Night settled over the academy like a heavy cloak, the lanterns along the stone paths flickering as spiritual energy hummed faintly in the air. For most students, this was a time of rest.
For Lin Ye, it was the beginning of something else.
Inside his assigned courtyard room, Lin Ye sat cross-legged on the cold stone floor. His breathing was slow and steady, following the Body Tempering Breathing Art he had practiced countless times since the orphanage days. Yet tonight, something felt… different.
The spiritual energy around him did not merely enter his body.
It answered him.
The moment his circulation completed its thirty-sixth cycle, a sharp heat bloomed deep within his chest. Lin Ye's eyes snapped open as pain surged through his veins, like molten iron rushing through fragile channels.
"Again?" he muttered through clenched teeth.
But this time, it was far stronger than before.
A faint crimson glow leaked from beneath his skin, tracing thin patterns across his arms before fading just as quickly. Lin Ye's heart thundered violently as fragments of unfamiliar memories flashed through his mind—ancient roars, towering silhouettes of beasts, and a bloodline older than the academy itself.
He staggered to his feet, gripping the edge of the table.
"This isn't normal body tempering…"
Lin Ye had known from the start that his physique was special. The elders' reactions during the entrance test had confirmed it. But this—this felt like something awakening, not something being cultivated.
As if responding to his thoughts, the heat suddenly gathered at the center of his chest.
Boom.
A silent explosion rippled through his body.
Lin Ye dropped to one knee, gasping, as a faint symbol briefly appeared over his heart before vanishing. At the same time, the spiritual energy in the room was violently drawn toward him, forming a small vortex that lasted only a few breaths.
When everything finally settled, silence returned.
Lin Ye remained motionless for a long time.
Slowly, he stood up.
The pain was gone.
In its place was a strange clarity. His senses had sharpened—he could hear insects crawling outside the courtyard walls, feel the subtle fluctuations of spiritual energy in the air, and even sense faint life signatures scattered across the academy grounds.
Lin Ye raised his hand, clenching it lightly.
Crack.
The air itself seemed to compress under his grip.
"…So this is the first sign," he whispered.
A bloodline—but not fully awakened.
More like a door had been nudged open, just enough to remind him of what lay beyond.
Before he could reflect further, a sudden knock echoed from the courtyard gate.
"Junior Brother Lin," a calm voice called out. "Elder Mo wishes to see you. Immediately."
Lin Ye's gaze sharpened.
So the academy had noticed after all.
He exhaled slowly, suppressing the remaining heat in his blood, and adjusted his robe. Whatever had awakened tonight was still unstable—and revealing it too early could be dangerous.
As he stepped into the lantern-lit path leading toward the inner halls, Lin Ye understood one thing clearly.
From this night onward, his path would no longer be quiet.
And the blood flowing through his veins would not allow him to remain ordinary any longer.