The air in the Li Clan's main hall was thick with a formal, tense energy. The Elders' Council had convened to officially announce the three disciples who would represent the Verdant Sword Li Clan at the Three-Clans Tournament.
Clan Head Li Tao stood before the assembled disciples, his face an unreadable mask. "The future of our clan rests on the shoulders of its strongest young blood," he declared, his voice echoing in the silent hall. "After careful deliberation, the three representatives are..."
He paused, letting the anticipation build to a fever pitch.
"Li Jin."
No surprise there. Li Jin stepped forward, his chin held high, a flicker of vengeful determination in his eyes. He was the known quantity, the clan's public face of strength, even if it had been recently bruised.
"Li Yue."
A graceful young woman with sharp, intelligent eyes and an aura of serene power stepped forward. The reveal of her 9th Stage cultivation sent a wave of excited murmurs through the disciples. She was their quiet ace, the reassurance they needed.
"And Li Wei."
A dead silence fell. Then, the whispers began, sharp and disbelieving. But this time, the disbelief was different. It wasn't just about his shocking rise; it was about the aura he no longer fully bothered to conceal.
As Li Wei stepped forward to join the others, he didn't feel like a disciple. The single Heavenly Seal he had shattered on his Ancient God Bloodline and the one on his Divine Dao Bone had done more than grant him power; they had changed his fundamental presence. A wisp of divine might, thin as smoke but real, emanated from him. It wasn't the crushing pressure he could unleash, but a deep, unsettling density, as if a sliver of a mountain's core had taken human form.
Li Jin's hatred was a hot, sharp thing. Li Yue's analytical gaze, however, was now filled with a deep, sober caution. She wasn't just assessing a rival; she was studying a natural phenomenon.
"The honor of the Li Clan rests with you," the Clan Head concluded, his eyes like chips of ice as they rested on Li Wei.
---
The news traveled, and the rivals' reactions were sharpened by this new intelligence.
In Stormwind City, Bai Zixin scoffed at the report. "So the Li Clan's brute has an unusual aura? A trick of some demonic art. It changes nothing. My storm will scatter any illusion he's built."
In the Misty Vales, Yun Lian received the update in silence. After a long moment, she spoke, her voice softer than usual. "A density that feels ancient... not cultivated, but... unleashed." She looked at her attendants. "Cancel our previous assumptions. We do not understand what Li Wei is. He is no longer just an enigma; he is a variable that changes the equation of the entire tournament."
---
That evening, Li Wei stood with his father. The roster of nine champions lay between them.
"You have drawn their full attention now," Li Kang said. "That wisp of your true nature you let slip... it was a declaration."
"It was a necessity," Li Wei replied, his voice calm. "Let them be wary. Let them waste their energy trying to solve me. It will make them predictable."
His father nodded, a grim pride in his eyes. "And your progress? The... internal matter?"
Later, in the profound silence of his cave, Li Wei confronted the heart of his struggle. His consciousness dove inward, to where the two colossal matrices of the Heavenly Seals pulsed with cosmic energy.
The first seal on his Bloodline was gone, a gaping hole through which a river of divine power now flowed, tempering his body ceaselessly. The first seal on his Dao Bone was shattered, his mind now a sharper instrument, capable of perceiving the hidden architecture of the world.
But his gaze moved past this victory to the terrifying truth he had recently comprehended. Each major seal was not a single lock, but a foundational formation of 108 individual, interlocking runes.
One was broken. 107 remained for the Bloodline.
One was broken. 107 remained for the Dao Bone.
Two hundred and fourteen seals still held him back from his birthright.
He focused his will, the combined power of his 8th Stage cultivation and the torrent from his first broken seal, and pushed against the second rune on his Bloodline.
The resistance was like trying to push a continent. Despite the cracks the rune didn't even shudder. The energy required was not linear; it was a cliff face.
The realization was a cold, hard certainty in his soul.
To break the second seal, he would need to reach the very Peak of the Qi Gathering Realm. He would need to stand at the absolute limit of mortal cultivation, on the precipice of Foundation Establishment.
The tournament in one month was no longer a simple contest. It was the anvil. His rivals were the hammers. He would use their strength, their hatred, and their own potent energy—devouring it all with the "Primordial Sovereign Scripture"—to forge himself to that absolute peak.
He opened his eyes, the cave walls seeming to press in against the immense pressure contained within his flesh. The path was clear. The first seal had given him a taste of divinity. The second would grant him a true measure of its power.
He would break it. The tournament would be his catalyst.