The Awakening Plaza did not empty quickly.
Results always lingered longer than the ceremony itself. Students clustered in small groups, comparing manifestations in hushed voices. Families approached instructors with carefully worded questions. Clan envoys exchanged glances that carried calculations far beyond the courtyard.
Lin Zhiteng did not remain at the center of any circle.
He stepped aside once his name had been recorded, allowing others to speak over him as though he were a stone in shallow water. This did not bother him. Attention, especially the unearned kind, had a way of attracting unnecessary currents.
He stood near the edge of the plaza, where the stone steps descended toward the lower training fields. The wind was sharper there, less obstructed by walls.
He closed his eyes.
The weight he had mentioned was still present, but it did not press against him. It settled, like a depth below thought. If he focused on it too directly, it retreated slightly, as if unwilling to be examined.
He did not pursue it.
Footsteps approached from his left.
"You should at least pretend to be surprised."
Bi Xueyun's voice carried a faint trace of amusement.
Zhiteng opened his eyes. "Would that improve anything?"
"It would make you less unnerving."
"I am unnerving?"
"Calm after Divine-grade estimation," she replied. "That tends to disturb people."
He studied her expression. She appeared composed again, but there was a subtle tightness in the way she held her hands.
"And you?" he asked. "How does Emperor-grade feel?"
Her gaze shifted briefly toward the platform, where the Awakening Master was still speaking with her clan representative.
"It feels incomplete," she said after a moment. "Like something is there but refuses to come through."
"The second tail?"
"And more."
Her voice was quiet, not for secrecy, but because she did not wish to give shape to the thought too easily.
Zhiteng nodded once. "It did not feel weak."
"That is not the same as stable."
She glanced at him, studying him the way others had begun to do.
"What did yours feel like?"
He considered his answer carefully.
"Not violent," he said. "Not eager. It did not push."
"That is unusual."
"Yes."
Most beasts manifested with instinct first. Predation. Flight. Fire. Claw. Even the calmer types carried hunger or fear at their edges.
What he had felt was neither.
It had been territorial without hostility. A presence that assumed space belonged to it, not by conquest, but by nature.
He did not voice that.
The sound of firm footsteps cut through their conversation.
The Northern Awakening Master descended the steps toward them. His pace was unhurried, but each step seemed deliberate.
Behind him walked another man.
Tall. Broad-shouldered. Cloaked in heavy crimson fur lined with white frost. His hair was dark, but streaked with silver near the temples. His presence carried cold differently from the wind. It was not biting. It was steady and disciplined.
Several instructors straightened instinctively.
Students recognized him even if they did not understand fully why.
Blood Snow Duke.Beitian Xiening.
Zhiteng lowered his gaze respectfully, but not submissively.
The Duke's eyes moved first to Xueyun, then to Zhiteng.
"So," the Duke said, voice calm and resonant, "the North has produced interesting results this year."
The Awakening Master inclined his head slightly. "It appears so."
The Duke's gaze settled on Xueyun. "Emperor-grade potential at Silver stage is rare, even in the central regions."
Xueyun bowed. "It is unstable, my lord."
"Unstable potential is preferable to limited stability," the Duke replied. "Instability can be trained. Ceiling cannot."
His eyes shifted to Zhiteng.
"Divine-grade potential," he said evenly. "And Silver-stage foundation. You did not strain."
"No, my lord."
The Duke studied him in silence for several breaths.
"What do you intend to do with it?" he asked.
The question was not rhetorical.
Zhiteng did not answer immediately.
"I intend to understand it," he said finally.
The Duke's mouth curved faintly.
"A prudent answer. Understanding precedes control."
He turned slightly toward the Awakening Master.
"The War God Academy preliminary selection for the North is in three months. I assume both of them will participate."
"They qualify," the Awakening Master replied.
Xueyun's eyes flickered briefly.
The War God Academy was not a local institution. It stood under imperial sanction and admitted only those who passed the Annual National Examination. Acceptance meant stepping beyond regional politics.
The Duke addressed them both.
"Potential is not protection. In three months, you will be evaluated not by array, but by combat, discipline, and endurance."
His gaze sharpened slightly.
"The North does not send ornaments to the War God Academy."
Zhiteng met his eyes. "Understood."
Xueyun bowed again. "Understood."
The Duke's attention lingered on Zhiteng one breath longer than necessary.
"Report to the northern training grounds at dawn tomorrow," he said. "Both of you."
Xueyun blinked. "My lord?"
"The academy instructors will begin structured preparation. I will observe."
He did not elaborate.
The Duke turned and ascended the steps without further comment. His crimson cloak moved like a controlled flame against the pale stone.
The Awakening Master exhaled softly.
"You have attracted attention," he said to them.
"Is that unfavorable?" Xueyun asked.
"That depends on how you carry it."
He looked at Zhiteng.
"Divine-grade potential does not mean Divine outcome. It means your ceiling is high. It also means your fall can be further."
"I understand," Zhiteng replied.
"Do you?"
The question was not mocking.
Zhiteng did not lower his gaze. "If the foundation is unstable, potential is irrelevant."
The Awakening Master's eyes narrowed slightly, not in suspicion, but in evaluation.
"Very well," he said. "Return to your quarters. Begin regulating your inner circulation tonight. Do not attempt forced manifestation."
They bowed and stepped away.
As they crossed the lower courtyard, the noise of the plaza faded behind them. The wind carried pine scent from the forest beyond the academy walls.
Xueyun walked beside him in silence for several steps.
"My father will be informed," she said at last.
"Of your Emperor-grade potential?"
"And of yours."
Zhiteng did not respond.
She studied his profile.
"Does it not concern you?"
"What would concern accomplish?"
"It might make you more human."
He allowed a faint smile.
"Concern is private," he said. "There is no need to perform it."
She laughed softly, the sound brief and warm against the cold air.
"Then tell me privately," she said. "Are you concerned?"
He considered.
"Yes," he said.
She seemed surprised by the simplicity of the answer.
"About what?"
"That I do not yet understand the depth."
Her expression shifted subtly.
"That is not fear."
"No."
"What is it?"
He looked toward the northern horizon beyond the academy walls.
"It feels," he said carefully, "as though something very old noticed me."
The wind moved through the trees.
Xueyun followed his gaze.
"That sounds like fear."
"It is not."
"Then what is it?"
He paused.
"Responsibility."
They walked the remaining distance without speaking.
Above them, clouds gathered slowly over the northern ridges.
Beneath the academy, far below stone and frost, the depth he had sensed did not stir again.
It did not need to.
It had already marked the direction of the tide.