***
Yu Xi jolted awake, breath sharp and shallow, as if dragged from the depths of a storm. His psychic power surged like a tempest breaking free of its cage. It was wild, electric, and furious.
His eyes glowed a deep emerald, the color rich and unnatural, pupils narrowed to slits like a predator sensing danger. The air around him crackled with static, shimmering with invisible threads of force. The floor beneath his boots vibrated, humming with suppressed energy.
Jian Ci, standing by the door, felt it instantly. The wave of psychic pressure hit him like a gust of windless heat. There was no sound and no movement, just the undeniable presence of raw power. Yu Xi's field had flared open like a blade unsheathed, unfiltered and laced with fury.
Yu Xi sat on the edge of the bed, shoulders tense, fists clenched at his sides. His breathing was steady, but his aura was anything but. It was an instinct. A reflex even.
