Eye of Data, a First Glimpse of Divine Secrets

Shrek Academy awakened amid the morning mist.

For most people, this marked the beginning of a new day of training. But for Ji Juechen, it was the moment his new "eye" opened.

He stood alone atop the dormitory building, facing the rising sun with his eyes closed.

System, activate Eye of Insight.

[Eye of Insight activated. Please select an analysis target.]

Ji Juechen did not choose anyone in particular. Instead, he turned his gaze toward the students training in the distance.

[Target locked: Shrek Academy outer court student. Analysis beginning...]

[Soul Power Fluctuation: Level 33. Martial Soul: Wolf. Current soul skill: Gale Step. Structural Analysis: Soul Power is concentrated in the feet, resonating with wind elements through high-frequency vibrations to produce short-range bursts. Flaw: At the instant of activation, Soul Power circulation stalls for 0.1 seconds.]

Ji Juechen suddenly opened his eyes, golden light flashing through his pupils. He saw an incredibly brief red point of light appear beneath the feet of the student using Gale Step.

So that's how it is... It isn't that the speed itself is fast, but that the instant of activation is flawless. As long as I can predict that point...

An unprecedented realization surged within him. This was no longer mere combat instinct, but absolute "insight" founded on data. His sword would no longer pursue only sharpness; it would pursue "timing."

"Ji Juechen!"

Jing Ziyan's voice came from the stairwell. Carrying a food box, she hurried up. "You were up here all night again? I brought you breakfast."

Ji Juechen did not turn around, merely responding with an indifferent "Mm."

Jing Ziyan walked to his side and set down the food box. Looking at his profile, she could not help asking again, "You... are you really all right? I always feel like you've become a different person."

Ji Juechen fell silent for a moment before finally turning to look at her.

How should I explain this? Tell her that my eyes can see the flaws in soul skills? No, she wouldn't understand. System, give me an option.

[Ding! Social dilemma detected. The system has generated the following options for you. Please choose:]

A. "My sword has become purer." (Cold and fitting for his persona, but unable to answer the other party's doubts.)

B. "Look." (Directly demonstrate the effects of Eye of Insight. This may shock and confuse her, or even frighten her.)

C. "Close your eyes and feel with your heart." (Guide her to understand in her own way and build deeper trust.)

Ji Juechen hesitated briefly before choosing "C."

"Close your eyes and feel with your heart." He pointed at the student practicing in the distance.

Though Jing Ziyan was confused, she obediently closed her eyes and slowly spread out her Spiritual Power.

"Now, focus and imagine his movements." Ji Juechen's voice seemed to carry a strange power of guidance.

Just as the student in Jing Ziyan's perception was about to launch forward again, Ji Juechen's inner voice rang out:

System, analyze the Soul Power nodes of Gale Step and weakly transmit the flaw information to her through Spiritual Power.

[Command confirmed. Sword Intent Points consumed: 100.]

Jing Ziyan's delicate body trembled! She "saw" it! Beneath that student's feet, a blurry red point that seemed about to tear apart flashed by! It was an intuition of a "flaw," incomparably clear!

She abruptly opened her eyes, her face full of disbelief. "I... I just saw... a weakness!"

"Mm." Ji Juechen withdrew his gaze, once again becoming as still as an Ancient Well.

Jing Ziyan stared blankly at him. Her gaze shifted from confusion to shock, before finally turning into a trace of understanding. She did not ask any more questions, only saying softly, "I understand. Your sword has reached a new realm."

She did not understand the system, but she understood that Ji Juechen was walking a path no one could comprehend, yet one that was incomparably right.

Just then, a small commotion arose at Shrek Academy's gates.

A thin youth in plain clothes, carrying an enormous pack on his back, stood somewhat timidly at the entrance as he spoke with the gatekeeping soul masters. He looked utterly ordinary, but his eyes were astonishingly bright.

"Is that the exchange student from the Sun Moon Empire?"

"I heard his Spiritual Power talent is extremely high. Elder Yan Shaozhe personally approved his admission."

"He looks... pretty ordinary."

The surrounding murmurs reached the rooftop clearly.

Ji Juechen's gaze pierced through the mist and landed precisely on that youth.

Found him. Huo Yuhao.

[Ding! High-value target 'Huo Yuhao' detected. Use Eye of Insight immediately for an in-depth analysis?]

Yes, Ji Juechen answered inwardly.

[In-depth analysis beginning... Target's Spiritual Power defense level is too high. Analysis obstructed... Activating Eye of Insight enhanced mode... Sword Intent Points consumed: 500... Analysis successful!]

Streams of data refreshed in Ji Juechen's mind like a cascading waterfall.

[Name: Huo Yuhao]

[Martial Souls: Spiritual Eye (Innate Martial Soul), Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion (Extreme Ice)]

[Spiritual Power level: Spirit Realm Initial Stage (far beyond his peers)]

[Soul skill analysis: First soul skill 'Spirit Detection & Spirit Sharing'... Structural Analysis: Uses Spiritual Power as the core to construct a spherical perception field, sharing information in all directions without blind spots. Core node: Stability of Spiritual Power output. Flaw: While sharing information, Spiritual Power forms links with teammates. The connection points are 'gates' that can be disrupted.]

Ji Juechen's pupils contracted slightly.

This isn't mere detection. It's a network. As long as I cut the network cable, the entire team will become blind.

[Continuing analysis: Second soul skill 'Simulation'... Structural Analysis: Interferes with light and air currents through Spiritual Power to create illusions. Core: Spiritual Power's 'deception' of the environment. Flaw: The essence of Simulation is 'replication.' It cannot create entirely new energy fluctuations. Before extreme perception, there is a 'phase difference.']

The pinnacle of illusion is creating false reality. My sword is meant to pierce every false reality.

[Continuing analysis: Third soul skill 'Group Weakness'... Structural Analysis: Area-of-effect weakening of opponents' mental state and physical attributes. Core: Spiritual Power coverage. Flaw: The wider the coverage of Spiritual Power, the weaker its strength per unit. My Thunderclap Guardian is enough to purify it.]

Every one of Huo Yuhao's soul skills and abilities was dismantled into the most basic data and structures beneath Ji Juechen's Eye of Insight. Abilities that appeared unfathomably miraculous to others became lines of program code riddled with flaws before him.

At that moment, Huo Yuhao seemed to sense something. He abruptly raised his head, his gaze sharp as lightning as it shot straight toward the rooftop of Ji Juechen's dormitory building.

Their gazes met across a distance of several hundred meters.

Huo Yuhao's eyes were filled with vigilance and scrutiny. He felt an icy, bone-piercing sense of danger at being "seen through," as though all his secrets had nowhere to hide beneath the other man's gaze.

Ji Juechen merely watched him quietly, his eyes calm and still, as though admiring a work of art he was about to carve with his own hands.

First Martial Soul, analysis complete. Second Martial Soul... Extreme Ice. And that hidden deep within the Sea of Consciousness... the Million Year Soul Spirit. Huo Yuhao, you are a moving treasure vault. I look forward to the day I completely "analyze" you.

He slowly raised a hand and gripped the hilt of the sword at his waist.

A silent contest between "hunter" and "prey" had quietly begun on Shrek Academy's first day of school. Yet neither of them knew who, in this chase, was the true hunter.