
A rival testing the waters.
He moved down to a ruined warehouse.
Early-stage crystals forming along the floor.
He knelt, pressing palms lightly.
Threads of energy flowed from his body into the crystals.
Control. Stabilization. Compression.
Crystals shimmered faintly.
Another hidden advantage secured.
Spiritual Density sixty-seven.
A faint rustle behind him.
Two low-tier cultivators creeping silently.
Lin Xuanye allowed a small pulse toward them.
Fear gripped them.
They froze.
They fled without sound.
Another minor threat neutralized.
He climbed another rooftop.
From above, the city spread in every direction.
Warehouses, alleys, rooftops, river.
Energy threads pulsed faintly.
Han Tianyu moved somewhere above.
Wind brushing, probing, testing.
Lin Xuanye exhaled slowly.
Every small victory counted.
Every hidden resource stacked him closer to supremacy.
The Spiritual Tide had not arrived, but the first moves in the hidden war were underway.
He stepped lightly across rooftops, moving toward the western district.
Every alley, every broken wall, every abandoned warehouse, scanned.
Another faint pulse beneath a collapsed shrine.
Crystals barely visible.
Perfect for hiding.
He descended carefully.
Energy flowed into the vein.
Crystals shimmered and lifted.
Stored, compressed, refined.
Spiritual Density sixty-eight.
The sun dipped low.
Shadows stretched across the streets.
Lin Xuanye walked along the riverbank.
Crystals hidden. Herbs secured. Minor cultivators neutralized or misled.
Han Tianyu's presence lingered above.
Always observing.
Always testing.
Lin Xuanye exhaled slowly.
The first day of the hidden war was complete.
Every small victory mattered.
Every hidden vein, every pulse of energy, every minor threat neutralized stacked him closer to supremacy.
He paused on the riverbank.
Wind brushing his coat.
Eyes scanning alleys, rooftops, and ruins.
The Spiritual Tide had not yet arrived.
But the battle for hidden resources had already begun.
The city itself had become a silent battlefield.
Lin Xuanye smiled faintly.
"The game has begun.
And I will win."