Chapter 15 – Hidden Fire
From the side, Wang Xuei crossed her arms and grinned.
"Hah! Lucky you, Ice Stone. But don't get happy just yet. I'm sure the next fruit will fall into the hands of someone more… lively."
Yuji only gave a small, slightly warm smile, yet not fully open.
Then… the sky rumbled softly. Every head turned at once.
Golden-Crimson Heavenly Spiritual Fruit… began to move.
The air trembled again, this time from the opposite direction.
The Golden-Crimson Heavenly Spiritual Fruit, glowing red and gold with flickers of light like sacred flames, began to spin slowly in the air.
Its aura blazed, not as elegant as the Seven-Colored Fruit, but far more intimidating.
Everyone held their breath.
The fruit… began to move.
Fang Sei lifted his body from the tree trunk, observing the fruit's movement carefully. "Hoo… it seems the next player is about to step onto the stage."
At the peak of Mount Lihai, the participants froze.
The Red-Golden Heavenly Spiritual Fruit continued to spin as if weighing something, before finally gliding slowly…
…toward a woman who stood stiffly, gritting her teeth in silence as she watched Yuji Daofei's previous luck.
Wang Xuei.
She turned as she felt a hot aura approaching from her left side. Her eyes widened when she saw the fruit hovering right in front of her.
"W-What?" she whispered almost inaudibly.
"Why… toward me?"
She stepped back reflexively. Her hands trembled slightly.
Yuji Daofei, still holding the Seven-Colored Fruit, looked at her, as did Yun Xiwe and Xieyi Zui.
"Wang Xuei?" Yun Xiwe said in surprise. "She… is the next one chosen?"
Xieyi Zui murmured softly, "But… isn't…?"
All eyes now turned to Wang Xuei.
The long-haired, sharp-eyed woman raised her hand hesitantly. But the fruit descended on its own, slowly touching her palm… then stopped.
Merging.
From a distance, where Jia Wei and Yuwei stood
Jia Wei paused for a few seconds. Her face was unreadable.
"Tch… I thought the fruit would choose Yun."
Jia Yuwei stared at the fruit now in Wang Xuei's hand.
"Sis… is this… not wrong?"
Jia Wei exhaled. "The fruit chooses based on hidden potential. Sometimes… they choose a soul we have yet to fully understand."
In the western city, the Wang family's headquarters, a large hall was filled with members watching a spiritual broadcast from Mount Lihai.
As soon as the red-gold fruit merged with Wang Xuei, the clamor ceased.
An elder of the family rose from his seat, eyes wide.
"That… Wang Xuei?"
"That naughty child chosen… by the heavenly fruit?"
Some family members exchanged looks, unable to believe it.
Yet many also smiled with pride, for the Wang family's name would now echo throughout the western Domain.
At the peak…
Wang Xuei looked at the fruit in her hand. Her smile gradually appeared, satisfied yet full of questions.
"Hah… so… I really am special."
"Even this Fruit knows."
The wind began to spin slowly around her. The aura from the fruit started merging with her body… opening the path to a new future.
But not everyone cheered.
Some watching felt uneasy. The two highest fruits had chosen their owners, and both came from the western Domain.
And the sky had not yet shown the final sign.
After the Red-Golden Heavenly Spiritual Fruit arrogantly chose Wang Xuei, the peak of Mount Lihai fell back into a creeping silence. The wind ceased, as if the sky was holding its breath. Not a single one of the six remaining heavenly fruits moved. Only still… as if staring at the participants who waited with hope yet trepidation.
Day 179…
One more day before the first stage of selection closed.
And six fruits had yet to choose anyone.
Yun Xiwe stood frozen, her fingers clenched, as if her body would tremble from tension if she did not restrain herself. Around her, Yuji Daofei, Xieyi Zui, and six other participants stood in a formation starting to unravel from growing anxiety.
"Why… hasn't a single one moved…" whispered one of the six participants, his voice nearly lost in the wind.
"Have they already finished choosing?" another asked, his voice hoarse with fear.
Yuji Daofei did not answer, his eyes sharply staring at the sky. Cold. Emotionless. But from his stance, it was clear even he was on full alert.
"Impossible." Yun Xiwe murmured, more to herself. "There are six left… they would not remain still without reason…"
Meanwhile, in the distance, on the eastern side, Jia Wei and Jia Yuwei stood upright on a large rock, watching the peak of Mount Lihai.
"They haven't moved since Wang Xuei…" said Jia Yuwei, her tone anxious.
"The sky is weighing." replied Jia Wei flatly, though his gaze was watchful. "If the six do not move by tomorrow, then there will be six heavenly forces… delayed. That has never happened in history."
In the west, hidden behind a large black rock, Fang Sei and Hui Baifa exchanged glances.
"They are slow." Hui Baifa muttered with malice. "Or perhaps they know none of them are worthy."
"Quiet." Fang Sei sharply scolded. "Look at the sky… feel its pulse… there is something that…"
BOOOOMMM!!
The sky shattered. Not by the sound of thunder, but by a pulse of power that could not be explained. Light descended not one… not two… but FOUR at once!
The sky was suddenly engulfed in a terrifying radiance.
One glowed seven colors as if the entire heavenly spectrum spilled in a single gleam.
Another shone white-gold, majestic, pure, and blinding.
One more radiated silver-green, calm yet shaking like a storm cloaked in mist.
And the last… red-purple, hot, threatening, and burning the soul of anyone who looked at it for too long.
"WHAT?!" shouted one of the disciples from below the mountain. "They… four?!"
"This is impossible… not at once!" exclaimed another, eyes wide.
Back at the peak, all eyes lifted to the sky.
Yun Xiwe squinted, her body drawn by the aura of the white-gold light slowly descending, circling her spot.
Xieyi Zui stepped back a step without realizing it, approached by the silver-green light that flowed softly yet pressed against her chest.
Yuji Daofei, for the first time, frowned as the red-purple light swirled above him like living flames, threatening to pounce or test.
"Why… four at once?!" whispered a participant behind Xieyi Zui.
"The sky is shaking the foundation of the world…" Yun Xiwe replied softly. "And we… are the epicenter."
The four lights began to spin around the peak.
They did not choose immediately.
They observed.
Judged.
And for a moment… the entire peak felt like an invisible battlefield where every soul was weighed, assessed, and cut by the gaze of the gods.
In the distance, Jia Wei clenched a rock at her side.
"Whoever is chosen by the silver-green light…" she murmured, "will bring calamity… or miracles."
One step…
One touch… of that light…
And their fate would change…
Forever.
The clamor was now unstoppable. When the four Heavenly Spiritual Fruits moved simultaneously, the sky of Domain Zhi looked like a battlefield of light illuminating the evening sky with streaks of gold, red-purple, silver-green, and seven-colored glimmering like a sacred rainbow.
Their aura flowed wildly, spreading like a stormy wind touching every corner, piercing the mountains, crossing the valleys, and finally spreading far… very far…
Across the entire Guhawe Nation.
In the major cities, sect elders, nobles, and prominent clan families rose from their seats, frowning, eyes squinting, hearts uneasy.
Some recognized these signs as symbols of the birth of extraordinary generations.
Meanwhile, in a quiet remote village, usually only filled with bird songs and the sound of sky streams, the heavens became a stage of grandeur never seen before.
Including a small village in the southeast…
Yunboa Village.
The Lawzi family, relaxing in the courtyard of their old house, froze staring at the sky.
The western sky shone with a light too glaring to ignore, even at such a distance.
Villagers stepped out of their homes, asking each other without answers.
Lawzi Jeu, Zienxi's father, gazed at the sky with bated breath.
Tsai Mianzu and Lawzi Kunren stood exchanging glances, both reading something in silence.
Meanwhile, Lawzi Vuyei clutched her mother's hand, her gaze drawn to the seven-colored lights flickering on the horizon.
"Is that… the Silver-Green Heavenly Spiritual Fruit?" Kunren whispered softly.
"Four at once… in one moment?" Jeu murmured, his eyes sharp, jaw clenched.
No one answered. No one could.
Elsewhere in the courtyard… Lawzi Zienxi stood alone.
His eyes unblinking, his face seemingly frozen in a mixture of disbelief and something deeper, a restlessness he could not explain.
No matter how hard he resisted…
It seemed the steps of fate had already begun following him.