Chapter 19: The Master’s Gaze

Year 742 of the Veiled Phoenix Dynasty**

Kai Jin was twenty years old.

In the vast expanse of the Dawning Blades Sect, mornings began in silence and ended in exhaustion. Over the years, the outer sect grounds had expanded, new pavilions erected, fresh disciples admitted, each brimming with hope or arrogance. But amidst all that change, Kai Jin remained an enigma.

Still in Body Tempering. Still unattached to any faction. Still unbroken.

But those who knew better, those who remembered the early fights, the bloodied platforms, the quiet walk-backs without a single gloat, had stopped mocking his slow progression. Instead, they watched him now with sidelong glances, uncertain whether to pity, fear, or avoid him entirely.

Rumors swirled more often these days.

They said Kai had killed a beast in the forest barehanded. That he trained with ghosts at night. That he had the soul of a dragon sealed in his body. Fantastical, ridiculous—yet somehow easier to accept than the truth: that a boy who had never shown a hint of power could still draw the interest of even the sect's highest elders.

---

Elder Xuan Yu, master of the Dawning Blades Sect, was a man of patience. He had seen hundreds of years, cultivated beyond the reach of the average mortal, and guided generations of talented cultivators into prominence.

But Kai Jin troubled him.

Not because of what he did. But because of what he didn't do.

He didn't strive. Didn't compete. Didn't seek audience with powerful elders or curry favor. And yet, from a distance, he had begun to gather weight like a mountain that never moved—and never needed to.

Today, Elder Xuan Yu would test the depth of that stillness.

He had summoned Kai to the Grand Hall, a structure carved from silverwood and set with veins of spirit jade. A hall meant for judgment and command, not idle conversation.

Kai arrived precisely on time. Not early. Not late.

The twin jade doors opened with a soft groan. Inside, marble tiles stretched like a frozen sea. Disciples in ceremonial attire lined the flanks. At the head of it all, atop the raised dais, sat Elder Xuan Yu, his robes white as snow, a crown of carved obsidian encircling his brow.

Kai stepped forward. His gait was sure. His gaze steady.

"Kai Jin," the elder said, his voice low and even.

Kai bowed. "Sect Master."

The elder tapped a finger against the armrest of his throne. "Six years in this sect. No breakthroughs. No applications to the inner court. And yet… your name remains."

Kai said nothing.

"Tell me. Are you content to remain where you are forever?"

"I am not in a race, Master."

The chamber stirred. A few of the observing disciples shifted. One scoffed under his breath. But Xuan Yu only leaned forward.

"That is not an answer."

Kai's gaze did not flinch. "I will rise when I am ready."

The sect master let the silence stretch. Then, without warning, he extended his consciousness—a precise, surgical wave of **mental pressure**, a soul probe sharpened to a needle point.

To prod. To tear through defenses. To expose weakness.

It touched Kai.

And dispersed.

No resistance.

No reaction.

As if it had never been there.

A flicker of surprise passed behind Elder Xuan Yu's eyes.

A trained Body Tempering disciple would have buckled, staggered, or flared their meager Qi in panic. But Kai had not even blinked.

He had not felt it.

Or worse, he had.

And chose not to react.

"You are unlike the others," Xuan Yu murmured. "I sense… a stillness in you that defies reading."

Kai bowed again. "Still water runs deep."

The elder's eyes narrowed. "Or hides monsters beneath."

Kai said nothing.

The silence hung like a blade.

Then, Xuan Yu waved a hand.

"You may go."

Kai turned and walked the length of the hall, his steps measured. He didn't look left or right, but he heard the whispers begin as soon as he passed.

He left the hall.

---

The moment the doors closed, Elder Xuan Yu turned to the shadows behind the throne.

A figure stepped forward, robed in black, their presence faint, almost incorporeal.

"You felt it too," Xuan Yu said.

"Yes, Master. He has no natural resistance—because he doesn't need one. His spirit... it's as if it sees."

"Watch him. Discreetly. Report all behavior. Especially any interactions outside the sect."

"As you command."

---

Outside, Kai paused just beyond the threshold.

The wind was crisp, the sun higher now. A few birds chirped near the courtyard's edge. He looked up at the sky briefly.

Then, with a faint exhale, he spoke.

"Tell the sect master to send someone better."

No one answered.

But he knew he was heard.

---

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