The forest hummed with life, every root, leaf, and vine responding to the pulse of the protective formation. Mist curled around ancient trunks as the sunlight broke through the canopy in fractured beams. Yuan Liuyue returned from her journey, the Nine Heaven Jade Ark vanishing quietly as she stepped onto the moss-covered ground.
Xuan Mo, only five, looked up at her with wide, curious eyes. Though he had never left the forest, his aura shimmered faintly as though sensing the world beyond.
"You have grown stronger," Yuan Liuyue said, her amber-green eyes soft yet commanding. She knelt beside him, placing a gentle hand on his chest, feeling the pulse of his hybrid bloodline. "It is time you begin to understand the world outside these roots."
With a wave of her hand, the forest itself transformed. Mist twisted into translucent projections: mountains, rivers, floating dynasties, and vast palaces appeared in miniature, suspended in the air above the moss. Shafts of light traced the currents of qi, showing the influence of clans, sects, and dynasties.
"This," she said, her voice steady, "is the mortal realm. Though you remain here, you must know its rules, its power, and its dangers. Every sect, every dynasty, every cultivator has a place in this hierarchy. To survive… you must understand them all."
She raised another hand, and glowing spheres of energy appeared, hovering before Xuan Mo. Each represented pills, artifacts, or formations.
"Minor Celestial pills enhance your senses and reflexes.
Celestial pills strengthen your body and cultivate energy flow.
Supreme and Divine pills refine bloodlines and awaken latent potential.
Legendary pills… these are rare beyond comprehension, shaping destinies."
Roots moved subtly beneath Xuan Mo, mimicking the flow of qi in the projected world, giving him a tactile sense of energy manipulation. He reached out instinctively, his tiny hands brushing against the glowing spheres. A faint resonance sparked within him, his demonic and world-tree hybrid aura responding like a living thread connecting him to everything Yuan Liuyue showed.
"Formations are more than patterns," she continued, her tone deepening. "They are living constructs, harmonizing with the cultivator who controls them. Protective arrays shield, world-defining formations dominate entire regions, and secret arrays can hide or trap entire sects. Each glyph, each line, each pulse… it is part of a greater whole."
Xuan Mo's eyes reflected the swirling mist, the miniature dynasties, and the flowing qi currents. Though he had never left the forest, he began to comprehend the scale of the mortal realm, the depth of power, and the structure that governed cultivators.
"You will learn every rank, every technique, every secret," Yuan Liuyue whispered, brushing a strand of hair from his glowing forehead. "You may be young, but your mind is ready. Knowledge is the first step to mastery. And one day, when you finally step beyond these roots, you will see this world with eyes sharper than any mortal, and power far beyond them."
The forest pulsed in quiet approval, a living guardian recognizing its master's heir. Xuan Mo's tiny aura shimmered, absorbing the lessons like sunlight into the soil. The first steps of understanding had begun, even as the mortal realm continued, unseen but never forgotten, beyond the forest walls.