Morning arrived without sunlight.
Thick clouds pressed low against the Azure River Sect, dulling the sky into a muted gray. The air felt heavier than usual—not oppressive, but expectant, like the moment before a storm that had not yet decided whether to fall.
Li Yuan stood at the edge of the outer residence courtyard, hands clasped behind his back.
He had not cultivated all night.
He did not need to.
The world itself was circulating around him now.
---
Spiritual energy flowed strangely.
Normally, qi followed leylines—fixed, ancient paths carved by time and terrain. But now, those invisible rivers bent ever so slightly toward one point.
Toward them.
Li Yuan could feel it in his bones.
Not absorption.
Not resonance.
Recognition.
---
Inside the room, Chen Yue sat cross-legged on the bed, eyes closed. Her breathing was slow and steady, each inhale drawing in only the cleanest strands of spiritual energy, rejecting the rest as if her body possessed an instinctual filter.
Her cultivation had not advanced.
Yet her foundation was deepening.
That frightened Li Yuan more than sudden breakthroughs ever could.
"Foundations decide ceilings," he murmured.
And hers was being reinforced by something far beyond normal cultivation laws.
---
He opened the system.
---
[Eternal Progenitor System]
Bloodline Synchronization: 11%
World Adaptation: In Progress
Passive Effects Expanded:
• Minor fortune redirection
• Hostile intent soft suppression
• Environmental bias (low-level)
Warning:
As synchronization increases, anomalies become harder to mask.
---
Li Yuan exhaled slowly.
"Eleven percent," he said. "And already like this."
At one hundred percent…
He did not finish the thought.
---
The sect reacted without understanding.
An outer elder canceled training for the day, citing "unstable spiritual weather." Patrol disciples were reassigned. Even the normally arrogant inner disciples avoided the lower mountain paths.
They felt wrongness.
But wrongness without a target bred hesitation, not action.
Exactly as the system intended.
---
Trouble still came.
It always did.
---
A group of outer disciples gathered near the resource hall, voices low but sharp.
"I'm telling you, ever since that Li Yuan brought his wife here, things have been strange."
"Strange how?"
"Cultivation deviations. Failed breakthroughs. Even spirit beasts acting weird."
A sneer. "You think an outer disciple has that kind of influence?"
"I don't know," another said hesitantly. "But… haven't you noticed? Nothing bad ever seems to happen to them."
Silence followed.
Suspicion, once planted, never stayed small.
---
That night, Li Yuan felt it again.
That pull.
Stronger this time.
The system unfolded abruptly, its presence heavier than before.
---
[Eternal Progenitor System]
Event Triggered: External Convergence
Cause:
Multiple minor causal threads aligning toward the bloodline.
Outcome Projection:
• Unplanned encounter — 68%
• Forced observation — 21%
• Direct interference — 11%
Recommendation:
Prepare a controlled revelation.
---
Li Yuan's eyes narrowed.
"A revelation?" he asked quietly. "Already?"
---
Chen Yue opened her eyes.
"I heard it," she said softly.
Li Yuan stiffened. "Heard what?"
"The… pressure," she replied, pressing a hand to her chest. "It's like the sky is leaning closer."
She looked up at him, eyes unnaturally clear.
"Li Yuan," she said, "are we… changing the world?"
He did not answer immediately.
He knelt in front of her, placing both hands over hers.
"No," he said at last. "We're reminding it."
---
The convergence came sooner than expected.
A sect messenger arrived before dawn, dressed in formal robes—far too formal for outer disciples.
"Li Yuan," the messenger said, eyes avoiding direct contact, "the Third Elder requests your presence."
Li Yuan smiled faintly.
"So it begins."
---
The Third Elder's hall was quiet.
Too quiet.
The old man sat behind a stone desk, fingers tapping slowly, eyes sharp despite his age.
"You've been difficult to observe," the elder said.
Li Yuan bowed respectfully. "This disciple is unremarkable."
The elder snorted. "Unremarkable things don't distort probability."
Silence fell.
The elder leaned forward. "Tell me, Li Yuan… what are you hiding?"
The system pulsed.
---
[Eternal Progenitor System]
Controlled Revelation Window: Open
Suggested Output:
• Partial truth
• Non-hostile mysticism
• Plausible deniability
---
Li Yuan met the elder's gaze.
"This disciple," he said calmly, "only wishes to protect his family."
The elder stared at him for a long moment.
Then, unexpectedly—
He laughed.
"A good answer," the Third Elder said. "Because whatever you're involved in… the heavens themselves are paying attention."
Li Yuan's heart beat once.
Slow.
Heavy.
The elder waved him away. "Go. And remember—when the sky watches you, walking carefully is no longer optional."
---
As Li Yuan descended the mountain steps, thunder rolled faintly in the distance.
Not from clouds.
From above them.
The system spoke one final time that day.
---
[Eternal Progenitor System]
Phase Transition Confirmed.
From this point onward, the bloodline will no longer remain unseen.
---
Li Yuan looked toward the horizon, where the clouds parted just enough to reveal a thin strip of blue sky.
"Good," he whispered.
"Then let the story truly begin."
--