The Loosening of the Shackles

Strands of eastern Wood Qi drifted in at that moment, following the path of the rising sun as they flowed leisurely from between heaven and earth.

Newborn Wood Qi carried the vigorous vitality of grass and trees breaking through the soil, wrapped in the crisp freshness of morning dew and mingled with the sturdy strength of pine needles. Thread by thread, it seeped into Qin's pores.

He neither guided nor drew it in, merely allowing that vitality to travel through his limbs and bones.

As it flowed through his arms, a faint verdant hue seemed to show at his fingertips. As it passed through his legs, the soles of his feet tingled as though new shoots were breaking through the earth. When it entered his sea of consciousness, the dormant mass of Origin Qi trembled softly as well, like withered wood long parched by drought quietly sprouting a tender bud after receiving sweet rain.

The waterfall continued to roar as the mountain wind swept through the forest, stirring waves of pine waves.

Qin's robes were dampened by the mist, yet he was completely unaware of it. His soul seemed to leave his body and drift above the waterfall.

He saw fish playing in the deep pool below, saw the grass on the shore swaying in the wind, and saw the Morning Sun climbing inch by inch, urging the Wood Qi between heaven and earth to grow ever denser.

At that moment, he was no longer a foreign traveler who had entered this world. He became part of it, living alongside its mountains and rivers, breathing alongside its grass and trees, merging with the newborn eastern Wood Qi.

The vitality originating from this world was like a gentle key, lightly knocking against the invisible Shackles deep within his soul.

His Heavenly