The Hall of Eternal Origin was not a room; it was a pocket dimension. The ceiling was a literal map of the stars that shifted in real-time, and the floor was made of Transparent Jade that showed the swirling core of the planet beneath our feet.

  As we walked in, the "Lu Empire" was announced. My father led the way, his Golden Immortal aura retracted into a calm, terrifyingly deep pool. Behind him, we seven siblings walked in a "V" formation.

  I was at the center. I had refused the needles, but I had accepted Lingshu’s "Stoic" training because I was too tired to make facial expressions anyway.

  The hall was filled with the royalty of the 15 Empires. I felt the hot, aggressive gaze of the Qin Empire generals and the cold, suspicious eyes of the Abyssal Continent princes. But my eyes were fixed on the far end of the hall.

  There, on a throne of pure light, sat Emperor Tian Cangyuan. And beside him stood the two "Heavenly Prodigies."

  Tian Xuanye, the Crown Prince, looked exactly as the legends described. He was sixteen, but his eyes had the depth of a man who had lived for ten thousand years. He didn't look at me with curiosity; he looked at me like an architect looking at a blueprint. He was calculating my every step, my Qi flow, and my potential for "Balance-Breaking."

  And then, there was Tian Lingyue.

  She was five, just like me. She didn't have the "Monster" aura of her brother. Instead, she had nothing. My Space-Time sense usually felt people as "waves" in the Dao. But Lingyue felt like a hole in the universe. She wasn't just "hiding" her power; she was the absence of it.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  "Emperor Lu," Tian Cangyuan’s voice resonated, not through the air, but directly into our souls. "Your Seventh Prince... he is the one who 'Liquidated' the Zhou?"

  "He is," my father replied, his voice equally steady. "He did it because he was grumpy about his nap being interrupted."

  A ripple of whispers went through the hall. Some princes looked at me with mockery, others with hidden fear.

  "Grumpiness is a powerful catalyst," the Tian Emperor mused. "Xuanye, Lingyue. Greet your peers."

  Tian Xuanye stepped forward. He didn't bow deeply; he simply inclined his head—a gesture of respect from one "Apex" to another. "Lu Xian. I saw your neon-pink breakthrough from across the continent. Your 'Interest-Bearing' theory is... creative. I look forward to seeing how it holds up against the 'Heavenly Law' during the spar."

  Oh, great, I thought. He’s a 'Serious' genius. My least favorite kind.

  But then Lingyue walked up to me. She didn't say anything. She just reached out and poked my cheek.

  "Soft," she whispered. "Like a cloud."

  I blinked. "Uh... thank you? You are... also very cloud-like?"

  Tian Xuanye’s eyes narrowed slightly. "My sister rarely interacts with others. It seems your 'Dullard' persona is effective even on her."

  "It's not a persona!" I wanted to yell, but I remembered Lingshu’s cryptic advice. I looked at the ceiling stars and said, "The star is bright, but it does not know the darkness that holds it."

  Tian Xuanye froze. He actually pulled out a small jade slip and began writing it down. "A star... darkness... fascinating. You are saying that power is nothing without the void that allows it to exist? Truly profound, Lu Xian."

  I’m so sorry, I apologized to the Universe. I’m just making stuff up at this point.