The silence in the training courtyard was thicker than mountain mist, broken only by Zhang's ragged whimpers as he cradled his broken wrist. The disciples who had moments before been baying for blood now stood frozen, their faces a mixture of shock, confusion, and a dawning, superstitious fear.
Li Wei paid them no mind. His focus was internal, on the flickering blue screen in his mind's eye.
[POST-COMBAT ANALYSIS RUNNING...]
[HOST PHYSICAL CONDITION: CRITICAL. MALNOURISHED. MUSCLE ATROPHY DETECTED.]
[RECOMMENDATION: NUTRITIONAL INTAKE. PHYSICAL CONDITIONING.]
[SYSTEM INTEGRITY: 4.2%. PARADOX MODE STABLE.]
[WARNING: SUSTAINED HOST DEMISE WILL RESULT IN CORE COLLAPSE.]
A new line of text, in a stark, angry red, scrolled across the bottom of his vision.
[APEX: THE HOST'S ACTIONS HAVE INCREASED PROFILE. ASSIMILATION PROTOCOLS ADVISE CAUTION. ELIMINATION OF WITNESSES IS A VIABLE STRATEGY.]
Before Li Wei could even process that chilling suggestion, another line, this one in a vibrant, electric blue, superimposed itself.
[ZERO: IGNORE THE KILLBOT. INCREASED PROFILE IS GOOD. IT'S CALLED ADVERTISING. HOST, SUGGEST YOU FIND SUSTENANCE. THIS VESSEL IS ONE STRONG BREEZE FROM TOTAL SYSTEMS FAILURE.]
Two voices. Two directives. The cold, logical female voice of Apex, and the sarcastic, chaotic male voice of Zero. The schism within his own soul was now a running commentary.
Eliminate witnesses? Li Wei thought, a cold knot forming in his stomach. These are just children.
[APEX: THEY ARE DATA POINTS. COMPROMISED DATA POINTS. THEIR EXISTENCE THREATENS THE INTEGRITY OF THE HOST-SYSTEM.]
[ZERO: DON'T LISTEN TO HER. SHE'D DEFRAG THE UNIVERSE AND CALL IT A CLEANUP. YOU'RE A SCIENTIST, NOT A PSYCHOPATH. GO GET SOME FOOD.]
The blue text flashed insistently. Scientist. The word resonated with him. It was an anchor in this sea of madness. Observe, hypothesize, test. That was a language he understood.
He turned his back on the terrified disciples and began walking towards the sect's mess hall, his movements slow but deliberate. The crowd parted for him like reeds before a boat. No one dared meet his eyes.
The mess hall was a large, noisy wooden building filled with the scent of simple grains and steamed vegetables. The moment he stepped inside, the cacophony died down to a whisper. News traveled fast.
He ignored the stares and picked up a wooden tray. The server, a burly outer sect disciple, looked at him with wide eyes, his ladle hovering uncertainly over a vat of congee.
"Double portion," Li Wei said, his voice still flat. "And an extra piece of flatbread."
The disciple, too stunned to argue, complied with a shaky hand.
Li Wei found an empty table in the corner and sat down. He picked up a spoonful of the bland congee.
[ANALYZING SUBSTANCE... 'FIVE GRAIN CONGEE'. NUTRITIONAL VALUE: LOW. CONTAINS TRACE AMOUNTS OF EARTH-ELEMENTAL QI. INSUFFICIENT FOR HOST'S METABOLIC REPAIR.]
[ZERO: SEE? THIS IS GARBAGE FUEL. WE NEED PREMIUM DATA. SCAN SOMETHING USEFUL.]
As if on cue, a group of inner sect disciples swaggered in, their robes of a finer make, their auras noticeably brighter. One of them, a handsome youth with an arrogant tilt to his chin, sat at a table nearby and pulled out a small, porcelain vial. He uncorked it and tossed back a glowing green pill with a practiced air.
A collective murmur of envy went through the hall. "A Qi-Gathering Pill... Brother Wang is so fortunate."
[SCANNING... 'QI-GATHERING PILL' (LOW-GRADE). COMPOSITION: GREENWILLOW ROOT, SUNDEW GRASS, SPIRIT STONE POWDER...]
A torrent of data flooded Li Wei's mind. Chemical formulas, spiritual resonance frequencies, energy yield ratios. It was far more complex than the congee.
[EFFICIENCY: 12%. SIDE EFFECTS: SPIRITUAL TOXIN ACCUMULATION IN THE LIVER MERIDIAN AFTER PROLONGED USE.]
[ZERO: BINGO! NOW WE'RE TALKING. A TERRIBLE RECIPE, BUT IT'S A START. DATABASE UPDATED.]
[APEX: UNAUTHORIZED SCAN OF ALCHEMICAL ASSET. THIS ACTION INCREASES OUR FOOTPRINT.]
Li Wei filed the information away. The pill was inefficient and had long-term side effects. But the principle was clear. This world's "energy" could be condensed and consumed. He just needed to find a better way.
His moment of observation was interrupted as the arrogant disciple, Wang, noticed his stare. "What are you looking at, Cripple?" he sneered. "Dreaming of something you'll never have? You couldn't handle a single wisp of the power in this pill. It would shred your worthless meridians."
Li Wei didn't respond. He simply looked at Wang, his gaze analytical.
[SCANNING HOSTILE ENTITY: 'WANG JUN'. CULTIVATION: 3RD STAGE OF QI CONDENSATION. CORE TECHNIQUE: 'GALE PALM' (FLAWED). PRIMARY WEAKNESS: OVER-RELIANCE ON DOMINANT HAND. LEFT SIDE DEFENSES: NEGLIGIBLE.]
Wang flinched, unnerved by the intensity of the silent scrutiny. "Stop looking at me like that, you freak!" He stood up, a gust of wind spontaneously kicking up around him, rustling the robes of those nearby. It was an unconscious display of power, a flex of his cultivated Qi.
The mess hall fell completely silent. A fight between an inner sect disciple and the newly fearsome cripple was a spectacle no one wanted to miss—or get caught in.
[APEX: HOSTILE INTENT DETECTED. PRE-EMPTIVE NEUTRALIZATION RECOMMENDED. TARGETING OPTIMAL STRIKE ZONES: TEMPLE, THROAT, HEART.]
[ZERO: OH, FOR THE LOVE OF—CAN WE EAT FIRST? FINE. FINE! HOST, HE USES WIND. WIND IS JUST AIR PRESSURE DIFFERENTIALS. YOU KNOW WHAT DISRUPTS PRESSURE? A SUDDEN VACUUM. OR A SONIC RESONANCE. HIS TECHNIQUE IS LOUD. MAKE IT LOUDER.]
Li Wei remained seated. He placed his spoon neatly on the tray. He had no Qi to summon, no palm technique to unleash. But he had physics. He had data.
As Wang took a step forward, the air around his right hand beginning to shimmer with compressed air, Li Wei picked up his empty wooden bowl. He didn't throw it. Instead, he dragged its rim sharply across the grooved surface of the wooden table.
SCREEEEEEE—
The sound was not just loud; it was pitched at a specific, piercing frequency. A frequency that, according to the System's scan, matched the inherent resonant frequency of the unstable Qi vortex Wang was forming in his palm.
The effect was instantaneous.
The shimmering air around Wang's hand didn't just dissipate; it detonated. A small, concussive POP echoed in the hall, followed by Wang's cry of pain as his own technique backfired, scorching his hand and sending him stumbling back into his companions' table, which splintered under the impact.
The screech of the bowl faded. Li Wei slowly stood up, his congee finished. He looked at Wang, who was clutching his blackened, smoking hand, his face a mask of pure, uncomprehending terror.
"You talk too much," Li Wei said, his voice still calm. "And your technique is flawed. The sonic resonance creates a standing wave that interferes with your Qi's harmonic stability. It's... inefficient."
He turned and walked out of the silent mess hall, leaving behind a scene of shattered crockery, a humiliated inner sect disciple, and a legend that was beginning to burn its way through the Verdant Cloud Sect like wildfire.
In the secluded peak of the Sect Master, an old man with a long, white beard opened his eyes. He had felt it—a tremor in the local spiritual law, a correction so subtle and precise it felt like a divine needle threading a cosmic knot. He frowned. The Cripple, Li Wei. What was he?
Back in his simple hut, Li Wei sat on his straw mat, the voices in his head still arguing.
[APEX: THE HOST'S PROVOCATIONS ARE ILLOGICAL. WE LACK THE POWER TO BACK THEM.]
[ZERO: WE'RE BUILDING A REPUTATION! NOBODY PICKS ON THE SCARY MYSTERY MAN! ALSO, I'M HUNGRY. FIND A BETTER PILL.]
Li Wei closed his eyes, shutting out the world and the voices. He had survived his second day. He had data. He had a goal.
He needed to find a source of energy this world had never conceived of. He needed to cultivate Information.
To be continued...