The forest stretched endlessly before Xu Tianyin, shadows twisting between the ancient trees. The night was deep, the air thick with an unsettling stillness. He had traveled far beyond the edges of the ruined temple where Bai Yeming had taken him in, drawn by an instinct he did not fully understand.
The presence from before still lingered in his mind. It had not been an enemy—at least, not yet. But it had felt aware. Deliberate.
Something was out there. Watching. Waiting.
Xu Tianyin moved carefully, each step silent against the forest floor. His body ached from relentless training, but he welcomed the pain now. It meant he was still here. Still enduring.
A rustle in the distance.
He stopped. Listened.
His breath was slow, controlled, as he let his senses stretch beyond what was visible. A faint disturbance in the air—a flicker of movement just beyond his vision.
Then, a whisper.
Not words. Not sound.
Something deeper.
He turned sharply.
For a moment, the world felt off-balance. The trees stretched too high, their forms bending in unnatural ways. The night seemed darker than it should have been.
Then, silence.
Xu Tianyin exhaled. He was beginning to recognize this feeling—the sensation of something slipping just outside the grasp of reality.
Was this… another test?
Bai Yeming had told him little about what awaited him beyond her teachings. He had no illusions about the danger that lurked in the world. But this—this was something else entirely.
He took a step forward, and the feeling intensified.
A weight pressed against his chest, unseen but unmistakable. His vision blurred for a moment, the edges of his surroundings shifting—warping.
He gritted his teeth.
If this was another trick of the heavens, another punishment meant to break him, then they would have to try harder.
The weight did not lift, but he pushed forward anyway.
Another step.
Then another.
The air itself seemed to resist him, but he did not stop.
Then, as suddenly as it had begun—the pressure vanished.
Xu Tianyin stumbled, his breath sharp in his lungs.
The forest was still again. No whispers. No shifting shadows.
But something had changed.
He could feel it in his bones.
A step had been taken. A line crossed.
And now—there was no turning back.