Qin Mu sat cross-legged on the cold stone floor, unmoving. His breathing was steady, slow—almost unnaturally calm.

  At first, nothing seemed different.

  Then the air inside the ruin shifted.

  A faint golden light began to radiate from his body.

  Chen Wei’s eyes opened instantly. Liu Hao followed a second later, her expression turning sharp.

  The temperature in the room changed. The ancient inscriptions on the walls flickered faintly in response.

  “That’s not normal…” Liu Hao muttered.

  The light intensified.

  A golden mark slowly formed on Qin Mu’s forehead. It was intricate, circular, layered with patterns resembling a Dao imprint. But it was incomplete—hollow in the center, fragile, as if suppressed.

  Even so, the pressure it emitted was ancient.

  Chen Wei stood slowly. Her calm demeanor faltered for the first time.

  “That… is not ordinary Qi.”

  The mark pulsed once.

  Golden lines spread from his forehead, flowing down his neck and across his skin. Symbols appeared faintly over his arms and chest—ancient script glowing softly, as if recognizing their rightful bearer.

  The ruin trembled.

  Then—

  Dark threads surfaced from beneath his skin.

  A seal.

  It wrapped around the golden lines, tightening like chains. The Dao mark flickered violently. The golden glow weakened.

  The symbols faded one by one.

  The seal stabilized.

  Silence returned.

  Qin Mu remained seated, unaware.

  Liu Hao’s playful expression was gone. “That’s a bloodline…” she said quietly.

  Chen Wei’s gaze remained fixed on Qin Mu’s forehead, where the hollow imprint had vanished.

  “And not a common one.”

  Deep inside him, something powerful had tried to awaken.

  And something equally powerful had forced it back down.

  The air slowly calmed.

  The trembling of the ruin ceased. The faint reaction from the ancient walls faded, as if whatever had stirred chose to retreat.

  But Chen Wei and Liu Hao did not relax.

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  They understood something had just happened.

  And it was not normal.

  Not for this world.

  Liu Hao stepped closer, her playful expression completely gone. She carefully extended her senses toward Qin Mu—but only slightly.

  The remnants of the golden mark still lingered faintly in the air.

  “It shouldn’t exist here,” she said quietly.

  Chen Wei’s gaze remained fixed on his forehead. “That kind of Dao imprint… doesn’t belong to the mortal plane.”

  Her eyes shifted to the faint dark threads beneath his skin. The seal was still there—layered, precise, impossibly refined.

  “It’s not just suppression,” Chen Wei said.

  Liu Hao nodded slowly. “It’s containment.”

  The structure of the seal was intricate, woven with laws far deeper than ordinary restraints. It did not simply block Qi—it locked something far greater within him.

  Chen Wei’s voice lowered.

  “This… is a seal meant for the Celestial Realm.”

  Silence returned to the ruin.

  Qin Mu remained seated, unaware of everything.

  Liu Hao looked at him differently now. Not as a burden. Not as a hostage.

  “But why,” she murmured, “would someone place a celestial seal… on him?”

  The golden imprint had vanished.

  But both of them knew—

  The boy sitting before them was no longer just someone with sealed Qi.

  He was something far more dangerous.

  And far more important.

  The ruin fell completely silent.

  Chen Wei and Liu Hao did not speak again. They simply watched him—more carefully now.

  The faint traces of golden light in the air slowly disappeared.

  On the surface, everything had returned to normal.

  But deep within Qin Mu—

  Something had changed.

  Inside his inner domain, the endless glowing pattern trembled.

  The sealed sphere at the center pulsed violently, reacting to the brief awakening.

  Boom.

  A ripple spread across the massive diagram.

  The dark threads wrapped tightly around the golden core—but one strand flickered.

  Then—

  Crack.

  A thin fracture appeared across one of the sealing lines. Small. Barely noticeable.

  But real.

  The golden sphere brightened in response, its light pressing outward like a heartbeat trying to break free.

  The surrounding patterns began to rotate slowly, as if adjusting to the disturbance.

  For the first time, the seal did not look absolute.

  It looked… strained.

  The fracture glowed faintly before stabilizing.

  The threads tightened again.

  Silence returned to the inner space.

  But the crack remained.

  And far within the golden core—

  Something stirred.

  Not awake.

  But aware.

  ……

  “What… what is this?” I whispered to myself, my heart racing. The golden patterns, the sphere… and that thin crack in the seal.

  “I need to get out of here before I do something wrong,” I muttered.

  I tried to open my eyes. Nothing. My body felt… trapped, like I was stuck inside myself. I tried to shout, “Wake up… wake up…” but no sound came out.

  Frustrated, I swung my fists through the air, trying to force my body to move.

  Then, I remembered… dreams. I imagined moving, forcing my mind to push my body.

  Boom.

  I gasped and woke up.

  I glanced at Chen Wei and Liu Hao, and for a moment, I just stared. Then… I winked at them and gave a small, mischievous smile.

  Liu Hao’s face turned red. She looked like she wanted to glare, but didn’t say a word.

  I thought to myself, smirking at her reaction.

  Before I could say anything else, a rock smacked lightly against my face.

  “Hey! What the—” I exclaimed, rubbing my cheek.

  I shook my head, half laughing, half exasperated. Somehow… despite everything, I felt alive.

  Time passed, and the air felt warmer. I wondered if it was morning now… or maybe the air just wasn’t the same as outside.

  We started walking again, following a narrow path that twisted and turned. Every corner seemed to lead to another, and I had no idea how long we’d been moving.

  Eventually, we reached another large stone blocking the path. Without a word, Chen Wei and Liu Hao began again. Small flags appeared in their hands, spinning through the air, waving in precise patterns.

  This time… it was faster than before. Way faster. My eyes had to track them quickly just to keep up, and I could feel the energy in the air pulsing differently.

  I swallowed hard and muttered to myself,

  Then, suddenly, a bright light appeared on the stone. It was blinding at first, almost painful to look at.

  I blinked rapidly, shielding my eyes, but Chen Wei grabbed my hand firmly.

  “Come on,” she said softly, pulling me along.

  I followed them, my heart pounding, stepping carefully toward… I didn’t even know where. The world around us seemed to blur, the bright light stretching and twisting like it had no end.

  Somehow, I trusted them. Somehow, I knew I had no choice but to follow.

  And just like that… we moved into nowhere.