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Chapter V: The Eye That Sees Beyond Qi
The elder did not speak again.
He simply turned.
And walked.
Eryndor followed.
Not because he wished to.
But because something in the elder's presence made refusal feel… impossible.
The courtyard parted as they passed. Disciples lowered their heads, whispers trembling like dying embers.
Two corpses remained behind.
Unexplained.
Unmourned.
They stopped before a stone pavilion at the edge of the sect grounds, overlooking a vast sea of clouds. Floating peaks drifted in the distance, spiritual cranes circling high above.
The elder finally turned.
Up close, his eyes were unsettling.
Not sharp.
Not cruel.
But deep.
As though he had buried centuries inside them.
"You drained them," the elder said calmly.
Not a question.
A statement.
Eryndor stayed silent.
Inside him, the hunger was quiet.
Watching.
"Qi Gathering disciples do not simply die from contact," the elder continued. "Especially not twice."
He stepped closer.
"Show me your meridians."
Eryndor's heart skipped.
Meridians were the spiritual pathways of cultivators.
If the elder looked inside him—
He would see it.
The void.
The absence.
The wrongness.
"I…" Eryndor hesitated.
The elder's gaze sharpened.
"Refusal is admission."
There was no escape.
Slowly, Eryndor sat cross-legged.
Closed his eyes.
Allowed the elder's spiritual sense to enter.
The moment it did—
The air changed.
The elder's energy moved through Eryndor's body like flowing light.
Through bones.
Through veins.
Through channels where Qi should circulate.
And then—
It stopped.
Because there was nothing there.
No Qi core.
No stable circulation.
No foundation.
Only…
A hole.
A vast, endless darkness at the center of his being.
The elder's breath paused.
For the first time—
Emotion flickered across his face.
"Impossible…" he murmured.
Inside the void—
Something moved.
The Starved God did not lash out.
It did not attack.
It simply…
Opened.
The elder felt it.
A presence that was not spiritual energy.
Not demonic.
Not immortal.
Something older.
Something starving.
His spiritual sense recoiled instantly.
He stepped back.
Eryndor opened his eyes.
Their depths seemed darker now.
"What did you see?" he asked quietly.
The elder studied him for a long moment.
Then said something unexpected.
"You are not possessed."
Eryndor froze.
"You are not controlled," the elder continued slowly. "If you were, it would have devoured my probing Qi."
He narrowed his eyes.
"It chose not to."
Inside, the voice whispered softly:
"He is observant."
The elder folded his hands behind his back.
"What resides within you is not Qi."
A pause.
"Nor is it demonic cultivation."
Another pause.
"It is absence."
The wind shifted across the pavilion.
"In my seven hundred years," the elder said, "I have studied corrupted sects, fallen immortals, forbidden arts."
His gaze locked onto Eryndor.
"But I have never seen… hunger."
Silence stretched.
Eryndor's jaw tightened.
"So what now?"
The elder did not answer immediately.
Instead, he extended his palm.
A small orb of condensed Qi formed above it—pure, radiant, compressed power.
"Touch it."
Eryndor's pulse quickened.
Inside him—
The hunger stirred eagerly.
"Control it," the elder added.
"If you cannot… I will kill you."
No threat.
No anger.
Just truth.
Eryndor reached out slowly.
His fingers hovered inches from the glowing orb.
The warmth radiated against his skin.
Alive.
Tempting.
The voice inside him whispered:
"Just a taste."
His fingertips brushed the surface.
Instantly—
The orb trembled.
Qi distorted violently, spiraling unnaturally toward him.
Eryndor gritted his teeth.
"Stop…"
The pull intensified.
Cracks of darkness spread faintly beneath his skin.
The elder's eyes narrowed.
The orb began shrinking.
Rapidly.
Eryndor trembled.
Sweat dripped down his temple.
He could feel the pleasure of absorption rising again.
The strength.
The surge.
The power.
He wanted it.
No.
He needed it.
"Take it," the voice urged.
Eryndor clenched his jaw so hard it hurt.
Then—
He pulled his hand away.
The orb stabilized.
Dimmer.
But intact.
Silence.
The elder slowly closed his palm, dispersing the remaining Qi.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
"You can restrain it," the elder murmured.
Eryndor exhaled shakily.
"Barely."
The elder turned away, walking toward the pavilion's edge.
"The sect cannot know," he said calmly.
"If they sense what you are, they will attempt to destroy you."
A pause.
"Or use you."
Eryndor stood slowly.
"And you?"
The elder glanced over his shoulder.
"I intend to study you."
The answer should have been comforting.
It wasn't.
"You are either a calamity," the elder continued, "or an opportunity."
His eyes darkened slightly.
"I have yet to decide which."
A distant bell echoed across the sect grounds.
Deep.
Ancient.
The elder's gaze shifted toward the sky.
"However…"
His expression grew more serious.
"You are not the only anomaly."
Eryndor felt it then.
A ripple in the spiritual atmosphere.
Subtle.
But distinct.
Not hunger.
Not Qi.
Something else.
The elder's voice lowered.
"Three days ago, a star fell beyond the northern mountains."
He looked at Eryndor carefully.
"The night you arrived."
Inside Eryndor—
The hunger went still.
Completely still.
And then—
For the first time—
It felt something unfamiliar.
Not desire.
Not mockery.
Recognition.
"We are not alone."
Eryndor's stomach tightened.
"What does that mean?"
The elder's answer came slowly.
Gravely.
"It means," he said, "whatever you are…"
"…something else may have crossed over as well."
The wind howled softly across the clouds.
And somewhere far beyond the sect—
Something opened its eyes.