Kai Wang was a quiet boy from a quiet family, living in a modern city that never slept. To most people, life was normal—traffic lights, homework, late-night snacks. But Kai always felt that something was wrong with the world. It was in the way the wind sometimes carried whispers. In the way streetlights flickered, even when there was no wind. And in the strange nightmares that never left him.
Years ago, Kai had tried to cultivate like others from strong families. He failed. His meridians, the channels that carried Qi through the body, had refused to open. People said he was unlucky. Useless. Even cursed.
He tried to move on, studying like everyone else, hiding his disappointment. But he never stopped feeling that something waited beyond the surface of the world. That something was calling to him, just beyond the veil of ordinary life.
That day after school, Kai stayed back to finish some notes. The sun had dipped low, and his classmates had already gone. As he packed up and stepped into the empty street, the city around him felt strangely quiet. Too quiet.
Suddenly, he heard it.
A low, rumbling growl—not from a dog or a machine, but something deeper. Something alive and angry.
He turned and froze.
A shadow peeled itself off a nearby wall. Red eyes opened from within it, glowing like burning coals. A monster—something out of a nightmare. It had claws that shimmered like glass and skin that flickered like smoke.
But the worst part?
Kai could see it.
Not just feel it—but see it clearly.
Most people would have walked right past this thing. That's when he realized the truth—this was the secret the world never saw.
His legs refused to move. The monster stepped forward, slow and hungry. Just when it leapt at him—
A streak of lightning crashed down from above.
A man in black armor, masked and silent, landed between Kai and the beast. His sword crackled with energy. Qi. Real Qi.
He fought like the wind—fast, sharp, impossible to follow. Within seconds, the monster was gone, its body turning into smoke and fading away.
The man turned to Kai, surprised.
"You saw that," he said. "Didn't you?"
Kai nodded, still shaking.
The man lowered his sword. "Then it's too late to erase your memory."
He stepped closer, voice calm but serious. "Listen carefully. My name doesn't matter. I'm part of the Veilguard. We protect the world from monsters like that. Ordinary people never see them. Never know. But you… you're different. You saw it. That means you're one of us."
Kai couldn't speak. His thoughts raced. Everything he knew was breaking apart.
"You've awakened," the man continued. "Your body can sense Qi. That's rare. But dangerous, too. Monsters hunt awakened ones first."
Kai looked at his hands. They trembled—not from fear, but from something deeper. His Qi, the one everyone thought was broken, was moving.
He felt it. Like a small flame inside his chest, flickering to life.
The man offered two choices. "We can erase your memory. You'll go back to your normal life, forget all of this. Or… you can train. Learn the truth. Walk the path of cultivation again, for real this time."
Kai didn't hesitate.
"I want to fight," he said. "I want to understand. I want to be strong."
The man studied him for a moment. Then he nodded.
"Then your real life starts now."
The man's words hung in the air, weighty and firm. Kai's heart pounded, echoing in his ears like a drum. The quiet city street, the streetlights that flickered strangely, and the monster that had just vanished—all of it felt unreal, like a dream he couldn't wake from. But his trembling hands, the flare of Qi inside him, and the man in front of him—they were real.
"You've awakened," the man repeated, his voice steady but tinged with a warning. "This is no small thing. Awakening Qi doesn't happen to everyone, especially not like this. Most people go through their lives never even sensing it. But you… you have a gift."
Kai tried to absorb the words, but the world still felt like it was spinning out of control. He looked down at his hands again, as if the answer would somehow come to him if he stared hard enough. His Qi… It wasn't broken. It was there—just waiting to burst free. Was it always there? How could it have been so quiet for so long?
The man noticed the confusion in his eyes and let out a short breath. "You didn't fail at cultivation before, Kai. Your meridians didn't open because they weren't supposed to. They were waiting. You've been walking around with the potential for far more than you ever imagined."
He moved closer, his black armor catching the dim light from the streetlamps above. The man looked less like a warrior and more like a shadow, as though he belonged to neither the world of monsters nor humans. "But now that you can see them," he said, nodding toward the distant horizon where the faint silhouette of the city loomed, "you can't ignore the truth any longer. Monsters, cultivation, and Qi—these are not myths. They're part of the world, just hidden from most people. Until now."
Kai swallowed hard. His thoughts felt like they were tangled in a web. Monsters. Qi. Cultivation. The Veil guard. He hadn't asked for any of this. He was just a normal student—a kid who never fit in, who was called useless by those around him.
"Why me?" Kai asked, his voice barely a whisper.
The man's eyes softened, but his stance remained firm. "Because you're special. You've awakened to the truth that lies beyond the veil. Most people can't do that, and the ones who do are either sought after or hunted. But you... You can learn to control it. To use it."
Kai felt a spark of hope ignite within him, something that hadn't been there for years. Maybe this wasn't the curse everyone had called it. Maybe this was the key to everything he had been missing. A chance to make sense of the world he had always felt was slightly off.
"How do I train? What do I need to do?" His words came out faster than he intended, but they felt right. It wasn't fear that drove him now; it was something else—something deeper. He had always wondered what lay beyond his own limitations. And now, it seemed he would have a chance to find out.
The man studied him carefully. For a moment, there was a glint of something in his eyes—a recognition of sorts. But then he spoke, his tone growing more serious. "The first step is to understand what you're dealing with. Cultivation isn't just about power. It's about balance. Qi can heal, it can destroy. It can give life, and it can take it. You need to learn to control it before it controls you."
Kai nodded, though the weight of the words made his chest tighten. Power. Balance. Control. It sounded overwhelming. But there was no turning back. He had already seen what lay beyond the veil. He couldn't go back to being the boy who had no future, no purpose.
The man placed a hand on his shoulder, snapping him back to the present. "Listen closely. This city, this world—everything you thought you knew is only a small piece of the puzzle. There are places where monsters roam freely. And there are people—like the Veilguard—who fight to keep those monsters from breaking through. But there's more. There are powerful families, and there are systems in place that control the flow of Qi and cultivation. They'll try to shape you, just like they tried to shape me. They'll want to use you. But if you want to be truly free, you have to fight for it. You have to choose your own path."
Kai's eyes sharpened. Freedom. He had never thought of it that way. "I won't let anyone control me."
The man nodded approvingly. "Good. The first lesson you need to learn is this: the system will try to tell you who you are. But you have the power to change that. Cultivation is about more than just strength. It's about forging your own destiny, no matter what others think of you."
Kai felt a shift within him—something that had been dormant for so long now flickered to life. His Qi, his very essence, felt like a flame burning within him, pushing him forward. He wasn't just another student, another failure. He was something else.
"I'm ready," Kai said, more confidently than he felt.
The man smiled beneath his mask, and for the first time, Kai saw a glimpse of what might be approval. "Then let's begin. The first step is understanding how to channel your Qi. There are several ways, but we'll start simple. The basics."
Kai felt his heart race again, this time not from fear but from anticipation. This was it. This was his chance to rewrite his story.