Night had fallen quietly over the small house.
The city outside had long since settled into silence. Distant lanterns flickered along the streets, and the soft murmur of wind moved through the narrow alleys.
Inside the house, everything appeared peaceful.
Too peaceful.
In the small bedroom near the back of the house, Evan was sleeping soundly on a soft bed.
His tiny body was wrapped in light blankets, his breathing slow and steady.
From the outside, he looked like any ordinary one-year-old child.
But the moment the room grew quiet…
Something began to change.
The air stirred.
At first, it was subtle.
Almost impossible to notice.
A faint ripple passed through the spiritual energy in the room.
Then another.
And another.
Invisible strands of Qi slowly began drifting toward the bed.
Toward Evan.
They moved gently at first, like thin threads of mist carried by the wind.
Then the movement grew stronger.
The Qi gathered around his small body like water spiraling toward a drain.
Absorbed.
Pulled into him.
The vortex inside his dantian spun quietly as it devoured the surrounding energy.
Unconsciously.
Naturally.
As if his body had always known how to do this.
Evan shifted slightly in his sleep.
"…mm."
Inside his mind, fragments of dreams drifted through his consciousness.
Dreams that didn't belong to a baby.
Flashes of memories from another life.
A cramped apartment.
The glow of a computer screen late at night.
Stacks of cultivation novels he used to read when he should have been sleeping.
Back then, stories about cultivation worlds had been nothing more than fantasy.
A form of escape.
Now—
He was living inside one.
His breathing deepened.
The Qi around him thickened.
The invisible current in the room grew stronger.
Outside the bedroom window, the leaves of a small potted plant began trembling.
Slowly—
The vibrant green color of the leaves faded.
The plant withered.
Its life force drained as the surrounding Qi was pulled away.
Across the room, another plant began wilting as well.
The soil dried rapidly.
The air grew unnaturally still.
The spiritual energy in the room continued flowing toward the bed.
Toward the sleeping child.
And the vortex inside Evan's dantian kept spinning.
Hungry.
Devouring.
—
In the next room, Lyra suddenly opened her eyes.
She had been meditating quietly to restore the spiritual energy she had used earlier during Evan's talent test.
But something felt wrong.
Her senses sharpened instantly.
The spiritual energy around the house felt… thin.
Too thin.
Like something was draining it.
Lyra stood up immediately.
Her gaze turned toward the bedroom.
"…No."
She rushed down the short hallway and pushed open the door.
The moment she stepped inside, she froze.
The plants in the room were nearly dead.
Their leaves had shriveled, hanging limply from thin stems.
The spiritual energy in the air was almost completely gone.
And at the center of it all—
Evan slept peacefully on the bed.
Completely unaware of the chaos he was causing.
Lyra's eyes widened.
"My prince…"
She extended her senses toward him.
The moment she did—
She felt it.
The vortex inside his dantian was spinning again.
Not violently like earlier.
But steadily.
Endlessly.
And every strand of Qi in the room was being pulled toward it.
Lyra inhaled slowly.
"…He's absorbing Qi in his sleep."
Her mind raced.
Cultivators could absorb Qi through meditation.
Through breathing techniques.
Through deliberate focus.
But absorbing Qi unconsciously while sleeping?
That was unheard of.
Even the most talented cultivators required years of training before their bodies could naturally gather spiritual energy.
Yet Evan was doing it instinctively.
Like breathing.
Lyra stepped closer to the bed.
The Qi around her own body began drifting toward Evan as well.
She immediately suppressed it with her cultivation aura.
If she allowed it to continue…
The entire house would soon be drained of spiritual energy.
And worse—
The disturbance might spread.
Her eyes narrowed.
"This is dangerous."
The earlier crystal test had already confirmed her fears.
Evan's talent was beyond anything she had ever seen.
But this…
This was something far more frightening.
If his body continued absorbing Qi like this every night, it would eventually create a disturbance large enough for powerful cultivators to notice.
And if someone investigated—
Everything would be exposed.
Lyra gently placed her hand on Evan's chest.
The vortex inside his dantian continued spinning peacefully.
Too peacefully.
She closed her eyes.
For a moment, she hesitated.
Then she whispered quietly.
"…Forgive me, my prince."
A faint glow formed around her fingers.
Her cultivation aura flowed into Evan's body.
Carefully.
Gently.
She guided the energy toward the small vortex in his dantian.
Instead of feeding it—
She wrapped it.
Layer after layer of spiritual seals formed around the vortex.
Not to destroy it.
Not to harm him.
Only to suppress it.
To slow it down.
The spinning vortex resisted slightly.
For a moment, the Qi inside Evan's body surged.
Evan shifted in his sleep.
"…mm…"
Lyra softened the pressure immediately.
"It's alright."
Her voice was barely above a whisper.
"I will not harm you."
She adjusted the seal.
This time, the vortex slowly began calming.
The endless suction of Qi weakened.
Gradually—
The room returned to normal.
The remaining strands of spiritual energy stopped flowing toward Evan.
The invisible pressure vanished.
Lyra slowly withdrew her hand.
The seal she had placed would not stop Evan's cultivation forever.
But it would suppress his natural absorption.
At least until he was older.
Until his body could handle the consequences.
Lyra sat beside the bed quietly.
Her gaze remained fixed on the sleeping child.
"You cannot grow like this yet."
If he continued cultivating naturally at this age, his abnormal talent would eventually expose him.
The world outside was not safe for someone like Evan.
Not yet.
She brushed a strand of hair away from his forehead.
"I'm sorry."
Her voice carried genuine regret.
"You will have to wait a little longer."
She stood up and walked toward the center of the room.
Then she raised her hand.
A faint golden glow spread across the walls.
Formation symbols appeared briefly before fading into the structure of the house.
A sealing formation.
It would conceal spiritual fluctuations from the outside world.
Another layer of protection.
Lyra looked back at Evan one last time.
"When you grow a little older…"
Her expression softened.
"I will personally teach you cultivation."
"But until then…"
Her gaze turned serious again.
"We must remain hidden."
—
Far away, on the other side of the city—
An elderly cultivator walking through the night suddenly stopped.
His brows furrowed.
He slowly turned his head.
His senses stretched outward.
For a brief moment…
He had felt something.
A strange fluctuation in the spiritual energy of the city.
Like a sudden void.
As if something had devoured a large amount of Qi.
But now—
The disturbance had vanished.
The old cultivator narrowed his eyes.
"…Strange."
He remained still for several seconds.
Then he muttered quietly to himself.
"Perhaps I imagined it."
But even as he continued walking…
A faint sense of unease remained in his mind.
Because for that brief moment—
It had felt like something in the city had been… feeding.
But now—the disturbance had vanished.
The old cultivator narrowed his eyes.
"…Strange. Perhaps I imagined it."
But even as he continued walking, a faint sense of unease remained in his mind.