Deep within the forest behind Qinghe Village, the ancient cave remained silent.
But the silence within it was no ordinary silence.
The air around the cave vibrated gently, as if the space itself was breathing.
In the center of the cave, Lin Tianyuan's body lay on the stone ground.
His eyes were closed.
His body did not move.
Yet something inside him… was changing.
Qi energy from the surrounding forest began to flow toward the cave.
The current was so gentle that an ordinary person would not feel it.
But for living beings more sensitive to the energy of heaven and earth, this change was unmistakable.
Spirit birds that usually perched on the trees suddenly flew away.
Some small Origin Beasts even began to leave the area.
As if their instincts warned them that something extraordinary was being born.
Inside Tianyuan's body, right at the center of his chest…
a black core slowly rotated.
The core was small.
No bigger than a bean.
Yet the energy radiating from it felt strange.
It did not emit qi like a regular Essence Core.
Instead…
the core was like a tiny hole within the world.
All qi energy that entered Tianyuan's body was immediately drawn toward it.
But the core did not merely absorb.
It transformed.
The qi that entered it was condensed, purified, then slowly spread back throughout Tianyuan's entire body.
This process repeated itself over and over.
Without ceasing.
His bones began to change.
His meridians slowly opened up.
His blood flowed more powerfully.
His body was undergoing something that even great cultivators might have never seen before.
Evolution.
But Tianyuan himself was unaware of all this.
His consciousness was elsewhere.
In his mind, he stood in the middle of a boundless dark space.
There was no ground.
No sky.
Only emptiness.
Suddenly a huge shadow appeared in the distance.
The creature was so large that even the stars looked small beside it.
Its body was like a dragon but more feral.
Its eyes shone like galaxies.
Its mouth opened…
and an entire star was swallowed whole.
Tianyuan froze.
He did not understand what he was seeing.
But his deepest instinct told him that this creature was extremely ancient.
Extremely powerful.
And extremely dangerous.
The creature suddenly turned its head.
Its eyes stared directly at Tianyuan.
In that instant—
everything shattered.
Tianyuan's vision shifted.
He saw a great war.
The sky cracked.
Continents crumbled.
Giant creatures battled against human figures whose auras could shake the world.
Amidst the battle, the star-swallowing creature was finally wounded.
Its body was destroyed.
But before it could truly die…
a fragment of its core was hurled into the void.
The fragment flew through space and time.
Through countless worlds.
Until finally…
it landed in a small place on the Primordial Vast Continent.
In a silent forest.
In a forgotten cave.
And years later…
a village boy fell right at that spot.
Tianyuan's vision suddenly stopped.
Everything turned dark again.
Then an ancient voice echoed in the void.
The voice was deep.
Heavy.
As if coming from a very distant time.
"The fragment… has found an heir…"
"Evolution… begins…"
Meanwhile, outside the cave.
The wind in the forest suddenly grew chaotic.
A shadow streaked swiftly through the trees.
It was Lin Feng.
His body moved so fast that it was almost invisible to the ordinary human eye.
A few seconds later, he landed in front of a large opening hidden in the bushes.
His eyes narrowed.
The strange energy he felt was coming from down here.
He jumped down without hesitation.
As his feet touched the cave floor, Lin Feng immediately felt something that made his heart tremble.
The qi energy inside the cave was extremely dense.
But its flow was strange.
All that energy was converging on a single point.
His eyes quickly found the figure lying on the ground.
"Tianyuan!"
Lin Feng immediately ran over.
He checked his son's breathing.
It was still there.
But Tianyuan's body felt hot.
As if immense energy was flowing through him.
Lin Feng closed his eyes for a moment, then sent a small amount of qi into Tianyuan's body to examine him.
The next moment—
his eyes flew open wide.
"What is this…?!"
He saw the black core inside Tianyuan's body.
But it was different from an ordinary Origin Core.
The aura radiating from it felt…
extremely ancient.
Extremely wild.
And extremely profound.
As if it came from something that should not exist in this world.
Lin Feng quickly withdrew his qi.
He looked at his son with a serious expression.
"This is no ordinary Essence…"
He stood up slowly and looked around the cave.
His eyes finally stopped at the remains of a shattered black crystal on the ground.
Lin Feng's expression changed.
For the first time in years…
he looked truly shocked.
"A primordial fragment…?"
He murmured softly.
But a few seconds later, his expression calmed again.
He looked at Tianyuan, who was still unconscious.
"Your fate… is indeed greater than I thought."
Lin Feng let out a long sigh.
He knew one thing for certain.
From this day on…
his son's life would never be the same again.
Time passed slowly.
One day.
Two days.
Five days.
For all that time, Tianyuan remained unconscious.
But his body continued to change.
Qi energy from the entire forest kept flowing into the cave.
And the black core in his body absorbed it without rest.
Finally, on the seventh day…
Tianyuan's fingers moved.
His eyes slowly opened.
The first thing he felt was a strange strength in his body.
His body felt lighter.
Stronger.
Even his breathing felt different.
"Father…?"
Tianyuan's voice was hoarse.
Lin Feng, who was sitting beside him, immediately opened his eyes.
He smiled faintly.
"You're finally awake."
Tianyuan slowly sat up.
He looked around in confusion.
"What happened…?"
Lin Feng looked at him for a moment before speaking softly.
"You underwent a change."
"A huge change."
Tianyuan furrowed his brows.
He closed his eyes and tried to sense his body.
A few seconds later—
his eyes opened wide.
"Father…!"
"I… I can feel qi!"
Not just feel it.
The qi around him felt extremely clear.
As if the world had suddenly become much more alive.
Lin Feng smiled faintly.
"Try gathering that qi in your dantian."
Tianyuan followed the instruction.
He took a slow breath.
The qi in the air immediately flowed into his body.
The next moment—
a small aura appeared around his body.
The ground beneath his feet trembled slightly.
Lin Feng looked at him intently.
"Origin Ignition Realm…"
He murmured.
Tianyuan himself did not understand what it meant.
But one thing was certain.
He, who had previously been unable to cultivate…
had now directly skipped the first stage.
From an ordinary person…
to a cultivator.
And inside his body…
the black core still rotated slowly.
Silent.
Yet full of mystery.
A path that no one had ever walked before…
had just begun.