Chapter 45: Damn that girl
After Lira had left, her figure vanishing past the courtyard path beyond his window, Lucas turned back toward his chamber, his steps thoughtful, composed. The moment the door shut behind him with a soft click, his composure shifted. Calm, yet deliberate. Focused.
He sat down cross-legged on the mat, the warmth of his morning cultivation still pulsing faintly beneath his skin. The rush of reaching the Expert Rank was still fresh—too fresh. If he walked outside now, letting his new aura leak freely into the world, it would be like dropping a boulder into a pond. The ripples would spread, and fast. Whispers would become rumors, and rumors would swell into chaos.
He wasn’t ready for that. Not yet.
People still thought he was in the late Adept Rank, if not barely approaching the threshold of Expert. After all, it had only been a short while since his public duel with Princess Nyx, where he’d already shocked the academy by holding his own against her. If word got out that he had already broken through?
The academy wouldn’t remain silent. Students, instructors—perhaps even the higher-ups—would start watching him. Probing. Testing. Some would want to recruit him. Others... would want to crush him.
He breathed in slowly.
His palm opened, fingers forming a subtle mudra—one he’d memorized long ago in his past life. A technique used by high-tier cultivators to subdue their cultivation aura. It was an art not taught openly, for it could be dangerous in the wrong hands. But Lucas was no ordinary student.
He channeled his Qi, concentrating it inward, wrapping it tightly around his core, his Dantian. The pressure was immense. His new Expert Rank Qi rebelled slightly, wild and unrefined still from the breakthrough. But he forced it back into submission—pressing it down, binding it like a storm sealed within a jar.
Beads of sweat formed at his temples as he gritted his teeth slightly. The suppression was painful—not physically, but energetically. His entire being was screaming to release the power, to breathe freely. But he didn’t let it.