Millstone City grew a little each year.
New merchants arrived with cheap goods.
Old shops closed.
Children grew tall, then rowdy.
The city guards remained half-asleep as always.
Life flowed slowly, peacefully, and without glory.
To most, this place was nothing.
To Wuya and Xueyi, it was the entire world.
---
Age 9 — When Shadows Move
The ninth year of Wuya's life brought changes no mortal eye could see.
He woke before dawn, swept the courtyard quietly, and helped Tianhai prepare the shop while Xueyi still slept with messy hair, curled like a cat under her blanket.
But when Wuya walked through Millstone City's streets, he sometimes paused for no reason.
As if listening.
As if noticing something others overlooked.
One morning, he stood at the corner of an alleyway, staring at the sky.
Xueyi tugged his sleeve.
"Why are you staring up? Is there a bird stuck?"
"…No."
He blinked slowly.
"Something just… moved."
Xueyi followed his gaze.
She frowned.
"I don't see anything."
Tianhai, sweeping the shop entrance, stiffened.
He felt it too.
A faint ripple—an echo of someone probing through the weak veil of the mortal world. Not a direct scan, not yet, but a flicker of interest drifting from far away.
A watcher.
Again.
Tianhai casually stepped between Wuya and the sky as if stretching his back.
His suppressed cultivation moved like a thin ripple under the earth, masking the entire street in an invisible shroud.
The watcher's presence vanished.
Tianhai glanced at the boy.
"You sense too much for your age."
His voice was soft, but his eyes were serious.
"I feel… tremors," Wuya said honestly.
"They feel like small footsteps above the clouds."
Xueyi blinked.
"Footsteps? Who would walk up there?"
Wuya shook his head.
"I don't know. But they're not friendly."
He said it like a fact, not a fear.
Tianhai stared at him for a long moment.
At nine years old, Wuya had no cultivation, no Qi, no techniques.
And yet—
his senses were sharper than many Spirit Realm warriors.
Aotian's fragments were awakening, little by little.
Tianhai turned away, hiding his expression.
"…Keep your awareness quiet, Wuya," he warned.
"Never let anyone hear such things."
"Yes," the boy answered calmly.
The wind stirred.
Something far beyond the heavens retreated.
Peace returned.
---
Age 10 — The Child Who Learned Too Fast
Wuya's tenth year marked the first time Tianhai realized he couldn't hide much longer.
The boy learned like water absorbing ink.
In one month, Wuya memorized every character Tianhai wrote.
In two months, he mastered arithmetic Tianhai expected him to learn at fifteen.
In three months, he could read the entire shop's inventory from memory.
One evening, Tianhai sat with him over a set of old bamboo scrolls.
"Do you understand this character?"
Wuya nodded.
"Then what about this?"
Another nod.
"And this long line here?"
Wuya answered without hesitation.
"It's describing the way water curls when poured from a pot."
Tianhai blinked slowly.
The scroll wasn't describing water.
It was a merchant's guide to pottery.
But the description worked.
He sighed.
"You understand things strangely."
Xueyi, lying on her stomach nearby, raised her hand.
"I understand things strangely too!"
"No you don't," Wuya said.
"Yes I do!"
Wuya blinked.
"Name one thing."
Xueyi thought deeply.
"…I can tell when you're hungry."
"That isn't strange."
"It is!"
Tianhai laughed softly.
Small things like this kept the courtyard warm.
Even when the world outside changed.
Even when watchers probed the skies.
Even when the peach tree felt a little older each spring.
Inside these walls, Wuya and Xueyi still argued, still laughed, still chased chickens, still played catch with fallen blossoms.
They were children.
For now.
---
Age 11 — The First Fight
Children in Millstone City weren't always kind.
As Wuya grew, so did whispers.
"Quiet boy."
"Strange boy."
"He watches too much."
"He never gets angry."
"Is he sick?"
"Is he stupid?"
"He creeps me out…"
Tianhai overheard such things often.
One afternoon, Wuya returned with Xueyi holding onto his sleeve, both slightly dusty.
Tianhai frowned.
"What happened?"
Xueyi spoke first.
"Three boys from the northern street pushed Wuya!"
Tianhai's eyes sharpened.
"And what did Wuya do?"
"He asked them why," she answered proudly.
Wuya nodded.
"They didn't know."
Tianhai placed his broom aside.
"And then?"
"They hit him again," Xueyi said angrily.
"So I bit one of them!"
Wuya blinked.
"You did?"
"YES!"
Tianhai massaged his forehead.
"And you, Wuya? What did you do?"
Wuya spoke simply.
"I caught their punches."
"Then?"
"I placed them gently on the ground."
Tianhai lifted an eyebrow.
"Gently?"
"They were weak," Wuya said.
Tianhai's mind trembled.
Wuya had no cultivation.
None at all.
Yet he moved with instinct bordering on precognition—predicting attacks, responding without reaction, adjusting his body with fluid ease.
Not techniques.
Not martial training.
Something deeper.
Something natural.
Tianhai sighed.
"Next time," he said, "don't let Xueyi bite anyone."
"Why not?" she protested.
"It's embarrassing."
---
Age 12 — The Moonveil Stirs
Xueyi's Moonveil Seal remained quiet most years, glowing faintly only when she slept or when she smiled in sunlight.
But when she turned twelve, it changed.
It awakened.
Not fully—but enough to make the air tremble faintly around her.
One winter night, Tianhai awoke suddenly.
A soft moonlight shone from Xueyi's room.
He rushed in.
Wuya stood beside her bed, watching quietly.
Xueyi was asleep, but the crescent on her chest glowed brighter than the lantern flame.
The light didn't burn.
Didn't pulse.
Didn't change the air.
It… drifted.
Like a gentle tide.
Wuya spoke softly.
"It's calling something."
Tianhai stiffened.
"You can hear it?"
Wuya nodded.
"It's asking for strength."
Tianhai touched Xueyi's forehead carefully, calming her seal.
The glow dimmed.
Her breathing steadied.
She slept peacefully.
Tianhai whispered:
"She will awaken it when she's older."
"Is it dangerous?" Wuya asked.
"Everything powerful is dangerous," Tianhai said.
But Wuya shook his head.
"Not her."
Tianhai looked at him for a long moment.
"…Protect her."
"I will."
The wind outside the window stirred.
Xueyi's destiny was vast.
But Wuya?
Wuya's destiny was beyond vast—too deep, too sharp, too ancient.
The two were tied like moon and tide.
Tianhai felt a chill.
He sensed another presence probing the world that very night—a distant immortal, curious, searching.
Once again, Tianhai banished the attention.
But each year, the watchers grew stronger.
---
Age 13 — A Boy Too Aware
At thirteen, Wuya walked differently.
Not proud.
Not arrogant.
Not childish.
He moved lightly, like someone trying not to disturb the world beneath his feet.
Tianhai noticed.
His steps were perfectly balanced—even while carrying a heavy basket.
He never tripped.
Never stumbled.
Never misstepped.
His awareness was reaching frightening levels.
One afternoon in the shop, Tianhai dropped a wooden cup from the counter.
Wuya turned and caught it behind him without looking.
Tianhai stared.
"Wuya… how did you—"
"It was falling," the boy said simply.
"You didn't even turn."
"I heard it."
"There was no sound."
"…Then I felt it."
Tianhai exhaled slowly.
He was sensing spatial vibration.
Nothing normal.
Nothing mortal.
Nothing safe.
But Wuya was calm.
He didn't brag.
He didn't boast.
He didn't even think it was special.
He spoke truthfully:
"It felt uncomfortable falling."
Tianhai pressed his forehead.
The boy was too kind.
Too perceptive.
Too dangerous.
He placed a hand on Wuya's shoulder.
"Wuya… when you turn sixteen, your life will change."
Wuya blinked.
"Why sixteen?"
"Because that is when paths open."
Wuya thought for a moment.
"Will I understand more?"
"Yes."
"Will I be safe?"
Tianhai hesitated.
"…Not always."
Wuya nodded as if accepting fate calmly.
Then he asked:
"Will Xueyi be safe?"
Tianhai smiled faintly.
"She will be safer than you."
Wuya looked satisfied.
---
Age 14 — The City's First Crisis
Trouble arrived quietly.
A group of wandering bandits entered Millstone City's outskirts—refugees from a defeated border tribe. Their leader was a one-star warrior, arrogant and drunk.
They believed Millstone was defenseless.
They weren't wrong.
The city lord was corrupt.
The guards lazy.
The walls weak.
Tianhai sensed them from far away.
He sighed.
It was annoying, but manageable.
But Wuya sensed them too—long before they entered the city.
He walked to the courtyard gate.
"What is it?" Tianhai asked.
"Strangers," Wuya said.
"They smell like anger."
Xueyi poked her head out.
"Angry strangers? Do we hide?"
"No," Wuya said calmly.
"They won't come here."
Tianhai almost burned the tea kettle.
How did the child know?
"Why do you think that?" Tianhai asked carefully.
Wuya blinked.
"They're scared."
Tianhai's eyes narrowed.
"Of what?"
"…Something on the west side of the city scares them."
Tianhai slowly nodded.
Wuya was sensing killing intent in the air—something only trained warriors could do.
That night, the bandits attacked the city gates.
They were repelled by… nothing visible.
But Tianhai had stepped out for one silent moment and erased their courage.
No bodies.
No blood.
No sound.
Just fear implanted into their bones.
They ran from the city screaming.
The people of Millstone celebrated the next morning, confused but relieved.
But Wuya asked Tianhai that night:
"You did something."
Tianhai looked at the boy's calm eyes.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"To protect this place."
Wuya nodded.
"Will I protect it too?"
"Someday," Tianhai said quietly.
"But not yet."
---
Age 15 — The Edge of Awakening
At fifteen, Wuya had grown into a quiet, tall young man. His presence was calm, steadying, and strangely mature for his age. Children respected him. Adults trusted him. Vendors liked him.
Xueyi, a year younger, stood beside him like a shadow of moonlight—beautiful, bright, and full of spirit. Her Moonveil Seal glowed more often now, subtle but constant.
The city felt safe around them.
Yet Tianhai felt danger increasing every year.
Watchers probed more frequently.
Higher beings noticed the faint disturbance.
The mortal world veil grew thin.
One early winter morning, Tianhai sat alone under the peach tree, teeth clenched.
The time was near.
Wuya approached him quietly.
"Father."
"Mm?"
"Something inside me… feels heavy."
Tianhai's heart froze.
He turned slowly.
"What do you mean heavy?"
Wuya placed a hand over his chest.
"Like something is sleeping too deeply. And it's turning in its sleep."
Tianhai inhaled sharply.
Fragments were stirring.
The awakening was close.
He stood.
"Wuya."
"Yes?"
"Tomorrow, you turn sixteen."
Wuya nodded.
"Something inside you will open."
"What will it be?"
"…Your future."
Wuya considered that.
"Will it hurt?"
Tianhai smiled tiredly.
"Most growth does."
Xueyi ran into the courtyard at that moment, shouting:
"Wuya! Help! The chickens escaped again!"
Wuya sighed softly and followed her.
Tianhai watched their backs.
His hand clenched into a fist.
"Tomorrow," he whispered to himself.
"The world will take its first look at you."
"And you will begin walking the path destiny carved before you were born."