Chapter 2: A Small Display of Skill

Words : 2200 Updated : Aug 14th, 2025

"Master Noah, what do you mean by that?" Ariella Fisher lowered her voice, the tension audible. Noah narrowed his eyes. His expression turned grave, his tone like iron. "This child's fate is unusually heavy-she's marked for calamity. She was born under a deadly omen and should have died at two. Living to this day has already defied heaven and cheated fate. Such defiance draws calamity; those around her will not escape it." The room froze. Panic and unease rose on every face. A flicker crossed Ramon Hahn's eyes; his heart gave a small jolt. He had not expected Noah to glimpse Molly Hahn's Heavenly Physique. He remembered the year she was born: Grandfather had secluded himself in the mountains and divined that she was a once-in-a-millennium Heavenly Physique. She could shower the family with boundless fortune, yet because it ran counter to heaven and drew heaven's jealousy, her life would be as fragile as paper. To shield his only granddaughter, Grandfather had resorted to a Forbidden Technique to change her fate and keep her alive; it drained his vitality and cost him his life. On his deathbed, he warned Ramon that if a Heavenly Physique aligned with the Dragon Meridian, there'd be a shot at ascension and the path. But no bond could be severed; otherwise, fate would snap back and bring disaster upon the entire family. He was still lost in thought when Evie's shrill voice sliced the air. "Ariella, I told you long ago, this child cannot stay! You refused to believe me. Look at us now. You brought a jinx into this house, a little curse, and she will ruin the Fisher family." "No wonder our Fisher family has gone downhill these last two years. It is all this little jinx at work." Hatred twisted Evie's face. She jabbed a finger at Molly's small face, her voice grating and vicious. Ariella's expression turned conflicted; her brows knotted. She lowered her tone. "Mom, stop. Molly is my daughter. Whatever else, she is innocent. And Ramon and I are going to divorce soon. Please stop making things hard for them." She crouched to take Molly's hand. Molly puckered her lips, stubbornly yanked her hand away, and ducked behind Ramon. Flushed with embarrassment, Ariella stood, walked to Ramon, and slapped the divorce papers before him. Her voice carried a finality that allowed no argument. "Ramon, there's no love between us. The sooner we sign, the better for everyone." Ramon did not move. He did not even touch the papers. His expression hardened; cool detachment and disappointment threaded his voice. He'd had enough. As a Mystic Dragon Master, he could not sever a heaven-ordained bond; doing so invited catastrophe, and the Fisher family would be doomed. Yet they kept pushing, with no regard for the past. He spoke in a low voice. "Ariella Fisher, I will say this one last time. You and I can go our separate ways from here on out, but I won't end this marriage." When his words fell, he took Molly's small hand and turned to leave. "Fine, you want to do this the hard way," Huxley Dixon said, his expression soured as he slid in front of them with a chill in his voice and a curl of mockery at his mouth. "If you do not sign, then you are not leaving this mountain today." He waved back at Ariella. "Ariella, take your mom down first. I've got a score to settle with Ramon." Ariella hesitated, then nodded and helped her mother away. The summit held only Ramon, Molly, and the swaggering Huxley and Noah. "Ramon, be sensible. Sign." Huxley advanced on him, threat burning in his eyes. "Otherwise, Master Noah will take action. He will ruin your grandfather's grave's geomancy. None of your family will sleep easy after that." He flicked his hand. Noah slipped a whisk and talisman papers from his sleeve, his face brimming with smug confidence. Ramon smiled faintly, calm, even a touch amused. "My grandfather chose that site himself and laid a Soul-Calming Array. No one on earth can break it. Don't bother." Noah snorted, chin high. "Talk is cheap. I've been around for decades; I've seen every kind of array. I have never met a setup I cannot crack." He flourished the whisk, muttered a charm, and scribed sigils on the ground, step by step. Dust billowed; the dirt churned. A faint array slowly took shape. The air shifted in a heartbeat; a cold wind rose, fog curled; several dark shades circled above the grave. "Ne… Negative Land?" Doubt flashed in Noah's eyes; sweat pricked his brow. He recovered quickly, gave a short, cold snort, and thumped the array's core with the whisk. "In that case, I'll pour in more yin and baleful energy. Let's see how long your Soul-Calming Array lasts." As soon as he said it, the sky changed. Black light pulsed along the lines cut in the ground, as if an unseen hunger had begun to swallow everything. Huxley couldn't help himself-he was excited. "Master Noah truly works wonders. Hear that thunder; the array must be taking hold." Rumble, rumble, rumble. He patted Noah's shoulder, then saw Noah locked rigid, face bloodless, eyes vacant. "This… this is not my array. Heavenly thunder is coming. This is heaven's backlash, a dire omen!" Noah's scream trembled. He spun to flee down the mountain. Huxley lunged and grabbed him. "Master Noah, calm down. What is happening?" Crack! A purple bolt slashed down like an enraged dragon, striking between them. The acrid smell of burning hit them in the face. Huxley's hand flew to his head. His face drained white. His precious pompadour had been burned smooth, leaving a gleaming bald patch. He looked like a wreck. Noah's legs went out. He dropped to the ground and shook. "This is what we get for defying heaven…" He mumbled, his eyes wide with horror. "You cannot lay arrays casually in a Negative Land. There is not only a Soul-Calming Array here; it even snaps back on the one who tries to break it and draws down heavenly thunder. What kind of method is this?" Ramon looked on, cool as ice. A thin smile touched his mouth. His voice brimmed with contempt. "Ignorant fools-calling yourselves masters. I will show you what real geomancy and cultivation techniques can do." He stepped forward. The ground sank under his foot and opened into a deep pit. He pressed two fingers together against his chest, closed his eyes, and murmured; his energy surged. He snapped his eyes open, drew a yellow talisman, and flicked it. The paper hung in the air, alive, hovering before him. His fingertip traced as light ran across the talisman; interlaced lines wove together. Suddenly he barked, "Scatter!" The talisman burst into a stream of light and vanished. Puddles on the ground lifted under an invisible pull; beads of water hung in midair; raindrops froze before they fell; for a heartbeat, heaven and earth breathed as one. The black miasma wreathing the grave rose under the array's urging and clumped together. Ramon held two fingers like a sword; gold leapt at his tips as he sketched a complex diagram into the empty air. "Heaven Gate Array? How is this possible…" Noah stood dumbstruck, eyes round, voice trembling. Serene, Ramon drew breath, centered himself, and slashed the air with two fingers. A ribbon of white flared and stabbed the heart of the diagram. White light exploded across the mountaintop. The array pressed down, crushed the blackness, and reduced it to smoke in an instant. Clouds broke. Sunlight speared the sky and poured over the peak. The thunder fell silent. Everything cleared and stilled. Ramon lowered his hands and looked at Huxley. Huxley had already collapsed to the ground, face ashen, robbed of speech, left with only terror and remorse. The storm had stilled, yet its power still hummed. On the summit, only Ramon stood tall, unruffled as ever.

Chapter 2: A Small Display of Skill

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