Somewhere deep inside one of the Chi clan's private buildings, two figures stood before a seated girl.
Chi Jue and Chi Yue waited quietly, while Chi Ran stood beside the central chair like a shadow.
The girl sitting in the middle had long black hair cascading down her back, and her eyes burned orange like open flames. She listened wordlessly as Chi Ran delivered her report.
"Like you requested," Chi Ran began, "we searched for Aoyan. But Jue and Yue found her before I did and engaged her. They were about to defeat her, but she was saved by two people—presumably her teammates. One of them was Kai, the deformed full brother of Kun, your half-brother."
She continued steadily.
"As for the other one, we didn't recognize him at first, but later learned he was a fighter called 'Behemoth' who recently joined them. He and Kai pulled Aoyan away from Jue and Yue. But then the twins accidentally insulted Kai… which triggered his usual tendencies. He attacked them. I intervened, but when I moved to knock him out, Behemoth stopped me."
Chi Ran shook her head slightly.
"He was capable. And I saw no value in continuing the fight, so I withdrew after delivering your warning to Aoyan. But… she refused."
The flame-eyed girl finally spoke.
"Well, I never expected her to stop. It was an empty threat. Anyone with eyes can tell she won't quit." A faint, satisfied smile curved her lips. "But that's not a bad thing. A stepping stone is still useful."
Silence stretched for a few seconds before the girl—Chi Su—looked toward her sister.
Chi Ran dismissed the twins with a gesture; Jue and Yue silently filed out.
Now only Chi Ran and Su remained.
Chi Ran asked softly, "Is something the matter, Su?"
Chi Su rose from her seat with the quiet confidence of someone who never needed to raise her voice to command others.
"Father wants me elsewhere," she said, walking toward her sister. "I can't stay here to monitor Aoyan myself. And I refuse to trust this matter to anyone unqualified."
Chi Ran listened without speaking.
"I already ordered Weize to keep watch over Kun and his brother," Su continued. "They're the only other contenders I consider trouble. Aoyan is a threat only because of her master. But Kun… everything about him is a problem."
Chi Ran remained expressionless.
"So," Su finished, "I want you to stay here and keep your eyes on everything related to Aoyan."
Chi Ran nodded. "Understood."
Su gave her a rare, genuine smile. "I'll be heading out now. Be safe, Ran."
Then she left, her steps graceful, unhurried, leaving Chi Ran behind to begin her new assignment with not a flicker of emotion.
---
A short time later…
Lin Shu was standing at the edge of the Arena, preparing for the final fight he needed to reach the Silver League.
To advance, he had to challenge a current Silver-rank fighter and defeat them.
No special conditions. No tricks. Just a straightforward battle.
And because the targeted fighter would be demoted regardless, they couldn't refuse. Refusal meant publicly branded cowardice—something far worse than losing.
The match lasted only a few minutes.
Lin Shu didn't even use his full Ivory-Forge Juggernaut form. He only summoned gauntlets with bladed edges, and even then, he held back. There was no need to use his trump card, Lightning Fang Surge.
When the fight ended, he stepped off the stage victorious.
Kai was the first to greet him. Over the months of fighting together, Kai had relaxed and grown far more open around Lin Shu. He seemed to genuinely see him as a friend.
Lin Shu nearly laughed at the thought.
Aoyan came next, congratulating him warmly. She had grown softer in her demeanor ever since the day Lin Shu and Kai saved her. Her training had intensified after that incident, and she rarely missed a session.
Chi Yanqi approached, smiling broadly as he placed a hand on Lin Shu's shoulder.
"Excellent work. You've finally reached Silver rank—you're no longer a rookie."
Yanqi looked genuinely pleased. Lin Shu knew why.
His fights brought in wealth. His presence strengthened Aoyan's side. He was fulfilling his part of the agreement perfectly.
Yanqi continued, "As promised, I'll give you something valuable to boost your growth. Consider it part of my investment in you. And I'll pass on some knowledge very few get their hands on."
He started walking with Lin Shu. Aoyan and Kai followed until Yanqi suddenly stopped and turned to Kai.
"Not so fast," Yanqi said. "Your turn comes when you reach Silver rank. Until then, you're not allowed in the advanced lessons."
Kai groaned, clearly frustrated, but Yanqi ignored him completely as he continued walking with Lin Shu and Aoyan.
Lin Shu walked beside Aoyan as they followed Chi Yanqi back into his private lodging. The room was quiet, lit by a warm lantern glow. Yanqi sat down first, crossing one leg over the other as he looked directly at Lin Shu.
"So," Yanqi asked, "what is it you want me to give you?"
Lin Shu didn't hesitate. He had decided long before this moment.
"I want a high-tier Crimson Flow Pill," Lin Shu said. "And… I have some questions."
Yanqi nodded as if he had expected that answer since it was something Li asked him about in the past. He reached into his spatial ring, pulled out a lacquered box, and handed it to Lin Shu. Inside was the pill—rich red, almost glowing.
Lin Shu accepted it immediately and stored it in his ring without ceremony.
"All right," Yanqi said. "Ask."
Lin Shu had thought deeply about what to say.
He couldn't ask for the method to break into Rank Two—that knowledge was too heavily guarded, and his current progress wasn't nearly enough for Yanqi to reveal something so precious. Asking for that would only alert Yanqi that he was pushing too far.
But he needed something.
A starting point. A thread of knowledge. Anything that could eventually help him escape the fate of someone born with the worst possible cultivation talent.
Because his Rank One talent was a death sentence.
His speed now was good only because of external help.
Once he reached Rank 1 High Stage, his pace would collapse. It might take him a decade to reach Peak Stage. And Rank Two? He didn't even know the method. Even if he learned it someday, it might take him decades—maybe longer—to break through.
He would be left behind.
Crushed under the weight of everyone he used to surpass.
So he steadied his breath and asked the questions that mattered.
"I want to know more about the dantian," Lin Shu said. "And about talents. Everything you can tell me."
Yanqi's smile appeared slowly, knowingly.
Of course he understood.
When Yanqi first met Lin Shu, before offering any contract, he secretly activated a concealed formation to check the boy's talent. And he had been shocked. A Rank One talent… a complete dead end. A warning sign to never invest too much in the boy, because his worth would dry up eventually.
And now Lin Shu was asking about dantians.
About talents.
Yanqi understood exactly why.
He leaned back in his chair, eyes narrowing with interest.
"As you know," Yanqi began, his voice calm but deliberate, "for a person to become a cultivator, they must first have a cultivation manual. That manual teaches them the path, guiding the awakening of their dantian. It starts with the basic breathing techniques. You draw in the world's foreign Qi, channeling it through your meridians toward your dantian. Slowly, your dantian begins to awaken as it absorbs the Qi, refining it into your own energy.
"That refined Qi is stored until you have enough to transform your dantian, or to push it beyond its natural limits to the next stage. This is done by using the Qi to break the walls of the dantian so that they can heal into new, stronger ones. But the process must be done correctly. Too little or too much refined Qi, and the dantian can be damaged, sometimes irreparably."
He paused for a moment, letting the weight of the explanation sink in. Then he leaned forward slightly.
"Now, this is where talent comes into play."
Yanqi's gaze locked onto Lin Shu. "Talent is simply a measure of how efficiently your dantian can refine foreign Qi into your own. A Rank One talent, like yours, is the slowest. For example, even a Rank One High Stage cultivator would require at least fifteen years to reach Peak Stage. And with a talent like that, acquiring pills to clean the residual waste left by refinement is nearly impossible for most cultivators.
"You, however, are an exception, Li. As a Mid Stage cultivator, you already exhibit the strength of a Peak Stage one. It's obvious that your power must come from something outside your talent—either an artifact, or a body refinement technique. Those are the few methods that don't rely on talent to increase strength."
Lin Shu nodded slowly. Yanqi's words matched everything he had observed so far. Anyone seeing a cultivator of such strength with such a poor talent would naturally assume there was an artifact or a special body refinement behind it.
Yanqi continued. "A cultivator with a Rank Two talent might take ten years to reach Peak Stage. Rank Three talent—five years. Rank Four—two or three years. As for Rank Five talent… I have never seen one reach their full potential. Those who are born with it rarely live long enough to mature. Their gift, in most historical cases, is a death flag—it attracts greed, envy, and danger rather than respect or protection. Too much power, too fast, and the world conspires against them."
He paused, looking at Aoyan, who was listening with keen attention. Even though she already understood these concepts, she never seemed to grow tired of hearing them.
"There is more to the dantian than just cultivation talent," Yanqi continued, turning his gaze back to Lin Shu.
Lin Shu leaned in slightly, his interest piqued.
"It is something rarely discussed, and even more rarely found—something that can rival cultivation talent itself: elemental affinity."
Lin Shu listened intently. He had heard whispers of affinities in the past, but the information had never been handed to him directly. His focus had always been on cultivation and combat, leaving little room to ponder something as subtle and hidden as elemental affinity.
Yanqi's words hung in the air, heavy with implication, as Lin Shu considered what this could mean for his own growth.