'Haaaah…' Xi Ling sighed inwardly, her gaze still fixed on the young man in front of her.
It had already been two hours since he advanced his mastery over the cultivation technique once again. And yet… still no sign of him stepping into the cultivation world.
Was she disappointed?
She wasn't sure.
She knew that for most cultivators in the mortal plane, reaching the third level of this basic technique could take years—and for many, that was the limit. The technique was simple, trash-tier even, lacking any complexity or depth. Most would abandon it in favor of more strong techniques long before ever mastering it.
And the knowledge her mother had left behind—so vast and profound—didn't bother with the mortal world's low-grade cultivation methods. So she genuinely didn't know whether this technique even had stages beyond the third.
And yet… he was still a mortal. Still without a single breakthrough.
'Should I wait a few more days…?' she wondered silently.
But she quickly shook her head.
'No… I can't waste more time.'
Her expression hardened slightly. She had already postponed her advancement once.
She took one final glance at the boy, still glowing faintly, still absorbing Qi with eerie focus.
Without another word, her figure vanished from the room, leaving behind only a whisper of spiritual energy as she departed to begin her third cycle—
—to grow her third tail.
Meanwhile, in a spacious, serene hall bathed in soft jade light, a woman sat silently at its center.
She was like nature itself—gentle, calm, pure. Her presence didn't demand attention; it drew it, like flowers turning toward sunlight. Her skin was flawless, untouched by time or worldly impurity. Even a single strand of her long, silken hair shimmered like moonlight on still water. She didn't need jewelry, she was the treasure. Her every breath seemed to harmonize with the air itself.
She was a Great Elder in this sect but also, known across the entire mortal realm as Que Lin, the Divine Healer.
The peaceful silence was broken as the great doors opened with a gentle hum. A young girl stepped into the hall, her robes torn, her aura unstable. She looked to be about the same age as the woman before her—at least outwardly—but the difference between them was like heaven and earth.
Even though it wasn't her first time seeing the divine figure seated before her, she was once again completely mesmerized. There was something about Que Lin she could never understand.
A moment later, an elder's voice echoed into the chamber as she stepped forward from behind the girl.
"Great Elder Lin… I've brought Li Fan who recently escaped… that forest."
Her voice carried a heaviness.
She didn't stay long—after speaking, she turned and quietly left the room, leaving the girl behind.
The girl—Li Fan—was the same cultivator who had somehow survived an encounter with Xi Ling. When the guards first saw her leaving Silent End Forest, they were ready to kill her on sight. No one was allowed to return from that place. But after explaining what happened inside and then—after repeating Xi Ling's warning—they hesitantly brought her to the sect master to tell everything she knew.
And now here she was, returned to the sect. Though Li Fan bore no visible wounds, her cultivation had collapsed due to the overwhelming fear and pressure she had endured. Her meridians were unstable. Her spirit—shattered.
Que Lin's soft, translucent lashes lowered slightly as her delicate eyes examined the girl before her. Others might not have noticed it. But she could feel it.
The weight in the girl's chest. The tremble in her soul.
She wondered silently
'Just what happened in that forest…?'
A few weeks had passed since Xi Ling had entered her third cycle.
Deep within the heart of her secret sanctuary, the air had changed. Streams of light and spirit energy drifted in like strands of silk, dancing in slow, mesmerizing waves. Her closed eyes opened slowly.
A faint radiance began to glow along her back.
Then—
Whooosh...
A pulse of energy burst outward in a soft ring. From her lower back, a thin line of white light emerged, twisting, shaping—alive. It flickered like flame, shimmered like moonlight—then finally solidified.
A third tail bloomed from her body like a divine extension of her being, fluttering gently as if it had always been there.
Xi Ling stood up with grace, her flowing black robes rippling as if caught in invisible winds. She looked at her own reflection in a pool of spiritual water beside her.
"Faster than I expected..." she muttered.
Her third tail gently joined the others behind her, their combined presence releasing a quiet hum that resonated through the sanctuary like an ancient lullaby.
With a faint flicker, Xi Ling disappeared.
She reappeared in the room she had left weeks ago, without a sound.
Only one thought crossed her mind the moment she stepped inside.
Her gaze immediately landed on him.
He was still cultivating in silence, his face serene, unchanged.
Reluctantly, she extended her senses to see...
'...He is still a mortal'
Once again, he couldn't breakthrough, and this time, it looked like his cultivation speed didn't change; his mastery stayed the same.
A sudden feeling, something unfamiliar stirred in her chest. Or perhaps not unfamiliar. Something she had buried long ago.
Sadness.
And she knew why. She had hoped—even if she didn't admit it—that maybe she wouldn't be alone. That maybe, on her journey, she would have a companion. A human servant.
She didn't know why he smelled so good to her. She didn't know why everything about him felt strange and wrong and... different.
But she no longer cared.
She had grown used to his presence. She had grown to... not hate it.
He was the second person in her life. And now, realizing he was still mortal, still too weak—she knew she couldn't bring him with her.
She stood silently for a long time.
Then, with a deep sigh, she shook her head.
'I just thought… maybe I wouldn't be all alone when trying to save my race. When completing my mother's last wish…'
She gave him one last glance.
'I have to go…'
With not even a whisper of sound, she disappeared into the sky, soaring high above the clouds. She had already met the requirements to ascend—and the path was clear for her.
But then—she stopped.
A certain thought appeared in her mind.
It was illogical. Foolish.
But then again, when had this human ever been logical?
And so, she decided to try. What could she lose?
A few seconds later a single note appeared inside the room, gently falling beside the young man still immersed in deep cultivation.
And in the next instant—
A high-pitched, echoing cry ripped through the forest like a blade through silk.
KIIIIIIYAAAAAAAHHH—!
Every beast in the Silent End Forest trembled. And then—
They collapsed, one by one.
Lifeless.
A soft sigh drifted high above the clouds.
"This is the most I could do for you, strange human. If fate lets us meet again..."
Her voice was quiet—gentle, but with a warmth she hadn't shown in years.
"...I hope you'll still surprise me. And give me that flicker of amusement I never realized I craved so much."
Xi Ling smiled faintly. He was entertaining. Funny. And, strangely… memorable.
As she ascended, her expression sharpened.
"My next destination..."
She vanished beyond the sky.
Not long after Xi Ling left, far across the mortal plane, a sudden tremor surged beneath the earth.
Mountains groaned. Lakes rippled violently. Trees swayed as if struck by a divine wind. Even the sky itself dimmed for a brief moment—as if holding its breath.
The entire mortal realm was shaking.
Cultivators across sects paused mid-cultivation, eyes snapping open in alarm. Beasts howled, some kneeling instinctively.
What was happening Did the heavens go mad??!!.
Meanwhile, in a small, quiet wooden room at the heart of the dreaded Silent End Forest, a young man sat silently.
He was still immersed in deep cultivation, unmoving.
Around him, the flow of Qi—which had once rushed to him like a river—had begun to slow days ago, Xi Ling hadn't sensed something was wrong as she had quickly dismissed it was normal for him to stay at the same speed after several weeks. In truth, His mastery had continued to increase.
But now, Gradually, the once-vibrant current had dulled, like a flame running out of oxygen.
But now?
It crawled.
The streams of spiritual energy in the room trembled in hesitation, spiraling more and more slowly as if being restrained by an unseen force. They no longer poured into him freely—no, they were waiting. Pausing just before reaching his dantian, hovering like silent watchers.
Then, in a moment that felt like a stretch of eternity, the shaking stopped.
The mortal realm fell into an eerie silence.
And the Qi?
It halted completely.
The final wisp hovering near the young man's dantian stilled, as if suspended in time.
Then— His fingers twitched, and his breath deepened.
And slowly…
His eyes opened.
"DING!!"
"DING!!"
"Congratulations, Host has gathered enough Qi to awaken his Innate System."
"Awakening begins in..."
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