Inside the air felt a little lighter than it had in weeks. The bitter, grassy scent of the spirit-cleansing herb filled the room as Ye Xinyang sat cross-legged on the corner of the mattress. Her eyes were closed, and her jaw was tight as she chewed. For the past month, every time she tried to take a deep breath, the air would hit her shattered core and cause a stabbing, burning pain in her ribs.
But right now, as the juices of the mountain herb settled into her throat, she didn’t flinch.
I sat down on a low wooden block near the stool, watching her carefully. Mo Ran had rolled her wheelchair right up next to the bed, her hands resting quietly on the wooden rims. She wasn’t glaring at me anymore. She was just watching Xinyang, her breath hitched, praying that the medicine would actually work.
Gu Qinghan stood by the window frame, her blood-stained blindfold tilted toward us. "Xinyang’s breathing is changing," the blind girl murmured softly. "The erratic, broken rhythm in her chest... it is starting to slow down. The leaking energy is clearing out."
Suddenly, Ye Xinyang opened her eyes. She let out a long, shaky breath, and for the first time, she didn’t clutch her chest in agony. She looked down at her hands, then looked up at me, her eyes with a mix of absolute shock and overwhelming relief.
"The pain," Xinyang whispered, her voice cracking as a single tear escaped and ran down her cheek. "The cold, stagnant weight in my chest... it’s gone. Lu Chen, what kind of grass was that? Even the high-grade pills from my old sect couldn’t clear the dead energy out of a broken foundation like that."
"It’s just an intermediate mountain weed," I said, keeping my voice very quiet and steady so I wouldn’t disrupt the calm in the room. "It didn’t fix your core, Xinyang. The cracks are still there. If you try to gather spiritual energy into your dantian the old way, it will just leak out again and tear your chest apart."
The joy on her face gone, replaced by a sudden, hollow look of despair. She dropped her head, her shoulders slumping. "Right... a broken core is a broken core. In this world, without a dantian, you are nothing but a ghost waiting to fade."
"Who said you need a core to cultivate?" I asked.
The entire room went completely silent. Mo Ran stopped moving her fingers on her wheels. Gu Qinghan turned her head sharply toward me.
I stood up, walked over to the edge of the mattress, and knelt down so I was at eye level with Xinyang. I reached out and gently tapped the bone of her forearm with my index finger.
"The elders told you that the core is the only cup that can hold energy," I said softly, looking straight into her dark, tired eyes.
"They lied to you because they are narrow-minded. Your core is smashed, but your bones are perfectly fine. Your marrow is healthy. What if, instead of forcing the energy into a broken cup in your belly, you stored it directly inside your skeleton? What if you turned your entire body into the weapon?"
Xinyang stared at me, her breath stopping entirely. "Store... energy in the bones? That’s impossible. No manual in the four regions teaches such a thing. The pressure would split your ribs open."
"It’s not impossible," I said.
I reached into the inner fold of my robe and pulled out a small, old-looking piece of parchment where I had written down the first few lines of the Nine-Transformations Dragon-Coiling Technique using a piece of charcoal from the stove. I laid it flat on her lap.
"This is a bone-refining breathing technique," I explained, my voice carrying a deep, reassuring weight. "Don’t rush it. Don’t try to force it.
Tonight, when you breathe, guide the heat from your stomach into your collarbones, then down your arms into your fingers. Let your marrow absorb it like dry dirt drinks water. Take it slow, step by step. I will be sitting right outside the door if anything feels wrong."
Ye Xinyang looked down at the simple charcoal writing on the parchment. Her hands began to tremble so violently that the paper rattled against her knees. She knew what this meant. If this technique was real, it didn’t just mean she could protect herself—it meant she could reclaim her life. She looked up at me, her face completely flushing with an overwhelming wave of emotion, gratitude, and confusion.
"Lu Chen..." she whispered, her voice choking up completely as she buried her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking as she wept quietly. "Why... why are you doing this for me? I called you a slave. I threatened to kill you. I am nothing but a burden to you."
I reached out, hesitated for a second, and then gently placed my hand on her trembling shoulder. It was the first time I had touched her without any weapons between us. Her skin felt frail, but beneath it, I could feel the fierce spark of the genius she used to be.
"Because you are my wife now," I said simply, my voice soft. "And a husband doesn’t leave his family alone and ruined. Don’t think about the past. Just focus on getting strong."
Mo Ran turned her wheelchair away, wiping her own eyes hastily on her sleeve, her stubborn jaw tightening as she let out a shaky, emotional breath. "You really are a strange man, Lu Chen," she muttered, though there was no venom left in her words, only a deep budding respect
By the afternoon, the smell of fresh food filled the small yard.I had set up the clay stove outside, using my new iron chisel to carve out a clean, flat wooden cutting board. I took the fresh, lean cuts of the Razor-Toothed Boar meat I had harvested from the ravine and sliced them into thin, even strips.
We didn’t have fancy spices or spirit sauces, but I found some wild ginger roots near the stream. I crushed the ginger on a flat stone, releasing the sharp, spicy juices, and rubbed it into the red meat to take away the wild, gamey scent. Then, I tossed the strips into the hot iron pan with a tiny bit of animal fat, letting them sear until the edges turned a crisp, golden brown.
The steam rose up into the cold mountain air, smelling incredibly rich, savory, and with natural spiritual energy. For girls who had been fed nothing but rotten vegetables and watery rice by the sect for the past month, this smell was pure torture.
I brought five large wooden plates into the shack, setting four of them down on the stool.
"It’s wild boar and mountain ginger," I said, handing a plate to Chu Ning’er first.
The small girl took the plate, her eyes round as saucers as she stared at the thick, juicy strips of meat. She didn’t hesitate this time. She picked up a piece with her fingers, ignoring the heat, and bit into it.
Her entire body stoped. Her big eyes fully opened, and a look of pure, unadulterated shock crossed her face.
"Sister... Sister Xinyang!" Chu Ning’er gasped, her mouth full as she started chewing furiously, tears of happiness literally appearing in the corners of her eyes. "It’s... it’s so soft! It doesn’t taste like old food we ate at all! And the heat... the meat is full of sweet energy! It feels like a warm blanket is dropping straight into my stomach!"
Ye Xinyang and Mo Ran looked at each other, their mouths watering out of instinct. They picked up their own portions, hesitating for a single fraction of a second before taking a bite.
The reaction was instant. Mo Ran let out a quiet, breathless moan of satisfaction, her stubborn pride completely collapsing under the sheer flavor of the food.
She began to eat like a starved cub, her fingers getting covered in the rich juices as she cleared her plate without saying a single word. Ye Xinyang ate more slowly, but her eyes were bright and a comfortable warmth finally settling into her pale cheeks.
Gu Qinghan sat perfectly still, holding her plate, her nose twitching as she took in the scent of the seared ginger.
"This is a Rank 1 beast carcass," the blind girl said softly, her voice filled with an intense, quiet reverence. "Lu Chen, you didn’t just hunt this. You prepared it in a way that preserves the spiritual essence perfectly. My throat... it doesn’t feel dry anymore."
"Just eat, Qinghan," I said, sitting down on my wooden block and eating my own portion. "There’s plenty of meat left in the storage box for tomorrow."
[ding! investment verified.]
[you provided: spirit-infused seared boar meat to four high-potential targets.]
[triggering 10,000x multiplier...]
[reward received: heavenly vision spirit-awakening liquid x1 vial & thousand-year ice-core lotus x1 petal.]
[note: the spirit-awakening liquid can be dropped into the eyes of a blind target to slowly repair the destroyed optic nerves and spiritual sight, day by day.]
I looked down at my lap, where a tiny, crystal vial filled with a clear, sparkling blue fluid had suddenly appeared alongside a frozen white lotus petal.
I looked up at Gu Qinghan. She was carefully cleaning her plate with her spoon, her movements slow and blind, but her posture still holding the dignity of a sword master.
My heart felt completely different and strong. The system wasn’t just giving me power to fight; it was giving me the exact tools I needed to be the husband these girls deserved. Step by step, we were becoming powerful.