Shen Yuerin and I spent the next two days climbing the rugged eastern slopes of the Silent Peaks. She was utterly professional. Her Ice Element Qi allowed her to move silently, freezing footholds on sheer rock faces with effortless grace. I, relying on my basic Qi Vein Opening strength, was constantly pushing my limits, but my eyes, which I decided to call Heaven-Piercing Demon Eye for the ability to looking into all things, made the journey possible.
The mountain was not just stone; it was a vast, chaotic array of geological flaws. I saw every cracked seam, every loose slope, every hollow pocket in the earth. I guided us through paths that looked impossible, always choosing the line of minimum stress, making our passage faster and quieter than anyone tracking us could anticipate. The constant use of my eyes seemed to be training them, stabilizing them, the headaches are more tolerable now.
"You don't just see weakness," Shen Yuerin noted during a short break, her eyes narrowed in contemplation. "You see the truth of composition. You are seeing the world as a broken artifact."
"Everything breaks eventually," I replied, watching a thread of weakness pulse on the mountain face above us, warning of a rockfall minutes before it happened. I pulled her aside just as the stone crashed down, obliterating the path we were about to take.
We discussed our destination. The secluded sect was called the Silent Path Pavilion. It was known only for its rigorous, isolationist practices and its rumored possession of a vast collection of ancient formation scripts.
We reached the base of the sect's territory before dawn on the sixth day.
The Silver Web Formation was exactly as she described, a shimmering, almost invisible barrier that overlaid the entire valley entrance. To the normal eye, it looked like mist. To the Heaven-Piercing Demon Eye, it was a complex lattice of silver energy threads, each thread pulsing with a complex sequence of lies, visual distortions, and spiritual dampeners.
"The Silent Path Pavilion is heavily reliant on illusionary formations, particularly the Silver Web," Shen Yuerin explained. "It is rumored their initiation test is impossible to pass without direct lineage. If you can pass that, your story will be accepted."
"An illusionary formation," I mused. "That sounds like a direct challenge to Stage 2: Veilbreaker Sight of the Demon Eye." My eye was currently Stage 1, focused on Insight of Ruin, but Stage 2 was the natural next evolution, tied to the Meridian Foundation breakthrough.
How do I know that? The question flickered through my mind, but the answer was instantaneous, cold, and absolute.
It was not knowledge gained from books. When the seal shattered in the courtyard, the Eye had not just granted me sight; it had imprinted its core blueprint directly onto my soul. This was not a power I learned; it was a power I was. The names, Insight of Ruin, Veilbreaker Sight, Fate-Thread Vision, were simply the labels my analytical mind applied to the raw data of its potential. The Eye showed me the rules: Meridian Foundation was the next lock. Illusions were the next key. It was a terrifying, absolute truth written into the bloodline.
"We split there. My business is nearby, with the regional governor, not the Pavilion. But I can tell you the test location is past that ancient waterfall, sealed behind the most complex part of the Web."
I nodded. "Be cautious, Strategist Shen. Your destiny thread is nearing that political knot."
"And yours is leading directly into a wasp's nest," she countered, her cold gaze briefly showing a spark of shared understanding. "Good luck, Jian Longwei. Use your sight, and don't get caught."
She vanished into the rugged terrain toward the governor's domain, her ice Qi leaving no trace.
I faced the Silver Web.
My first task was to push my cultivation. The Meridian Foundation Realm was within reach. It was the realm of correction and structural integrity. Reaching it would stabilize my foundation and, I hoped, push the Demon Eye to Stage 2.
I found a minor spiritual node right at the formation's edge. I sat and cultivated, forcing my Qi through the last, tiny structural flaws in my meridians. I polished my channels until they were flawless.
BOOM.
With deep internal resonance, my cultivation stabilized. I had broken through. I was now at the Meridian Foundation Realm, Lower Stage.
The moment the breakthrough completed, a searing, clean wave of energy rushed into my right eye. The painful, chaotic flicker of threads smoothed out, becoming ordered, complex, and readable.
Stage 2: Veilbreaker Sight was unlocked.
I opened the Eye and looked at the Silver Web.
The previous chaotic silver lattice was now utterly transparent. The illusionary veil that warped the mountain path, making the entrance look like a solid cliff, shattered. I saw the hidden winding path, the true positions of the defensive stones, and the faint, dull Qi of the sentry formations.
The Veilbreaker Sight did not just see flaws; it saw lies.
I began my infiltration. I walked straight toward the deepest part of the formation, navigating the winding, hidden path revealed by my Eye. I bypassed three minor spiritual snares and two hidden sentry seals, simply stepping over the illusionary tripwires that would have incapacitated any other cultivator.
I reached the waterfall Shen Yuerin had mentioned. Behind the roaring water was a stone archway, sealed by a secondary, powerful formation the true entrance to the Pavilion.
Two Outer Court disciples stood guard, their expressions bored, their Qi circulation slow and predictable.
I approached them.
"Stop!" one disciple barked, levelling a dull iron sword at my chest. "This area is sealed. Who are you?"
I remained calm. I activated the Veilbreaker Sight and looked into his eyes.
I didn't see thoughts, but I saw truth. I saw his emotional state as clear, cool data. Boredom. Anxiety over missing his lunch shift. A faint fear of displeasing his Master.
He was lying when he said he would stab me. He was bluffing, trying to maintain authority.
"I am Jian Longwei," I stated, making sure my voice held a hint of respectful exhaustion. "I seek to enter the Silent Path Pavilion and undergo the initiation tests. I have traveled far and risked much, guided by a single thought: that I possess a unique, rare talent that is only suitable for the most secluded path."
The disciple hesitated, his anxiety thread pulsing strongly. He wanted to turn me away but feared missing a genuinely talented recruit who might later become a powerful figure.
"Wait here," he snapped, his voice slightly higher than before. He dashed into the archway.
The second disciple, a stronger cultivator, watched me suspiciously. I kept my face blank, letting him observe the truth of my exhaustion.
Minutes later, the first disciple returned with an Elder, a stiff older man with a long grey beard radiating the power of a peak Meridian Foundation cultivator.
"So, you seek the Silent Path?" the Elder asked, his voice sharp and probing.
I bowed deeply. "I seek truth, Elder. And the Silent Path is the only place left on the continent that values it above power."
The Elder examined me, his Qi circulating briefly as he mentally probed my cultivation. He could feel I was newly stabilized in the Meridian Foundation realm, but nothing more.
"Very well," the Elder said. "We shall test your worth. The final gate test is simple. You will enter a hall. On the walls are carved three complex, confusing formation scripts, all seemingly identical. Two are corrupted with fatal flaws. One is pure. Choose the correct script. Fail, and you will be crippled and cast out. Succeed, and you will become an Outer Court Disciple."
He opened the gate. I walked toward the hall, the pain of the Heaven-Piercing Demon Eye a small price for the absolute truth it revealed.
I knew the test was already over. I could see the weakness points in the formation's architecture. I could see the truth of the Elder's words. This test was designed to filter only the most precise, discerning cultivators.
The Hall was waiting. And I could already see the flaws.