The courtyard air froze.
The hunters stood before the peach tree like wolves in a henhouse.
Xueyi hid behind Wuya, trembling.
Tianhai stepped forward, his eyes no longer the soft, tired eyes of a mortal shopkeeper.
Something colder stirred in them.
Something vast.
Something that did not belong in the mortal world.
The tall hunter's smile vanished.
"You dare tell me to obey a mortal boy?"
Tianhai replied calmly:
"I do."
Wuya blinked slowly.
He felt something—
not from the hunters,
but from Tianhai.
A pressure deeper than mountains.
Heavier than oceans.
Vast as the sky itself.
Wuya whispered:
"Uncle… your aura…"
Tianhai lifted a hand slightly.
"Wuya. Xueyi. Step back."
Wuya obeyed.
Xueyi grabbed him and pulled him behind the peach tree.
The short hunter spat.
"What's with this old man? His aura is… weird."
The tall one narrowed his eyes.
"No… not weird."
He stepped closer.
"Familiar."
Tianhai's face stiffened.
"Then you know you should not be here."
"Oh, we know," the tall hunter hissed.
"But your family—your entire bloodline—is supposed to be extinct."
Wuya's heart dropped.
Xueyi covered her mouth.
Tianhai did not move.
The tall hunter spread his arms wide.
"And yet… here we are… standing in front of the last fragments of the forbidden Hào Bloodline."
He stepped toward Wuya.
"And the boy… he smells like destiny gone wrong."
Tianhai moved.
A blur of motion faster than a mortal blink—but far slower than his real speed.
He struck the tall hunter with a palm.
The courtyard cracked.
The hunter staggered back three steps, eyes wide.
"You—"
He touched his chest.
"Your strike… slowed my meridians?"
Tianhai lowered his arm.
"That was nothing."
The short hunter snarled.
"You mock us?!"
He leapt forward, blade in hand.
Xuěyī screamed.
"Wuya!"
Wuya moved instinctively.
He didn't run.
He didn't dodge.
He stepped forward—directly into the hunter's path.
Tianhai's face twisted with panic.
"WUYA, NO—!"
But the moment the short hunter's blade reached Wuya's neck—
Something impossible happened.
---
The First Bloodline Reaction
A soft hum erupted from Wuya's body.
Not loud.
Not bright.
Not violent.
A thin, nearly invisible veil of light wrapped around his skin.
The blade slowed.
Its edge dulled.
Its speed weakened.
Just enough to miss his throat by a finger's width.
The short hunter froze.
"…What?"
He slashed again—
And again the blade slowed at the last instant, like time held its breath around Wuya.
The tall hunter's eyes widened.
"Impossible…"
Wuya blinked, confused.
"What's… happening?"
Tianhai grabbed Wuya's shoulders and yanked him back.
"YOU FOOL!" Tianhai snapped.
"You could have died!"
Wuya looked down, breathing slow.
"…I'm sorry."
Xueyi's arms wrapped around him immediately, tears forming.
"Don't… do that again!"
Wuya did not answer.
Because he didn't know why he moved.
It was instinct.
Deep.
Old.
Awakening something inside him.
The tall hunter finally spoke again, voice trembling.
"This aura… this bloodline… it can't be—"
Tianhai stepped forward, eyes cold.
"You should leave while you still can."
The tall hunter hissed:
"It's too late. We've found the child. Now Heaven will follow the scent."
Tianhai's expression changed sharply.
"Enough."
He slowly lifted his hand.
Not a sword.
Not a treasure.
Just a hand.
And the world changed.
The sky dimmed.
Wind stopped moving.
The peach blossoms froze mid-air.
Dust hung motionless.
One second.
Two seconds.
Five seconds.
The hunters froze in fear.
"What… what is this…?" the short one whispered.
The tall one trembled.
"This is not mortal technique… this is—"
He never finished.
Tianhai whispered:
"Mortal Veil — Fourth Layer."
A ripple swept across the courtyard.
Gentle.
Silent.
Deep as night.
The world bent for a heartbeat.
When it straightened—
The hunters were on their knees, gasping for breath.
The tall hunter choked.
"What… what did you do…?"
Tianhai walked forward slowly.
"I erased your presence temporarily. You cannot sense Qi. You cannot sense the boy. You cannot sense the sky."
The short one screamed.
"My meridians—! I can't feel anything!"
Tianhai looked down at them.
"You two have overstepped. Leave before I end your path here."
The tall hunter's hands trembled violently.
"What… are you…? Who hides behind mortal bones?"
Tianhai didn't answer.
The hunters exchanged a look.
Fear.
Pure fear.
They stood slowly.
"This isn't over," the tall hunter hissed.
"We will return."
Tianhai glanced at the horizon.
"No. You won't."
The tall one froze.
And realized—
Tianhai hadn't been warning them.
He had been predicting the future.
The hunters ran.
Vanishing into the alleyways like shadows fleeing the dawn.
---
Wuya's Hands Are Shaking
As soon as the courtyard fell silent, Wuya collapsed onto one knee.
His heart pounded.
His breath trembled.
His hands shook uncontrollably.
Not from fear.
From something else—
A feeling.
A terrifying, overwhelming, instinctive feeling.
Like something ancient was turning within him.
He whispered:
"…What was that…?"
Xueyi knelt beside him, gripping his arm tightly.
"Wuya… are you hurt?!"
He shook his head.
"No."
But he touched his chest.
"It feels… heavy."
Tianhai crouched before him, gripping his shoulders.
"Wuya. Look at me."
Wuya looked up.
His eyes shook slightly.
Tianhai said softly:
"Do you understand what almost happened?"
Wuya nodded.
"I almost died."
Xueyi broke into tears.
"DON'T SAY THAT!"
He blinked.
"…I didn't."
"You did! Just now!"
He touched her head gently.
"Sorry."
Tianhai let out a deep breath.
"That hunter was at the Body Transformation Realm."
Wuya blinked.
"…Is that strong?"
"For mortals," Tianhai said, "it is unmatched."
Xueyi swallowed.
"Then how… how did Wuya survive?"
Tianhai looked at Wuya.
And whispered:
"Because your bloodline refused death."
Wuya froze.
"My… bloodline?"
Tianhai nodded.
"You carry the 昊 Bloodline—the Heavenly Origin Lineage. Even in your current mortal state, your body recognizes fatal danger."
Wuya stared at his own hands.
"…Does that mean I am strong?"
Tianhai grabbed his wrist firmly.
"No. You are NOT strong."
Wuya blinked.
"Then—"
"Your bloodline is protecting you. Not your strength."
Xueyi nodded wildly.
"Exactly! You are stupid and reckless and your bloodline saved you, NOT YOU!"
Wuya blinked again.
"…I see."
Tianhai sighed heavily.
"You must never rely on instinct alone again. Instinct saved you today. But it will fail you one day."
Wuya nodded quietly.
"…I understand."
But inside his chest—
the fragments Aotian left him pulsed faintly.
He felt… movement.
Wisdom.
Awareness.
As if the world grew sharper.
Tianhai noticed.
"Wuya."
"Yes."
"You felt Qi just now."
Wuya hesitated.
"Only… a little."
"How little?"
Wuya closed his eyes.
He saw it:
A faint wisp of Qi drifting through the courtyard.
Thin.
Barely visible.
Like a whisper of heaven through mortal air.
He opened his eyes.
"…A thread."
Tianhai's breath caught.
"You are not supposed to sense Qi yet. Not until your system awakens fully."
Wuya blinked.
"So… what does that mean?"
Tianhai stared at him.
"It means… you are awakening too fast."
Xueyi hugged Wuya tightly.
"THEN STOP IT! You're scaring me!"
Wuya blinked again.
"…I can't stop awakening."
---
Night Falls — And the Sky Opens
Later that night, Wuya could not sleep.
He sat beneath the peach tree again.
Moonlight poured through the branches, gentle and pale.
He closed his eyes.
Inside him—
A world stirred.
A faint space.
A sleeping power.
His breath deepened.
His senses expanded.
He felt—
The wind brushing rooftops.
The heartbeat of sleeping villagers.
The distant hunters scheming outside the city.
The weakened cultivator trembling alone in the forest.
And above—
Something else.
A pressure.
A presence.
A distant gaze.
He opened his eyes suddenly.
A star flickered.
Not like normal.
Not with natural light.
It flickered in a pattern.
Almost like—
Searching.
For him.
Wuya whispered:
"…Heaven is watching."
His voice trembled for the first time.
Xueyi—who had been secretly watching him from behind the door—ran to him and hugged him tightly from behind.
"Don't look at the sky! Don't answer it! Don't let it take you!"
Wuya blinked.
"It's… not taking me."
"THEN WHY ARE YOU TREMBLING?!"
Wuya looked at his hand.
The trembling had stopped.
He placed his other hand over Xueyi's.
"I'm not trembling now."
"Yes you are!"
"…Then I'll stop."
"You CAN'T stop!"
"…Then what should I do?"
"STAY HERE!"
Wuya blinked again.
"…Okay."
She hugged him tighter.
"Good!"
Inside the house, Tianhai watched through the window.
His gaze was heavy.
Softly, he whispered:
"昊无涯 (Hào Wúyá)… your path has begun earlier than expected."
He looked toward the star that flickered unnaturally.
"And Heaven has found its first trace."