Lin Tian was gone, leaving as casually as if he’d just stepped out for groceries. The suddenness of his departure left an emptiness in the apartment that echoed the one in Lin Jie’s chest. There had been no time to prepare, no last words of encouragement, only a void where his father’s presence used to be. A knot of worry for his father’s safety tightened in his gut, tangled with a new, sharp anxiety for his own future. He had grown so accustomed to his father’s care, to the simple comfort of his companionship. Now, the silence was deafening. “Dad… you left… before doing the dishes!” Lin Jie grumbled, the words a weak attempt to find humor in the wreckage of his afternoon. He let out a long sigh. There were things he couldn't let himself dwell on, thoughts that, if given any space, would become a torrent of fear. The Myriad Realms Battlefield was a place of incomparable danger. If he thought about it too much, he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from chasing his father down and dragging him back. “A cultural research academy…” The dishes could wait. Lin Jie collapsed onto the couch, his gaze unfocused. Before leaving, his father had been harping on about it, about Lin Jie securing a place in a cultural research academy. That had been the plan. But now… “If you weren’t heading to the Myriad Realms Battlefield, I’d apply in a heartbeat,” Lin Jie muttered to the empty room, rubbing his temples. “But why did you have to go? Did you expect me to just sit back and not worry? You could be gone for years. Am I supposed to just wait for news, safe behind the front lines? You’re not a kid anymore, Dad. Did you even think about that?” He clenched his jaw, a bitter resolve hardening within him. “You’ve left me no choice. Since you’re not here, I’ll just apply for a war academy instead.” A cultural research academy was a sanctuary. It was a place for scholars who studied the cultures of the myriad races, analyzed their cultivation methods, and chronicled their civilizations. Every cultural researcher was treated as a national treasure, an asset to be protected far from the horrors of the battlefield. A war academy, on the other hand, was a forge. It existed for one purpose: to serve the battlefield. All his hard work had been aimed at earning a safe place in a research academy, a place where he could stay by his father’s side. But now the old man himself had run off to the Myriad Realms Battlefield. If Lin Jie enrolled in a cultural research academy, he would never have a chance to see the front lines. A war academy was different. It was said their students often entered the battlefield for practical training. “A war academy… but that means I’ll need strength to pass the exam.” The decision was easy to make, but the reality was daunting. A war academy was not a place one could enter on a whim. In his case, it was far more difficult than getting into a cultural research academy. The scholars had relatively low requirements for physical strength. The warriors, however, were another story. Their academies were meant to supply the front lines with capable soldiers, and they wouldn't waste their resources on the weak. Origin, Profound Vigor, and Boundless Vigor. These were the foundational cultivation realms for humanity. Humans were born with bodies ill-suited for cultivation; only by opening the nine major acupoints could one’s meridians connect with the source qi of the world, marking the birth of a true cultivator. The nine acupoints of the Origin Realm were the mouth, the nose, the eyes, the ears, the Spirit Palace at the crown of the head, and the One Hundred Openings at the navel. Only by opening all nine could a person absorb source qi, refine their body, strengthen their bones, and transcend their mortal limits to become a powerful warrior. “I’ve only just opened the three acupoints of my nose and mouth,” Lin Jie muttered to himself. “There’s still no sign of my ear acupoints opening. I’m not even a fourth-stage Origin cultivator. Getting into a war academy won’t be easy.” Nurturing an expert combatant was an expensive endeavor. To have a decent chance, he would need to at least open his ear acupoints and reach the fifth-stage Origin Realm. If he could somehow open his eye acupoints as well, reaching the sixth or even seventh stage, his admission would be practically guaranteed. As for the true geniuses, those who had opened their Spirit Palace and One Hundred Openings, they could take their pick of any war academy in the land. Anyone who could open all nine acupoints before the age of twenty was a talent no academy would ever turn away. “And I’m still at the third-stage Origin Realm…” Lin Jie sighed. Third-stage wasn't terrible, but it was far from exceptional. At his school, Beihe Youth Sage, there were nine final-year classes totaling 750 students. Among them, a hundred or so were at the third stage, and maybe a dozen were higher. Based on past years, fewer than twenty of those students would be accepted into any war academy. Those at the fourth stage had a strong chance, but for those at the third stage, the odds were less than one in a hundred. Besides, not all war academies were created equal. An academy desperate enough to accept third-stage students would likely be a weak one. At that point, Lin Jie might as well go to a cultural research academy. “Three more months… a war academy… I have to try,” Lin Jie said, his teeth clenched. If his father wasn't going to be reliable, then he would have to be. What was the old man thinking, marching off to the Myriad Realms Battlefield at his age? Later that night, Lin Jie bolted upright in bed, drenched in sweat. “That damn dream again! Dad…” he called out by instinct. In the past, the sound of his cry would have been met with the shuffle of his father’s footsteps in the hall. Tonight, there was only silence. Lin Jie stared into the darkness for a moment before the afternoon’s events came rushing back. His father was gone. “Sigh.” He flicked on the lamp and checked his communicator. Three in the morning. Dawn was still hours away. “It’s been more than ten years.” No one should have to endure the same nightmare for over a decade. He was used to it now, but in the beginning, the fear had been so profound he’d avoided sleep, nearly driving himself to collapse from exhaustion. “Why does this keep happening?” Leaning against the headboard, Lin Jie wondered, asking himself the same question he’d asked a thousand times before. He’d told his father, but there was nothing he could do. A doctor had suggested it was some deep-seated psychological trauma, but Lin Jie had no memory of any such event. “It’s the same thing every time. At the end, I’m being chased by… monsters.” He was so tired of it. Every single night, the same relentless pursuit. The only thing that changed was the pursuer. Never human, they were always strange, monstrous creatures. Their features were always indistinct, a blur of horrifying shapes, but he knew they were different each time. What had he ever done to deserve this? He was probably the only person in the world who had been hunted in his dreams for over a decade. His father once suspected it was a curse from the nightmare race, but this was the human realm. Any member of the nightmare race who dared to trespass would have been hunted down by human experts long ago. And this had persisted for ten years. If an expert of the nightmare race had gone to the trouble of infiltrating human territory, they would surely target a powerful human expert. Only a complete idiot would waste so much time and energy tormenting an ordinary boy. “Will it ever end? This is so annoying,” Lin Jie complained to the quiet room. He had to believe it would. Thankfully, he had grown accustomed to it; otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to function. “Dad always said that once I open all nine acupoints and enter the Mighty Force Realm, my body will be nourished by source qi, making me immune to all sickness and evil. That should work, right?” It was his only hope. As his mind churned, time slipped away. Before he knew it, the first rays of sunlight were filtering through his window. Lin Tian might be gone, but life had to go on. It was a school day. After brushing his teeth and forcing down a simple breakfast, Lin Jie grabbed his school bag and headed out. Downstairs, a young man with a neat crew cut was waiting for him. When he saw Lin Jie, he hurried over. “Jie! My dad told me that Uncle Lin—” “Yeah,” Lin Jie said, cutting him off before he could finish. The crew-cut youth’s face creased with worry. “What was Uncle Lin thinking? He’s a grown man! Going to the Myriad Realms Battlefield at his age is basically sui—” He stopped himself abruptly. He’d been about to say it was a suicide mission. He might believe it, but it wasn't something he could say to Lin Jie’s face. “It was his choice. I couldn’t stop him.” Lin Jie forced a smile. “Anyway, there are millions of soldiers on the Myriad Realms Battlefield, with plenty of human experts holding the line. He won’t die that easily.” “I know, but Uncle Lin is only a… a Profound Vigor cultivator.” The youth, Wang Feng, seemed even more anxious than Lin Jie. “That might seem incredible to us, but on the Myriad Realms Battlefield, they’re the weakest of the weak. Even a fresh recruit from the myriad races is already at the Mighty Force Realm.” “Jie! How can you be so calm?” Wang Feng was practically panicking on his friend’s behalf. If it were his father, he’d be a crying wreck. “Would worrying help?” Lin Jie asked, a sense of helplessness washing over him. His father was gone. That was a fact. Worrying wouldn’t change a thing. His friend was as impatient as ever. “Cut the crap. Let’s get to school.” “Sage?” Wang Feng looked astonished. “You’re still going to school?” Lin Jie just stared at him, the silence stretching until Wang Feng began to squirm. “What kind of stupid question is that?” Lin Jie finally said, rolling his eyes. “What am I supposed to do, stay home and cry all day, waiting for bad news from the front?” What was this guy even thinking? “Come on. The school is sending the final list of applicants to the academies in a few days. I need to sign up.” “I thought you already did,” Wang Feng said, confused. “Don’t you remember? We signed up together last week.” “I remember. I signed up for the cultural research academies. This time, I’m signing up for the war academies.” Wang Feng froze. War academy? “Let’s go!” Lin Jie said, cutting him off before he could ask any more questions. He had made his decision last night. The first step was getting his name on the list. Passing the entrance exam was another matter entirely. At the Aspirant Record Pavilion in Beihe Youth Sage, the teacher in charge checked her records and looked up in surprise. “Lin Jie, you’ve already registered for the cultural research academies, haven’t you? You’ve mastered the languages of eighteen different races; you’re one of Beihe’s best. You could easily get into the Great Han Sage of Sage. Why sign up for the war academies now?” Usually, the only students who applied for both were those who lacked the confidence to get into either and were just casting a wide net. Lin Jie, however, was intelligent and hardworking. His mastery of eighteen racial languages was enough to make the most prestigious cultural research academy in the nation, the Great Han Sage of Sage, throw its doors wide open for him. It was why Lin Tian had been so confident about his son’s future. Lin Jie just smiled, offering no real explanation. “Teacher, it’s always good not to put all your eggs in one basket. Everyone’s allowed to sign up for two types of academies, right? It can’t hurt to be safe.” “That’s true, but it’s hardly necessary for a student like you. Just perform as you always do on the exam,” the teacher said with a warm smile. “The school has already submitted the names of our top students, including yours. You still have to take the entrance exam, of course, but unofficially, your name is already on the lists at the high academies of Great Han. Even if you somehow failed, they’d likely give you a second chance.” Beside him, Wang Feng asked with a hopeful, envious look, “Teacher, is my name on that list too?” The teacher glanced at him and smiled politely. “Yes. Your name has been noted by the internal affairs academies.” Wang Feng’s face fell. An internal affairs academy. The four major academy types were war, cultural research, scientific research, and internal affairs. The last one focused on practical life skills: auto repair, cooking, driving, administration, entertainment, and so on. The war academies trained warriors, the cultural research academies studied their enemies, and the scientific research academies developed weapons and medicines. Those three were respectable paths. The internal affairs academies were where you went when you had no other choice. The teacher ignored Wang Feng’s crestfallen expression. After completing Lin Jie’s registration, she smiled at him. “Remember to keep your focus on cultural research. Maybe try to learn another language or two before the exam; it will be very helpful for your future. As for cultivation, there’s no need to rush. For the research academies, you only need to reach the Mighty Force Realm eventually. That’s enough to keep you healthy and impervious to illness.” Vigor was never the priority for scholars. The teacher was worried Lin Jie might misplace his focus, and her advice was well-intentioned. Lin Jie nodded with a polite smile. She meant well, but his priorities had changed. From now until the entrance examination, cultivation would be everything.

Chapter 2: You Left The Dishes