Joy filled Lin's chest the moment the last strand of warmth settled into place.Not warmth—Qi.
It was thin, timid, like a candle flame threatened by every breath of wind, but it was there. It circulated once through the newly formed dantian, left a faint numbness in his lower abdomen, then returned as if it had finally found a home.
For a long moment, Lin didn't move.He sat cross-legged on the cold grass inside the cave, back pressed to a damp stone wall, eyes half-lidded.
His lips were cracked from dehydration, his clothes stained by dust and old sweat. His hands trembled—not from fear, but from the aftershock of forcing open something that had been sealed for years.
He had done it.He had created a dantian and stepped into the first stage of cultivation.A laugh tried to crawl out of his throat.
It came out hoarse, broken, and immediately turned into a cough. Lin covered his mouth and tasted iron for a second—then it faded
.He stared at his palms.They looked the same.Still, when he focused, he could feel it: a thread of energy moving beneath skin and bone, slow and hesitant, like a child learning to walk.
The joy surged again—bright, intoxicating.And then reality struck.He didn't know what to do next.He didn't know how to guide Qi properly, how to condense it, how to circulate it through meridians without damaging them.
He didn't know fighting moves, techniques, footwork, or the so-called "methods" disciples boasted about as if they were born with them.
All he knew was that he had succeeded where he wasn't supposed to.The cave was silent except for wind scraping at the entrance.
Evening shadows bled in, turning the stone walls into the color of old bruises. Lin's excitement thinned, replaced by a heavy fatigue that rose like tidewater.
His eyelids began to fall.It had taken nearly an entire day—one full day of trial, error, and sheer stubbornness. Each attempt had felt like dragging a dull blade across flesh. His mind had burned, his breath had frayed, and the Qi had nearly scattered more than once.
"Too dangerous…" Lin muttered.He didn't even have the energy to be scared now.On the side of the cave, a rolled carpet lay where it had been left long ago.
He dragged it out, spread it over the grass, and collapsed onto it without ceremony.
The moment his head touched the fabric, sleep swallowed him.Light pierced the cave like thin knives
.Not enough to warm the stone, but enough to disturb peace.Lin's eyelashes fluttered. The first thing he felt was not soreness
.It was lightness.His limbs—usually heavy like they were filled with wet sand—felt hollow in a good way, as if the fatigue had been poured out overnight. His breathing was smoother. His heartbeat steadier.
Cultivation truly changed the body.Lin sat up, dazed.
Then he heard it.Tap. Tap. Tap.A steady sound from outside, cautious but persistent—as if someone didn't want to break the silence too harshly.
Lin's eyes sharpened. His body reacted before his mind.
He reached for the sword resting near the wall—then froze
.He wasn't holding a sword.He was holding a cheap iron blade the sect handed to outer disciples, the kind meant more for chores than combat.
Even so, his fingers wrapped around it with instinct.The tapping continued.Then a voice, muffled through rock and wind:"Junior… Junior! Wake up.
Come out!"Lin's pupils contracted.That voice—familiar, impatient, arrogant in a way only someone with seniority could afford.Senior Brother.Lin's heart tightened.
He moved toward the entrance.With every step, the voice grew clearer."Junior! Are you dead in there? Come out!"Lin stepped into the sunlight.
The world outside was painfully bright. The Dove Peak was wrapped in midday haze, clouds hanging low like damp cotton.
The grass shimmered with dew that hadn't fully burned away.
And standing at the mouth of the cave, arms crossed, expression dark as thunder, was his senior brother.The man's robe was cleaner than Lin's, his belt properly tied, his sword sheathed at his side with the ease of someone who had used it enough to stop respecting it
.The senior brother's eyes swept over Lin from head to toe.Lin straightened and bowed. "Senior Brother.""What were you doing, brat?" The senior brother's hand shot forward and pinched Lin's ear. Hard.
"Sleeping until midday? You've got guts.""Auu—Senior Brother!" Lin winced. "I was cultivating!""Cultivating?" The senior brother's sneer deepened.
"Shut up. Do you even have a dan—"He stopped mid-sentence.
His expression changed like a mask being ripped away.He leaned closer.Not to Lin's face—to his breath, to his presence, to the faint pressure around his body.His pupils trembled.For a second, the senior brother looked like someone who had seen a ghost walk out of a grave."…Dantian?"
The senior brother said the word slowly, as if tasting it for poison. "You… you formed one?"Lin swallowed. "Yes."The senior brother's hand loosened from Lin's ear, falling away as if it no longer had the right to touch him."How?"
His voice became sharp. "Who guided you? Did the Peak Lord come here? Did she teach you privately?"Lin shook his head. "No, Senior Brother.
The Peak Lord didn't come. I did it… on my own."Silence.The wind brushed over the grass.The senior brother stared at Lin as if trying to find cracks in his skin where lies might leak out."On your own," he repeated, voice flat.
Lin nodded again, because there was nothing else to do.
Then the senior brother's gaze snapped upward.The air above them trembled.A sword descended from the sky—long, narrow, gleaming with cold light.
It hovered, silent as a blade held to a throat.The senior brother grabbed Lin by the collar."Wait—Senior Brother, what are you—""Shut up.
"He pulled Lin onto the sword without explanation.The flying sword shot forward like an arrow released from a divine bow.Lin's stomach lurched.
The ground vanished. The world became wind and rushing noise
. The peak's cliffs blurred into gray streaks beneath them."Senior Brother!" Lin forced the words out between gusts. "What's happening? Where are we going?""Hall," the senior brother said.That single word carried weight
.And fear.The Dove Peak's main hall emerged through the mist.
It was not grand in the way of golden palaces.
It was grand in the way of mountains: quiet, inevitable, and difficult to challenge.The flying sword pierced the boundary and entered without hesitation, as if it belonged there. The moment it crossed the threshold, it slowed, then stopped.
Both of them jumped down.Lin steadied himself and looked up.On the throne, the Peak Lord sat.Calm.Not calm like someone pretending.
Calm like the lake that didn't care if a stone was thrown into it—because it could swallow storms.Her gaze fell upon them.It was not warm.It was not cold.It was sharp."What is this rush?" she asked, voice even.
"Disciple."The senior brother dropped to one knee immediately, head lowered. "Peak Lord… forgive the intrusion. But please—look at this brat
."He seized Lin and shoved him forward.Lin stumbled, barely catching his balance, then quickly bowed as well, forcing his mind to stay clear.The Peak Lord's eyes turned to Lin."Hmm." A faint sound.
Almost a thought. "Lin."Lin's spine tightened."Disciple," she said. "Who guided you to form a dantian? Speak."Lin hesitated for half a heartbeat.That was enough.A pressure descended like a blade pressed against his neck."Tell fast," she continued, voice still gentle, "or your head will be removed from your body.
"Lin's lips went dry.The senior brother beside him didn't even breathe.The Peak Lord's gaze didn't move, but Lin felt as if she could see through his bones and into his soul."As a disciple of this peak," she said,
"you are not permitted to accept guidance from other peaks, other elders, or… external sources. Do you understand?"Lin forced his voice steady.
"Yes, Peak Lord.""Then speak."Lin bowed deeper. "Peak Lord… no one guided me. No elder, no outsider. I created it with my own understanding.
"The hall went quiet again.Then the Peak Lord lifted her hand.Lin's body rose off the ground without permission.A strand of Qi—refined, pure, and terrifyingly controlled—wrapped around him like invisible silk
. It held him in the air as if he weighed nothing.She reached out and took his wrist.Her fingers were cool.Her Qi entered him.
Lin's mind blanked for a second.It wasn't pain.It was exposure.Like having every secret thought pulled into daylight.Her Qi moved through his meridians with clinical precision, searching for foreign traces, hidden seals, borrowed signatures—anything that would prove her suspicion correct.
Lin held his breath, terrified that even his fear might count as guilt.Seconds passed.Her brows did not move.Her gaze remained steady.And then—She withdrew her Qi.Lin fell lightly to the ground, landing on his feet, breath rushing out.
"No external imprint," she murmured.For the first time, her expression shifted.Not much.Just enough for the senior brother's eyes to widen.
She smiled.It was brief, bright, and shocking, like lightning flashing across a winter sky.The senior brother looked up, stunned. "Peak Lord… Sect Leader… why are you smiling like this?"The Peak Lord's gaze remained on Lin.
"I am happy," she said simply.
"It seems a prodigy has entered our peak."Lin's heart skipped.He knew she was talking about him.But the words didn't make him proud.
They made him uneasy.Because in a sect, being called a prodigy didn't only attract praise.It attracted attention.And attention was often sharper than blades.Lin looked to his senior brother
. "Senior Brother… do you believe me now?"The senior brother's jaw tightened. His eyes flicked to the Peak Lord—seeking confirmation, permission, certainty.The Peak Lord answered before he could.
"We believe you," she said. "But you must understand something."Her tone softened, but the meaning did not
."The creation of a dantian should have been under my guidance," she continued. "Many things could have gone wrong.
A single deviation could have crippled you. Or worse."Lin lowered his head. "This disciple was reckless.""…Reckless, but not useless," she said.
Her sleeve shifted.A small jade bottle floated out from her storage ring, spinning slowly in the air. The cork was sealed with wax stamped by an emblem Lin didn't recognize."Take this pill," she said, and the bottle drifted into Lin's hands.
"Use it when you attempt your next breakthrough—to the mid stage."Lin's fingers tightened around the bottle.He could feel faint heat radiating from it. Even through the container, it felt alive.His throat went dry again.
"Thank you, Peak Lord."The Peak Lord's gaze didn't leave him."Go to your abode," she said. "Wash. Rest. Prepare."Lin blinked. "Prepare… for what, Peak Lord?
""Tonight," she replied, voice calm and absolute, THE SECT IS HOSTING WELCOME ceremony."for the new disciples
.A ceremony
.A welcome.A spotlight.
And in cultivation sects, spotlights always attracted shadows.
The Peak Lord leaned back into her throne."Dismissed."Lin bowed again, clutching the jade bottle as if it might decide his fate by itself, then followed his senior brother out of the hall—walking into sunlight that suddenly felt too bright.
To be continued…