Morning light spilled over the rooftops of Canglan City.
Shadows clung stubbornly to narrow alleys.
The eastern district smelled of damp stone and early cooking fires.
Merchants called. Children shouted. Ferries honked on the river.
None of it mattered.
None of them knew the world beneath their feet was no longer ordinary.
Lin Xuanye moved silently along a cracked stone path behind a ruined shrine.
Weeds pushed through gaps in the stone.
Broken statues leaned against walls.
Roof tiles were shattered, letting shafts of sunlight fall across moss-covered stone.
He closed his eyes.
The world narrowed.
Only the threads of spiritual energy mattered.
Black lines, faint pulses, irregular flows.
They slithered along walls, sank into cracks, crawled through the ground.
Every pulse told a story. Every vibration carried a message.
Nothing could be missed.
There.
A faint pulse.
Weak. Early-stage.
Yet unmistakable.
Spiritleaf Herb.
Lin Xuanye's lips curved slightly.
In his previous life, he had overlooked it.
Not this time.
Every advantage mattered.
Every seed mattered.
Every hidden resource could tip the scales.
He knelt on the cold stone floor.
Palms pressed lightly to the ground.
Energy flowed.
Black threads from the Nine Nether Samsara Sutra extended outward.
They wrapped around the herb, anchoring it, stabilizing its essence.
The herb quivered, faint light flickering along its leaves.
Too much energy would destroy it.
Too little would fail.
Patience. Control. Timing.
Minutes passed.
Energy circulated through him and back into the herb in a controlled loop.
The herb responded.
It pulsed stronger.
It listened.
It synced with him.
Subtle increments of growth.
Lin Xuanye's Spiritual Density rose. Fifty-one. Fifty-two.
He exhaled slowly.
Every bit counted.
Small advantages accumulated into unstoppable momentum.
He wrapped the herb in a silk pouch.
The Nine Nether Samsara Dagger vibrated faintly.
Sealed. Hidden. Secure.
It would be refined later.
Every hidden advantage mattered.
A subtle breeze stirred above the shrine.
Precise. Calculated. Controlled.
Han Tianyu.
Lin Xuanye's lips curved into a cold, faint smile.
"You came."
He did not move. Not a muscle.
Instead, a trace of aura leaked from the far side of the shrine.
Decoy. Lure. False signal.
Steps on broken wood.
Wind spiraled downward.
Testing. Searching. Judging.
Han Tianyu's wind attribute twisted lightly around him.
Careful. Calculated. Intentional.
Lin Xuanye waited.
Silent. Patient.
Minutes passed.
The presence finally receded.
Footsteps faded.
He exhaled softly.
Two regressors.
Both remembering the future.
Both racing to ascend faster than the other.
Every move mattered.
Every second mattered.
Every hidden advantage mattered.
The Spiritual Tide had not yet arrived.
But beneath Canglan City, the race had begun.
Lin Xuanye rose.
Silk pouch in hand.
First spirit herb secured.
First calculated victory.
First step toward domination.
He walked to the street.
Sunlight fell across broken rooftops and cracked statues.
Ordinary cityfolk passed, unaware.
Invisible battles were unfolding beneath their feet.
Across the street, leaning against a lamppost, a faint figure waited.
Han Tianyu.
Calm. Controlled. Precise. Watching.
Their eyes met.
No words were needed.
The game had begun.
Lin Xuanye adjusted the silk pouch.
Wind brushed past his coat.
Spiritual Density fifty-three. Early peak Qi Gathering.
He had advanced.
He had secured resources.
He had set traps without Han Tianyu noticing.
Han Tianyu straightened.
"You move faster than before," he said quietly.
"I do," Lin Xuanye replied.
"Then we are even."
Wind whispered.
Han Tianyu turned.
Vanished down an alley.
Lin Xuanye watched.
He exhaled.
The first herb was his.
The first advantage secured.
Canglan City slept. Ignorant.
Beneath its streets, two men remembered the future.
Two men raced toward supremacy.
Every resource, every opportunity, every second counted.
Lin Xuanye's eyes scanned the river.
Too quiet.
Beneath the city, energy pulsed like veins of a living creature.
And now, he had claimed the first vein, the first herb.
The first move in a hidden war no one else would see until it was too late.
He took a step.
Then another.
Every alley. Every ruin. Every hidden corner could hold advantage.
Nothing would be wasted.
Nothing overlooked.
And then he saw it.
A faint glimmer in the distance.
Another energy pulse.
Smaller than the herb. But unmistakable.
Someone else was here.
Not Han Tianyu.
Lin Xuanye's eyes narrowed.
He extended a thread of spiritual sense.
It moved faster than human reflexes.
The aura… faint, erratic. Chaotic.
Low cultivation.
But dangerous if left unchecked.
He smiled faintly.
Another target. Another opportunity.
No one could be allowed to interfere.
Especially in his first night of true progress.
He leapt forward, moving across broken rooftops with speed barely detectable.
Every step calculated.
Every breath measured.
The energy thread guided him to the new pulse.
A small, hidden courtyard.
A young cultivator kneeling before a weak crystal cluster.
He had not sensed Lin Xuanye yet.
Lin Xuanye's energy brushed the air subtly.
A flicker. A pull.
The cultivator froze.
Then panicked.
Lin Xuanye's shadow fell over him.
"You shouldn't be here," he said calmly.
The wind around him swirled lightly.
The young man trembled.
Lin Xuanye did not strike.
Not yet.
He only allowed the energy thread to flicker toward the crystal cluster.
It pulled the essence into his control.
The young man's face drained of color as his treasure vanished silently.
Lin Xuanye stepped back.
Silk pouch heavier.
Spiritual Density fifty-four. Mid-peak Qi Gathering.
Another resource secured.
Another secret advantage stacked.
The game was real.
The race had begun in earnest.
Canglan City had already been claimed.
And he had only just started.