Kaelan contemplates the message Chen Qi sent through one of his crows.
It did not arrive through a wizard communication tower, because this tower is not yet complete. He has only finished the structure; the runes are not fully engraved, and the arrays have yet to be formed.
He reads the letter carefully.
After the martial artists attacked the Demon Palace, only a few hours passed before the Night Dynasty launched an assault on the same region. What followed was not a simple conflict, but a spiralling catastrophe.
At first, it was a three-way war.
Then it became four.
The Twilight Race entered the battlefield, targeting only the Night Dynasty. However, the situation quickly deteriorated. Martial artists, driven into bloodthirsty madness by the accumulation of killing, corpse, and blood evil energies, began attacking Twilight Race members as well. In response, the Twilight Race struck back without hesitation.
At times, Twilight forces even attacked the Demon Palace.
They made no effort to distinguish between lower demons of the Night Dynasty and those of the Demon Palace.
Once human, the Twilight Race still retains memories of their past lives. They cannot feel those memories directly—it is like reading from a book—but repeated exposure allows fragments of emotion and preference to surface. Because of this, they feel no kinship with the demon race as a whole. To them, demons are demons, regardless of faction.
Kaelan finishes reading the letter and falls silent.
He knows a decision must be made.
He can feel it clearly—the rules of the world are sliding toward chaos. As a god of this world, he understands what that means.
An era is ending.
A new era is about to begin.
If the Wizard Way wins this war, then without further intervention, the nodes of the world will inevitably transform into magic energy nodes, and the rules of the world will tilt toward wizard cultivation. If that future is to be secured, the wizards must not remain spectators.
They must participate.
And they must win.
Kaelan vanishes from his tower and appears high above Tian Ren Mountain. His soul sense spreads outward, covering the entire human territory. Through the resonance of spirit and magic, his will is transmitted directly into the minds of wizards across the land.
Every wizard of official rank and above is to participate in the war.
Only the rulers of the kingdoms and those wizards essential to resource production are exempt.
Within one week, all others are to gather in the Golden Horde Kingdom.
This is not a request.
It is an order.
Any wizard who refuses will be deemed a traitor to the Wizard Way.
With the command delivered, Kaelan withdraws his soul sense and returns to his tower. As he descends, he sees Lin Zian and Minyu waiting outside.
He lands lightly before them.
Both bow at once.
"Lord Kong."
"I hope you two did not wait long," Kaelan says as he steps toward the entrance.
"We arrived only a few moments ago," Minyu replies.
Kaelan opens the door and leads them into one of the empty rooms. After they sit, Lin Zian speaks.
"Lord Kong, about the talent required to cultivate the Psychic Way—what exactly does it involve?"
Kaelan answers calmly.
"To cultivate the Psychic Way, one must awaken Spirit Light."
They both nod.
"Spirit Light," Kaelan continues, "is an advanced form of spirit power. To awaken it, talent is required. There are two key conditions."
He raises one finger.
"First, extremely nuanced control over spirit power."
Then a second.
"Second, the presence of Yang power within the spirit."
Both Lin Zian and Minyu frown slightly as they absorb his words.
Kaelan watches their expressions without interrupting, leaning back as if waiting for something inevitable to surface. He wants them inside the Wizard Way. Not merely because they are strong, but because they carry the aura of heaven and earth itself. They are protagonists of the current era, figures the world naturally gathers around. And this era is already reaching its conclusion. When an era ends, its protagonists are meant to bring it to a close, whether they desire it or not, guided subtly by the World Will.
Kaelan's thoughts snap back when Minyu finally speaks.
"Lord Kong, then what should we do?"
A faint smile appears in Kaelan's eyes, though his face remains calm. The fish has bitten.
"How about making the Psychic Way part of the Wizard Way?" he says.
Both of them look at him sharply, their gazes probing, searching for hidden intent. Kaelan remains relaxed, unguarded, as though the suggestion carries no weight beyond practicality.
Lin Zian speaks next.
"Lord Kong, what do we gain by joining the Wizard Way?"
Kaelan does not answer immediately. Instead, he tilts his head slightly and says, "You already know this. Among ten people, on average, only one has the talent required to awaken Spirit Light and cultivate the Psychic Way."
He pauses, letting the fact settle, then continues.
"But if the Psychic Way becomes part of the Wizard Way, that one becomes three."
Their expressions shift subtly.
Kaelan goes on, his tone unhurried.
"And what else do you gain? A clear method to advance to the third stage of transcendence. And beyond that, the cultivation method of the third stage itself."
Silence follows. Lin Zian and Minyu exchange glances, both weighing the implications.
Then Kaelan adds calmly, "Moreover, I don't actually need you."
Their eyes snap back to him.
Kaelan raises a finger. A tiny sphere of light forms above it, condensed, pure, and steady. Spirit Light.
"I can create a cultivation method for Psychic Wizards on my own," he says. "I can fold the Psychic Way into the Wizard Way without your help."
Minyu narrows his eyes slightly.
"Then why do you need our permission?"
Kaelan lets the light fade and looks at Lin Zian.
"I can be considered half a teacher to him."
Minyu looks to Lin Zian for confirmation. Lin Zian nods once.
Kaelan continues, "So I cannot simply step over my student for something trivial. That would be unbecoming."
He leans forward slightly.
"And if you join the Wizard Way, I won't need to fight you later. I can focus my attention elsewhere."
The room grows quiet again, the weight of Kaelan's words lingering, as the future of the Psychic Way—and their place in the next era—hangs undecided.
Hours later, Lin Zian and Minyu both frown as they reach the gates of the capital city. Even before entering, they sense it—an undercurrent of urgency, a restless chaos humming through the air. As they step inside, the streets confirm it. Carriages loaded with supplies roll past one another in tight formation. Messengers run, merchants shout orders, and civilians hurry along with tense expressions.
Something has changed.
When they finally return to their lodging, Lin Zian looks around and asks, "What happened to the city while we were gone?"
He Muyi answers at once. "We heard that Lord Kong issued a full mobilisation order to all official wizards and above, delivered directly through spirit communication."
Lin Zian and Minyu exchange looks, both frowning.
"We didn't hear anything," Minyu says.
Guang Lian speaks up quietly, "Only wizards received Lord Kong's order."
Understanding dawns. They nod and take their seats.
He Muyi watches them carefully. "What did Lord Kong talk to you two about?"
Lin Zian and Minyu glance at each other again, then answer in unison, "It's top secret."
She sighs, then asks the question that has clearly been weighing on her.
"Then what about me? About not being able to cultivate the Psychic Way?"
Minyu answers bluntly, "You don't have the talent to awaken Spirit Light."
He Muyi has already heard about the talent requirement, but she still presses on.
"Can't Lord Kong do anything about it?"
Lin Zian shakes his head. "He didn't say it's impossible. He advised us to artificially create the talent required for the Psychic Way."
Her eyes sharpen. "Artificially?"
"Yes," Lin Zian continues. "By arranging an array inside the spirit space to awaken Spirit Light. The array would refine spirit power into a core and inject Yang energy into it."
He Muyi's eyes widen slightly. "Then why can't you two just create that array yourselves?"
Minyu exhales. "We can. And we intend to. But the array itself isn't the real problem."
"Then what is?" she asks sharply. "Is Lord Kong pressuring you to join the Wizard Way?"
Both of them shake their heads immediately.
"No," Lin Zian says. "Nothing like that."
He pauses, then continues, "The real problem is the runes."
He Muyi falls silent.
Runes are not just symbols. They are language systems used to interpret, structure, and command the rules of the world. Every cultivation path uses its own framework. Martial arts, Qi refinement, wizardry—all of them encode the laws differently.
If the Psychic Way is to remain independent of the Wizard Way, then its arrays cannot use wizard runes.
They would need an entirely new rune language.
One that does not exist yet.
That realisation settles heavily in her chest. Creating a new rune system would take years—perhaps decades—and require the collaboration of countless minds. Meanwhile, the Qi Refining path is already dying, its future sealed.
At last, she speaks softly but firmly.
"Then let's join the Wizard Way."
Lin Zian and Minyu look at her in surprise.
She does not mention Qi refiner runes at all. There is no need.
In her heart, she already knows the truth.
Qi refiners have no future left in this world.