Chapter 8 – Whispers of the Past
Night in the academy was silent, but Ashen's mind was anything but calm.
Seated cross-legged in his dorm, his qi flowed in slow, steady cycles. Yet each time it completed a circulation, a faint resonance pulsed deep within him, as if another current — older, colder — hummed underneath.
He grimaced slightly.
It had started right after the sparring match. A soft vibration beneath his cultivation — subtle, but impossible to ignore.
Not dangerous, at least not yet.
But it was a reminder:
The dragon's soul inside him was not dormant.
Ashen opened an ancient scroll he had borrowed from the academy library's Restricted Section. Not through favors — he lacked connections — but by sheer patience and unnoticed persistence. The scroll was brittle, the ink fading.
Its title was simple:
"On Bloodlines and Resonance."
He read slowly, absorbing every word.
> "In certain beings, rare ancestral bloodlines slumber within the soul, waiting for catalyst events to awaken. Resonance may manifest subtly at first — enhanced perception, abnormal comprehension, changes in qi flow."
Ashen's fingers tightened around the scroll.
> "Should the resonance deepen unchecked, cultivators risk deviation... or transcendence."
Deviation — madness.
Transcendence — evolution.
The line between the two was razor thin.
Ashen leaned back, his thoughts heavy.
He needed to control this resonance. Master it, not let it master him.
Yet even now, seated still, he could feel it—the way his body wanted to move more fluidly, how energy patterns in the world seemed almost visible at the edge of his senses.
This wasn't just a tool.
It was the beginning of a transformation.
A new path.
But one he had to walk alone.
---
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the academy...
Lyra Chen sat in a locked study room, old texts piled around her. By rights, she should've been focused on her own cultivation — her family expected nothing less.
But something about Ashen gnawed at her curiosity.
He had changed.
Not loudly. Not dramatically.
Quietly. Subtly.
Just enough for someone like Lyra, who was trained to notice details, to catch it.
On a hunch, she requested records regarding the recent ruin expedition — the one Ashen had vanished into. Surprisingly, the archive clerks initially resisted. "Sealed by Elder Council order," they said.
Sealed?
For a simple low-grade ruin?
That made no sense.
Yet Lyra had persisted, and after invoking her Chen family name — something she despised doing — the barriers reluctantly parted.
She scanned the reports.
Minor spirit beasts. Broken talismans. No treasure left.
Casualties: 2 missing, presumed dead.
And one note hastily scratched in the margin:
> "Deeper layers rumored. Unconfirmed sightings of ancient seal formations. Investigation terminated due to instability."
Ancient seal formations?
Lyra's blood chilled.
She dove deeper, cross-referencing with forbidden texts about ancient beasts. Myths, most considered them. Stories to frighten children.
But the name surfaced again and again, in increasingly fragmented scrolls:
Stellar Chaos Dragons.
Beasts that transcended natural law. Said to embody the origin of chaos, capable of devouring stars and reshaping reality itself.
Dead for countless ages.
Or... perhaps not entirely.
Lyra stared at the last line of one forbidden fragment:
> "When the Dragon of Chaos stirs again, the stars themselves shall tremble."
She leaned back, heart pounding.
Could it be?
No. Impossible. Ashen was no beast. He was barely above average before.
Yet... the possibility gnawed at her.
If even a sliver of such a being had fused with a human...
The consequences would be unimaginable.
She clenched her fists.
If she was right, Ashen wasn't merely an oddity.
He was a ticking time bomb.
And others would come for him — powerful others.
---
Back in his room, Ashen exhaled slowly, finishing his meditation.
The resonance was manageable for now. He couldn't afford to draw attention.
Not yet.
He needed strength first — real, tangible strength.
And so, he pulled out another item he'd stolen glimpses of:
The academy's Outer Disciple Advancement Trials were coming in three months.
If he ranked highly, he would gain access to the Spirit Wells — natural gathering points of qi where cultivation advanced exponentially faster.
More importantly, he would gain protection.
Prestige.
Freedom to move.
He couldn't afford to remain a powerless nobody much longer.
Especially with people like Dairon still lurking.
Or whoever else would come once they sensed even a fraction of what slumbered inside him.
Ashen's eyes, once soft and unremarkable, hardened slightly in the candlelight.
He wasn't seeking revenge.
He wasn't seeking fame.
He sought survival — and beyond that, transcendence.
The road was perilous.
Full of betrayal.
Full of ancient forces best left untouched.
But Ashen Aras had already stepped onto it.
There was no turning back.
And somewhere, deep in the void of his soul, the embryonic will of the Stellar Chaos Dragon pulsed in time with his heartbeat—
Waiting.
Watching.
Growing.
---
Cliffhanger Preview (for Chapter 9):
Ashen encounters a mysterious instructor who notices his unusual qi patterns and offers secret tutelage — but at a steep price. Meanwhile, Dairon makes his next move, setting a trap to expose Ashen's hidden potential to the academy elders.