The medical pavilion kept Kai for three days of what they called recovery.
He used the time well. While pretending to rest and stabilize his cultivation, he was actually exploring his new abilities through the system interface and planning his next moves.
[SHADOW SOVEREIGN SYSTEM - ABILITY REVIEW]
[Current Abilities:]
[Death Vision - See life/death energy, identify weaknesses]
[Shadow Step - Short-range teleportation through shadows]
[Shadow Cloak - Temporary near-invisibility]
[Soul Harvest - Consume deceased cultivator's remnants]
[Shadow Meld - NEW - Merge with shadows for extended concealment]
[Death Mark - NEW - Mark targets for tracking]
[Shadow Puppetry - NEW - Manipulate shadows into temporary forms]
Kai focused on Death Mark first. According to the system information, he could mark up to three targets at his current cultivation level. The mark would let him track their location, sense their condition, and know when they were near death. Perfect for harvesting natural death energy without having to watch them constantly.
The question was who to mark.
[SYSTEM RECOMMENDATION]
[MARK TARGETS WITH HIGH DEATH PROBABILITY]
[SUGGESTED CATEGORIES:]
[* Disciples assigned to dangerous missions]
[* Cultivators with terminal illnesses]
[* Individuals involved in deadly conflicts]
Kai spent his recovery time listening to gossip from visiting disciples. Lin Wei came by daily, bringing news and sometimes other members of their group. Through their conversations, Kai learned several useful things.
First, the monthly evaluation was going to be a tournament format this time. One-on-one matches between outer disciples, with rankings deciding who got advancement opportunities. The top performers would get chances to become inner disciples. The bottom performers would face reassignment.
Second, several outer disciples were already seen as favorites. A disciple named Han Feng who had reached Qi Gathering Third Stage. Twin sisters named Yu Yan and Yu Mei who fought together as a team. A former soldier named Wu Chen who was good with weapons.
Third, and most interesting to Kai, there was growing tension between outer and inner disciples over resource allocation. The sect's monthly cultivation resource distribution favored inner disciples heavily, and several outer disciples were becoming desperate.
Desperate people made mistakes. Mistakes led to death. Death provided energy.
"Brother Kai, are you listening?" Lin Wei waved a hand in front of his face.
Kai blinked and focused. "Sorry, Brother Lin. Still feeling foggy from the breakthrough. What were you saying?"
"I was saying that some outer disciples are planning to raid the outer sect's medicine storage. They think if they can steal some spirit pills before the evaluation, they'll have better chances of advancing."
[OPPORTUNITY DETECTED]
[THEFT ATTEMPT: High probability of discovery and punishment]
[ESTIMATED DEATHS: 2-4 disciples]
"That sounds dangerous, Brother Lin. Won't they get caught?"
Lin Wei nodded grimly. "Probably. But some disciples are desperate enough to try anyway. Zhang Hu heard about it and warned the group to stay away. Getting involved would be stupid."
"Who's leading this theft?"
"A disciple named Rong Wei. He's Qi Gathering Second Stage but stuck there for months. He thinks spirit pills will push him to Third Stage before the evaluation." Lin Wei shook his head. "More likely he'll just get caught and sent to the punishment cells."
Kai filed that information away. Rong Wei and his group were potential death energy sources. If they went through with the theft and died from it, Kai just needed to be nearby to collect the results.
"This junior hopes Brother Rong reconsiders," Kai said neutrally. "But some people have to learn the hard way."
After Lin Wei left, Kai activated Death Mark for the first time. The ability required him to have seen the target in person, so he pulled up memories of disciples he'd observed during training sessions.
Rong Wei, a stocky young man with desperate eyes who'd been watching the medicine pavilion during training.
Han Feng, the confident favorite who'd reached Qi Gathering Third Stage.
And Senior Disciple Chen Yun himself.
[DEATH MARK: ACTIVATED]
[TARGETS MARKED: 3/3]
[RONG WEI - Outer Disciple - Death Probability: 78% within 7 days]
[HAN FENG - Outer Disciple - Death Probability: 23% within 30 days]
[CHEN YUN - Inner Disciple - Death Probability: 8% within 90 days]
Rong Wei's high death probability confirmed he was planning something stupid. Han Feng's moderate probability suggested he'd face serious challenges during or after the evaluation. And Chen Yun's low probability established a baseline. Even inner disciples faced some danger in this world.
Perfect. Now Kai would know when opportunities presented themselves without constant watching.
On the fourth day, the healer declared him recovered enough to return to normal activities.
"Your cultivation foundation has stabilized, though it's still rough around the edges," she said. "Don't push yourself too hard. Qi Gathering First Stage isn't impressive, but it's better than being a mortal. Focus on steady cultivation rather than forcing another breakthrough."
"Yes, Healer. This junior understands."
Kai returned to the outer disciple dormitories to find his status had indeed changed. Other disciples who'd ignored him before now nodded respectfully when he passed. Some even called him "Brother Kai" without being prompted.
Surviving a bandit ambush that killed everyone else had given him a reputation. Not as a powerful fighter, everyone still thought he'd run rather than fought, but as someone touched by good fortune. Lucky. Protected by fate.
In the cultivation world, luck was its own kind of power.
"Brother Kai!" Mei Ling waved from where Lin Wei's group was practicing sword forms. "Come join us! We want to see your breakthrough cultivation."
Kai approached carefully. This would be the first time he demonstrated his abilities since the breakthrough, and he needed to be careful about what he revealed.
The group had grown slightly. Besides Lin Wei, Mei Ling, Zhang Hu, Feng Yu, and Little Chen, there were now two others, a quiet girl named Xiao Ling and a former farmer like Kai named Bao.
"Brother Kai, we heard you achieved breakthrough through combat pressure," Zhang Hu said. "That's rare. Most disciples breakthrough through meditation or spirit pills."
"This junior was desperate and lucky, Brother Zhang. Nothing more."
"Show us your cultivation aura," Mei Ling urged. "We want to see what Qi Gathering First Stage looks like when forced through survival pressure."
Kai hesitated, then channeled his qi as a normal cultivator would. His shadow energy was fundamentally different from regular qi, but at this level, most disciples wouldn't notice the difference.
A faint aura surrounded him, dark-tinged instead of the usual white or gold of celestial qi, but not obviously dark. It looked like his cultivation had a slight shadow affinity, which wasn't unheard of.
[CULTIVATION DISPLAY: Qi Gathering First Stage]
[APPEARANCE: Dark-affinity qi, slightly unusual but not alarming]
[OBSERVER REACTION: Curious but not suspicious]
"Dark qi affinity," Feng Yu observed. "Interesting. Most Celestial Peak disciples cultivate light-based qi. But shadow qi isn't forbidden, just less common."
"This junior doesn't know why the breakthrough manifested this way," Kai said. "Perhaps the trauma of the attack affected it."
Lin Wei nodded. "Breakthrough conditions influence cultivation nature. You broke through while fleeing through dark forest, so shadow affinity makes sense."
The explanation was accepted easily. Kai practiced forms with the group for the next hour, carefully demonstrating Qi Gathering First Stage abilities, enhanced speed, slightly stronger strikes, basic qi reinforcement. Nothing that would suggest his true power.
Because the truth was, with 1,656 Death Points available, Kai could advance much further. The system had shown him the costs:
[CULTIVATION ADVANCEMENT OPTIONS]
[Qi Gathering Second Stage: 200 Death Points]
[Qi Gathering Third Stage: 500 Death Points (requires Second Stage first)]
[Foundation Building First Stage: 2,000 Death Points (requires complete Qi Gathering mastery)]
He could advance to Qi Gathering Second Stage immediately and still have points left over. But doing so would raise questions. Better to appear to be cultivating at normal speed while his true power grew in secret.
[SYSTEM ADVISORY]
[RECOMMEND: Public cultivation at Qi Gathering First Stage]
[Private cultivation through shadow energy: Continue accelerated growth]
[Maintain minimum 2-stage difference between displayed and actual power]
As training concluded, Kai noticed Rong Wei watching from across the training ground. The desperate disciple's death mark pulsed in Kai's Death Vision, the probability had increased to 85%. The theft attempt was happening soon.
"Brother Lin," Kai said quietly. "When do you think Rong Wei will try his theft?"
Lin Wei glanced over. "Tonight, probably. The storage pavilion has fewer guards during the night shift rotation. If he's going to try something stupid, that's when."
"This junior might stay up to cultivate then. Don't want to be disturbed by any excitement."
Lin Wei gave him a knowing look. "Probably wise, Brother Kai. Stay in your room and focus on stabilizing your foundation. Let whatever happens happen."
That evening, Kai did exactly the opposite.