Mingzhi and Rou were walking to a secluded spot near the river, still excited for their cultivation session, when the air of Green River Village tore open.

  A streak of crimson light tore across the horizon, bright as a falling sun. The pressure arrived first—a wave of heat and power that silenced the forest birds.

  In the next breath, it was already there.

  The figure didn’t crash; it halted with impossible precision before the Xie family hut, scorched earth marking the path it had taken.

  "That's..." Rou gasped, shielding her eyes.

  "Hurry," Mingzhi said, his face serious.

  By the time they reached the edge of the field, Mingzhi’s parents were already outside. Dazhu was leaning on his hoe, looking shocked but strangely relieved. Li Mei was wiping her hands on her apron, bowing respectfully.

  Standing in the yard were two figures.

  The man appeared to be in his forties, wearing robes of deep crimson embroidered with golden clouds. His presence was like a dormant volcano— calm, yet radiating a heat that made the air itself uneasy. This was Sect Master Lin Tian.

  Beside him stood a girl of fourteen. She wore the white and red uniform of a core disciple. Her hair was bound in a high ponytail with a fire-jade clip, and her expression was cool, proud, and sharp as a blade. Lin Qingyu.

  "Brother Xie!" Lin Tian stepped forward, his booming voice full of genuine warmth. He clasped Dazhu’s dusty hands without a hint of hesitation. "It has been too long."

  "Sect Master," Dazhu smiled, looking years younger. "You haven't aged a day."

  Lin Tian glanced at the approaching teenagers. He nodded at Mingzhi, then turned to his daughter. "Qingyu, stay outside and catch up with the juniors. I have matters to discuss with your Uncle Xie."

  Qingyu nodded dutifully. "Yes, Father."

  Lin Tian and Dazhu went inside the humble hut, Li Mei following to serve tea.

  Inside the Hut

  The air in the small room was thick with nostalgia.

  "I still remember," Lin Tian said, taking a sip of the rough village tea as if it were wine. "Fifteen years ago. I was hunted by the Blood Yin Sect. I collapsed in the mud, half-dead. You found me, Dazhu. You didn't know who I was, but you hid me in your cellar for three weeks. You used your own healing herbs."

  "Anyone would have done it," Dazhu said humbly.

  "No," Lin Tian shook his head, his face darkening. "Most would have sold me out for a reward. You saved my life. I owe you a debt of karma."

  He placed a heavy, silk-wrapped box on the table.

  "The Sect is... unstable right now," Lin Tian admitted, his voice lowering. "There are internal troubles. Spies. Elders vying for power. I fear I may not be able to protect my friends in the future. So I brought this now. It is a High-Grade Fire Cultivation Manual. Your son must be planning to form a seed. This might help."

  Dazhu looked at the box, then sighed. "You are generous, Brother Lin. But... Mingzhi has already formed his Seed."

  Lin Tian froze. "He has?"

  Outside the Hut

  The atmosphere was different.

  Lin Qingyu stood with her arms crossed, looking at the muddy fields. She didn't look disdainful, but she carried the natural arrogance of someone who had lived atop the clouds.

  "So," she said, turning to Mingzhi and Rou. "You are the ones planning to join the Selection?"

  "We are," Mingzhi said, bowing slightly. "It is good to see you again, Qingyu. We played tag in these fields when we were five."

  Qingyu’s expression softened just a fraction. "I remember. You were slow then, too."

  She held out her hand. A small flame danced on her palm, spiraling into a tight, dense ball.

  "I have already formed my Seed," she said, not hiding her pride. "It is a High-Grade Fire Seed. The Elders say it is the best foundation seen in the Sect in twenty years. I am already preparing to Sprout."

  Rou looked at the flame, intimidated by the heat.

  "Congratulations," Mingzhi said, his voice sincere and humble. "That is an incredible achievement."

  "Spirit," he projected his thought. "Scan her."

  “Let me see,” the Spirit murmured.

  A brief pause.

  “Fire affinity—extremely high. But…”

  There was a subtle hesitation.

  “Her compression is uneven. If she Sprouts now, the flaws will follow her for life.”

  Mingzhi frowned. She was his childhood friend, and her father was his father's sworn brother. He decided.

  "Qingyu," he said softly. "Your Seed is strong. But... is it stable?"

  Qingyu’s eyes narrowed.

  “You worry about soil and harvests,” Qingyu said coolly. “What would you know about refining a Seed?”

  While speaking, he asked the Spirit in the space to write the techniques down onto the paper he stored beforehand.

  "I found some things," Mingzhi said, reaching into his tunic. He pulled out a few sheaves of rough paper—the notes he asked the Spirit to prepare. "Old notes. From a cave."

  He handed her three papers.

  "This is a Seed Improvement Technique," Mingzhi explained. "It can refine your High-Grade Seed further, but only before the Heart-Forming stage. And this... is a Weaker Layering Technique. If you use it, you can add density to your seed before you Sprout. And there is also a pretty good Fire Cultivation Technique."

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Qingyu took the papers, looking skeptical. "You found technique manuals in a cave? That is a children's story."

  She glanced at the first page, but before she could read it...

  Just then, the door opened. Lin Tian and Dazhu stepped out.

  "Father!" Qingyu stepped forward, forgetting her composure. She handed him the papers. "Look at this, Mingzhi gave these to me."

  Lin Tian took them. He scanned the contents. His hands began to tremble.

  "This formula..." he whispered. "It resolves the heat backlash..."

  "And these other two techniques to strengthen the seed… these ideas!"

  "This..." He looked at Mingzhi with wide eyes. "Where did you get this?"

  "Luck," Mingzhi said simply.

  Lin Tian stepped forward. "Give me your hand."

  Mingzhi extended his wrist. Lin Tian pressed two fingers to his pulse to check his cultivation.

  The Sect Master gasped.

  "Solid..." Lin Tian murmured, staring at Mingzhi. "Dense. Perfectly round. This isn't High Grade. This is a Perfect Earth Seed."

  Qingyu dropped her hand to her side, her High-Grade pride suddenly feeling very small. She stared at the boy covered in mud. "Perfect?"

  "How?" Lin Tian demanded, though his voice was gentle. "Your constitution is... balanced. It should be impossible."

  "I found a legacy," Mingzhi lied smoothly. "It helped me."

  "Spirit," Mingzhi thought. "Scan the Sect Master."

  "Unable to scan," the Spirit replied. " “I can’t see through him. His cultivation is far beyond my current reach.” However, I detect a blockage in his meridian flow. He is stuck at a bottleneck."

  Mingzhi nodded. He reached into his pocket again and pulled out another set of papers.

  "Uncle Lin," Mingzhi said. "The skeleton I found... had this too. It looks like a Fire technique. I can't use it."

  He handed over the True Sun Scripture.

  Lin Tian read it. His face went pale. This manual solved the exact flaw in his current cultivation that had trapped him for a decade.

  "And Qingyu," Mingzhi added, looking at the stunned girl. "Don't rush to Sprout. Use the layering. And after you sprout... don't start Cloud Gathering immediately. Use your Qi to nourish the sprout first. Make the branches wider. It will expand your meridians, almost like improving your constitution percentage."

  "Also," Mingzhi added, handing her a final slip, "This is a method to awaken Divine Sense early. You will need the control."

  Lin Tian looked at the papers in his hand. He looked at the boy. He realized he was holding priceless treasures that could elevate his entire Sect.

  A dark thought crossed his mind—Keep the secret. Silence the source.

  But he looked at Dazhu, his brother. He looked at Mingzhi’s clear eyes. He thought the boy maybe became a disciple of a Master. He crushed the dark thought.

  "You have given us a mountain," Lin Tian said, his voice thick with emotion. He reached into his robe and pulled out a heavy token made of red jade.

  "Take this. The Sect Master's Token. Present it at the selection. You will bypass the tests. You will enter the Inner Sect directly under my protection."

  Mingzhi looked at the token. He shook his head.

  "No, Uncle."

  "Why?"

  "If I walk in with your token, your enemies become my enemies. I am weak. I would be a target." Mingzhi said calmly.

  He stepped back, bowing.

  "I will enter by my own strength. I will climb the steps like everyone else."

  Lin Tian stared at him. He saw wisdom beyond the boy's years.

  "Very well," Lin Tian said, putting the token away. "Then I will wait for you at the top."

  He grabbed Qingyu’s shoulder. "We must go. We have much to study."

  Red light enveloped them. In a blink, they tore across the land, their figures gone before the echo of their departure faded.

  Mingzhi let out a long breath.

  "He didn't kill us," he whispered.

  "He is a man of honor," the Spirit observed. "Or perhaps he simply realized you are more valuable alive."

  The Seasons Turned.

  For the next eleven months, Green River Village saw little of Xie Mingzhi.

  Winter came. Snow covered the fields. Mingzhi watched his parents’ breath fog the air as they worked, and cultivated harder that night.

  Mingzhi sat in his room, surrounded by the dwindling pile of Spirit Stones. He practiced the Divine Sense Cultivation Technique. It was a headache-inducing grind, honing his mind like a blade.

  He practiced Layering. He didn't let his Earth Seed sprout. Instead, he fed it more Earth Qi, compressing it, adding layer after layer until the Seed was dark, heavy, and unbreakable.

  Spring arrived. The ice melted.

  Rou came to him every day. Under his guidance, she mastered the Moon-Tide Scripture. Her progress was terrifying. She sprouted her Water Seed effortlessly. Her cultivation soared. He was proud of her—and quietly frustrated with himself.

  Summer burned the land.

  Mingzhi finally allowed his Seed to sprout. It was painful. The heavy Earth Qi forced his meridians open, widening them beyond normal limits.

  But his progress was slow. His 20% constitution was a heavy chain. Even with the Spirit, even with the stones, he had to fight for every inch of progress.

  At the end of Summer, Autumn fell. The leaves turned gold.

  Mingzhi stood in the center of his room. He took a deep breath. The last Spirit Crystal turned to dust in his hand. He used a Spirit Stone to exchange for money at Rou’s house and left it for his parents. They would be safe for a while. They bought medicine for Grandpa Xie that would last for a year, so Mingzhi could leave with peace of mind.

  He felt the Earth Qi settle in his meridians. It wasn't a roaring river like Rou's. It was a slow, heavy sludge.

  "Seed sprouting is finished," the Spirit whispered. "You reached Cloud Gathering: Level 1 (Initial). Stability is Perfect."

  "It's enough," Mingzhi said.

  He went outside. Rou was waiting. She radiated power. She had reached Cloud Gathering Level 2 (Peak). She was a true genius.

  They said goodbye to their parents. There were tears, promises, and bags packed with dried food.

  The Azure Cloud Sect.

  The journey from Green River Village took three days of hard walking, following the White-Silk Stream upstream until the water turned into mist and the dirt turned into stone.

  Finally, they broke through the treeline.

  Mingzhi stopped. Beside him, Rou—now fourteen and having grown taller, her baby fat replaced by the lean grace of a cultivator—gasped softly.

  They stood on a massive plateau, halfway up the central peak of the mountain range. Below them, the world was a carpet of green and brown, the village reduced to a mere speck of dust. Above them, the mountain pierced the heavens.

  This was the domain of the Azure Cloud Sect.

  The air here was thin, crisp, and tasted of ozone and pine. It wasn't just air; it was saturated with a visible, white mist that drifted lazily across the stone plaza. This was the "Azure Cloud"—a natural gathering of high-density Qi that bathed the entire mountain in perpetual spiritual fog.

  To their left and right, ancient forests of Spirit Pine clung to the sheer cliff faces, their needles gleaming like emerald needles. Waterfalls tumbled from heights so great they turned into vapor before hitting the bottom, feeding the eternal mist.

  But it was the Gate that dominated the view.

  Two pillars of white marble, thick as ancient redwoods and towering a hundred feet into the sky, marked the entrance. They weren't built; they looked as if they had been carved directly out of the mountain's bones. Intricate carvings of dragons and phoenixes wound around the pillars, their eyes set with fist-sized spirit stones that pulsed with a low, rhythmic light.

  Between the pillars, there were no doors—only a shimmering, translucent veil of energy. The Sect Defense Array. Even from this distance, Mingzhi could feel the hum of it vibrating in his teeth.

  "It’s... huge," Rou whispered, clutching the strap of her travel bag. "The Qi here... it’s so thick I can taste it."

  "It’s a paradise," Mingzhi agreed, his eyes scanning the structure not with awe, but with analysis. The pillars act as antennas. The mist is a containment field. This whole mountain is one giant engine.

  The plateau was swarming. Thousands of hopefuls had gathered like ants at the foot of a giant. There were sons of wealthy merchants in silk carriages, tribal warriors in furs from the Northern Wastes, and commoners in rough hemp like them. The noise of chatter, nervous laughter, and horses neighing filled the plaza.

  "Mingzhi," the Spirit’s voice cut through the noise, sharp and warning. "Do not be distracted by the scenery. I feel many powerful Divine Senses sweeping the crowd. The Elders are watching.”

  Mingzhi stiffened. "They are scanning for talent?"

  "Yes. And anomalies. If they see a fourteen-year-old with a Peak Level 2 cultivation, or a boy with a Perfect Earth Seed, you will be marked immediately. A tall tree attracts the wind."

  "I know," Mingzhi thought. "Spirit, I’ll activate the Seed Concealment Technique."

  He reached out and grabbed Rou’s hand. She flinched, looking at him, but seeing his serious expression, she quieted.

  "Rou," he whispered. "Channel your Qi like I showed you. Dim the light. We are not geniuses today. We are just lucky peasants."

  "Okay," she breathed.

  A faint, invisible grey film covered their Dantians. To any observer scanning them from the clouds, Mingzhi’s radiant Perfect Earth Seed now looked like a muddy, average Low-Grade seed. Rou’s brilliant Water Seed dimmed to a respectable, but not shocking, Mid-Grade.

  They blended into the sea of faces.

  Mingzhi looked up at the towering marble gates, disappearing into the mist above. Somewhere up there were the resources he needed. Somewhere up there was the key to change his fate.

  "Let's go," Mingzhi said, adjusting his pack.

  He took the first step onto the white stone plaza.