My Path To The Supreme Peak

Chapter 5: Mysterious

"How is that possible?"

"He was stuck at the first layer yesterday!"

Shen Hao looked as though someone had stolen his ancestors' graves.

Shen Yuan calmly adjusted his sleeves.

"Perhaps I finally discovered the secret to cultivation."

The First Elder's gaze sharpened. "What secret?"

"Hard work."

The answer was so ordinary that it was almost insulting.

The elder clearly didn't believe him.

Neither did Shen Yuan expect him to.

The truth was far more complicated. His obstructed meridians had somehow been restored, and the mysterious system inside him had given him abilities he had never possessed before.

But until he understood its limits, revealing anything about it would be foolish.

"Your allowance will remain suspended until the next assessment," the First Elder declared. "Do not mistake a minor breakthrough for true talent."

Shen Yuan nodded.

"Of course, Elder."

He turned to leave.

Then a familiar voice stopped him.

"Shen Yuan."

Luo Qingyu approached from the pavilion, her pale-blue robes swaying gently. Her gaze lingered on him, searching his face as though she expected to find an explanation written there.

"I heard you defeated Shen Hao."

Shen Yuan glanced at the young man still struggling to brush dust from his clothes.

"News travels quickly."

"How did you advance so suddenly?"

"Hard work."

Her brows drew together. "Stop joking. Three years of stagnation cannot disappear overnight."

"Yet here we are."

Luo Qingyu seemed uncertain about what to say. She had expected him to avoid her after yesterday. Instead, he stood before her with an unfamiliar calmness.

"Shen Yuan, perhaps we should…"

"There's no need."

He interrupted her without raising his voice.

"You made your position clear yesterday. I'll respect it. I suggest you do the same."

He walked past her.

Luo Qingyu remained frozen, watching his retreating figure.

She had imagined him pleading, questioning her decision, perhaps even attempting to prove himself worthy of her.

She had never imagined that he would simply walk away.

And for some reason, that bothered her more than it should have.

Shen Yuan returned to his courtyard and shut the door behind him.

Only then did he allow himself to relax.

His victory over Shen Hao had been satisfying, but it had also revealed a problem.

He had defeated someone at the fourth layer of Body Tempering while only reaching the third layer himself. That didn't mean he could defeat every opponent above his cultivation level.

Shen Hao had been careless, predictable, and too proud to acknowledge his weaknesses.

Other opponents might not be so accommodating.

Shen Yuan took the beast core from his storage pouch and examined it.

The dark-red core belonged to the Blackfang Wolf. Even without a deep understanding of beast cores, he could sense the energy contained within it.

If he wanted to keep advancing, he needed resources, knowledge, and a better understanding of cultivation.

He couldn't rely on luck forever.

A faint blue interface appeared before his eyes.

[Supreme Path System.]

[Host Status: Stable.]

[Cultivation: Body Tempering, Third Layer.]

[Available Function: Insight.]

Shen Yuan studied the display and decided to test it's ability.

"System, can you explain why my meridians were obstructed in the first place?"

[Insufficient information.]

He frowned.

"What about the black crystal in the ancient chamber?"

[Information unavailable.]

"And the reconstruction of my cultivation foundation?"

[The host's foundation has been restored. Further details are unavailable.]

Shen Yuan stared at the interface which remained unchanged.

He rubbed his temples.

At least he had confirmed something important. The system could provide useful information, but it didn't possess every answer he needed.

If he wanted to understand what had happened to him, he would have to investigate independently.

For now, he needed to learn more about cultivation.

The Shen Clan Scripture Pavilion was the obvious place to begin. Its shelves contained techniques and cultivation records accumulated over generations. Even if the elders refused to give him access to the better resources he may get a lead there.

He had barely finished considering his options when a strange sensation came from inside his storage pouch.

Shen Yuan lowered his gaze.

The medicinal pill he had recovered from the ancient chamber was trembling.

He drew it out.

The pill had appeared ordinary when he first found it, its surface dark and dull. Now, thin black lines were spreading across it like cracks in glass.

"What in the world…?"

A wisp of black mist escaped between his fingers.

Shen Yuan immediately threw the pill onto the table and stepped back.

The mist did not disperse.

Instead, it curled through the air, twisting toward him as though it could sense his presence.

He reached for the short blade at his waist, but before he could draw it, the mist surged forward.

It entered his chest.

Pain exploded through his body.

Shen Yuan staggered, knocking the table aside. His breath caught as an unfamiliar force spread through his meridians, pushing against his spiritual energy.

He clenched his teeth and tried to circulate his spiritual energy, but the strange force moved independently, ignoring his attempts to restrain it.

A whisper echoed through his mind.

"Found you at last…"

Shen Yuan's blood ran cold.

He tried to speak but his throat felt stuck.

The strange energy continued spreading through his body, tearing through his spiritual pathways before filling them with something he couldn't understand.

A blue interface flashed before his eyes.

[Supreme Path System Alert.]

[Abnormal energy detected within the host's body.]

[Warning: The energy is interacting with the host's spiritual foundation.]

Shen Yuan gripped the edge of the table.

"How... do ... I stop it..." He managed to say.

[Insufficient information to determine the appropriate response.]

The pain intensified.

Shen Yuan dropped to one knee, his fingers digging into the wooden floor. He had survived the Blackfang Wolf, defeated Shen Hao, and finally taken his first steps toward changing his fate.

Yet whatever had entered his body threatened to undo everything before he could understand it.

He forced himself to breathe.

Panic wouldn't help him.

If the energy was interacting with his spiritual foundation, he needed to understand how. He tried to sense its movement, searching for a pattern he could recognize.

But the presence was too powerful and too unfamiliar.

For the first time since awakening the Supreme Path System, Shen Yuan faced a problem that Insight could not solve.

The interface flickered again.

[Further analysis unavailable.]

Shen Yuan lowered his head, sweat dripping from his chin.

Whatever he had brought back from the ancient chamber, it wasn't merely a medicinal pill.

And it had no intention of leaving.