The office lights flickered back on—the two "security auditors" had vanished. Amidst the murmuring crowd, Director Li announced the inspection's cancellation through gritted teeth.
Chu Yang's gaze swept across the opposite building. Su Yuyan was already gone. The jade slip in his pocket burned like an ember.
*"Chu Yang."* Wang Shijie materialized behind him, voice hushed. *"Stay after work. We need to talk."*
His beady eyes gleamed unnaturally, the jade pendant at his neck squirming like a living thing under spiritual sight. Chu Yang nodded, pretending not to notice the black mist coiling around whatever Wang clutched in his pocket—a sibling to the pendant's malice.
At the end-of-day chime, Chu Yang moved swiftly. He had no intention of keeping Wang's appointment. Just as the elevator doors closed, a hand shot through—Zhang Hao, one of the few colleagues he trusted.
*"Heard you cleared three days' backlog in hours?"* Zhang squeezed in, eyeing him. *"Did Wang give you trouble?"*
Chu Yang shook his head, noting the wisp of gray energy clinging to Zhang's forehead—unlike the others'. *"Migraines lately? Nightmares?"*
Zhang's eyes widened. *"How did—?"*
The elevator dinged. Chu Yang seized Zhang's wrist, channeling a thread of spiritual energy. The gray tendril recoiled like a scorched worm, retreating into Zhang's temple.
*"Go home. Soak your feet in saltwater. If nightmares persist, put scissors under your pillow."*
Before Zhang could react, Chu Yang was already striding into the twilight city.
The urban landscape had transformed under spiritual vision: streams of light seeped from the earth, coiling up skyscrapers like luminous vines. Some areas shimmered with dense energy; others lay parched as deserts.
His phone buzzed—an unknown number:
**「Don't return home. Hostiles waiting. Stay at Starry Inn tonight.—S」**
*S—Su Yuyan.* How did she get his number? And who was lying in ambush?
The jade slip pulsed, pulling him toward a narrow alley. At its end stood the *Starry Inn*, its unremarkable facade veiled in a blue energy shield.
The drowsy front-desk clerk shoved a key at him. *"Room 304. Prepaid."*
Inside, folded clothes and a note awaited:
**「Change immediately. Tracking talisman on your buttons. Meet at dawn.—S」**
Sure enough, a blood-like sigil lurked beneath a shirt button. Chu Yang changed, dumping the contaminated clothes.
Night fully descended. Sitting cross-legged, he revisited the *Tai Xu Yan Tian Jue*'s first layer. This time, he guided his energy like debugging code—precise, controlled.
Breath slowed. Heartbeat steadied. His senses sharpened: he heard snores through walls, TVs three floors down, distant car horns. Spiritual energy no longer raged but flowed along meridians, coalescing below his navel into a swirling vortex.
*"Dantian..."* The term surfaced instinctively. At its core, a drop of liquid spiritual essence formed—crystalline as morning dew.
The jade slip blazed:
**「Qi condenses to liquid—Foundation of Cultivation. The path begins.」**
Six hours had passed. His body thrummed with vitality.
At the window, his night vision pierced darkness like daylight. Concentrating, he mapped energy signatures: the clerk's faint glow (a low-level cultivator); a murky red pulse in Room 310 (something sinister); and outside...
Chu Yang recoiled.
In the alley, a *thing* stood—elongated limbs, featureless save for a mouth split ear-to-ear. It *sniffed* the air, hunting.
*"One of Su Yuyan's 'nether creatures'..."*
The abomination twisted toward the inn. Its joints inverted like a spider's, scaling the wall toward *his floor*.
Adrenaline spiked—yet fear didn't follow. Energy gathered in his palms, morphing into twin whirlwinds at his mental command.
*CRASH!*
The window shattered. The creature oozed in, needle-teeth glistening.
*"Shaaadow... devourer..."* it rasped, lunging.
Chu Yang released the energy nets. The creature shrieked, smoking where it touched—but tore free, claws aimed at his throat.
A roll dodged the strike. He swung a lamp—it passed through like mist, yet the attached spiritual energy made the monster convulse.
*Physical attacks useless. Energy works.*
At the next lunge, Chu Yang funneled all his qi into his fist, recalling the jade slip's *"Piercing Rainbow"* technique.
Impact.
A *pop* echoed inside him—a barrier ruptured. Blue energy erupted in a beam, spearing through the creature's chest.
Its howl pierced the night as its body crisped to foul black ooze.
Gasping, Chu Yang collapsed. The strike had drained him, but fresh energy already regenerated—purer, stronger.
The jade slip vibrated:
**「Breakthrough achieved—Qi Refining Stage. The Dao's foundation is laid.」**
*He'd advanced.*
Testing his refined control, he conjured a blue flame on his fingertip.
The black ooze began evaporating—then the floor *absorbed* it. Spiritual vision revealed arrays beneath the inn, purging all traces.
*No wonder Su Yuyan sent me here.*
Dawn approached. As Chu Yang rested, Zhang Hao's text arrived:
**「EMERGENCY—Wang hospitalized. 'Stroke-like symptoms.' Keeps screaming your name. The jade pendant's GONE.」**
Chu Yang bolted upright. *Had Wang been attacked? Or was this tied to those 'auditors'?*
Outside, the waking city seemed ordinary. But to his enhanced sight, sinister currents swirled beneath the surface.
The jade slip warmed in his grip.
This hidden world of cultivation—brutal, arcane, *real*—had fully claimed him now.
And it was only the beginning.