Chapter 20 – Divine Eyes Turn
The arena had long since fallen silent. Not from fear—but awe.
Even after the dust settled from Luo Qingshen's brief burst of unfathomable power, no one spoke. Not the instructors. Not the Headmaster. Not even the arrogant Mo Zhen, who now lay unconscious with his cultivation forcibly sealed by a single finger tap.
A thin wisp of black-gold mist still lingered in the air, dissipating slowly like an omen of calamity.
Qingshen stood in the center of it all, calm… almost too calm, like nothing had happened.
He turned and walked away without a word.
The crowd parted as he passed.
Whispers followed him—students and instructors alike murmuring behind trembling lips.
"What… what was that aura?"
"It wasn't Divine… or even Forbidden… it felt like something that shouldn't exist."
"He didn't even draw a weapon. Just a glance, and Mo Zhen collapsed…"
Qingshen ignored it all.
He had already broken the balance. And the world had noticed.
Somewhere Far Away — A Tower Above the Clouds
A crystal orb pulsed with an erratic hum.
Within it, a distorted image of Luo Qingshen's back shimmered—his figure vanishing into shadow as he left the arena.
A woman sat before the orb, draped in silver robes woven with stardust. Her eyes were blindfolded, but her sight extended beyond mortal means.
"...The Void stirs again," she whispered.
She raised a trembling hand and pressed it to the orb's surface. "Sealbreaker Protocol. Activate the Seers. Dispatch the Scholar."
At the Forbidden Library — Beneath the Academy Grounds
A sealed gate groaned open—an ancient rune flared to life for the first time in decades.
Out stepped a girl.
She looked young. Delicate. Her robes were the color of dusk, her hair a pale lilac, and her irises glimmered like fragmented runes—symbols shifting inside her pupils.
She wasn't a student.
She wasn't even truly human.
She was the Codex-Bound Scholar, a living record from the Forbidden Library, created to observe, remember, and report anomalies.
"Target identified. Luo Qingshen…"
"Void-Class potential confirmed."
She turned toward the surface, vanishing in a ripple of glyphs.
Back at the Academy Grounds
Qingshen leaned against the sakura tree near the outskirts of the academy. The petals had started to fall again—just like the first day.
He exhaled slowly. "So much for staying hidden."
Behind him, footsteps approached.
It was Lian Yue. She wasn't afraid, but her eyes shimmered with a new curiosity.
"You crushed him," she said softly. "Didn't even hesitate."
Qingshen looked at her. "He crossed a line."
She studied him for a moment. "You weren't trying to win. You were sending a message."
Qingshen's gaze dropped. "No. I was giving a warning."
"To who?"
He didn't answer. Instead, he looked up at the sky, where faint cracks of golden light shimmered—a sign that higher powers were watching.
"To the gods," he whispered.
Scene Change – Divine Clans Stir
In the celestial realm, high above mortal lands, a masked figure knelt before a blazing throne.
A deep voice echoed. "You felt it?"
"Yes, my Lord. A signature… unfamiliar. Not Divine. Not Human."
"Void."
The voice trembled with wrath. "He lives."
The masked figure raised their head. "Shall I dispatch the Starborn Hunters?"
"No," the voice growled. "He has not fully awakened. Let him roam... Let the world tempt him."
"And if he remembers?"
"Then we will finish what we started."
Scene Change – In the Shadows
Far from the academy, in the ruins of an ancient battlefield, a chained figure twitched. The chains screamed as if alive.
He laughed.
"He broke the seal. That boy actually broke it…"
"Ahh… the game begins again…"
His laughter echoed across the void.
Back at the Academy – Night Falls
Luo Qingshen walked the stone path alone. He could feel it—eyes. Dozens of them. Mortal, divine, demonic, and unknown.
All watching.
But he wasn't afraid.
He had lived long enough to know one thing:
Power is a curse only when hidden.
From this moment on, the mask would start to slip.
A few steps behind, the lilac-haired girl—Scholar of the Forbidden Codex—watched him without blinking. Her eyes flickered with strange light.
"He bears the sigil," she whispered. "The one that was erased from time."