Lin Yuan blinked awake.The first thing he saw—was her.
Sect Leader Yuexian stood silently by his bedside, arms crossed, expression unreadable.
He squinted, still groggy.
> "Why… are you in my room?"
Yuexian raised a brow.
> "I should be the one asking. Why did you give me your hairpin?"
Lin Yuan yawned, stretching under the blanket.
> "What else would I do with a hairpin? I'm not a girl."
> "Still. You just gave it away. A Divine Glacier Ice hairpin, no less."
He shrugged.
> "To tell you the truth I am facebliend .I don't see people's faces."
That made her pause.
> "What?"
Lin Yuan sat up.
> "I have face-blindness. I don't recognize faces—only voices. Most people look the same to me… except for my family."
He hesitated.
> "But yesterday… you were different. When I saw you clearly for the first time, I thought… you looked beautiful."
Yuexian blinked.
Lin Yuan looked away, ears pink.
> "It wasn't just your face. You smelled like my mother. Same herbal perfume. Same faint scent of warm milk. Your robe was the same color. Even your hairstyle matched hers—though I guess that's common."
He looked up again.
> "The only thing missing was her hairpin. That's why… I gave you mine. It belongs with you."
For a long moment, Yuexian said nothing.
Then, quietly, she stepped closer and placed a hand on his wrist.
> "You've advanced again," she murmured. "Just one more step, and you'll qualify for the Inner Sect. Once there, you can begin absorbing Taiyin Qi directly."
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
> "Your soul is far stronger than your cultivation stage. That's why it feels… effortless for you to grow."
Lin Yuan tilted his head.
> "So I'm special?"
> "More than you realize."
She straightened, brushing her sleeve.
> "I accepted a good mission for you."
> "Oh?"
> "A young prince needs cultivation guidance. The king has offered 100 high-grade spirit stones for every kilogram his son loses."
> "How heavy is he?"
> "Almost 300 kilos."
> "…Wow."
> "If he complain, you lose the job," she said with a sly grin. "Technically, this mission was assigned to the Inner Sect… but I submitted your portrait."
> "You what?!"
> "You'll do fine. Now—go freshen up. We're eating at Qingxiu's restaurant today. They just received a shipment of fresh ingredients."
---
Later that afternoon, Lin Yuan joined everyone at **Qingxiu's new spiritual kitchen**. The place smelled like baked bread, spices, and steamed buns.
They ate heartily—Qingxiu glowing with pride.
> "Young lady Lin Yuan?"
He turned. A thin man in a sharp suit bowed.
> "This humble servant is the butler of Prince Xuanyuan Cheng. His Highness has summoned you."
He handed over a scroll with golden embroidery.
---
The prince's mansion was enormous—filled with carved jade walls, flower gardens, and oddly… **a lot of beautiful women**.
Lin Yuan raised a brow.
> "Concubines?"
> "The king's former concubines," the butler clarified. "His highness see them they had no position and their life is miserable,no freedom.His Highness offered them shelter. They now serve as maids."
They stepped into the central hall.
There, sprawled on a plush sofa, was the **chubbiest young man** Lin Yuan had ever seen.
> "Welcome, Master Lin! I'm Xuanyuan Cheng, age nineteen, son of the Western Flame King. I have a *small* problem…"
He patted his belly, which jiggled like jelly.
> "I can't stop eating."
> "I noticed."
> "The male trainers my father hired tortured me! Gave me nothing but bitter herbs and spiritual sit-ups! I fired them all."
> "And now?"
> "My butler recommended *female* instructors. I agreed. And then your Sect Leader sent you."
The prince grinned, holding out his pudgy hands.
> "So, Elder Lin—what shall we do first?"
> "I'm not an elder," Lin Yuan muttered. "I'm just here on recommendation."
He pulled out a spiritual scale.
> "Let's weigh you."
> "Wait—my robe makes me look less fat but it's heavy," the prince warned.
> "Uh-huh."
*Clack.*
> "259… 260kg. Got it."
Lady Mingyan suddenly speak in his mind.
> "Stretch him," she ordered. "His body's too tense."
With a sigh, Lin Yuan began gently guiding the prince through stretching poses.
Each time the prince yelped, Lin Yuan poured a small sip of sparkling **spiritual water** into his cup.
> "Why does this taste so good?" the prince asked between breaths.
> "Because it's infused with Evergreen Holy stones energy. "
The prince's eyes lit up.
> "I knew this would be worth it!"
Xuanyuan Cheng groaned like a stuck ox as Lin Yuan helped him stretch his arms behind his back.
> "Ow, ow, ow—my joints weren't made to bend this far!"
> "They weren't made to carry *this much*, either," Lin Yuan said flatly, sweat already forming on his brow. "Stop whining. Inhale."
> "I *am* inhaling," the prince gasped. "I've never stopped inhaling. That's the problem!"
Lin Yuan sighed.
Stretching a 260-kilogram royal couch potato whose body felt like half-boiled spiritual jelly?
This was a **true trial**.
He glanced around the spacious inner hall. It was well-ventilated, tiled with cool marble, and perfumed with incense.
And filled with… **maids**. Gorgeous, refined, and sharp-eyed—every one of them staring.
Lin Yuan noticed a few of them tightening their grip on their trays. Their glances weren't subtle.
One even clicked her tongue as Lin Yuan adjusted the prince's hips and lifted his leg.
> "Tch. What kind of cultivator touches a man like *that*?"
> "She is not even using gloves…"
> "Maybe she enjoys pampering lords now."
Lin Yuan ignored them.
He could tell from the spirit lines around the prince's waist that his meridians were dangerously close to clogging. If this boy didn't move, he'd collapse before he reached twenty.
But that didn't stop the maids from *feeding* him.
Every ten minutes, someone passed by with a platter.
> "Fresh dumplings, Your Highness?"
> "Sautéed cloud rabbit ribs, roasted in moon vinegar?"
> "Salted sweet-lotus buns? Your favorite…"
> "STOP," Lin Yuan barked.
The maids froze.
Lin Yuan pointed to the food.
> "All of this? Gone. No more meat. No more buns. No more spirit-roasted belly fat. From now on—he drinks juice."
> "Juice?" the prince gasped in horror.
> "Juice," Lin Yuan repeated. "Spiritual fruit juice. We'll blend it with Evergreen herb, a bit of Snow Lotus pulp, and Golden Root extract to cleanse your body."
> "But juice… isn't satisfying…"
> "Neither is dying.
Lin Yuan do some excersise and prince start shouting.
> "My arms are trembling!"
> "That's muscle being born. Shut up and breathe!"
By midnight, the palace was quiet .
The prince lay collapsed on a cooling mat, his face pale but his pulse strong.
Lin Yuan poured one last sip of spiritual juice into his mouth and wrapped him in a breath-warming talisman.
That night, after the palace quieted down, Lin Yuan thought his work was done.
Until a flicker of silver light appeared at the roof's edge.
Lady Mingyan dropped down, graceful as moonlight.
Lady Mingyan stood nearby, wiping her hands.
Lady Mingyan stood with her arms folded, watching the slumbering prince snore on a jade mat, cheeks flushed from exhaustion, belly still jiggling slightly with each breath.
> "You have patience," she said, voice cool and amused. "Trying to shape a royal pig into a cultivator."
> "That's one way to say it," Lin Yuan muttered, rotating his aching shoulders.
She stepped closer and lowered herself into a perfect squat—one-legged, arms folded, her balance flawless.
> "You rely on strength. But calisthenics is about balance, grace, control. Even this prince's enormous body can learn to flow, not just resist."
With a light hop, she shifted her entire bodyweight onto three fingers—her body straight like a blade, suspended midair.
Lin Yuan stared.
> "You make it look easy."
> "It's not." She dropped down, hair swaying gently as she stood. "It took me years to master this. You'll learn it sooner."
He glanced back at the prince's sleeping form, then up at the glowing sky.
The stars shimmered, distant and sharp.
> "If we can turn *him* into a cultivator," he whispered, half to himself, "maybe… there's hope for anyone. Even for someone like me."
Lady Mingyan tilted her head, thoughtful.
> "You are doing this for spirit stones. Not be emotional, you are fine and he will be fine. "
> "Yes," Lin Yuan said softly. "I know what it's like to be helpless. To feel like your body is a prison."
Lady Mingyan didn't respond immediately.
Then she said, gently:
> "Then let's make sure he breaks free."
She handed him a scroll—A Movement Techniques for the Spirit-Stagnant.
> "This will be your guide. I'll oversee your training for nights."
The wind picked up, carrying with it the scent of plum blossoms.
> *This wasn't what I expected,* he thought. *But maybe this is exactly what I need to grow.*