When the Mountain Answered
Leo left Stoneveil City before dawn.
He did not look back.
The city had been a pause—nothing more. His destination lay far ahead: Azure Crossing, the second great city on the road to the Imperial Academy.
He moved quickly.
As quickly as his body allowed.
His steps were light, his breathing controlled, his posture steady. With each stride, spiritual energy flowed smoothly through his muscles, reinforcing them. Compared to ordinary travelers, he was already moving like the wind.
Yet—
Leo frowned.
Still too slow.
Even with his strengthened body, even with his refined circulation, he knew the truth. Until he stepped into the First Realm, flight remained impossible.
Speed had limits.
By the time the sun sank behind the mountains, Leo had reached only the central stretch of the road between Stoneveil City and Azure Crossing.
Night fell.
The road grew quiet.
Dangerous.
Leo slowed and looked around carefully.
A jagged mountain wall rose beside the road, thick forest clinging to its slopes. Natural shadows covered the area, and the terrain allowed concealment.
"This will do," he murmured.
He guided the carriage off the road, masking its tracks carefully. Then he moved higher, settling beside a large stone embedded in the mountain's side.
Hidden.
Protected.
Silent.
Leo sat cross-legged.
And listened.
Night in the mountains was never truly silent.
Wind slid across stone.
Leaves whispered.
Insects hummed faintly.
Far away, beasts cried.
Leo did not ignore these sounds.
He embraced them.
His breathing slowed.
His mind settled.
He began cultivating Siyara's mind-wave technique.
At this point, he had nearly completed the final stage of Clearing the Mind.
Thoughts arose—
Then dissolved.
Emotions surfaced—
Then calmed.
His awareness spread outward like ripples on water.
Sound became shape.
Shape became rhythm.
Rhythm became information.
Leo's consciousness expanded far beyond what his physical senses could normally perceive.
And then—
Something felt wrong.
A disturbance.
Not loud.
Not violent.
But unnatural.
His eyes opened slowly.
From deep beneath the mountain, a faint glow pulsed.
Spiritual energy.
Pure.
Dense.
Leo's heart skipped.
"…A spiritual spring?"
Such things were rare.
Extremely rare.
Spiritual liquid formed only where natural energy condensed over decades—sometimes centuries.
This amount…
His mind warned him to be cautious.
But his eyes saw only opportunity.
No beasts.
No cultivators.
No danger.
At least—
None he could sense.
Leo stood.
And stepped toward the glow.
The mountain hollow opened into a small cavern.
At its center lay a shallow pool of shimmering liquid, glowing softly with pale light.
Spiritual liquid.
Condensed by the mountain itself.
Leo's breathing quickened.
"If I absorb even a little of this…" he whispered, "my body refinement would leap forward."
He stepped closer.
Carelessly.
That was when—
HIS SIXTH SENSE SCREAMED.
Leo twisted sideways instinctively.
A dark blur flashed past his neck.
Too close.
Too fast.
He stumbled back.
Then he saw it.
A snake.
Massive.
Its body coiled silently along the cavern wall, scales black and glossy, eyes glowing with cold intelligence.
No aura leaked.
No killing intent spilled.
A perfect predator.
"…So that's it," Leo whispered hoarsely.
The guardian.
The snake struck again.
Leo rolled.
Fangs slammed into stone where his head had been.
His heart pounded.
Early First Realm!
I'm only Body Refinement…
Death brushed past him.
Leo reacted instantly.
He drew his bow.
TWANG!
One arrow.
Then two.
Then three.
Each shot was precise, controlled.
The arrows struck—
And shattered.
They barely scratched the snake's scales.
The beast hissed softly.
Unharmed.
Cold.
Unimpressed.
Leo's face paled.
He dropped the bow and drew the wooden sword Aurelius had given him.
He slashed.
Clean.
Sharp.
The blade struck—
And rebounded.
No effect.
The snake lunged.
Pain exploded.
Leo felt his ribs crack.
Then his shoulder.
Then his leg.
He was thrown hard against the cavern wall.
Blood filled his mouth.
His vision blurred.
So this is it…
He forced himself upright.
The snake coiled again.
Ready to end it.
"I misjudged," Leo thought bitterly.
I was careless.
The world narrowed.
He felt cold.
Numb.
Then—
Time stopped.
Everything froze.
The snake mid-strike.
Blood suspended in the air.
Dripping echoes silenced.
Leo's consciousness expanded violently.
This time—
He did not resist.
He saw.
The snake's movement unfolded like lines drawn across space.
Every muscle contraction.
Every shift of weight.
Every future path.
He saw the opening.
The single moment—
Where space could be folded.
His bow was broken.
His body shattered.
But his will remained.
Leo reached inward.
Not for strength.
For alignment.
Unknowingly—
He touched space.
The arrow formed.
Not from wood.
But from compressed intent.
Time released.
The arrow vanished.
Then—
It appeared.
Directly at the snake's head.
No travel.
No distance.
Just arrival.
THUD.
The snake's skull exploded.
Its body convulsed once—
Then collapsed.
Dead.
Leo fell.
His body hit the ground hard.
His consciousness faded.
Darkness swallowed him.
It was said—
That the mountains between Stoneveil City and Azure Crossing carried an ancient Sword Will.
A will so sharp it could cut space itself.
But no one had ever used it.
No one had ever been chosen.
That night—
Blood flowed.
Leo's blood.
The snake's blood.
The snake was the most poisonous serpent in the world.
Its essence seeped into the spiritual spring.
The spring surged.
The energies mixed.
Poison.
Vitality.
Blood.
Leo's broken body lay submerged.
Wounds closed slowly.
Too slowly.
Not enough.
Death still hovered.
Then—
The mountain trembled.
A deep crack echoed beneath the earth.
From the depths surged black and blue spiritual energy, violent and pure.
Sword intent.
Ancient.
Unyielding.
The energy rushed toward Leo.
And entered him.
Bones mended.
Meridians stabilized.
Organs repaired.
Life returned.
Beside him—
The wooden sword trembled.
Cracked.
Light flowed into it.
The sword absorbed the mountain's will—
Filtered through Leo's space-time resonance.
And something awakened.
A sword spirit.
Small.
Fairy-like.
Silent.
It hovered briefly—
Then slept.
The night passed.
The mountain grew still.
Far away—
In the Northern Continent.
Within the Snow Empire.
A woman opened her eyes.
Her hair was white as frost.
Her presence bent reality.
Beyond the Ninth Realm.
Her lips curved slightly.
"…So," she murmured, "the sword has chosen."
She smiled.
"It seems I must travel to the Southern Continent."
Her name—
Rose Smill.
And fate had begun to move.
Dawn arrived quietly.
Mist drifted across the mountains, pale light spilling over jagged peaks. The violent energies of the night had vanished as if they had never existed.
Leo stirred.
Pain did not come.
That alone startled him.
His eyes opened slowly.
For a moment, he lay still, listening—wind brushing stone, distant birds calling, the steady rhythm of his own breath.
Alive.
He sat up.
And froze.
His body felt… different.
Not lighter.
Not heavier.
But complete.
Leo looked down at his hands. His skin carried a faint, healthy sheen. The bruises were gone. The deep wounds from the battle had vanished without a trace.
He clenched his fist.
Spiritual energy surged.
Not scattered.
Not forced.
It flowed naturally, like a river that had finally found its course.
His heart pounded.
"…This feeling…"
Leo closed his eyes and looked inward.
The dantian that had once been vague and unstable was now clear—solid, rotating slowly, steadily drawing in spiritual energy from the surroundings.
The barrier was gone.
Not broken—
Crossed.
His breathing caught.
"I've reached the First Realm…"
No.
More than that.
As he examined himself carefully, Leo's expression changed again.
The energy within him had not merely entered the First Realm. It had surged forward, stabilizing itself through multiple minor phases in a single night.
Foundation set.
Energy circulating freely.
Body, spirit, and mind aligned.
"…I crossed several small stages at once," he whispered.
This was not normal.
Not even close.
Leo slowly stood up.
The ground beneath his feet felt firm—almost welcoming. His senses extended farther than before. He could hear insects hidden beneath leaves, feel the faint pull of spiritual currents in the air.
Even space felt closer.
He looked toward the mountain.
Toward the now-silent cavern.
"…So that's what happened," he murmured.
He bowed slightly.
Not to the spring.
Not to the mountain.
But to the opportunity he had nearly died to earn.
Then—
Something stirred beside him.
The wooden sword trembled faintly.
A soft, almost imperceptible presence brushed his awareness—curious, shy, then quiet again.
Leo exhaled slowly.
"So… even you survived."
The morning sun rose fully.
Leo picked up his pack.
The road to Azure Crossing awaited.
This time—
He stepped forward as a First Realm cultivator.