The air outside the hut was already different.
Li Feng stepped out slowly.
The outer disciple yard of the Azure River Sect stretched before him—stone paths, wooden training posts, and scattered groups of disciples practicing weak techniques that barely disturbed the air.
But today, something had changed.
Whispers spread like fire.
"That's him."
"He crippled Zhao Kun…"
"No way, he's still alive after the cliff?"
Li Feng ignored them.
His attention was sharper now. Not emotionally—perceptively.
Every movement around him carried faint structure. Airflow. Pressure. Energy leakage.
The world felt… readable.
[Wind Perception Active]
The system panel flickered faintly in his vision.
He didn't fully understand it yet, but one thing was clear.
He was not the same anymore.
A group of disciples rushed toward the medical hall carrying Zhao Kun's unconscious body. His aura was gone—completely hollow.
A senior outer disciple frowned.
"What happened to him?"
One of the panicking disciples pointed at Li Feng.
"It was him!"
Silence fell.
Then laughter.
"You're joking."
"That trash?"
"He can't even form Qi properly."
But the senior disciple didn't laugh.
His gaze lingered on Li Feng.
Something felt wrong.
Not strength.
Not presence.
Something deeper—like the absence of something that should exist.
Li Feng looked back at him.
Neither spoke.
After a moment, the senior disciple clicked his tongue.
"Bring Zhao Kun to the hall. Report this to inner sect supervision."
He turned away.
But Li Feng noticed it.
The hesitation.
For the first time, someone didn't treat him as invisible.
He was becoming visible.
And that was dangerous.
That night.
Li Feng sat inside the hut again.
The system interface hovered faintly.
[Dao Fragment Count: 1/10]
[Wind Perception Stabilised]
He closed his eyes.
The sensation from earlier still lingered—Zhao Kun's Dao fragment dissolving inside him like raw concept being rewritten.
Wind wasn't just air.
It was motion, intention, pressure, direction.
And he had consumed a piece of it.
"If I devour enough…" he muttered.
[Yes.]
The response came instantly.
Li Feng paused.
"You can respond without me thinking?"
[System linked to host cognition.]
"…Convenient."
He leaned back slightly.
Then a thought surfaced.
"Why me?"
Silence.
Longer this time.
Then:
[Answer unavailable at current authority level.]
Li Feng's eyes narrowed.
"Authority level?"
[Insufficient system permission to disclose.]
He exhaled slowly.
So the system had limits.
Or rules.
Or something above even it.
Interesting.
A knock came suddenly.
Not on his door.
On the frame itself.
BANG.
The wooden door cracked slightly inward.
Li Feng didn't move.
A shadow stood outside.
Low voice.
"You're coming with us."
Inner sect enforcement.
Three of them.
Stronger than outer disciples.
Their robes were darker, trimmed with silver thread.
One stepped forward.
"Li Feng. You are accused of crippling a fellow disciple. You will come for interrogation."
Li Feng looked at them.
Then at his system.
[Targets detected: Qi Condensation Stage 4 x3]
[Warning: Current host survival probability low under direct confrontation.]
He blinked.
"Low?"
That was new.
The system had never warned him like that before.
Interesting.
He stood slowly.
"I didn't attack him," he said calmly.
The lead enforcer frowned.
"Don't resist. You are already—"
Li Feng moved.
Not toward them.
Back.
Into the hut.
The door slammed shut behind him.
The three enforcers froze.
"…What is he doing?"
Inside, Li Feng placed his hand on the wooden wall.
"System."
[Yes.]
"If I touch them… I can consume them?"
[Yes, if intent is established.]
He exhaled.
Then smiled faintly.
"Good."
BOOM.
The wall exploded outward.
Not from force.
From collapse.
Wood splintered as if reality itself had been briefly rewritten.
The enforcers jumped back.
"What—?!"
Li Feng stepped through the dust.
And grabbed the nearest one.
System activation followed instantly.
[Consumption Initiated.]
The man screamed.
"What is this power?! Let go!"
His Qi destabilized immediately.
Unlike Zhao Kun, this one resisted harder.
But it didn't matter.
The system was not fighting strength.
It was dismantling structure.
Bit by bit.
Concept by concept.
[38%… 61%… 90%…]
The other two attacked.
Too late.
Li Feng turned his head slightly.
Wind perception expanded.
Air currents sharpened.
He could see their movements before they happened.
Not prediction.
Understanding.
He stepped sideways.
A strike missed by millimeters.
He pulled the first enforcer fully into collapse.
[Consumption Complete.]
The man dropped—empty, unconscious, his cultivation gone.
Li Feng didn't even look at him.
He turned to the others.
They hesitated.
Fear now visible.
"This isn't outer sect trash…"
One whispered.
"This is something else."
Li Feng tilted his head slightly.
"I am still Li Feng."
A pause.
Then he moved again.
Fast.
Clean.
Another grip.
Another collapse.
The third fled immediately.
He didn't chase.
He didn't need to.
He looked at his hand again.
[2/10 Dao Fragments Acquired]
Progress.
Slow.
But real.
Footsteps echoed in the distance—reinforcements coming.
Li Feng looked toward the sect horizon.
"…This place is too small."
He turned away.
And walked back into the hut.
Not hiding.
Resetting.
Waiting.
Because now he understood something simple.
The world was not going to tolerate him for long.
And he didn't need it to.