The room had finally become quiet again.
Moments ago, it had been filled with violent currents of Qi swirling like a storm. Now, the air was calm, the spiritual energy slowly returning to its natural flow.
Evan still lay on the soft cushion, staring at the ceiling with wide eyes.
"…ba."
Inside his mind, however, his thoughts were far less simple.
That… almost killed me.
Evan blinked slowly.
The sensation of Qi rushing through his body was still lingering in his veins like faint energy. Even now, he could feel something inside him—something new.
A small vortex.
Spinning slowly.
His dantian.
He had read about it in countless cultivation novels back on Earth, but actually feeling it inside his body was an entirely different experience.
So cultivation is real…
He flexed his tiny fingers.
A faint warmth pulsed through them.
Interesting.
Across the room, Lyra stood completely still.
Her eyes were locked on Evan.
Her expression had changed.
Gone was the calm smile she usually wore when caring for the young prince.
In its place was something far more serious.
Concern.
Shock.
And a growing sense of unease.
What she had witnessed moments ago could not be explained with normal cultivation logic.
Even among the most gifted geniuses of the Celestial Dominion, such a reaction during a talent test was unheard of.
Children did not absorb Qi like that.
They did not create storms of spiritual energy.
And they most certainly did not form a stable Qi vortex in their dantian after their very first contact with cultivation.
Yet that was exactly what had happened.
Lyra slowly walked toward Evan again.
Her gaze sharpened slightly.
"My prince."
Evan turned his head toward her.
"Ba?"
Lyra crouched down beside him.
Her voice remained calm, but her thoughts were racing.
I need to confirm it.
Perhaps what she saw earlier was a fluke.
Perhaps the Qi storm had been triggered by something external.
There was only one reliable way to test spiritual talent.
Lyra reached into the sleeve of her robe.
From within, she carefully removed a small crystal.
It was about the size of a small egg, perfectly clear and faintly glowing from within.
A Qi sensing crystal.
These crystals were used across the cultivation world to measure spiritual compatibility.
When touched, the crystal would react to the individual's spiritual roots.
Weak talent produced a faint glow.
Average talent created gentle ripples of light.
Genius-level cultivators could make the crystal shine brilliantly.
But the crystal itself was extremely durable.
Even powerful cultivators could not damage it during a simple test.
Lyra looked at Evan carefully.
Let us see the truth.
She gently placed the crystal in front of him.
"My prince, touch this."
Evan tilted his head.
He looked at the crystal with curiosity.
Shiny.
He immediately activated baby instincts.
Without hesitation—
He grabbed it.
The moment his tiny fingers wrapped around the crystal—
The reaction was instant.
A blinding light exploded from the crystal's core.
Lyra's eyes widened.
"What—?!"
The crystal vibrated violently.
Lines of silver light spread through it like cracks of lightning racing across glass.
Evan blinked.
Oh… that doesn't look good.
The light grew brighter.
And brighter.
And brighter.
Until—
CRACK
A sharp sound echoed through the room.
The crystal split apart in Evan's tiny hand.
Fragments fell onto the cushion.
The light vanished.
Silence returned.
Evan stared down at the broken pieces.
"…ba?"
He lifted one fragment curiously.
Lyra did not move.
For several seconds, she simply stared.
Her mind had gone completely blank.
Qi sensing crystals were not fragile.
They were designed to withstand intense spiritual pressure.
Even powerful cultivators would struggle to damage one through a simple contact test.
Yet the crystal had shattered the moment Evan touched it.
Not after minutes.
Not after strain.
Instantly.
Lyra slowly inhaled.
Then exhaled.
Her gaze shifted toward Evan again.
The young prince was currently attempting to eat one of the crystal fragments.
She quickly took it from him.
"My prince… please do not eat testing artifacts."
Evan pouted slightly.
Worth a try, haha.
Lyra placed the broken crystal pieces back into her sleeve.
Her hands were steady.
But her thoughts were anything but calm.
This cannot be a coincidence.
She replayed the events in her mind.
The Qi storm.
The immediate formation of a dantian vortex.
And now—
A shattered talent crystal.
These things did not happen to normal cultivators.
Not even to geniuses.
Lyra had served the royal family for many years.
She had seen the talents of the Eight Pillars.
She had seen prodigies capable of shaking entire sects.
But this—
This was something else entirely.
Her gaze drifted to Evan again.
He was currently sitting upright, happily slapping the cushion with both hands.
"Ba! Ba!"
Acting exactly like a normal one-year-old child.
If someone walked into the room right now, they would never
suspect anything unusual.
Lyra felt a chill run down her spine.
This level of talent…
No.
Talent was not the correct word.
This was something far beyond talent.
Something abnormal.
Her mind drifted toward an old memory.
A conversation she had once overheard long ago in the Celestial Throne Citadel.
Two elders speaking in hushed voices.
They had been discussing something ancient.
Something that no longer existed in the modern cultivation world.
A bloodline.
A legendary lineage that was said to possess an unnatural connection to the heavens themselves.
The story claimed that those born with that bloodline could
manipulate spiritual energy like breathing.
Qi would naturally gather around them.
Cultivation would bend to their will.
But the bloodline had vanished thousands of years ago.
Erased from history.
Lyra had always believed it was just a myth.
Until now.
Her eyes slowly returned to Evan.
"…My prince."
Evan looked up at her again.
"Ba?"
Lyra studied him carefully.
Right now, he looked harmless.
Small.
Innocent.
But beneath that tiny body…
Something terrifying might be sleeping.
She slowly extended her senses again.
Carefully examining the Qi inside Evan's body.
There it was.
"…the prince will never know peace."