The cavern groaned like an ancient beast roused from slumber. Primeval energy howled around Luo Hao's floating form, a maelstrom of sapphire fury that clawed at the air with crackling arcs. Droplets from the spring defied gravity, spiraling upward in luminous threads to weave a shimmering cocoon around him—each bead pulsing with inner light, warm as fresh blood, fragrant with the mineral tang of forgotten depths.
Chief Xuan's breath caught in his throat. In all his decades overseeing awakenings, he had never witnessed the spring itself rise in reverence. Unprecedented,he murmured, the word tasting of awe and thunder.
Far beneath the chaos, Luo Hao's Sea of Consciousness was collapsing.
Fractures raced across the rippling expanse like lightning frozen in glass. Voids yawned, swallowing starlight and memory alike. Luo Hao knelt, clutching his skull, breath ragged as fear gnawed at him.
I can't die yet… I can't die yet…
Death's shadow loomed, cold and inevitable—until a softer voice pierced the chaos. His mother's, warm as summer rain on parched earth,"You were born to survive".
The words ignited something feral. Luo Hao surged to his feet, eyes blazing with unquenchable resolve. Primeval energy answered his call, coiling around him in silken ropes that lifted him into the fractured void. The air hummed, electric and alive, carrying the faint scent of ozone and blooming night jasmine.
"Malice."
The entity materialized in a swirl of crimson mist, its eyes twin furnaces of hellfire. Luo Hao met that gaze without fear, drifting closer until his palm pressed against its brow. The contact seared like molten iron, but he held firm.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, voice steady as the mountains. "But survival demands sacrifice."
His words spilled forth, each one a blade forged in desperation:
"You are rank four—perhaps a rank five spirit soul. A divine engine of will. But this body is a crumbling tomb. One breath of your power, and I scatter like ash. He leaned forward, forehead nearly touching the spiritsoul.
"Potential is useless to the dead."
The entity thrummed, a low growl vibrating through the void.
"I choose the path no genius would dare. I sacrifice greatness to live."
"You will shrink. You will dim. You will become the smallest, weakest form possible."
"A Rank One Spirit Soul."
"We will be mocked. We will crawl beneath the notice of every arrogant eye. And while they sleep comfortably upon their pride… we will sharpen ours into a blade."
His eyes glowed eerily within the darkness.
Malice convulsed. Its colossal form folded inward, shadows compressing into a single crimson orb that throbbed warmly in Luo Hao's palms—like a heart plucked from a dying god. The fractures halted, but the damage lingered, a shattered sky bleeding starlight.
"If I wake now," Luo Hao murmured, "my mind will break."He stared at the orb, pulse steady despite the chaos. The suppressed essence… I can mend the fractures. But the cost.
*So be it.*
"Release."
The orb erupted in a shockwave of scarlet force, guided by his iron will. It swept through the voids like a healer's touch, knitting shards back into wholeness. Where darkness had devoured, a velvet canopy unfurled—brilliant with constellations that glittered like scattered diamonds on black silk. The air tasted clean, crisp with the promise of dawn after endless night.
The orb returned, dimmer but intact. Luo Hao descended, setting it gently on the rippling ground. Ambient energy swirled, reshaping Malice into a leaner form—three meters of coiled shadow and crimson mist, horns shorter, eyes subdued embers.
Smaller. Weaker. Alive.
He turned to the restored cosmos. "It's time to wake up," Luo Hao said. His voice held no fear.
The cavern exhaled. The cocoon dissolved into mist; the spring settled with a sigh, its surface mirroring the cavern's cracked ceiling like a somber lake. Luo Hao's body drifted down, laid upon cool stone with the tenderness of a mother's cradle.
Chief Xuan and Luo Zhen approached through settling dust thaty motes that danced in faint luminescent glow. Luo Zhen's voice cracked like a whip. "What in the nine hells was that?"
"He stabilized it…" Chief Xuan whispered, shock and awe mixing in his voice. "I have never seen such control."
Luo Zhen's smile was a thin blade. "So when will he wake?"
"Any moment."
Luo Hao's eyes flew open. He gasped, lungs burning as if scorched by desert winds, heart hammering against fragile ribs. Chief Xuan enveloped him in soothing Primeval energy—cool as moonlit dew, steady as ancient redwoods. Two minutes later, Luo Hao stood, bowing deeply.
"Thank you, Chief Xuan."
"No thanks needed." The chief's gaze lingered, probing.
Luo Zhen's laugh sliced the air, sharp as broken glass. "What rank? Speak."
Luo Hao's smile was faint, weary. "Rank one. Entity type."
Luo Zhen doubled over, mirth echoing off fractured walls. "All that chaos for a rank one? Not even plant-type? The Luo name weeps!"
Luo Hao's expression remained stone, but his gaze drifted to the cavern's scars fissures weeping dust, rubble strewn like fallen constellations. The inner war scarred the outer world.
He bowed again. "I apologize for the damage."
Chief Xuan waved it off. "The cave mends itself. Pay it no mind."
But a rank one doesn't shatter stone,* the chief thought, stroking his beard. What miracle—or madness—did you weave, boy?.
Soon, they were all back at the Luo estate courtyard. Cherry blossoms drifted like pink snow as tea was served.
Chief Xuan sipped thoughtfully, then set his cup down with purpose. "Both boys should enroll in Jingxing Academy."
Luo Zhen's brows arched. "Luo Jin, naturally. But luo hao?"
Chief Xuan cut in.
"He possesses four times the Primeval Energy of a typical Rank One. More than most Spirit Core Stage youths. His potential is undeniable."
Luo Zhen bit back his protest and instead asked the boys. "Do you wish to attend?"
Luo Jin nodded, smug as a cat in cream. Luo Hao weighed the offer: Freedom. Resources. Fewer chains.* He inclined his head.
Chief Xuan smiled.
"Good. But the Academy only accepts those who have formed their Spirit Core. The next entrance exam is in one week."
His expression turned grave.
"So you must succeed within that time."
Luo Hao's eyes darkened—not with fear, but with calculation.
"One week."