My Path To The Supreme Peak

Chapter 7: Unknown Presence

“Come with me. Gently.” She whispered.

Shen Yuan stared at the veiled woman, then glanced at the knife in her hand.

“Gently? With a knife. Who are you?”

Before she could react, he released her wrist and kicked toward her abdomen, hoping to create an opening.

Unfortunately, she was faster.

She caught his leg, twisted his balance, and shoved him onto the bed. Before he could recover, she pinned him down and pressed the knife against his throat.

Shen Yuan froze.

His brilliant escape plan had lasted less than a breath.

How embarrassing.

“Don’t create a scene,” she warned.

He shook his head, his chest pounding. Then his cheeks flushed. It was his first time being that close to a woman.

Her veiled face was close enough for him to notice the faint rise and fall of her breathing. Her eyes remained cold, showing no hesitation as she held him down.

Shen Yuan tried to shift his weight, but her knee pressed firmly against his side.

Damn it. She was stronger than she looked.

His gaze shifted toward her sleeve.

A thin strand of silver thread protruded from the edge of her pale robe. Unlike the ordinary stitching around it, the strand shimmered faintly when it caught the light, forming a tiny, unfamiliar pattern.

Then he caught a faint scent: snow-lotus. It was delicate, almost completely hidden beneath the smell of leather and cold steel. Yet Shen Yuan noticed it because it was his favorite scent.

He committed the details to memory.

The silver thread. The concealed knife. The snow-lotus fragrance.

He couldn't determine who she was or why she wanted him, but one thing was clear: she hadn't come to examine him.

The blade pressed closer, and his smile disappeared.

“He'll come with me, quietly. Understood?” She spoke through her veil.

Shen Yuan's eyes narrowed.

He had no idea who had sent her, and he wasn't foolish enough to assume he could overpower her. His earlier attempt had already proved the difference in their strength.

For now, he needed an opportunity to escape.

He glanced toward the door, then back at the woman.

Unfortunately, he couldn't see a way out.

He sighed in frustration. Perhaps he should have spent less time celebrating his breakthrough and more time learning how to protect himself.

Before he could think of another strategy, the bedroom door creaked open.

The woman's eyes flickered toward it. She immediately withdrew her knife, sprang away from the bed, and darted through the window.

Shen Yuan barely managed to sit up.

“Wait—!”

She was already gone.

“Shen Yuan?”

He turned toward the doorway.

Luo Qingyu stood there, looking at him with surprise.

“I heard you were sick,” she said. “I came to see how you were doing.”

Shen Yuan glanced at the open window.

Apparently, surviving an assassin wasn't enough. The heavens had decided to send him another problem.

“How thoughtful.”

Luo Qingyu frowned slightly at his tone.

“Where is the healer? Someone said Shen Lian came to examine you.”

“She left,” he said, almost too quickly.

“Already?”

Shen Yuan gestured toward the window.

“Perhaps she remembered an urgent appointment.”

Luo Qingyu stared at the open window, visibly confused.

“Why would a healer leave through the window?”

An excellent question.

Unfortunately, Shen Yuan had no answer.

He remembered the woman's eyes, the coldness, and the certainty with which she had attacked him. But why was she after him?

Shen Yuan rubbed his throat.

His enemies were multiplying faster than his cultivation.

“Shen Yuan?” Luo Qingyu called again. “Are you sure you're all right?”

“I'm fine.”

“You don't look—”

“I want to be alone, Luo Qingyu.”

She fell silent.

For a moment, she looked as though she wanted to say something else. Eventually, she lowered her eyes.

“Fine. Rest well.”

She turned and left.

Shen Yuan watched the door close behind her.

For a moment, he remembered the girl who had once occupied so much space in his heart.

Not long ago, a single word from her could affect his entire day. Now, even with her standing before him, he hadn't known what to say.

Perhaps some things really do change when your love interest disgraces you publicly.

He shook his head and turned toward the window.

Luo Qingyu was no longer his concern. He had more pressing matters to worry about… like the assassin who had nearly put a knife through his throat.

And here he thought advancing his cultivation would make his life easier.

He sighed. Apparently, the heavens had a different sense of humor.

He exhaled heavily, then leaned against the headboard and closed his eyes.

A sudden, violent pain erupted inside his body.

“Ah!”

He jerked upright, clutching his chest as the pain spread through his meridians.

His vision blurred.

Something was awakening inside him.

“What is happening?!”

Shen Yuan struggled to steady his breathing, but the pain continued to intensify. He could feel an unfamiliar force moving through his meridians, disrupting the flow of his spiritual energy.

He tried to circulate his cultivation energy to contain it.

It didn't work.

Whatever was awakening inside him seemed to follow its own rhythm, completely indifferent to his attempts to control it.

He clenched his teeth.

He had endured three years of humiliation, restored his cultivation, and survived an assassin. He refused to believe that he would lose consciousness without even understanding what was happening to his own body.

He concentrated on the strange energy, attempting to trace its origin.

Then he felt it.

Something was buried deep within him, dormant until now.

Shen Yuan's eyes widened.

What was that thing?

Before he could investigate further, the Supreme Path System's interface appeared before his blurred vision.

[Supreme Path System Alert!]

[An unknown energy source has awakened within the host's body.]

Shen Yuan stared at the notification.

An unknown energy source?

He had never knowingly absorbed anything that could have produced such a reaction.

His thoughts raced back to the events preceding his unconsciousness, searching for an explanation. Nothing came to mind.

Another notification appeared.

[Warning: The energy is interfering with the host's meridians.]

Shen Yuan gritted his teeth.

"System, what is this thing?"

[Insufficient information to identify the energy source.]

His expression twisted.

"Then what use are you?"

The screen remained unchanged.

He forced himself to focus on the strange energy instead of wasting his strength arguing with the system.

If it was interfering with his meridians, he needed to understand how it moved. He tried to follow its path, searching for a pattern he could recognize.

But the energy was too unfamiliar.

Every attempt to contain it seemed to provoke another wave of pain.

Shen Yuan clenched his fists, fighting to remain conscious.

The pain surged again.

Shen Yuan's vision darkened as he struggled to maintain control of his own body.

Whatever was awakening inside him, it had already begun changing his fate.

And he had no idea what would happen when it finally awakened completely.