Shawn's consciousness drifted back little by little.
It was a slow transition, like rising from the bottom of a calm lake, where the deepest darkness gradually gave way to light.
The pain that had consumed him for what felt like an eternity was gone.
In its place remained a warmth so gentle that, for a fleeting moment, he wondered whether the entire ordeal had been nothing more than a terrible dream.
He let out a quiet breath.
The simple act of breathing felt entirely different now.
His chest no longer burned with every inhale. Each breath carried a soothing sensation that spread throughout his body, washing away the lingering traces of agony.
This warmth was different from the one he had felt inside the mindscape after Eva embraced him.
It was quieter.
It almost felt as though the world itself was trying to comfort him after everything he had endured.
A faint groan escaped his lips before he could stop it.
Not long ago, he had begged his body to lose consciousness, but every attempt had been met with another wave of unbearable pain.
Even unconsciousness had been denied to him.
If his mind hadn't been drawn into the mindscape, if Eva hadn't been there to anchor him, and if the strange conflict between the bloodlines hadn't forced his attention elsewhere, he knew he wouldn't have survived.
The thought had barely crossed his mind before another sensation demanded his attention.
Something was flowing into him.
At first, it was only a faint warmth gathering around his chest.
Then it became movement.
Steady.
Gentle.
Endless.
It poured into him like an invisible stream, entering through every part of his body before naturally converging beneath his heart.
Shawn didn't understand what it was, or why it felt so familiar.
He wasn't guiding it.
He wasn't resisting it.
He simply accepted it.
The strange current continued gathering in the same place, becoming denser with every passing moment.
He frowned slightly.
It felt heavy.
Not painfully heavy, but like carrying something precious.
Something that had never existed before was slowly taking shape within him.
His attention instinctively shifted toward it.
The warmth remained.
The current continued to flow.
Whatever was forming deep inside him became clearer with every heartbeat.
Something else had changed as well.
His hearing.
Shawn remained perfectly still, keeping his eyes closed.
He wanted to understand his surroundings before letting anyone know he had awakened.
He could hear breathing.
Not just his own.
Someone stood close to him, only a few feet from the platform. Their breathing was calm and measured, every inhale almost perfectly identical to the last.
Morgan.
He could even hear the faint, steady rhythm of Morgan's heartbeat, slow and unwavering, the heartbeat of a powerful cultivator completely in control of himself.
Another person stood slightly farther away, near the heavy stone doors.
Their breathing was older.
Slower.
It carried the patience of someone who had watched countless years pass before his eyes.
Grandmaster Boulder.
Beyond them, near the edges of the chamber, Shawn heard more breathing.
Uneven.
Rapid.
Nervous.
The servants.
One of them swallowed unconsciously, the sound ringing through Shawn's ears with startling clarity.
Another shifted their footing ever so slightly, a leather boot scraping gently across the stone floor.
Even the faint rustle of silk robes brushing together reached him with perfect clarity.
He had never heard the world this clearly before.
Even silence seemed louder.
He tested his other senses.
The air carried a different scent now.
It wasn't simply cold.
He could smell the faint burnt copper lingering from arrays that had been pushed beyond their limits.
He could feel every tiny crack and groove in the stone platform beneath his back as though the rock itself had become part of his awareness.
Slowly, he curled his fingers against the stone.
Strength answered him immediately.
It wasn't an explosive surge of power.
It simply felt... complete.
His muscles responded without hesitation.
There wasn't the slightest trace of exhaustion remaining in his body.
The heavy iron restraints were gone.
Whether Morgan had removed them or the overwhelming pressure of the World Energy had shattered them, Shawn had no way of knowing.
The broken metal lay cold and silent beside his wrists.
He still didn't move.
Instead, he quietly examined himself.
Everything felt whole.
Everything except one thing.
Darkness.
His sight still hadn't returned.
He blinked behind his closed eyelids, but nothing changed.
No light filtered through.
No matter how healthy the rest of his body felt, his world remained wrapped in darkness.
A faint smile appeared on his face, hidden within the shadows of the chamber.
Morgan, he thought.
If this experiment actually returns my sight... perhaps I'll grant you a quicker death.
The thought vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
Forgiveness had ceased to be an option the day his mother died.
Nothing Morgan accomplished today would ever erase that.