The sky was still dark when Kyrian left the house and walked to the small lake hidden in the forest.
The surface reflected the sky that was beginning to brighten. He leaned forward, staring at his own reflection.
The child had disappeared.
In his place, a fifteen-year-old youth had erged. His shoulders were broad, his body defined by the routine of training. The technique of the Royal Order had been cultivated to the limit. His muscles held a hidden strength, etched into every line of his flesh.
His face carried the beauty inherited from his mother. Like her masculine version. A sharp, fine jaw. His black hair, straight and long, fell over his shoulders and back. But what truly caught attention were his eyes.
Red as deep crimson crystals, glowing with a cold, hypnotic serenity.
They did not look like human eyes, but to Kyrian, they were like a gift. A bond given by the woman who gave him life.
Kyrian analyzed his appearance for a full minute. Then nodded in satisfaction. His appearance truly pleased him. It would not be arrogance to say he was the most beautiful person he had ever seen, apart from his mother.
He then subrged his body, washing himself in the icy waters. When he erged, he breathed deeply. He felt lighter than in all the other years.
After several minutes of a good bath, Kyrian returned to the courtyard of the house. He sat on a large stone and raised his hand. Staring at the ring he had taken from Wei Feng. The old man’s mark had vanished the instant of his death.
Kyrian raised a finger, a drop of blood ca out imdiately and fell onto the ring’s cold tal.
At that very mont, a connection erged. Images and sensations opened up in a space within his mind. Piles of books, jars, weapons, rolled scrolls, unknown gold coins, and dozens of objects accumulated by Wei Feng throughout his life.
Kyrian explored the space calmly. Taking out what caught his attention.
First, a black and red book, its cover worn. Stained with dried marks. It was Wei Feng’s cultivation technique.
Kyrian recognized it imdiately. Wei Feng had handed it to him for a mont five years ago. But it was taken back when Kyrian’s Qi absorption had failed in every way.
He opened the book. The pages were familiar, he rembered them by heart. But now he studied them with more emotion.
It was a cultivation technique that required blood to be used perfectly. The power did not co only from Qi but from blood. Blood of beasts, cultivators, and even ordinary humans. Everything could be fuel.
Kyrian breathed deeply. He did not feel fear nor revolt. He simply accepted.
The world was like that.
While flipping through, another object ca out from the ring. An older scroll. Sealed with red threads. When he opened it, Kyrian understood imdiately.
’Five-Point Blood Formation.’
A dark thod. When traced, it drained all the blood vitality of the area, transferring it to the user, prolonging his life for years. But there was a requirent, it needed a Blood Core.
Kyrian narrowed his eyes. He now understood why Wei Feng had not repeated what he did in the capital of Valor.
Wei Feng no longer possessed that Blood Core. If he had, he would have devastated other mortal cities without hesitation.
He stored the scroll and turned his attention back to the technique. He knew the words by heart, but he wanted to fully understand them.
He focused on the instructions. Trying to find a way, his own path. He should open his dantian, and then he would enter the next realm. But he did not possess a dantian. Just as he had no ridians.
He concentrated on his eyes. The infinite channels that connected to his consciousness.
Qi should be absorbed through vision, purified in the darkness, and then directed to the right point, forming a dantian.
Kyrian closed his eyes. The book in his hands vanished into the air, returning to the ring.
When he opened his eyes again, the world had changed.
Above, beyond the treetops, he saw the particles of Qi. Like stars invisible to others. Concentrated and dispersed in the sky.
Then they began to move. Slowly at first, then faster. An invisible rain falling straight into his eyes.
Kyrian felt each flow passing through the infinite channels, burning like fire, but he held firm. He followed the sa concept he had learned from the book.
He focused all the Qi into a point inside his eyes. Focusing his entire mind on that.
The pain grew. But Kyrian endured, he did not scream nor retreat, he simply remained still.
And then he heard it.
A muffled sound, like the crack of glass breaking. Inside each eye, at the beginning of the infinite channels. Two small containers erged. They were tiny, but the space inside them was much greater than anyone could imagine.
Two dantians, twins, one in each eye, molded by Qi.
Kyrian held his breath. His consciousness touched those new spaces. The rest of the Qi absorbed was no longer wandering trapped in his eyes randomly as before. But was concentrating and accumulating in the two dantians.
Kyrian felt a new sensation, he did not feel his physical strength grow as before. But he felt a connection with Qi that had not existed before. If he wished, he could use that small amount of Qi in his body, strengthening himself on several levels.
His strength increased, truly entering the path of cultivation.
He had entered the Realm of Qi Accumulation.
A faint, rare smile ford on his face. A smile of cold satisfaction.
After that, the particles of Qi above his region had vanished. Kyrian rose, went to the house, and after a short while appeared outside again.
Clean red robes and nothing but the ring on his finger. His long hair was tied back into a bun.
In the courtyard, he stopped and stared at the mountains covered by storms not too far away. The black clouds were heavy with deadly lightning. Hiding the world he would soon enter.
But instead of going in that direction, he turned. Looking in the opposite direction.
"I have to see Rurik one last ti before leaving." Kyrian murmured.
"After all, Harken asked to say hi."
He finished with a discreet but sincere smile. Then he began walking, moving quickly, farther and farther from the wooden house. From Wei Feng’s grave, from where they had spent the last three months. And saying farewell to everything that remained of those ten years.
He was heading step by step directly toward the country of Valor.
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