Chapter 7: The Sky Shifts, the Earth Whispers
The sun had barely climbed above the treetops when Xu Ming descended the mountain.
His steps were quiet, yet every creature within a mile paused—as if the wind itself bent to listen. The awakening of the Crimson Vein Physique had not only stirred his body but rippled through the Qi of the surrounding lands.
He didn't need to test his strength.
He could feel it.
Every breath he took pulled essence from the air. Every blink stirred the flow of spiritual currents.
> "The seal… was only the beginning," he muttered.
As he reached the lower ridgeline, a group of cultivators emerged from the forest path—disciples in dark robes, embroidered with the silver sigil of the Cloudfire Sect.
They were young. Eager. And unprepared.
Their leader, a broad-shouldered youth with sharp brows, stepped forward and frowned.
> "You there! This area is forbidden. Identify yourself."
Xu Ming stopped.
He tilted his head. "You speak with the confidence of someone who doesn't understand what just awakened above you."
The youth narrowed his eyes. "I don't care if you saw a dragon sprout wings—"
In the next moment, he was on his knees.
Not from a strike. Not from a weapon.
From pressure.
Xu Ming hadn't moved. He didn't need to. The sheer release of Qi from his awakened veins bore down like a mountain, and the air around him shimmered with heat.
The other disciples gasped. Some fell. One coughed blood.
Xu Ming's gaze sharpened.
> "If this is the strength the Cloudfire Sect sends to guard sacred ground… then perhaps it's time I remind them of their place."
He walked past them. None dared move.
---
Far beyond the mountain, in the Cloudfire Sect's Grand Pavilion, Sect Master Li Zhong's eyes snapped open.
He had felt it too.
Not just power—but a signature. Faint, buried under layers of reincarnation, but undeniable.
He whispered one name.
> "Xu Ming…"
His voice trembled—not with fear, but with memory.
The last time that name had echoed through the realms, emperors had kneeled.
---
That night, Xu Ming sat alone by the river.
The stars hung low, mirrored in the water's surface. He watched them in silence, letting the hum of the universe settle in his bones.
But something pulled his attention.
A faint shift. Like a thread tugged on the edge of fate.
He looked up.
Across the river, wrapped in white robes and moonlight, stood a girl.
She didn't speak. Didn't move.
But her presence was undeniable.
Her eyes, clear as glass yet colder than steel, met his.
Recognition.
Not from this life.
> "You…"
She vanished before he could speak.
Xu Ming stood, his pulse steady—but his heart whispered one truth:
> "She remembers."
[ End of Chapter 7]