Cultivation starts with picking up attributes
Chapter 116: Ch-116: It’s Starting

Chapter 116: Ch-116: It’s Starting

The moon hung like a pale jade disk over the Feilun Sect’s sprawling compound, its silver light weaving through ancient pines and dancing across jade statues that guarded the sect’s sacred grounds.

A soft breeze carried the scent of night jasmine and distant incense, wrapping the night in quiet serenity.

Tian Shen sat cross-legged atop the Viewing Boulder, the same spot where he had watched the scouts depart days before. Tonight, however, the boulder hold nothing but him—and the silence felt heavier.

His eyes scanned the horizon, where the faintest shimmer flickered like a mirage between mountain peaks.

The rumor was no longer just whispered in taverns or carried by wandering merchants. The Hidden Sky Vault had become an unspoken presence—an enigma casting its shadow far beyond the borderlands.

The disciples below moved about their evening duties, unaware of the growing tension threading through the veins of the cultivation world.

...

Inside the sect’s inner sanctum, the atmosphere was different.

Elder Su sat quietly in her chamber, a complex web of ancient runes swirling faintly in the air.

Her fingers traced the worn edges of a jade tablet, inscribed with lines of forgotten script from a sect long vanished.

The room hummed softly with spiritual energy, the faintest disturbance in the leyline ripples beneath Feilun Sect.

At her side, Feng Yin unfurled a massive parchment covered in intricate arrays and celestial diagrams.

"This pattern..."

Feng Yin murmured, her eyes sharp as she pointed at a crescent-shaped symbol.

"Matches the Celestial Sword Sect’s gate arrays—lost for centuries after the Ancient War."

Elder Su’s gaze darkened.

"Which means the Hidden Sky Vault’s gate may not be natural. It’s a constructed barrier, a seal."

"Designed to keep something in—or out"

Feng Yin added.

Elder Su nodded slowly.

"Or to protect something dangerous."

...

Meanwhile, in the Scout Division’s study hall, Tian Shen’s team had gathered for their nightly briefing.

Maps of shifting leyline currents, reports of strange spiritual echoes, and sketches of unexplained anomalies cluttered the table.

Jun Lin traced the jagged edges of the mountain range where the Vault was rumored to appear.

He said, voice low.

"The mist shifts and changes—never the same two nights in a row."

Yi Fen, fingers still stained with ink from rune tracing, added.

"Spirit energy readings there break every known law."

Xu Wei, ever the enthusiast despite his unlucky reputation, leaned forward.

"If we get a clear opening, maybe we can confirm what’s inside."

Tian Shen held up a hand, silencing the room.

"Not yet."

A hush fell over the disciples.

"I don’t doubt the Vault’s existence anymore than you. But rushing headlong could be fatal."

He paused, his gaze sweeping the faces before him.

"The Sect is not just our home. It’s a beacon of balance. If the Vault disrupts that balance, we must be ready."

Jun Lin swallowed and nodded.

"We’ll keep watching."

Tian Shen smiled, a rare softness touching his lips.

"Good."

...

Later, Feng Yin stood in the garden courtyard, her eyes lifted toward the stars as she practiced forming talisman seals.

Her movements were precise, deliberate—a meditation in motion.

The night air shimmered faintly around her, the latent spiritual energy responding to her call.

Tian Shen approached quietly, folding his arms behind his back.

"You’re restless tonight."

Feng Yin smiled without turning.

"There’s no peace in waiting."

He nodded, understanding all too well.

"Sometimes, the quiet before the storm is the loudest sound."

She finally turned to face him, eyes gleaming with resolve.

Their hands found each other, fingers interlacing.

...

Elsewhere, Little Mei prowled the outer walls, her keen senses stretched toward the unknown.

She had been restless since she caught the scent of spatial tear residue on the Mark.

Tonight, her sharp ears picked up faint whispers floating through the night breeze—voices carried on the wind, riddled with excitement and fear.

"They say a sect vanished," a voice murmured nearby.

"Gone without a trace. Left only a single footprint in the clouds."

Little Mei’s tail twitched.

She crouched low, blending with the shadows, listening.

Rumors like this were more than just stories. They were warnings.

She vowed silently to keep her secrets for now.

The moment to reveal what she knew would come—and when it did, Tian Shen and the others would need her sharp instincts more than ever. Or maybe not at all.

...

Back in the inner sanctum, Elder Su meditated silently, her mind weaving through memories of ancient wars and forgotten battles.

Her fingers brushed a hidden compartment beneath the altar, revealing a small orb pulsing with faint azure light.

"This Vault," she whispered, "may hold more than treasure. It holds a reckoning."

Feng Yin stepped forward, her voice steady but filled with urgency.

"If the Vault’s gate mirrors their sealing arrays... then whatever lies inside was meant to be contained."

Elder Su’s eyes opened slowly.

"And now, the seal is weakening."

...

The following morning dawned with heavy clouds rolling over the Feilun Sect’s peaks.

Tian Shen gathered with Feng Yin, Little Mei, Elder Su in the open courtyard beneath the ancient pine tree where the Sect Master often held counsel.

The atmosphere was charged, the unspoken weight of the Hidden Sky Vault pressing down like the coming storm.

The Sect Master, the man whose years had only deepened his calm and wisdom, spoke first.

"The world is shifting beneath our feet," he said, voice steady. "The Hidden Sky Vault is no longer just rumor. It is a challenge—to our strength, our wisdom, and our unity."

He looked toward Tian Shen.

"The Scouts must remain vigilant, but we will not send rash warriors into the unknown. We do not seek glory. We seek knowledge and preparedness."

Elder Su stepped forward, nodding in agreement.

"I have dispatched observation teams equipped with advanced concealment and spiritual detection arrays. They will report all anomalies and disturbances."

Feng Yin added.

"We are compiling all known data to reconstruct the Vault’s arrays. If we understand its structure, we may find a way to control or contain it."

Tian Shen felt the weight of responsibility settle comfortably on his shoulders.

The world outside was changing—and Feilun Sect would be the anchor.

...

Days passed with little direct change, but the tension remained palpable.

Tian Shen and his scouts mapped every leyline quiver, every ripple in spiritual energy.

One evening, as mist crept low over the mountains, Tian Shen stood again by the grotto where the Black Lotus Heart Fragment was sealed.

He touched the cold stone barrier, feeling the faint pulse beneath—still silent, still waiting.

Beside him, Feng Yin’s voice was calm but resolute.

"We’ve prepared, watched, and waited."

"Not waiting forever," Tian Shen said softly. "Just until we’re ready."

Her eyes searched his.

"Then we keep moving forward."

He nodded, clasping her hand.

...

In the shadows beyond Feilun Sect, unknown eyes watched.

Silent watchers cloaked in shifting shadows whispered among themselves.

And far above, unseen forces began their slow descent—forces eager to claim the Vault’s power, or to ensure it never falls into mortal hands.

...

Back at Feilun Sect, life continued—disciplined, cautious, and hopeful.

Scout teams rotated through their patrols with quiet efficiency.

The inner sanctum’s scholars poured over scrolls, mapping possible energy veins linked to the Vault. Disciples trained with renewed intensity, aware now that the world was stirring again.

In the evenings, Tian Shen often returned to the Viewing Boulder—not to watch the horizon, but to listen. Not for sound, but for silence. The kind of silence that whispered warnings.

One night, he convened a private meeting under moonlight— just of Feng Yin, Little Mei and Drowsy seated around a quiet table beneath the spirit willow tree.

"The Vault isn’t just waking," he said slowly. "It’s... listening."

Little Mei frowned. "To what?"

"How do I know that," Tian Shen replied.

A long silence followed. Everyone was speechless.

Then Feng Yin leaned forward, her voice quiet and sharp.

"Then whatever lies beyond that seal... It’s not our turn to concern."

She tapped the table with one nail.

"The question here is whether we’re ready for the Secret Realm..."

Feng Yin finished softly.

Above them, the stars shifted behind thin clouds, and from deep beneath the earth, the fragment gave one faint, soundless throb.

The Hidden Sky Vault was a looming shadow on the horizon, a secret wrapped in mystery and danger.

Tian Shen closed his eyes, feeling the weight of the world and the light of his comrades beside him.

The path ahead was uncertain.

But with patience, wisdom, and unity, Feilun Sect would face whatever storm the Vault unleashed.

...

In the days that followed, the winds changed.

Anomalies grew stronger—winds that sang, clouds that shimmered with unnatural hues, spirit beasts that refused to pass certain ridges.

Messages from observation teams hinted at fractures in space and time near the Vault’s rumored site.

Tian Shen stood at the sect’s gate one morning, eyes fixed eastward.

Behind him, Feng Yin approached, silent as dew.

"It’s starting, isn’t it?" she asked.

"Yes," he murmured. "The Secret Realm is opening."

Above them, the clouds parted, revealing a pillar of jade light in the distance.

And so, the world began to shift again.

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