Theon went silent. His lips pressed into a thin, bloodless line, and for a long moment his face was nothing but a mask; brittle, helpless, carved from exhaustion. When he finally raised his eyes to Solvyn, they shimmered. Not with defiance. With tears he didn’t bother to hide, didn't want to. “That’s exactly the reason I can’t get tested.” His voice cracked on the last word. He sniffed, dragged in a breath that shook, and forced his shoulders to stop trembling.Solvyn scoffed. The sound was sharp, dismissive, meant to slice. But the next instant his mouth curved into a smile, too smooth, too practiced. The kind of smile that drew blood without touching skin. “Really, little nephew,” he drawled, voice oozing false affection, “your words are getting harder and harder to understand. What do you mean you can’t get tested because you managed to clear out the level twelve monsters? Do you think we will be so shocked by your current cultivation realm, or perhaps your recent cultivation sp

Theon staggered. His boots scraped against the stone floor, his body pitching forward like a puppet with its strings cut. For a heartbeat he was going to fall face first into the stone, shattering what little dignity he had left. Solvyn reacted fast — too fast for a man who wanted him dead. A flick of his sleeve, and a slight movement of his arm, he caught the edge of Theon’s robe, yanking him back from the fall.Theon coughed. The sound tore from his throat, ragged and wet. His eyes rolled back, whites flashing, before he forced them to focus again. Solvyn’s hate-filled eyes shifted in an instant. The blade vanished. In its place, was softness and concern. A mask so perfect it could have fooled a saint. “Theon dear, are you alright?”Theon wheezed. His chest rose and fell like a broken bellows, each breath a battle. “I… I… since you insist… I have to do it so you don't misunderstand.”Then he flopped down again, knees buckling, spine curling like a wounded animal. Solvyn scoffed.

CELESTIAL PEAKThe servants scattered the moment they saw Solvyn return. They pressed themselves against the walls, then vanished down side corridors like mice scurrying off a feral cat’s path. His bad mood could be smelled from miles away; sharp, sour, laced with violence waiting to happen. No one dared breathe too loud.He was boiling. Heat simmered under his skin, but more than that, he was confused. And confusion was dangerous for a man like him. The suspicious glares from the students fell on him like arrows, dozens of them, sharp and silent. Sure, they couldn’t do anything to him even if they tried. He could crush them with a thought. Still, he would rather not have that kind of reputation. Whispers of cruelty were useful. Whispers of incompetence were poison. Otherwise, the grand mission would be ruined before it even began.He stopped in his inner chambers. The doors slid shut behind him with a soft, final thud. He took deep calming breaths, chest rising and falling like a be

Theon finally opened his eyes after three hours of soaking in the tub. He exhaled a stale breath that had been sitting in his lungs since noon. His body was matted with dark impurities, slick and stinking, expelled after using the herbal bath to detoxify. The water around him was black at the edges, oil-slick with things that shouldn’t have been inside a human body, but were there anyway. Impurities inhaled from the environment through pollution, now cleansed away to give room for purer aegis. True to the system’s words, after detoxifying the poison, the herbs also helped him eradicate some innate impurities in his blood and meridians. The liquid in his core was currently a viscous, clear liquid with a hint of milky-gold. It moved slowly, like honey warmed by sunlight. There was no single trace of dirt in them. At least, the impurities had been lowered to the barest minimum. He could feel it in the way his pulse flowed smoother. There was even a slight unpleasant smell on his skin

The thought confused Theon. He’d been watching her dish the food. Every move of her hand was done under his eyes. As for pre poisoning the plate while waiting for him, it was even more impossible. He had seen her pick it up from the pile of clean plates, and also scooped the food out from the pot where everyone else’s food came from. The same cauldron, the same ladle. Should be safe? No? He carefully sniffed the food again. Desert Hawthorn. Spirit boar fat. Herbs that bit the nose. There didn’t seem to be anything amiss. No acrid tang. No wrong color.“Am I overthinking it?” Theon shrugged, and continued to drink the soup. It slid down smoothly and coated his throat like liquid gold.“She indeed added something a little extra to your bowl.” The system intoned with a cackle. Amused. The soup froze in Theon’s throat, mid-swallow, nearly diverting to his windpipe. He choked it down.“What?” Theon sputtered, forcing himself to swallow the liquid which suddenly felt hotter than coal in h