Qin Yuan's room was small by Qin Family standards.
Clean bed.
Old desk.
Cultivation mat.
Basic formation lamp.
One narrow window facing the outer garden.
No luxury.
No personal servant.
No private cultivation chamber.
Good enough.
He placed the books on the desk, cleaned his hands, changed out of his torn clothes, and sat down.
He opened Basic Herb Recognition for Low Common Pill Refiners.
The first page showed a simple drawing of Spirit Thread Grass.
Qin Yuan read one line.
Then another.
Then another.
He did not skim.
He focused on the shape of the leaf, the density of the stem fibers, the difference between young and mature Qi flow, the smell after cutting, the common fake substitutes, and the warning signs of mild poison contamination.
At first, it was dry.
Then the system moved.
Reading Experience +0.05
Memory Experience +0.04
Comprehension Experience +0.03
Qin Yuan's eyes sharpened.
He continued.
One page became ten.
Ten became thirty.
The names of herbs entered his mind, not as dead words, but as connected patterns.
Spirit Thread Grass stabilized weak Qi.
Red-Warm Root strengthened blood flow but could inflame meridians if overheated.
Mist Lotus Seed soothed minor dantian shock.
Ironbark Moss could assist body tempering but ruined several healing pills if mixed incorrectly.
The more he read, the more the knowledge connected.
Memory Talent Unlocked.
Memory — Level 1
Comprehension Talent Unlocked.
Comprehension — Level 1
Pill Mastery Talent Unlocked.
Pill Mastery — Level 1
Qin Yuan turned to the furnace control book.
Fire was not simply heat.
Fire had layers.
Outer flame.
Inner flame.
Stable flame.
Aggressive flame.
Refining flame.
Sealing flame.
Pill fire did not need to burn the herb.
It needed to persuade the useful essence to leave without destroying its nature.
Qin Yuan stared at that sentence for a long time.
Then he opened the Ember Thread Method.
Spirit Qi moved through his fingers.
Weak.
Thin.
But under his focus, it gathered.
A tiny red spark appeared above his fingertip.
It lasted half a breath before vanishing.
Fire Mastery Experience +0.18
Qin Yuan tried again.
The spark lasted longer.
Again.
The spark became a thread.
Again.
The thread curved.
Again.
The thread trembled but did not break.
Fire Art Talent Unlocked.
Fire Mastery — Level 1
Hours passed.
Qin Yuan did not notice.
He shifted between books.
When his mind tired of herbs, he practiced Ember Thread.
When his Spirit Qi became unstable, he meditated.
When meditation grew dull, he read the Lightning Art.
Lightning was different from fire.
Fire needed control.
Lightning needed direction.
The First Spark Palm was not a powerful art. At best, it could numb an enemy for a moment if used properly.
But Qin Yuan did not care about its current power.
He cared about entry.
If he could learn any Dao Law through talent growth, then even a common art was a door.
A faint crackle appeared around his palm.
It shocked his own fingers.
Qin Yuan frowned.
Again.
The spark jumped.
Again.
It followed his palm line.
Again.
It gathered at the center.
Lightning Mastery Talent Unlocked.
Lightning Mastery — Level 1
Near midnight, Qin Yuan returned to the pill books.
This time, the earlier herb knowledge felt different.
Fire control connected to extraction.
Extraction connected to essence stability.
Essence stability connected to pill formation.
Pill formation connected to healing, cultivation, Wizard mana recovery, Warrior blood support, and foundation improvement.
The system screen opened again.
Pill Mastery Level Up.
Pill Mastery — Level 1 → Level 2
Fire Mastery Level Up.
Fire Mastery — Level 1 → Level 2
Lightning Mastery Level Up.
Lightning Mastery — Level 1 → Level 2
Comprehension Level Up.
Comprehension — Level 1 → Level 2
Another notification followed.
Art Comprehension Talent Unlocked.
Art Comprehension — Level 1
Qin Yuan slowly leaned back in his chair.
For the first time since the Dreadmyr Beast appeared, something close to satisfaction entered his eyes.
Not joy.
Not arrogance.
Confirmation.
The path worked.
He looked at the books on his desk.
Common manuals.
Cheap editions.
Damaged pages.
Outdated notes.
To others, they were almost worthless.
To him, they were seeds.
Qin Yuan opened a blank notebook and began writing a plan.
First, he would quickly raise his Killing Talent and Sword Mastery Talent through missions.
Second, he would use his leftover experience to raise his other talents through experience conversion.
The greater his talents became, the better his combat prowess would be.
The better his combat prowess became, the more missions he could survive.
The more missions he survived, the more resources he could obtain.
A feedback loop.
One that belonged entirely to him.
Out of all his goals, Qin Yuan felt an urgent need to enter an alchemist organization as soon as possible. It would guarantee more protection than the Qin Family could offer him here.
And with everything laid out before him, he was confident he could do it.
The next morning, Jadefall City looked perfectly normal.
The sun rose behind the pale green waterfall, scattering mist across the upper towers like thin jade silk. Flying sword lanes opened on schedule. Spirit-energy buses hummed through the eastern roads. Mana-screen advertisements flashed above pill shops, academy registration centers, luxury cultivation chambers, and public duel arenas.
By midmorning, the Mission Bureau had already released an official statement.
ABNORMAL BEAST MOVEMENT INCIDENT — EASTERN OUTER COLLECTION ZONE
CAUSE UNDER INVESTIGATION
NO CONFIRMED CITY-LEVEL THREAT
CITIZENS ARE ADVISED TO AVOID SPREADING UNVERIFIED INFORMATION
There was not a single mention of a Dreadmyr Beast.
Qin Yuan stood beneath a mana-screen billboard outside the lower mission hall and read the statement once.
Then he looked away.
Whether the bureau was hiding the truth, controlling panic, or genuinely ignorant had nothing to do with him right now.
He was a 1st layer Spirit Opening cultivator.
Even if he found out the real reason a Dreadmyr Beast had appeared, what then?
Report it?
Investigate it?
Wave his cheap sword at a city-level danger and hope the heavens applauded his courage?
No.
That was stupidity wearing heroic clothing.
Qin Yuan walked into the mission hall.
He needed money.
He needed resources.
He needed skills.
He needed time.
Those were things he could actually pursue.
The mission hall was crowded, but not panicked. Yesterday's deaths had already become whispers instead of screams. People lowered their voices when discussing the outer zone, then quickly raised them again whenever a new mission screen flashed with higher pay.
That was how the city worked.
Danger was terrible.
But rent was due.
Cultivation pills were expensive.
Training rooms charged by the hour.
And the lower-level workers of Jadefall City could not afford to stop moving simply because a few people had died.
Qin Yuan stepped before a mission terminal and filtered the list.
LOW COMMON RESOURCE GATHERING
LOW COMMON BEAST MATERIAL COLLECTION
LOW COMMON ESCORT LABOR
LOW COMMON HERB FIELD GUARDING
MID COMMON RISK WARNING: REQUIRES PRIOR COMBAT RECORD
His bracelet flickered.
Because of yesterday's confirmed kills and survival record, several slightly better missions were now open to him.
Qin Yuan selected one.
MISSION: GLASS-HORN RABBIT HERD CONTROL
CLIENT: YUNSHI NOBLE PET SUPPLY COMPANY
OBJECTIVE: COLLECT INTACT GLASS HORNS, SOFT HIDE, AND LIVE YOUNG IF POSSIBLE
RISK: LOW COMMON
PAYMENT: 1,200 SPIRIT CREDITS BASE + MATERIAL BONUS
He accepted.
A clerk glanced at his bracelet, then at his face.
"You were in yesterday's group."
"Yes," Qin Yuan said.
The clerk hesitated. "You sure you want another outer mission already?"
"I need money."
The clerk stared at him for a breath longer.
Then she gave a dry laugh.
"Honest answer. Platform seven. Don't die."
"I'll try not to."
The mission went almost exactly as Qin Yuan expected.
No sudden roar.
No trembling earth.
No Dreadmyr Beast stepping through the forest like a nightmare wearing flesh.
Just work.
The collection zone was a fenced spiritual grassland owned by a noble company that raised pretty beasts for wealthy children, wizard familiars, and ornamental gardens. Glass-horn rabbits were not truly dangerous unless someone acted carelessly. Their bodies were small, their speed was sharp, and their translucent horns could pierce flesh if they panicked.
The mission seniors stood in formation around the field.
The temporary workers spread out with nets, shock rods, and containment boxes.
A young man beside Qin Yuan grumbled, "Rich people really pay this much for rabbit horns?"
An older worker snorted. "Rich people pay more for dumber things. Stop complaining and catch them before they run into the thorn grass."
Qin Yuan said nothing.
His eyes tracked the movement of the herd.
Glass-horn rabbits did not run randomly. The smaller ones followed the strongest adult. The strongest adult kept its body angled toward the gap in the fence where wind flowed through. Their ears twitched before each movement. Their hind legs tightened half a breath before they leapt.
Patterns.
Everything had patterns.
Qin Yuan moved.
Not fast enough to shock anyone.
Not slow enough to be useless.
His sword remained sheathed. Instead, he used the net with careful precision, stepping once to the left before the lead rabbit leapt, tossing the net not where it was, but where it wanted to go.
The net dropped.
The rabbit kicked wildly beneath it.
System notifications flickered.
Battlefield Observation Experience +0.04
Predictive Evasion Experience +0.02
Beast Handling Talent Unlocked.
Beast Handling — Level 1
Qin Yuan paused briefly.
Then he continued.
By noon, he had captured seven rabbits, killed two that became aggressive, and collected three intact horns without damaging the inner crystal lines.
The mission senior, a woman from the Bai Family's escort company, looked at him twice.
"You've done beast handling before?"
"No."
"Then you learn fast."
"Yes."
She waited for him to elaborate.
Qin Yuan did not.
The woman's mouth twitched. "Quiet type."
"Usually."
The rest of the day passed without incident.
That alone was valuable.
When the mission ended, Qin Yuan received 1,780 spirit credits after material bonuses.
Not enough to change his life.
Enough to take another step.
That evening, he returned to his rented room, washed the smell of blood and grass from his hands, ate a cheap spirit-grain meal, and opened his pill books.
He studied until midnight.
Then he cultivated until his meridians ached.
Then he slept for four hours and repeated the process.
His routine formed quickly.
Morning missions.
Afternoon material sales.
Evening study.
Night practice.
No wasted drinking.
No wandering markets for fun.
No pointless conversation.
No pretending he had the luxury of living slowly.
This was the life the previous Qin Yuan had lived, so nobody around him even questioned it. There was only the general disdain he usually received from his family peers, but nobody truly went out of their way to disturb him.
Over the next few days, Qin Yuan took mission after mission.
A mistback lizard scale collection mission for a wizard laboratory.
A thornvine clearing mission for a noble herb garden.
A low-level Mossjaw Wolf suppression mission near a spirit fruit orchard.
A corpse processing job where he extracted beast cores, venom sacs, tendon fibers, blood crystals, and bone plates under the supervision of a bored medical alchemist.
None of the missions went perfectly.
But none became disasters.
That alone made them feel almost peaceful.
On the third day, Qin Yuan encountered three Iron-Tooth Badgers while collecting blue-vein mushrooms near a damp ravine.
The mission guard shouted, "Back! Let the second line handle them!"
Qin Yuan stepped back.
Then one of the badgers broke through the left side.
Its squat body slammed through the grass like a rolling boulder. Its jaws snapped open, iron-gray teeth grinding together with a sound like metal shears.
A worker froze.
Qin Yuan moved before thinking fully.
His sword came out.
Not wide.
Not dramatic.
A short cut toward the beast's front leg.
The Iron-Tooth Badger twisted, far tougher than an ordinary animal, and its head snapped toward his wrist.
Qin Yuan's pupils narrowed.
Too slow if I retreat.
Too weak if I block.
In that moment, Qin Yuan made a split-second decision.
His Spirit Qi moved.
A faint flame crawled over the sword's edge.
Not a fireball.
Not a technique.
Just heat.
Fire Mastery did not need to become a grand art to be useful. Even a thin line of heat could make a wound deeper, force a beast's muscles to contract, and change the rhythm of a fight.
The sword moved fast, wisps of flame streaking into the air. Blood splashed as the blade cut into the badger's front leg.
The smell of burnt fur rose.
The beast shrieked and stumbled.
Qin Yuan stepped diagonally, avoiding the snapping jaws by less than half a foot.
Lightning crackled around his left fingers.
Again, not a spell.
Not yet.
Just a thread of unstable lightning forced through Spirit Qi control and raw talent.
He pressed two fingers against the beast's wounded shoulder.
Crack.
The badger's body spasmed.
Emergency Dodge Experience +0.13
Sword Mastery Experience +0.17
Fire Mastery Experience +0.21
Lightning Mastery Experience +0.24
Combat Talent Experience +0.16
Qin Yuan did not stop to admire it.
His sword reversed.
The point drove beneath the jaw.
The Iron-Tooth Badger twitched once and died.
The worker he had saved fell backward, breathing hard.
"You… you killed it?"
Qin Yuan pulled his sword free.
"It was wounded."
"That thing almost took my leg off."
"Then stand farther back next time."
The worker opened his mouth, then closed it.
The mission guard arrived with a spear in hand, eyes sharp.
"You used fire and lightning?"
"A little."
"You have dual attribute comprehension?"
"No."
"Then what was that?"
Qin Yuan wiped his blade.
"Practice."
The guard stared at him.
Qin Yuan looked back calmly. He was not worried about showing a little unusual ability. Practicing multiple arts at the same time could be seen across the city. Only people who showed true mastery in multiple arts, or those who had already been tested for rare attribute foundations, received serious attention.
After a moment, the guard snorted.
"Fine. Keep practicing. But don't burn the materials next time. Badger hide loses value when scorched."
Qin Yuan glanced at the corpse.
That was true.
He noted it down.
Fire could kill.
Fire could also reduce profit.
By the fifth day, he had begun shaping Fire Mastery and Lightning Mastery into his actual combat style.
Fire belonged on the blade when he needed cutting power, pain, or wound sealing.
Lightning belonged in short bursts through his fingers, footwork, or the flat of the sword when he needed disruption.
He did not have enough Spirit Qi for wasteful attacks.
So he did not waste any.
He used fire like a needle.
Lightning like a twitch in the enemy's nerves.
Sword movements like a calculation.
His strength steadily rose, and his combat prowess became more powerful and versatile.
A 1st layer Spirit Opening cultivator with weak foundations should not have been able to fight so cleanly.
But Qin Yuan's talents were stacking.
Every mission fed several talents at once.
Every fight became practice.
Every practice became experience.
Every experience became improvement.
By the seventh night, his system screen had changed significantly.
Sword Mastery — Level 3 → Level 8
Combat Talent — Level 3 → Level 8
Battlefield Observation — Level 1 → Level 6
Killing Technique — Level 1 → Level 6
Calm Mind — Level 1 → Level 6
Focused Practice — Level 1 → Level 6
Beast Core Extraction — Level 1 → Level 7
Spirit Sense — Level 2 → Level 7
Focused Perception — Level 1 → Level 6
Danger Awareness — Level 1 → Level 6
Danger Perception — Level 1 → Level 6
Sixth Sense — Level 1 → Level 6
Running Talent — Level 1 → Level 6
Escape Talent — Level 1 → Level 6
Concentration — Level 2 → Level 8
Fear Resistance — Level 1 → Level 6
Mental Stability — Level 1 → Level 6
Multi-Focus — Level 1 → Level 6
Emergency Dodge — Level 1 → Level 6
Predictive Evasion — Level 1 → Level 6
Deflection — Level 1 → Level 6
Reading Talent — Level 2 → Level 8
Memory Talent — Level 2 → Level 8
Comprehension Talent — Level 2 → Level 8
Pill Mastery Talent — Level 2 → Level 9
Fire Mastery Talent — Level 2 → Level 7
Lightning Mastery Talent — Level 2 → Level 7
Art Comprehension Talent — Level 1 → Level 6
Qin Yuan sat at his desk and stared at the screen for a long moment.
Then he dismissed it.
The increase was good.
Very good.
But numbers alone did not make him safe.
Zhou Kang had been far stronger than him.
Zhou Kang had died like paper.
That memory was useful.
It prevented arrogance from taking root.