Chapter 46 :The Remote Path of the Unyielding
The mountain air bit sharply at Jin's skin as he stood at the edge of Valeria's outer cliffs.
His robe snapped gently in the cold, restless breeze.
Behind him, the city stirred with cautious life—undead sentinels patrolling like tireless ghosts.
Silent guardians with hollow eyes but unyielding vigilance.
The civilians began reclaiming what had been stolen.
Courtyards were swept clean, doors rebuilt, shattered tiles replaced.
Valeria, once a dead city, was breathing again.
But Jin wasn't part of that rhythm anymore.Not fully.
His body still carried the weight of Shenwu's strike.
Not in wounds—those had long since healed—but in spirit.
Facing a being so ancient, so limitless, rewrote what one believed possible.
It left you humbled, even in resistance.
"Then I shall teach you from afar," Shenwu's voice echoed in Jin's mind like a mantra.
Jin descended the winding mountain trail north of the city before sunrise.
He came here every morning now—not because he was told to—but because he could feel it.
That silent call—the pressing weight of cultivation demanding more.
Demanding everything.
The clearing appeared as it always did—wind-twisted trees and jagged stone ridges.
The sky stretched wide above, a blank canvas waiting for a masterpiece.
No spirit pools glowed here.
No guiding runes shimmered.
No gentle voices whispered secrets.
Only pressure.
As Jin crossed the clearing's edge, the air thickened, prickling his skin.
"You've come," Shenwu's voice rumbled like distant thunder, presence without form.
Jin exhaled deeply and settled to the ground.
Legs crossed.
Spine straight.
Eyes closed.
His thoughts began to still.
The lesson began.
Time blurred, stretching like smoke.
Hours passed or maybe minutes—he could not tell.
Jin slipped deeper into his core where only energy remained.
Not just the qi within his veins.
But the world's qi—threads of spirit dancing in soil and drifting through trees.
Coiled in the wind like unseen serpents.
"You once fought to destroy," Shenwu murmured in his mind.
"Now learn to feel. To flow. To belong."
Jin tried to soften his Tyrant Body.
To shift from blunt force into pure awareness.
He failed.
He tried again.
And again.
Until suddenly—a pulse.
A soft, warm rhythm bloomed in his gut.
Not his heartbeat.
Not the system's signals.
Something older.
Deeper.
Spirit Qi.
A connection snapped into place like a thread
being tied.
His breath caught as the clearing shifted.
Trees whispered secrets.
Stones hummed faintly beneath him.
He wasn't commanding.
He was listening.
And in listening, he found power.
[System Notification]
[Spirit Qi Mastery: Level I Unlocked]
You have attuned to the ambient qi of your environment.
Meditation speed increased by 30%.
Inner energy flow stabilized.
Next stage: Emotional Harmony Test – 3 days remaining.
Jin opened his eyes.
Sweat soaked his robe.
Limbs heavy.
But something glowed inside—not raw strength, but calm stability.
He rose and stretched, looking to the horizon where Valeria waited.
But something whispered inside his chest:
"Not just Valeria. Everything."
Valeria no longer held the silence of the dead.
Hammers rang through open courtyards.
Children laughed in alleyways.
Merchants argued over ration prices and shortages.
A city half-ruined but alive.
And still, the undead stood guard.
Still.
Silent.
Yet something had changed.
Lana walked the courtyard's perimeter, scrolls in hand.
Formation diagrams, construction permits, rudimentary territory plans.
She was sharp and focused but her eyes flicked to the horizon too often.
Arielle sat nearby under the shade of an elm tree, legs crossed.
A closed book rested in her lap, though she wasn't reading.
She was watching.
Listening.
"You're worried," Lana said softly without looking up.
"I'm not used to him being gone this long," Arielle replied.
"It's only been a few hours."
"It's not time. It's…" Arielle hesitated.
"Him. He's changing. Faster than we can keep up."
Lana's fingers stilled over the scroll.
"Do you think we'll still recognize him when it's done?"
The silence between them stretched like a thin thread.
That night, Jin returned as dusk fell.
His steps were slower—not from fatigue, but thought.
He crossed the central square of Valeria.
The skeletal army parted for him in eerie synchronization.
Except for one.
A single undead warrior stepped forward.
Armor rusted.
Sword chipped.
Yet it moved with deliberate consciousness.
Jin paused.
"Valeria…" the undead rasped, voice dry as brittle leaves.
"My son… where is he?"
Jin's eyes narrowed.
"You… remember?"
No answer.
Only a shiver ran down the soldier's frame.
Then, a ping.
[System Notification]
[NEW UNLOCK: Sentient Guardian Protocol – Activated]
Select undead units may recover personality fragments.
Current candidate: Lady Veyra—Defender of Valeria, Fallen Year 471.
Designate as Guardian?
[Yes] / [No]
Jin hesitated only briefly. He selected [Yes].
The undead woman froze.
Then bowed deeply.
Her bones shimmered faintly with a soft blue glow pulsing through her ribcage.
"I live to serve Valeria again. My oath remains unbroken."
Jin's throat tightened.
For the first time, the undead army felt less like tools—more like legacy.
Later that night, alone in his quarters, Jin knelt by the open window.
He stared out at the glowing line of moonlight across the mountain ridge.
A soft breeze curled through the frame.
With it, a voice whispered.
"You've made the first step. But the moon bleeds soon. Your soul must bleed with it."
"Three days. Soulfire Cliff. Or you will never awaken what sleeps beneath your heart."
Jin closed his eyes.
He felt it deep within—the Paragon Heavenly
Technique stirring.
Fragile. Flickering. Yet real.
[System Notification]
[Quest Updated: The Remote Path of the Unyielding]
Spirit Qi Mastery I
First Sentient Undead
Paragon Technique: Stirring...
New Objective:
→ Meditate atop Soulfire Cliff during the Blood Moon (3 days remaining)
Reward: Ancient Skill—"Echo Pulse Vein"
Bonus: Paragon Heavenly Technique (Stage 2 Unlock)
Later that evening, a knock echoed sharply through the mansion hall.
A small parcel was delivered by the guards outside.
Wrapped in rough cloth and sealed with the royal crest—a dragon entwined with thorned vines.
Jin frowned.
Such parcels were reserved for matters of utmost importance.
He broke the seal carefully and unfolded the letter inside.
The script was ancient, elegant, and unfamiliar.
It was from his father.
"My son," the letter began, "If you are reading this, then the tides have shifted beyond all I imagined.
I have left you a box, locked with the key of your bloodline—the same you carry within you."
"Inside is a secret that may save or doom us all.
It was entrusted to me by the ancestors and meant for the true heir of Roman.
I can no longer protect it, but you—you must."
"Be wary. Some will seek it. Others will kill for it.
Guard it well, and may the strength of the dragon guide you."
Beneath the letter lay the box itself.
Crafted from blackened wood, carved with twisting dragon scales and thorn-like vines.
The carvings seemed almost alive in the flickering candlelight.
A single ruby, glowing faintly with inner fire, was embedded in its center.
Intricate runes circled the ruby, pulsing with dormant power.
The lock was shaped like a sharp claw, cold to the touch.
Only a bloodline connected to the Dragon Prince could open it.
The room fell silent.
Jin's breath caught in his throat.
The weight of his father's words pressed down like a stone.
Lana's hand found his shoulder.
"This changes everything," she said quietly.
Selene's eyes narrowed.
"Then we prepare for war—and secrets."
Arielle's voice was steady but wary.
"We must know what's inside before anyone else does."
Sarah nodded.
"The city sleeps no longer. Neither will the truth."
Jin stared at the box, the ruby's glow mirroring the fire in his eyes.
The Dragon Prince was no longer just a title.
It was a legacy.
A burden.
And a challenge that would shape the fate of Valeria—and the world beyond.