The atmosphere in Grandmaster Wei's private study was one of agonizing tension. General Lin Zhao and Lian Hua had just left the infant Lin Tian there, trusting the Grandmaster's desperate plea for a cure.
"Master," Wei whispered, his voice hoarse with forced humility. "I have secured the highest tiers of the Imperial Library for your use. The Ancient Divine Records are open. I have fulfilled my vow. Now, I beg you. That stagnation... the Shadow-Plumage has tormented me for thirty years. I am a man of the Soul Transformation realm, yet I am crippled by a failure of my youth. Tell me the remedy."
Lin Tian, sitting upright in his small wooden chair, gave a soft coo-the only sound a nine-month-old could make. But in his mind, the Heaven-Shaking Dao System was already at work, cross-referencing the three-herb solution with the Grandmaster's real-time physical condition.
[Observer's Eye Activated. Target: Grandmaster Wei. Status: Desperation ↑ (95%). Loyalty: Debt-Bound.]
Lin Tian knew the cure was simple, but delivering the formula required absolute precision. If he simply spoke the names of three herbs, the Grandmaster would dismiss him as merely lucky. He needed to demonstrate absolute, unassailable mastery over the Dao of Medicine.
He slowly reached out and, with the perfect focus granted by his Divine Golden Core, picked up the Grandmaster's personal jade teacup. He then flicked a single, invisible drop of water onto the Grandmaster's scroll of notes.
Wei stared at the solitary drop, confusion clouding his ancient features, until Lin Tian executed a subtle Qi Manipulation technique, learned instantly from the System's library, to draw a tiny, perfect lotus flower pattern in the condensation of the water droplet.
"The White Lotus Seed?" Wei murmured, his fear dissolving into a desperate, trembling hope.
Lin Tian then slowly knocked the teacup against a small, damp patch on the table, twice, then once. He then pointed to a jar of sap collected from a tree outside.
"Two parts Lotus Seed, one part... Mountain Dew Sap," Wei cried, his mind racing to complete the proportion. "Yes! Its viscosity would bind the feather's toxins!"
Lin Tian gave a tiny, affirmative sound. The final ingredient was the hardest: the Purified Heavenly Water, a theoretical concept believed to exist only in the legendary Cloud Heavens. But the System had already cataloged a local, terrestrial substitute: the dew collected on the highest, oldest roof tiles of the Imperial Palace.
Lin Tian pointed his tiny finger straight up, toward the high rafters, and then made a soft, tapping gesture on the rooftop tile visible outside the window.
Grandmaster Wei's eyes widened, shining with blinding recognition. He slammed his fist down, rattling the jade teacup. "The Imperial Dew! It's the only substance pure enough to shear the feather's cohesion! Master Lin Tian… you are not a reincarnated master. You are the Dao of Medicine incarnate!"
Wei immediately collapsed to his knees, his forehead pressing against the cold stone floor, utterly convinced of Lin Tian's cosmic status.
[Cure Confirmed. Formula: White Lotus Seed (2 parts), Mountain Dew Sap (1 part), Imperial Dew (Trace). New Loyalty Status: Grandmaster Wei (Soul Transformation Stage 4). Current Loyalty: 100%.]
Lin Tian smiled-a victory smile that only the reborn could truly appreciate. He had traded three minutes of effort for a lifetime of unwavering servitude from the single most influential figure in the capital's spiritual and political elite.
Political cultivation is far more efficient than martial, Lin Tian mused. The foundation is set. Now, to break through to Soul Transformation.