On the second night, Geneva's sky turned so cold that frost veiled the glass in white. Yet inside the hotel room, waves of warmth rose steadily, as though this were no longer a room at all but a small cultivation chamber carved from the world itself.
Duong Minh sat cross-legged, back straight, hands resting upon his knees. Master Tinh Khong sat directly behind him, close enough to feel his breath. Two fingers rested lightly upon Duong Minh's Mingmen acupoint. The touch seemed almost weightless, yet it pressed down like a mountain.
"Breathe deeply. Let the breath sink to the lower abdomen. Gather all your intentions two inches below the navel." Master Tinh Khong's voice was warm and resonant, like a bell sounding over still water.
Duong Minh closed his eyes.
From the depths of his awareness, he gathered every stray thought into a single point.
The root chakra. The first chakra. The foundation of the Path of Dao.
At first he felt only a faint pressure in his lower abdomen.
Then warmth.
Then heat.
Then suddenly — boom.
It was not an external sound, but a violent tremor within his spirit, as if someone had struck a hammer against a sealed door inside his body.
Pain.
A sharp, piercing pain radiated from his lower abdomen through his entire body. It felt as though his very flesh were awakening.
A faint red light flickered behind his closed eyelids. It spiraled once, twice… then bloomed outward like a flower of flame.
Duong Minh gasped.
Master Tinh Khong's hand steadied his shoulder. "Do not resist. Look directly at it."
He obeyed. His mind gradually sank deeper, fear dissolving.
The chakra beneath his abdomen spun like a small sun—slow, steady. Threads of red light circled its core, flowing like molten lava alive.
And then he felt something his father had once described, something he had never truly understood.
"The Fire Serpent — Kundalini."
It was not a literal serpent. Yet neither was it mere metaphor.
Duong Minh felt it: a current of heat coiling, turning, bearing a faint will of its own. Like a living creature that had slept within him since birth, now opening its eyes.
It regarded him not with sight, but with a primitive awareness, as if asking:
Who are you? Why have you awakened me?
Duong Minh's breathing quickened. "Is this… consciousness?"
"Not consciousness," Master Tinh Khong replied calmly. "It is pure life-instinct. The Fire Serpent is condensed vitality from the moment you were born. Now it is being released. Feel it slowly. Guide it along the Du meridian up your spine. Do not let it surge too violently."
The heat at first was no wider than a finger. But within several breaths it expanded into a ribbon of flame, threading through nerves and sinew, making his whole body tremble.
Every sensation blended together—burning, luminous, as though something were knocking upon acupoints he had never known existed.
He inhaled deeply. The Spiritual Energy in the room gathered instantly, as if it had long awaited his call.
Duong Minh did not open his eyes, yet his awareness drifted into a crimson realm. "I see it as a stream of energy. Red. Spiraling. And… I hear something."
"That is the vibration of the acupoints," Master Tinh Khong answered. "Ordinary cultivators require years to perceive that. You possess innate celestial vision in qigong."
The Fire Serpent began to climb, slow and heavy like a true serpent moving over stone.
It reached the second chakra—the pelvic region.
"AAAH!" Duong Minh cried out, teeth clenched.
It felt as though something were drilling through his body. The second chakra had long been sealed; now it was forced open.
"Endure!" Master Tinh Khong gripped his shoulders. "Do not resist. Accept it!"
Duong Minh panted. He remembered his teacher's words: Spiritual Energy is a companion.
He relaxed. He did not resist. He did not fear.
The second chakra burst open.
Warmth flooded in, replacing the agony. The Fire Serpent continued upward.
The third chakra—at the navel—was slightly easier.
The fourth—at the heart—hurt as though his chest were being wrung dry.
The fifth—at the throat—nearly suffocated him.
Each passage felt like being torn apart and stitched back together, cell by cell, nerve by nerve.
Yet at the same time the world grew clearer. The Spiritual Energy in the room no longer seemed vague; it gleamed like countless small stars. He could hear Master Tinh Khong's breathing. He could hear his own heartbeat pounding like a drum.
"Normally a master must open each chakra for the disciple along the Du meridian to allow the Fire Serpent to ascend," Master Tinh Khong said, his voice shifting from guidance to astonishment. "But yours are opening on their own. Guide it upward—slowly. Along the Du meridian from the first chakra up the spine to the neck. Do not surpass the crown without permission."
Duong Minh took control.
The Fire Serpent climbed exactly as he envisioned, flowing like water through a channel his mind had drawn.
"Now send it to the crown. Release a portion of its force through the seventh chakra, Baihui, at the top of the head. Only for an instant. Then draw it down the Ren meridian immediately. Otherwise your consciousness will explode."
Duong Minh gave the slightest nod.
In a single breath, the Fire Serpent shot upward.
For that fleeting moment he felt as if his head burst into a galaxy. A beam of white light split the sky behind his eyelids. His awareness expanded infinitely, touching the edge of the world.
Within the Digital Ocean, Lyra jolted. "Careful! Your spiritual frequency is exceeding the threshold!"
But Duong Minh pulled the Fire Serpent down at once, like a master guiding a complex data stream. It descended through his throat and chest, racing along the Ren meridian like an arrow of flame. From chakra to chakra it flowed, circling downward until it returned to the first.
A complete cycle of the Microcosmic Orbit.
In only two days.
Master Tinh Khong opened his eyes first and inhaled sharply, as if he himself had nearly been swept away.
"Duong Minh. Do you know how long this takes an ordinary person?"
Duong Minh opened his eyes, sweat soaking his back, breath uneven but eyes brighter than ever. "How long?"
"At least a year."
A heavy silence followed. Master Tinh Khong gazed at him, old eyes trembling faintly.
"You are the Dao cultivation genius I have waited for my entire life."
Duong Minh lowered his head—not in pride, but beneath the weight of responsibility settling upon his shoulders. "Master, what I achieved today is only the beginning."
"Yes." Master Tinh Khong squeezed his shoulder. "What you have gained is merely opening the root, awakening the chakras, and preliminary circulation of the Fire Serpent. You have not yet learned to draw in heaven-and-earth Spiritual Energy, nor body-reinforcing methods, nor formation arrays, nor the combat arts of a Dao Cultivator. In the Path of Dao examination three days from now, you must rely solely on instinct and the clarity of your awareness."
His voice grew solemn.
"Explore for yourself. Do not fear mistakes. Do not fear experimentation. Your eyes can see Spiritual Energy—that is your greatest weapon, and also your greatest danger. On a true battlefield, no one will guide you."
He rose and looked out the window toward the distant academy arena.
"I cannot accompany you into the Path of Dao examination. But remember this: Spiritual Energy is living, not a tool. If you treat it as a companion, it will open the way. If you force it, it will turn against you."
He turned back and placed a hand upon Duong Minh's forehead, where he had once seen Spiritual Energy converge.
"Go. In three days, let your gift answer everything."
In Duong Minh's eyes, a small flame had just been kindled—not the Fire Serpent, but the will of someone who had stepped onto the road his father never finished walking.