2000+ WORDS LETS GOOOO!!!!!!!

  One hour had passed…

  Han Ye felt a deep sense of tranquility after using Shadow Gale Breathing. It was as if he had discovered a far more efficient way to absorb Qi, one that felt natural. Even more astonishingly, it surpassed the Qi absorption technique he had painstakingly modified from his own cn’s teachings.

  And the proof?

  He had broken through to Arc II.

  His cultivation surged within him like a river unblocked, flowing freely and refining his body at an arming rate. For the first time in a long while, Han Ye felt complete.

  But that feeling was quickly repced by unease.

  As he opened his eyes, he instinctively gnced around—and then froze.

  Elder Ji, who had been lounging zily just moments ago, was now staring at him. Not with his usual half-lidded, indifferent expression, but with sharp, calcuting eyes.

  Not only that—his gaze wasn’t fixed on Han Ye’s face.

  It was locked onto his hands.

  Han Ye’s throat went dry. He swallowed hard, a motion so obvious that Elder Ji definitely noticed.

  "Why is he staring at my hands? Could it be… does he know?"

  Elder Ji narrowed his eyes slightly. So he realizes it too.

  Silence stretched between them, invisible tension thickening the air. Neither spoke, but both understood.

  Elder Ji then shifted his gaze from Han Ye’s hands to his eyes. His expression didn’t change, but Han Ye could tell—the elder was testing him, waiting for his reaction.

  Han Ye felt his heartbeat quicken. Should I act as if nothing happened? Or should I try to expin?

  He didn’t even know what was happening to himself, so expining would be impossible.

  Elder Ji finally exhaled and leaned back again, his sharp gaze fading into his usual zy one.

  “Hmph. Congratutions on reaching Arc II.”

  Han Ye hesitated, unsure if the elder was being sincere or if there was an underlying meaning behind those words.

  "...Thank you, Elder."

  Elder Ji waved a hand dismissively. “We’ll talk ter.”

  And with that, the matter was left unspoken—for now.

  Elder Ji walked toward the pavilion hall, his face unusually serious. As he entered, he saw the other elders busy with their respective matters—some reviewing disciple reports, others cultivating in silence.

  Without warning, Elder Ji smmed his hand onto the nearest table. The impact made a sharp THUD, demanding attention.

  Yet, none of the elders seemed particurly surprised. They merely gnced at him, some raising their eyebrows in curiosity.

  Elder Xian, ever the carefree drinker, took a sip from his gourd and smirked. “What’s the matter? Did someone steal your rexation spot?”

  Elder Ji ignored the jab, his gaze cold.

  “There’s something strange about one of the new disciples.”

  Elder Meng, who had been polishing his bow, turned his head slightly. “And that’s worth disrupting our peace?”

  “Are you talking about Han Ye? His talent?” another elder asked, setting down a jade slip. “His leadership? His archery skills?”

  Elder Ji’s fingers tapped against the table in irritation. “None of those. It’s something… different.”

  Elder Xian chuckled. “Then just say it outright instead of being so dramatic.”

  Elder Ji sighed before lowering his voice. “Han Ye… there’s something wrong with his body.”

  That caught their attention.

  “But what exactly is wrong, Elder Ji?” Elder Jian asked absentmindedly, scribbling on a piece of paper. He was calcuting the sect’s finances, which had been in disarray ever since the sect master mysteriously disappeared—with a significant portion of the treasury.

  Elder Ji shot him an annoyed look. “Can you stop counting our sect's funds for a moment and listen?”

  Elder Jian sighed dramatically and put his brush down. “Fine, fine. Go on.”

  Elder Ji took a deep breath before continuing. “When Han Ye was cultivating using Shadow Gale Breathing, something… unnatural happened. At first, I thought it was just a normal reaction to breaking through Arc II. But then, I saw something strange—bck line markings appeared on his hands. They spread from his fingertips, merged at the back of his hand, and crawled up to his elbows like roots.”

  The room fell into silence.

  Elder Jian finally looked up from his notes, frowning. “Bck markings, huh? That doesn’t sound like a normal breakthrough phenomenon.”

  Elder Meng, who had been polishing his bow, pced it aside. “Are you sure it wasn’t just the residual effect of the technique?”

  Elder Ji shook his head. “No. This wasn’t just a Qi fluctuation. I even heard a whisper—a voice warning me not to approach.”

  That made even Elder Xian, who had been leisurely sipping his wine, straighten his posture.

  “A whisper?” Elder Meng repeated, his tone grave. “Are you absolutely certain?”

  Elder Ji’s expression darkened. “I am very certain.”

  Elder Xian rubbed his chin, now fully engaged in the discussion. “This complicates things. If his Qi deviation were natural, the markings would have faded instantly. But whispers… that suggests something else entirely.”

  Elder Jian tapped his fingers on the table thoughtfully. “Alright, let’s think this through logically. If we rule out a simple breakthrough phenomenon, we have two possibilities. One, Han Ye possesses an extremely rare physique, something we’ve never encountered before.”

  Elder Meng narrowed his eyes. “And the second?”

  Elder Jian’s voice was lower now. “Something else is inside him.”

  The room grew colder.

  Elder Ji crossed his arms. “That’s what worries me. If it’s a special physique, we need to confirm what it is. But if it’s the tter…”

  “Then we may have a problem,” Elder Meng finished grimly.

  Elder Xian sighed, taking another sip of his wine. “And here I thought this generation would be peaceful. What do you propose we do?”

  Elder Ji remained quiet for a moment before speaking. “For now, we watch. If it happens again, we investigate further. But under no circumstances should the sect master find out—not yet.”

  Elder Jian let out a chuckle. “Considering that the sect master ran off with our funds, I doubt he’d care even if Han Ye suddenly turned into a demon.”

  Elder Meng, ever serious, nodded. “Agreed. If this is something dangerous, we need to confirm it first before causing unnecessary arm.”

  Elder Xian smirked. “So, we just observe and hope nothing explodes?”

  Elder Ji’s eyes remained cold.

  “Exactly.”

  After the Qi absorption training, Han Ye and the others returned to their rooms. Their discussions revolved around how Shadow Gale Breathing was superior to their cn techniques, with some even questioning why their ancestors had not discovered such an efficient method. But Han Ye was silent.

  ‘What did Elder Ji see? Did he notice the blood mark I received?' He still believed that the mark on his body remained the same, unaware that it had already changed.

  When he arrived at his room, Han Ye immediately noticed something strange—an old book lying on his desk. His breath hitched. He recognized it instantly. It was the book. The very same one that had started everything.

  His heart pounded. How is this here? Father sealed it in a locked box! How did it get out?

  As if in response to his thoughts, the book shuddered slightly, and a series of incomprehensible symbols appeared on its cover.

  "-[;.;[[-p;;p0op0-&*(^:>"

  The strange text flickered before vanishing. Han Ye took a step back.

  "Oh, of course, you're—wait… Who am I even talking to?"

  Then, before he could react, the book spoke again, this time in words he could understand.

  "TOUCH ME. READ ME. LEARN IT."

  A shiver ran down his spine.

  Han Ye clenched his fists. He had sworn to never open this book again. Not after what happened the first time. Yet here it was, practically calling out to him. A dangerous, insidious whisper echoing in his mind.

  His breathing became uneven. Why now?

  His hands itched to obey the command, but he resisted. He forced himself to look away.

  No. Not yet.

  Taking a deep breath, he turned his back to the desk. He needed to think. The book wasn’t supposed to be here, and its presence could only mean trouble.

  But as he walked away—

  THUMP.

  The book moved. It slid forward on the table as if something inside it was trying to reach for him.

  Han Ye froze.

  The book slid closer. Han Ye wanted to step away, but his body refused to move. His fingers twitched, then stretched out against his will.

  Before he could resist, his hand grasped the book.

  The moment his skin made contact, a burning sensation fred up his arm. His mark—now altered—suddenly reacted. Faint, bck lines pulsed along his veins, crawling up from his wrist to his elbow like dark roots spreading through his body.

  "What is this? Why did my mark change? And why is it bck instead of red—"

  His voice trailed off.

  His eyes nded on the first chapter of the book, its title written in an unreadable, chaotic script:

  'What is ":>?#%%G#Scs#%'?'

  At first gnce, the words were incomprehensible. A jumbled mess of symbols and distortions. But the longer he stared, the more he understood.

  No, it wasn’t just understanding.

  It was knowing.

  An unnatural, undeniable knowledge sank into his mind as if the book itself was feeding him information.

  Then, a different sensation overwhelmed him—hunger.

  Not for food. Not for power.

  For knowledge.

  A burning, desperate craving to learn.

  Every fiber of his being screamed for more. His fingers trembled, but not out of fear—out of anticipation. He wanted to consume every word, unravel every secret hidden within these pages.

  His breath grew heavy. His vision narrowed, fixated entirely on the book. The rest of the world—his room, his training, his sect, his responsibilities—became insignificant.

  All that mattered was this.

  This book. This knowledge. This truth.

  Han Ye flipped the page, his hands moving faster than his thoughts. The next passage was even more incomprehensible, yet he absorbed it like a man starved. His mind stretched and bent, accommodating concepts that should have been impossible to grasp.

  Somewhere, deep inside, a voice screamed at him to stop. To let go.

  But the hunger drowned it out.

  Han Ye read the book like a madman, completely consumed by its contents until the first light of dawn crept through his window.

  "Agh… where am I?" He groaned, rubbing his eyes, his vision still hazy.

  The moment he tried to move, nausea hit him like a tidal wave. His stomach churned violently, and he barely had time to reach for the bucket in the corner before vomiting. A sickly, bckish-red liquid spttered into the container, carrying with it a faint, metallic stench.

  His body trembled. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, his head pounding as if his skull had been split open.

  "What… what did I do st night? My head is killing me." He ran his fingers through his hair, trying to massage the pain away.

  Then, his gaze drifted downward.

  His hands.

  His fingers, his wrists, his arms—dark veins ran along his skin, the same bck lines that had appeared the night before, but now more pronounced, more intricate. They pulsed faintly, as if something alive flowed through them.

  Han Ye froze.

  A dreadful silence filled the room.

  Then, reality smmed into him like a hammer.

  'OH NO!!! What is this?!' he screamed internally, his mind racing in panic.

  He frantically examined his arms, his breath quickening. The patterns weren’t just markings anymore—they were moving, shifting ever so slightly, like ink swimming beneath his skin.

  His heart pounded.

  This wasn’t normal. This wasn’t natural.

  He tried to circute his Qi to suppress whatever was happening, but the moment he did—there was no problem.

  In fact, his Qi flowed smoothly. Too smoothly.

  It surged through his meridians like a raging river, unrestricted, unstoppable. Before he could even comprehend what was happening, his cultivation advanced—he had broken through.

  Arc II: Inner Expansion.

  His body trembled slightly as the realization set in. This wasn’t normal. He had never absorbed Qi this effortlessly before.

  What had the book done to him?

  What had he done to himself?

  -

  -

  -

  "and how the hell i understand about quantum mechanic?!!!!"

  Han Ye stared at his hands, his fingers trembling slightly. The bck markings on his skin pulsed faintly, as if they were alive, resonating with the Qi flowing through his body. He had cultivated for years, modified techniques, and studied countless manuscripts, but never had he experienced something like this.

  And then, there was the knowledge.

  He knew things he had never studied before. Concepts, theories, and formus filled his mind—impossible things, things that had no pce in a Xianxia world.

  Quantum mechanics.

  The term surfaced in his thoughts as if it had always been there. He suddenly understood wave functions, superposition, entanglement—ideas that should have been incomprehensible to someone who had never studied them. And worse, he could calcute them.

  Han Ye instinctively closed his eyes and let his thoughts flow. Numbers and symbols formed and rearranged in his mind as if he were solving an equation on a vast, invisible chalkboard.

  "If energy is quantized, then the smallest possible unit of Qi should follow a simir principle…"

  No paper. No calcutions written down.

  He was simuting quantum mechanics in his head.

  And not just theory—he could apply it.

  Han Ye took a sharp breath, lifting his hand and gathering Qi. He focused, not just on circuting it but on its fundamental nature.

  "If Qi behaves like a particle and a wave… then theoretically, I should be able to influence its probability distribution."

  His Qi flickered—no, it shifted unnaturally.

  "This… this shouldn’t be possible."

  But it was.

  Whatever that book had done, it had rewritten the very way his mind functioned.

  And that terrified him.

  "And I studied electrical engineering, not quantum mechanics," he thought to himself.