The courtyard had grown unusually quiet after Shen Yuan stepped onto the platform.
Even the wind seemed to hesitate.
From the pavilion above, Shen Tian leaned forward with visible interest. The massive old man rested his chin on one fist, his thick white beard shifting slightly as he watched his grandson.
"That boy better awaken something impressive," Shen Tian muttered. "If not, I'll drag him to the forge myself."
Shen Rong sighed.
"You planned to do that anyway."
"That's not the point."
Li Xue simply smiled.
On the platform below, Shen Yuan stood calmly at the center of the awakening formation.
Unlike the other children, he was not nervous.
He was curious.
The elder overseeing the ceremony activated the formation. Ancient runes carved into the stone began glowing faintly as spiritual energy gathered around the platform.
Shen Yuan closed his eyes.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then heat surged through his body.
Flames erupted around him like a blooming crimson flower. The energy spun wildly, surrounding his figure in waves of fire.
A collective gasp rose from the courtyard.
"Fire affinity!"
"And extremely strong!"
Even the elders straightened slightly.
From the pavilion, Shen Tian burst into laughter.
"Hah! Of course it's fire! That's my grandson!"
But at that exact moment, something else happened.
Inside Shen Yuan's mind, the world shattered.
The courtyard vanished.
Darkness swallowed everything.
He was floating again.
Endless space stretched in every direction. The earth beneath him shrank until it became nothing more than a distant memory. Stars faded one by one as he drifted deeper into a silent void.
This time the memory did not vanish immediately.
It continued.
Shen Yuan felt the same cold emptiness he had experienced in his childhood visions.
Then the sound came again.
Low.
Ancient.
Vast beyond comprehension.
Om.
The vibration echoed through the void like the heartbeat of the universe itself.
Suddenly Shen Yuan remembered.
Everything.
The war.
The battlefield.
The screams.
The moment of death.
He remembered drifting away from his body, leaving the earth behind as his consciousness traveled farther and farther into the endless darkness.
He remembered the fear.
He remembered the calm that came after the sound.
And then
The figure.
Something unimaginably large had been watching him.
A presence so vast that even remembering it made his mind tremble.
The figure had leaned closer.
Trying to see him.
But before he could understand it, the memory stopped.
Just as it had before.
The image blurred.
The memory ended there.
The world returned.
Shen Yuan's eyes snapped open.
At that same moment a faint pressure formed in the center of his forehead.
For an instant a glowing mark appeared between his brows.
A third eye.
No one else saw it clearly.
But Shen Yuan did.
For less than a heartbeat, the world changed again.
Energy appeared everywhere.
Streams of elemental qi flowed through the courtyard like rivers of light.
Fire inside the bodies of cultivators.
Wind swirling above the rooftops.
Earth pulsing beneath the ground.
Everything was connected.
Everything moved.
Then the vision vanished.
The mark disappeared.
The courtyard returned to normal.
Shen Yuan blinked once.
"…Interesting."
The elder stepped forward and examined the formation.
"Strong fire affinity," he announced loudly. "Excellent potential."
Applause spread across the courtyard.
But Shen Yuan barely heard it.
His memories had returned.
Not all of them.
But enough.
He remembered dying.
He remembered the void.
He remembered the sound.
Om.
And he remembered the enormous blurry figure that had tried to look at him.
Shen Yuan touched his forehead thoughtfully.
"So that wasn't a dream."
Behind him, someone approached hesitantly.
It was Lin Fei.
"You… that awakening was incredible," Lin Fei said. "The flames were enormous."
Shen Yuan glanced at him.
"You awakened three elements."
Lin Fei scratched his head awkwardly.
"Wind, lightning, and water."
Shen Yuan nodded approvingly.
"That's useful."
Lin Fei blinked.
"…Useful?"
"Yes."
Shen Yuan smiled slightly.
"You can stand behind me in future fights."
Lin Fei hesitated.
"Behind you?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
Shen Yuan shrugged.
"If enemies attack from the front, I'll kill them."
He paused.
"If they attack from the side, you can deal with them."
Lin Fei stared at him.
"You talk about killing very casually."
Shen Yuan tilted his head.
"Why wouldn't I?"
Lin Fei struggled for a moment before answering.
"Because… killing people is bad?"
Shen Yuan considered the statement seriously.
Then he shrugged again.
"If someone is trying to kill me, it seems unfair to let them succeed."
Lin Fei did not know how to respond to that.
From the pavilion above, Shen Tian watched the conversation and burst out laughing.
"That boy thinks like a general already."
Shen Rong rubbed his forehead.
"He's ten."
"That didn't stop us during the wilderness war."
Li Xue shook her head gently.
"Please don't encourage him."
Below them, Shen Yuan stepped off the platform and looked around the courtyard.
The ceremony continued.
Other children awakened their spirits.
But Shen Yuan's attention had shifted elsewhere.
His mind was now far more interested in something else entirely.
If his memories were real…
If the universe truly contained something vast enough to create that sound…
Then cultivation might be far more interesting than he had originally thought.
Shen Yuan smiled faintly.
And for the first time since arriving in this world, he felt genuinely excited.
Because now he had a real question to answer.
If the path to truth required stepping over enemies…
If power demanded ruthlessness…
If survival meant killing those who stood in his way…
Then one day the world might call him a monster.
Shen Yuan didn't particularly mind that possibility.
He simply wondered one thing.
Was that evil?
Or was it just honest?