The Old man did not vanish.
That more than his overwhelming strength unsettled Kael.
He simply....walked.
Across cracked stone and broken avenues, past ruin buildings and collapsed structures his steps slow and deliberate as though the city itself bent to accommodate his presence.
Kael lay where he had fallen for several long seconds staring at the blank map resting in his hands.
'That's not the way you use it'
The words echoed in his mind not as a mockery but as a judgement.
Kael pushed himself up with a groan ribs screaming in protest. His body was battered, his HP hovering dangerously low yet his mind was sharper than it had been since entering the tower.
"Using it wrong" Kael muttered "Then what exactly was I doing?".
He looked up.
The old man was already far ahead.
Kael clenched his jaw and followed.
The walked in silence for several minutes.
The deeper they went into the ruined city and more the environment changed. The echo stalkers grew scarce, the flickering distortions fading as if unwilling to approach the old man's presence.
Finally they reached the wide plaza overtaken by creeping stone vines and fractured pillars. At its center stood a half collapsed pavilion which was old and intact.
The old man stopped.
"You can sit" he said calmly "Your body needs time to catch up with your stubbornness".
Kael did not argue.
He sat heavily against a broken column, breathing steadily until the pain dulled to something manageable.
Kael took out one HP potion to recover his HP.
"You still haven't answered my question, who are you?"
The old man stared at him for a long second.
Then slowly he clasped his hands behind his back.
"My name is Shen Yao"
The name carried weight not because of sound but because of presence. Kael felt it settle into the air like a declaration.
Isn't his name like connected to some main character names like in the novels.
Kael introduced himself "I'm Kael ardent"
Old man smiled and continued "I was once known as Boundary Hermit, Before the tower existed. Before systems quantified. Before humans learned to mistake numbers for understanding".
Kael's eyes widened slightly, he knew Shen Yao was from other world but somehow connected to this tower.
"You are saying you were strong before the tower?".
Shen Yao chuckled softly.
"Strong?, no I was strong from the very beginning and aware with my powers".
Kael frowned.
"That doesn't sound like the same thing.
"It isn't", Shen Yao agreed "And that distinction is why you lost so completely ".
Kael lowered his gaze.
"That I have figured the moment you said it".
Shen Yao turned toward the blank skyline.
"I entered the tower when it first appeared in my world called Siren. Back when there were no guides, no rankings, no global announcements, only instinct and survival".
Kael listened intently.
"I climbed, slowly carefully. I adapted cultivation methods to the use Towers structure. I learned to exist between its rules".
He paused.
"And then when I reached the floor 899, something happened I don't remember it, its like the tower wiped of my memory and then I reached this floor 6 and I don't why".
Kael looked up sharply and shocked 'Rankers are still in 101 floor and this old man reached 899 alone, damm that's so astonishing".
"...And you got stuck?".
Shen Yao nodded.
"Floor 6 is not a test of strength, It's is a test of interpretation. One that no one understood, including me".
Kael glanced at the map in his hands.
"...Because it isn't a map".
Shen Yao smiled faintly.
"Correct, it is a cultivation record. A conceptual guide designed to resonate only with those who define rather than consume power".
Kael hesitated.
"...Then why did it respond to me?".
Shen Yao turned.
"Because you do not wield power, you decide where it ends".
The words hit Kael harder than any blow.
"That still doesn't explain what I did wrong" Kael said quietly.
Shen Yao stepped closer.
"Then let me ask you something, when you draw your line, what are you thinking?"
Kael thought 'He understood that I draw line, because other than me no one can see it'
Kael answered "I decide what gets cut and I define separation".
Shen Yao shook his head.
"No" he said "You decide where to cut. Not why".
Kael stiffened.
"You treat your power as an external action" Shen Yao continued "As something you apply to the world".
He tapped Kael's chest lightly.
"But authority does not move outward, it radiates from existence".
Kael's breath slowed.
"You didn't walk through my boundary because you were stronger. You walked through it because..it didn't recognize you to something to be stop".
Shen Yao's eyes gleamed.
"Good, you are learning".
Kael clenched his fists.
Shen Yao continued "You got this power from the tower right? Did you once think what if one day tower vanishes or just your power vanished or sealed, what will you do?"
Kael stuttered "I I I don't know" because Kael never thought about it once.
"That's why you should learn this power by instincts and move with your will and not by external power or towers help"
Kael was dumbfounded and thought how is it possible
"And don't trust the Tower or the system blindly!!".
Kael thought about this for 5 minutes and both were silent.
"Then how should it work?".
Shen Yao turned away.
"You don't draw a line and demand the world obey, you exist as the line".
Kael frowned deeply.
"That's sounds like nonsense".
Shen Yao laughed.
"It does, Until it doesn't"
He raised his hand. Without warning the space between his fingers settled.
Not cut, not erased but something settled.
A faint distortion appeared not a boundary Kael could see, but one he could feel oddly familiar with it.
Shen Yao stepped forward.
The world parted.
Kael's breath caught.
"That" Shen Yao said "Is how authority is used".
Kael stared.
"You didn't activate anything".
"No, I acknowledged what already was".
Silence stretched.
Kael finally spoke.
"So everything I've done until now..."
"Was Instinctive" Shen Yao finished "Which was crude, inefficient, but impressive".
Kael blinked.
"You are complimenting me?"
Shen Yao nodded.
"You discovered a conceptual path without guidance, you survived using incomplete understanding. Most would have shattered themselves".
Kael exhaled slowly "But still I lost in seconds".
"Yes", Shen Yao said calmly "Because raw talent without foundation is fragile".
He turned fully toward Kael now.
"Which brings me to my question"
Kael met his gaze.
"Do you want to learn".
The air felt heavier.
"Learn what?" Kael asked though he already knew.
"To stop using your power as a weapon" Shen Yao said "And begin using it as a state of being".
Kael swallowed and he knew that old man wanted something in return.
"And in return?"
"You will unlearn everything you think you know, You will break your habits, you will suffer".
He paused "And you will obey"
Kael did not hesitate "....Teach me"
Shen Yao studied him for a long moment.
Then...
"Then Kneel"
Kael blinked.
"What....?"
"Kneel" Shen Yao repeated "Not to me, to the path".
Kael stared at him then slowly lowered himself to one knee.
Shen Yao nodded once.
"From this moment, you are my one and only disciple".
A faint pressure settled over Kael not the towers system, not a notification, but something deeper.
Shen Yao turned toward the pavilion.
"Training begins when your arrogance ends and judging by how badly you lost..."
He glanced back a faint smile touching his lips.
"We have much to dismantle".
Kael rose slowly heart pounding.
"...Master" he said loudly and calmly.
Shen Yao chuckled.
"You call me that once you survive what comes next".
The blank map in Kael's hands pulsed faintly.
For the first time since entering the tower Kael felt it clearly.
He was not climbing upward, he was being redefined.
But something was going on Shen Yao's head 'He's the key to my freedom from this tower and the manual will only activate when Kael meet some conditions until then I must train to be very strong and get out of this tower'