Chapter 7: The Hidden Families

The small changes Jin Yu made to the world were now doing more than just making things look nicer.


The air, now richer with energy—something Jin Yu could see through his phone’s Planetary Scan—was starting to be felt by people who had long been sensitive to such things.


Hidden deep in the mountains around the Hengduan Mountains, in valleys wrapped in old magic and hidden from normal sight, lived families who practiced ancient arts. For many generations, they had quietly trained in secret, unknown to the outside world.


Drawing strength from the good air in the mountains, they had refined themselves over decades, many reaching the early stages of Qi Refinement.


Old Man Chao of the Li Family, his face marked with the lines of age and the subtle flow of energy, sat still in his quiet meditation room.


He had been at Qi Refinement Stage 3 for decades, his control over his internal energy delicate yet profound. Normally, the air around him was calm, filled with energy he had carefully cultivated.


But lately, something had disturbed that stillness.
The energy felt... different.


There was more of it — richer, fuller — but it was also restless, as if someone had thrown a pebble into a pond that had been still for centuries.


Old Man Chao slowly opened his eyes, wise and sharp. He wasn’t the only one who had felt it.


Swift-footed messengers — many at Qi Refinement Stage 1 or 2 — moved through the secret mountain paths, already dispatched to the other hidden families.


A meeting was being called.


Something was happening in the normal world, something that was *changing* the very energy they relied on.


High up among the old pine trees, Master Jian of the Song Family sat as easily as a monkey.


A peak Qi Refinement Stage 3 cultivator, his senses were sharp beyond normal understanding.


For the last few days, he had felt a steady, gentle push of energy coming from the direction of the Red Dragon country.


It was like a soft wind carrying the smell of good earth... and something wild, something new.


He frowned slightly, his sharp eyes looking out toward the distant city.
The Red Dragon Country was a normal place — noisy, busy, filled with human pollution.


What could be making this strange new energy?


At first, he had dismissed the brighter plants and slight feeling of renewed life as natural.


But the growing energy was different.
It felt... like it was *meant* to be there.


As night fell upon the mountains, the hidden people began to gather in a secret, mist-shrouded clearing said to hold abundant energy.


Elders who had spent lifetimes inching forward in Qi Refinement, and younger students just beginning to sense the flow of internal energy, assembled, silent and watchful.


Their movements, honed by generations of quiet cultivation, were swift and sure through the rough land.


Old Man Chao spoke first, his voice a low rumble that seemed to carry weight in the stillness.


"For many years, the good air in these mountains has helped us slowly refine our Qi. "


"Now, it moves with greater power... but it feels strange."


It feels as if something from outside our valleys is stirring it."


Master Jian nodded, his eyes gleaming sharply.


"The center of the disturbance seems to be the city of the Red Dragon country."


"I have felt a new kind of energy emanating from there — something unknown, but strong."


A ripple of quiet talk spread among the gathered cultivators.


A normal city? Creating this kind of change?


It had never happened before.


The outside world usually made cultivation harder, not easier.


A young student, barely at Qi Refinement Stage 1, spoke up hesitantly.


"Could it be... a treasure? Some ancient object, newly unearthed?"


Old Man Chao shook his head slowly.


"No.


"This feels "alive."


"It is not the influence of a single artifact. "


"It is the world itself... changing."


He narrowed his eyes, gazing toward the city hidden by the mountains.


"Something has awakened.


"Something important."


Unbeknownst to them, high above the city streets, Jin Yu took a deep breath, feeling the steady thrum of Qi within him at Qi Refinement Stage 9.


The Planetary Scan on his phone glowed faintly, showing that the air all over the world was now richer, thicker with energy.


The mountains around the Red Dragon country shone especially bright.


Jin Yu had no idea that his simple act — a single upgrade — had sent ripples through the hidden corners of the world, stirring ancient bloodlines and awakening old powers.


The air itself was changing, weaving new patterns.


And as the winds of unseen energy began to blow stronger, the hidden cultivators could no longer remain untouched.


The time of secrets was drawing to a close.


And somewhere deep within the energy wind, the future of cultivation — and the fate of the world — had begun to shift.


[End of Chapter 7]

Chapter end