Heaven's Eyes

Deity's Path Unveiled

At his desk, Jack was staring into a small cooking cauldron. An odd aroma wafted through the classroom, somewhere between burnt honey and boiled herbs. His brow was furrowed in deep concentration.

“This isn’t the smell I expected…” he muttered, tossing a few more dried leaves into the pot from one of the desk drawers.

As the strange concoction simmered, Jack mentally reviewed his successes from earlier in the day, a faint grin forming at the corners of his mouth.

“You’re Jack Reed, the instructor?”

The door creaked open.

Three students entered, finding the young man seated at the front of the classroom, smiling absentmindedly while cooking... something. He didn’t look impressive. He looked like a distracted lunatic making soup in a lecture hall.

And he was grinning.

Who does that?

“Yes, that’s me,” Jack replied, turning his head slightly while still monitoring the simmering pot.

“We heard you beat Instructor Cole Xander in a duel,” said Zara, her tone thick with skepticism. “They say the student you guided doubled their strength. If that’s true, I want you to guide me too. Let’s see if you can do it again.”

“I’m not free,” Jack replied casually, waving her off.

He didn’t owe her anything. Teachers weren’t performers summoned on demand. Besides, her tone rubbed him the wrong way.

“Not free? You’re clearly not busy.” Zara narrowed her eyes. She wasn’t used to being dismissed. Especially not by someone with Jack’s reputation.

“I’m recruiting students,” Jack replied without looking at her. “I don’t have time to entertain a pushy noble girl with a chip on her shoulder.”

“You…”

Zara’s hands clenched. She was the daughter of a provincial lord, accustomed to respect. This guy was mocking her. Publicly. It was infuriating.

“What would it take for you to guide me?” she asked through gritted teeth.

“Acknowledge me as your teacher,” Jack said with a smirk, clearly amused by her temper.

Zara staggered. Was he serious?

“Fine,” she snapped. “I’ll acknowledge you. But if your so-called guidance is nonsense, I’ll expose you for the fraud you are.”

“Zara, no!” one of her friends blurted. “If you accept him as your instructor, you’ll never get into Professor Lucan’s class!”

Everyone at Astoria Academy knew the rule: once a student registered under a teacher, transferring required the teacher’s release something elite instructors like Lucan rarely agreed to.

Still, Zara couldn’t back down. Not now.

Jack raised a hand lazily. “If you’re scared, leave. I have students to recruit.”

“Scared?” Zara’s pride flared. “I’ll sign the token now!”

“Your attitude’s awful,” Jack muttered. “Even if you beg, I’m not sure I want you.”

“You…!”

Zara trembled with rage, but she stopped herself. Storming off would mean losing. That’s what he wanted.

He’s trying to chase me off so I can’t expose him...

“Hmph,” she exhaled. “Fine. I was rude earlier. I sincerely request to become your student. Please accept me.”

Jack nodded. “Better. You can start by cleaning this classroom top to bottom. No dust. Then scrub the bathroom, especially the toilets. If it’s spotless, I’ll consider it.”

“You’re insane.”

Zara’s voice shook.

She’d never done chores in her life. And now, this fraud wants her scrubbing toilets?

“If you can’t do that much, leave. I don’t take lazy, spoiled students.”

Jack smiled faintly. Let’s see how badly you want it.

“I’ll clean. I’ll scrub it all,” she spat, grabbing a broom and mop.

Her friends were horrified.

“Zara, stop! He’s humiliating you!”

“Let’s go get Butler Yorn. He’s still nearby, right?”

They nodded and ran off. Butler Yorn had accompanied Zara to the academy. If he found out his young mistress was being ordered to clean bathrooms by a teacher who’d once scored zero on his certification exam, he’d tear the place apart.

Meanwhile, Zara worked.

To her credit, she didn’t slack. Her movements were precise, controlled, and thorough. In no time, the classroom sparkled and the hallway restroom gleamed.

“Not bad,” Jack said, inspecting her work. “Passable.”

“Good. Now will you accept me as your student?”

Zara’s jaw was tight. Her knuckles were white.

“Your ID.”

Jack tossed her a jade token.

She pricked her finger and dripped blood on it. The contract was sealed.

“Now that I’m officially your student… teach me. Show me this miracle of yours.”

Jack raised an eyebrow. “Let me see your foundation first. Show me your technique.”

Zara nodded and stepped into a stance.

Whum-whum-whum!

Wind surged as she moved. Her form was sharp, precise, faster, and stronger than Emily’s by far. Every move had clearly been drilled thousands of times.

As she struck a nearby stone pillar, the impact registered: 110 kg.

Jack nodded in approval. Impressive. For her age, that’s outstanding.

Meanwhile, inside his mind, the library activated.

A single book dropped.

On the cover: Zara Vale.

Zara Vale, daughter of the Baron of Skyreach Province. Cultivation: Fighter, First Rank – Peak Stage.

Technique: White Jade Maiden Form.

Flaws: 27 total.

No. 1 – Impatient and easily agitated. Conflicts with the required calm temperament of the White Jade Form. Severely limits performance.

No. 2 – Inconsistent breathing rhythm under stress...

No. 3...

Jack read on.

Every mistake, every gap, every inefficiency laid bare before him.

He glanced back at her as she completed the routine and stepped aside, arms crossed.

“Well? I’ve shown you mine. Now show me yours.”

Having finished her punch routine, Zara was ready to watch Jack make a fool of himself.

She smirked to herself and quietly pulled a Recording Crystal from her sleeve.

The crystal gleamed faintly, a small artifact that could record both image and sound. If Jack said anything ridiculous or made a misstep, she’d capture it as evidence. Once she exposed him publicly, not even he could spin his way out of it.

Let’s see you embarrass yourself now. Compete with Professor Lucan? In your dreams.

The thought of cornering him gave her a thrill. She was barely suppressing a laugh when a pair of calm, clear eyes suddenly appeared inches from her face.

“AH!” Zara jumped back in alarm, nearly dropping the crystal.

It was Jack, standing right in front of her.

She clenched her teeth. “What are you doing!?”

“Relax. I’m just observing,” Jack said coolly, hands behind his back, casually circling her.

Then he stopped less than a foot away.

Zara could feel the warmth of his breath. Her cheeks flushed.

No man had ever stood this close to her before. Her heart skipped, fluttered, then raced.

“You’re sick,” Jack said calmly.

Zara nearly exploded.

“You’re the one who’s sick! Your whole family is sick!” she barked, absolutely livid.

Was this some kind of joke? She’d asked for guidance on her form, not a diagnosis. What kind of lunatic says that?

Jack frowned, then realized how she took it. “I’m saying your body is unwell. Not an insult.”

“I’m not sick!”

“In that case,” Jack said evenly, “do you sometimes feel a vague pain around your sternum and below your ribcage, especially during full moons when the air is damp? Your skin flushes, your body heats up... and no matter how hard you try, your mind won’t settle?”

Zara froze.

Her lips parted slightly. The color drained from her face.

She hadn’t told a soul, not her maids, her tutors, not even her father, the City Lord of Skyreach.

But Jack had described it perfectly.

Over the last year, she had begun to experience strange symptoms during training. A dull pain in her chest, waves of heat rising under the moonlight, a strange restlessness in her blood.

Her skin would flush, her thoughts scatter. There was a hunger there she didn’t understand.

As her body matured, it only got worse.

At first, a few breathing cycles of her cultivation art calmed her down. But lately, even ten repetitions weren’t enough. She would sit up all night, trying to suppress the strange turmoil surging within her.

She’d come to the academy in part to seek answers.

Yet here this man was, someone she had come to expose, laying her secret bare in one breath.

“How… how do you know that?” she whispered.

“I’m a teacher,” Jack said with a calm shrug. “I saw it in your technique.”

Of course, that was only half true. His Vault of Eternal Insight had recorded everything about her body and technique, the flaws, the hidden imbalances, even problems that had nothing to do with cultivation. All of it, documented the moment she threw her first punch.

And now, it was Jack’s turn to act like this was normal.

“Is… is there a way to fix it?” Zara asked, her voice unsteady.

After all her bluster, all her plans to humiliate him, it was she who had been exposed. Her cheeks burned not just from embarrassment but from the sharp turn in the conversation.

“There is,” Jack said simply. “Come to class tomorrow. I’ll explain the method then.”

“Really?”

Her voice cracked with disbelief.

She had always believed this was a condition she’d be forced to suffer with forever, a dark secret to carry. Now this so-called joke of a teacher had not only identified it, but claimed to have a way to treat it?

Who… exactly is this man?

“If you don’t trust me, you’re welcome to seek out other teachers in the academy,” Jack said calmly, waving his hand with the effortless poise of an expert.

“N-No, Teacher, you’re the only one!” Zara quickly shook her head.

She had endured this strange condition for years. None of the elite physicians in Skyreach City had identified the problem, and even her father, Lord Vale, remained unaware. Yet this Jack Reed had seen through her with a single glance. When it came to discernment, none of them could compare.

That alone gave her hope.

Jack’s gaze fell to her sleeve. “That Record Crystal... do you still plan to keep it?”

Zara paled. She had completely forgotten about the recording device she’d planted to capture “evidence” of his supposed fraud. If their earlier conversation leaked out, she’d never live it down.

“I—I don’t...” She clenched her fist.

Kacha!

With a burst of force, the crystal crumbled to powder.

She glanced at Jack again. For the first time, his face didn’t seem so offensive. It carried a kind of quiet power.

Despite how carefully she had hidden the crystal, he had seen through it. He had seen through everything. Could someone with this level of perception really have failed the Teacher Qualification Exam?

He must simply be above things like reputation, she thought suddenly. Some great experts disdain the spotlight...

In that instant, Jack Reed transformed in her mind from a fraud to a hidden master.

“Take your student token, claim your bedding and textbooks, and check in to your quarters. We begin class tomorrow, on time,” Jack said, waving her off like a general dismissing a soldier.

But just as Zara turned, a bellow rang out from outside.

Boom!

The door slammed open, and a muscular, battle-hardened man stormed into the room like a gust of fury.