The night was eerily silent, as if the world itself held its breath in anticipation. The mountain peak trembled beneath his feet, his very existence distorting the flow of qi in the air. Zhao Tian narrowed his eyes, his instincts screaming at him—this was no longer the same disciple he had been training.
"Peak Spirit Core Realm… Yet, your aura is beyond that of any cultivator I've ever seen." Zhao Tian's voice was steady, but there was an edge of disbelief in his tone.
The young warrior rolled his shoulders, feeling the overwhelming surge of energy within him. "This is just the beginning. If I'm right… I no longer need to cultivate like others. My body does it naturally."
Zhao Tian's pupils contracted. "That should be impossible. Even divine beings require structured cultivation."
"Then let's see how impossible it really is." A smirk stretched across the young warrior's face as he raised his hand. He didn't circulate his qi like a normal cultivator; he merely willed it—and the world responded.
The air cracked. A golden aura flared to life around him, but unlike normal qi, it pulsed with an unrelenting force. The very ground beneath him gave way, sending shockwaves through the mountain.
Zhao Tian barely had time to brace himself before the boy vanished. No movement technique. No sound. Just… gone.
Behind me?!
A crushing force struck Zhao Tian's back, sending him hurtling through the air. His body crashed through multiple trees before slamming into a distant cliffside. A lesser warrior would have been reduced to pulp, but Zhao Tian flipped mid-air, stabilizing himself before landing gracefully on a boulder.
He looked up, and his heart skipped a beat.
The young warrior stood where he had originally been, completely motionless, as if he had never moved at all.
Zhao Tian's battle-honed instincts screamed at him. "That wasn't speed… You bypassed space itself, didn't you?"
A low chuckle. "Maybe."
The air thickened as Zhao Tian activated his Supreme Battle Stance, his qi flaring to life. "If you've truly created something beyond our understanding, then you need to be tested properly!"
He lunged forward, his fist blazing with golden energy. Heavenly Suppression Palm! The technique that could shatter mountains descended upon the young warrior like the judgment of the heavens.
The impact was absolute. A massive explosion erupted, swallowing everything in a blinding light. The earth cracked, and the sky roared in protest.
And yet—
As the dust settled, a figure emerged unscathed.
His golden aura had shifted into something darker, something unfathomable. The air around him twisted, and in that moment, Zhao Tian understood.
He wasn't absorbing qi anymore.
He was becoming one with it.
The young warrior lifted his gaze, his voice calm but carrying an undeniable weight. "It doesn't matter how strong the attack is. If qi is part of the world… then I can make the world itself reject it."
Zhao Tian clenched his fists, his mind racing. What… have I been training?