Qiyu felt a quiet thrill in his heart.
Yet after taking only a few steps, he realized that his body had become noticeably lighter, as though he had broken through another invisible layer of restraint imposed by the world itself.
His entire body brimmed with explosive power.
Strangely, this sudden increase in strength did not feel unfamiliar in the slightest.
Qiyu sensed that, as long as he wished it, he could unleash enough force to shatter a massive boulder—or gently catch a soap bubble blown by a child without breaking it.
His control over his strength had become exquisitely precise.
Unable to contain his anticipation, Qiyu hurried to the mirror and stared expectantly into his own eyes.
To his disappointment, they had not turned red.
They remained as dark and bright as ever, resembling a pair of flawless black gemstones that shimmered with a deep, mysterious light.
Qiyu fell silent.
It seemed he had been overthinking things.
However, just as he was about to return to bed, he noticed a crimson mark in the centre of his forehead.
The moment he saw that jewel-like red dot, an ominous feeling rose within him.
“Don’t tell me I’m growing a third eye.”
Qiyu blinked several times before furiously cursing his system in his heart.
Was it trying to turn him into some three-eyed freak?
That damned system truly had no conscience.
Instead of giving him a perfectly normal Sharingan, it insisted on pushing him further and further away from being human.
Although he could not yet confirm whether a third eye was truly forming, Qiyu possessed exceptionally fine control over his body.
With only a moment of careful perception, he understood how the crimson mark had appeared.
An unknown force within his body was slowly following the circulation path of his cultivation technique and gathering at the space between his eyebrows.
The process was currently extremely slow.
Even so, Qiyu was certain that the next time the grade of his cultivation technique increased, the speed of that accumulation would rise dramatically.
All he could do was silently pray that this newborn eye would be the kind he could open and close at will.
Otherwise, walking around with a permanently open third eye would be far too strange.
He would definitely be treated like a monster.
Letting out a melancholy sigh, Qiyu quietly returned to his bed.
“I should worry about how I’m going to explain this to Mother tomorrow.
If I can’t give her a convincing answer, she’ll only start worrying again.”
These were the troubles that came with happiness.
Sitting cross-legged once more, Qiyu glanced at the system panel and saw that the Azure Nether Art had already reached the Earth Grade.
After six more enhancements, he would advance into the next realm.
He had taken yet another step closer to attaining the Dao and becoming an immortal.
Clearing the distracting thoughts from his mind, Qiyu gradually settled into cultivation.
He had originally intended to refine a magical artifact tonight, but his father had yet to return, and the necessary materials had not arrived.
The chakra metal contained within that katana was not even enough to forge the embryo of a single artifact.
A magical artifact could not be refined from ordinary metal.
Even the lowest-quality material had to be a precious metal capable of conducting spiritual energy.
Since his birth, the only such material Qiyu had discovered was chakra metal.
Furthermore, refining a complete magical artifact required an enormous amount of it.
Had he not been born as the young master of a great clan like the Uchiha, he truly would not have been able to afford such extravagance.
Immersed in cultivation, Qiyu gradually entered a state of complete clarity.
Although cultivating normally was nowhere near as fast as increasing the grade of his technique, even the smallest streams would eventually gather into a vast ocean.
Possessing an external advantage was no excuse for laziness.
Cultivating the Dao meant first cultivating the heart.
If the heart was not upright, everything else was meaningless.
That was the opening annotation of the Azure Nether Art, and Qiyu believed it made perfect sense.
What if he lost his system one day?
Would he not become a cripple incapable of cultivating through his own efforts?
A man without immediate worries would inevitably face troubles in the future.
Qiyu did not know how much time had passed before the faint sound of conversation outside his room disturbed him from cultivation.
He opened his eyes, and a sharp gleam flashed through them.
Completing the final motion of his cultivation cycle, he drew in a deep breath, raised both hands, and slowly pressed them downward.
A breath of turbid air escaped his lips.
Only then did Qiyu rise at an unhurried pace and walk out of his room.
He knew his father had returned.
Outside the window, the full moon hung high in the night sky.
Qiyu glanced at the clock on the wall.
It was already two in the morning.
It seemed the clan meeting concerning the relocation had not gone particularly smoothly.
Fugaku and Mikoto, who had been discussing something in the living room, abruptly fell silent.
Both of them stared blankly toward the staircase.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Qiyu descended the stairs with bleary, half-open eyes.
“Qiyu, why are you still awake?”
Mikoto was startled at first, but concern quickly appeared on her face.
Her gaze repeatedly drifted toward his forehead.
“Mother, the insects outside were too noisy.
I couldn’t sleep.”
Qiyu gave her a lazy explanation before looking toward his father.
“Father, you’re back.”
He flashed Fugaku a sweet smile.
After all, he was about to make an outrageous request.
Naturally, he had to get on his father’s good side first.
His only choice was to survive through cuteness.
Being a child was far too difficult.
Mikoto hurried over, scooped Qiyu into her arms, and gently brushed her fingers across the ruby-like mark on his forehead.
“Qiyu, what happened to your forehead?
Did you hit it while you were sleeping?”
Qiyu nearly rolled his eyes.
What kind of child could knock their forehead against something in their sleep and somehow produce a ruby?
However, when he saw the genuine worry in Mikoto’s eyes, warmth stirred within his heart.
It was precisely this meticulous, unconditional maternal love that had gradually melted the lonely heart he had sealed away long ago.
“I’m fine, Mother.
It appeared on its own.”
Qiyu smiled brightly, looking completely delighted.
“It might be connected to my kekkei genkai.
When I was refining chakra today, my forehead suddenly started hurting.
Then this red mark appeared between my eyebrows.
My eyesight and observational abilities have also improved a lot.”
Whenever a mutation could not be properly explained, he could simply blame it on a kekkei genkai.
Mikoto did not look reassured.
Instead, she turned toward her husband with a worried expression.
Fugaku, who had been standing nearby, froze for a moment.
He already knew that his eldest son’s bloodline had undergone some form of mutation.
Compared to the excitement he felt over whether Itachi would awaken the Sharingan early, his eldest son had shown almost no reaction in that regard.
Had it not been for what happened with Itachi, Fugaku might never have paid close attention to the strange changes occurring within Qiyu at all.
Don’t miss what comes next.
Add it to your Collection Stay updated and be ready the moment the next chapter drops.
Collect it.
Vote for it.
Stay for the next twist.
Thank you for reading and being part of this journey!