Chen Hao stepped forward, eyes locked onto Shen Tian like a predator eyeing a weakened prey.
"I heard you humiliated Lu He. Do you think that gives you anything? Without Qi, you cannot cultivate. You are a cripple."
Shen Tian didn't respond. He simply dusted his robes and stood.
Chen Hao's smirk deepened.
"What's wrong? Did your strange eyes stop working?"
Shen Tian met his gaze calmly.
"Do you always speak more than you think?"
Chen Hao froze, clearly not expecting the reply.
"You—!"
His anger erupted instantly.
"I challenge you. Right here. Right now."
His voice echoed across the courtyard.
Shen Tian remained unfazed.
"No."
Chen Hao blinked, stunned.
"No?"
Shen Tian turned slightly, as if preparing to leave.
"You're too weak to challenge me."
The words fell like boulders into the courtyard.
Chen Hao's face reddened, trembling with fury.
"You dare—!?"
He gathered Qi in his palm. Azure light swirled violently, forming a crackling disc of energy.
"If you won't accept, I'll force you."
Shen Tian inhaled slowly and looked back at Chen Hao. His Sharingan activated, its two tomoe spinning gently.
Chen Hao staggered a step back despite himself. Something inside him responded instinctively to the sight of those eyes, like prey recognizing a predator.
Shen Tian spoke without raising his voice.
"I don't fight those who think with anger. Return when you can fight with intent."
Chen Hao's teeth ground so hard they creaked.
"You… will regret this."
He stormed away, his followers scrambling behind him. Their laughter was gone. Their swagger, gone. What remained was fear, confusion, and something worse—wounded pride.
Shen Tian watched them leave, expression unreadable.
He felt no satisfaction. Only fatigue.
Why does power always attract conflict?
He looked once more at the talisman, its surface dark and silent now.
If he continued down this path, he wouldn't just stand out in the sect.
He would become the center of everything it feared.
He closed his eyes once more, letting the waterfall's roar envelope him.
He did not come to this world to start a war.
But fate was already sharpening blades in the shadows.
Night draped itself over Azure Cloud Sect like a silken mantle, and the moon rose high above the mountain peaks, bathing the training grounds in silver light. Shen Tian remained seated beside the waterfall, the jade talisman resting against his palm.
He had been trying to meditate, but something about tonight felt different. The air was colder. The shadows stretched farther. The moonlight itself seemed sharper, as if watching him.
The talisman warmed suddenly.
Shen Tian opened his eyes.
The symbols carved onto its surface began to glow faintly, reacting not to his body or mind—
But to the moon.
A thread of pale light descended from the sky and connected to the talisman like a thin strand of spider silk. Shen Tian's breath caught.
"What is this?"
The jade vibrated softly. Shen Tian hesitated for only a moment before lifting it.
The moment the talisman aligned with the moon's reflection on the waterfall pool, a pulse of energy raced through his mind.
His Sharingan ignited.
Two tomoe in one eye. One tomoe in the other.
But this time, they spun in harmony.
Suddenly, he saw it—patterns carved into moonlight itself, threads of intention stretching across space. His perception expanded beyond body and spirit. He could sense emotions, killing intent, trajectories of movement not yet begun.
For a heartbeat, he felt as though the world was no longer made of matter…
But of choices waiting to happen.
Then pain struck him like a lightning bolt.
Shen Tian clenched his head, gasping as the vision threatened to tear apart his consciousness. The talisman pulsed furiously, and the moonlight around him twisted as if alive.
He sensed something—an ancient presence, watching from beyond sight, as if another being was staring into him through the moon itself.
A whisper curled into his mind.
Do not look forward.
Shen Tian's heart pounded.
The words echoed exactly like the warning from the cloaked figure in his dream.
He tore the talisman away from the moonlight, and the visions stopped abruptly. His Sharingan dimmed, and the world snapped back into normal clarity.
"Not forward," Shen Tian muttered. "Then what am I supposed to see?"
Before he could steady his breath, a rustle came from behind.
A figure stepped out from the shadows, moving with the silence of a ghost.
It was a girl.
Her robes were dark blue, embroidered with silver clouds. Her face was calm, her eyes sharp, and her black hair cascaded down her back like a raven's wing. She held a scroll in one hand and regarded Shen Tian as though she had been observing him for a long time.
"You should not be here tonight."
Her voice was soft, but every word was deliberate.
Shen Tian straightened slightly.
"And you are?"
The girl ignored his question and stepped closer, eyes fixed on his talisman.
"Moon resonance cultivation is forbidden to outer disciples. You are not supposed to know of it."
Shen Tian's brow furrowed.
"I didn't know. It reacted on its own."
The girl's expression didn't change.
"That is precisely the problem."
She opened the scroll. Symbols similar to those on his talisman shimmered faintly.
"This world is bound by rules. Some techniques open paths not meant for mortals. Moon resonance is one such path. It touches the soul."
Shen Tian met her gaze steadily.
"My power was never mine to choose."
The girl's expression flickered—surprise, then intrigue.
"You speak as though your destiny does not follow this world."
Shen Tian remained silent. He could not explain what Naruto was. He could not explain chakra, reincarnation, or anime.
The girl sighed softly and pointed at the moon.
"Do you know why the moon affects your talisman?"
Shen Tian shook his head.
The girl spoke slowly.
"Because the eyes you possess are not eyes of Qi, but eyes of will. They follow a different law. The moon governs reflection and truth. It does not show the future…"
Her gaze sharpened.
"It shows what you refuse to see."
Shen Tian froze.
"What I refuse to see?"
The girl nodded.
"Your eyes evolve based on your choices. The more you deny part of yourself, the faster the next stage awakens… forcibly."
The hairs on Shen Tian's neck rose.
Forcibly.
Just like last night.
He whispered, barely audible.
"What happens when the third tomoe appears?"
The girl closed the scroll and stepped back.
"Then your eyes will no longer see the world."
Her voice grew quieter.
"They will see everything beyond it."
Shen Tian felt cold crawl through his veins.
The girl turned to leave but paused.
"Be cautious, Shen Tian. Not all secrets are meant to be uncovered. Those who stare too deeply into truth…"
She looked over her shoulder, moonlight tracing her profile.
"…are devoured by it."
Then she vanished into the shadows as though she had never been there.
Shen Tian stood alone, the waterfall roaring behind him, the moon glaring above like a silent judge. His talisman pulsed faintly in his palm, responding not to power…
But to possibility.
Shen Tian closed his eyes.
He finally understood something:
His eyes were not evolving because he sought strength.
They were evolving because this world refused to let him remain blind.
Dawn broke over Azure Cloud Sect, painting the mountains in hues of gold and crimson. The disciples gathered at the Martial Field, tension thick in the air. Elder Bai stood at the front, hands clasped behind his back, eyes sharp as a blade.
Shen Tian joined the assembly silently. Conversations died the moment he appeared. Some disciples stepped away unconsciously, as though afraid their souls might be seen through.
Chen Hao was there too.
His usual smirk was gone. Instead, his gaze burned with something far more dangerous than arrogance.
Humiliation.
Before Shen Tian could look away, Elder Bai spoke, his voice echoing across the field.
"Disciples of Azure Cloud Sect, today you will undertake your first mission."
Murmurs erupted instantly.
"A mission? Already?"
"But we just entered the sect!"
Elder Bai silenced them with a single glance.
"Cultivation is not meditation and comfort. It is growth through blood, danger, and fear."
His gaze hardened.
"There have been unusual disturbances near the Mistwood Border. Spirit beasts are behaving violently. A team of outer disciples will investigate, eliminate the threat, and bring back proof of subjugation."
A collective shiver went through the crowd.
Mistwood.
Everyone knew that name.
A forest shrouded in perpetual fog
Beasts that hid behind illusions
Whispers that lured cultivators to madness
It was a place where even experienced disciples tread carefully.
Chen Hao stepped forward, voice proud.
"Elder Bai, I request to lead the group."
Elder Bai raised a brow.
"You are confident."
"I have already reached the first stage of Qi Refinement. I am more qualified than anyone here."
Eyes flicked toward Shen Tian.
Chen Hao smirked.
"And I know how to deal with unexpected variables."
Shen Tian closed his eyes briefly.
So this is how you want to do this.
Elder Bai turned toward Shen Tian.
"Shen Tian."
Shen Tian met his gaze calmly.
"You will join this mission."
Gasps spread at once.
"He can't be serious!"
"He doesn't even cultivate."
"He'll die."
Elder Bai spoke quietly but firmly.
"If Shen Tian cannot survive one mission, he has no place in this sect."
Chen Hao smiled like a man who already tasted victory.
"Then let us depart."
Shen Tian did not argue. He stepped forward, accepting his token of assignment. His expression remained unreadable, but inside, he felt something stir.
Not fear.
Not excitement.
A quiet readiness.
The group set out, six disciples in total. Chen Hao walked at the front, chin lifted high. Shen Tian followed several paces behind, silent and observant.
The trail soon led them to Mistwood—a forest whose trees seemed older than the sect itself. Mist clung to the air, thick enough to distort shapes and muffle sound.
The moment they stepped inside, the world changed.
The air tasted metallic
Birdsong ceased
The mist deepened
Chen Hao raised his hand.
"Be on guard. Spirit beasts here are cunning."
One disciple whispered nervously.
"Something doesn't feel right."
Shen Tian's eyes narrowed. He sensed movement. Not just movement—intent.
Predation.
"Stop."
The group froze at his voice.
Chen Hao scoffed.
"Don't order us around. You think—"
A low growl erupted from the mist.
Something lunged.
A beast with crimson fur and jagged horns burst through the fog. Its eyes glowed with madness, saliva dripping from fanged jaws.
The disciples panicked, scrambling to defend themselves.