The repair work began at first light.
Wang Ben moved through the damaged sections of the western wall with the rest of the formation delegation, cataloging destruction and prioritizing restoration. The Frozen Jade assault had left its mark across multiple sectors, Ice damage creating patterns of crystalline erosion that would take days to fully address.
Elder Wang Hongwei supervised the work with quiet efficiency, directing the mid-level formation masters to their assignments while keeping Wang Ben close for the most delicate repairs. The arrangement served multiple purposes: it utilized Wang Ben's superior technique while minimizing the number of observers who might notice his unusual capabilities.
"Node 5-7 next," the elder said, his voice low enough to avoid being overheard. "The Ice intrusion penetrated deeper than we initially assessed. Standard repair techniques won't be sufficient."
Wang Ben examined the node, the System's analysis revealing the extent of the damage. The enemy formation masters had been precise in their targeting, threading Ice qi through the formation's primary conduit to disrupt its energy patterns from within.
[FORMATION ANALYSIS: Node 5-7]
[Damage type: Internal Ice crystal formation]
[Penetration depth: 4.2cm into primary conduit]
[Standard repair success probability: 23%]
[Enhanced repair (Scripture methods): 94%]
[Note: Repair will require techniques beyond host's stated cultivation level. Recommend controlled application with environmental awareness]
"I can handle it," Wang Ben said. "But I'll need privacy. The technique requires concentration."
Elder Wang Hongwei nodded, understanding what wasn't being said. He positioned himself to block casual observation while Wang Ben worked, creating a bubble of apparent normalcy around the repair operation.
The work itself was delicate. Wang Ben's hands moved with precision that exceeded what his qi condensation cultivation should have allowed, his formation chalk inscriptions threading through the damaged conduit to isolate and extract the Ice intrusion. The process required him to adapt his qi frequency again, matching the Ice energy's signature so he could work with it rather than against it.
[REPAIR PROGRESS: 34%... 67%... 89%...]
[Ice crystal extraction: Complete]
[Conduit integrity: Restored to 97% functionality]
[Time elapsed: 23 minutes (estimated standard time: 2+ hours)]
[Note: Work speed significantly exceeded normal expectations. Elder Wang Hongwei's observation confirms concern about capability exposure]
"Done." Wang Ben stepped back, allowing the formation chalk to set while his elder inspected the work.
"Impressive." Elder Wang Hongwei's voice carried equal measures of pride and worry. "Your technique has improved considerably since we arrived. Almost as if the environment is accelerating your development."
"The practical experience helps," Wang Ben said, offering the explanation that would be most easily accepted. "Repairing actual combat damage teaches things that training cannot."
"Indeed." The elder's eyes held knowing concern. "Still, I would recommend pacing yourself, young master. Improvement that appears too rapid can attract unwanted attention."
The warning was clear. Wang Ben nodded acknowledgment and moved to the next repair site, deliberately slowing his work to match what his cultivation level should produce.
...
The tactical analysis team convened in the early afternoon.
Captain Liu Yanran had summoned Wang Ben along with the other analysts, a departure from the informal consultations that had characterized their previous interactions. The shift suggested something had changed, either in the fortress's assessment of his capabilities or in the strategic situation itself.
The team occupied a chamber adjacent to the command center, its walls covered with maps and intelligence reports. Six cultivators sat around a central table, their attention focused on a detailed schematic of the fortress's western defenses.
"Yesterday's assault confirmed several of our predictions," Captain Liu began. "The enemy concentrated their formation masters on sectors 4 and 6, exactly as the pattern analysis suggested. Commander Feng's preemptive reinforcement prevented what could have been a catastrophic breach."
She paused, her gaze finding Wang Ben among the assembled analysts.
"The pattern analysis that predicted this came primarily from Young Master Wang Ben's observations. I want the team to understand the methodology so we can apply it to future assessments."
Wang Ben felt the focus of attention shift toward him. Six experienced cultivators, all foundation establishment or higher, waiting for a qi condensation youth to explain tactical insights that had outperformed their collective analysis.
"The methodology is straightforward," he said, keeping his voice calm. "I looked at the damage distribution from previous attacks and correlated it with known information about the fortress's defensive infrastructure. The pattern that emerged suggested the enemy was systematically probing for weaknesses rather than attempting random breakthrough."
"We've done similar analysis," one of the older analysts said. "Why did your conclusions differ from ours?"
Because the System processes information in ways that you can't replicate, Wang Ben thought. Because I have access to analytical capabilities that shouldn't exist at my cultivation level.
"I focused on the what rather than the why," he said instead. "Your analyses assumed the enemy was seeking ideal breakthrough points. Mine assumed they were gathering information for future operations. The different assumption led to different conclusions about which sectors they would target."
Captain Liu nodded slowly. "You treated their attacks as scouting rather than attack."
"The intensity wasn't consistent with a serious breakthrough attempt. They were testing responses, not committing resources."
[ANALYSIS: Team reaction assessment]
[Captain Liu Yanran: Impressed, reconsidering host's tactical value]
[Senior Analyst Chen: Skeptical but engaged, willing to consider alternative frameworks]
[Analyst Zhang: Defensive, protecting institutional analysis methodology]
[Others: Mixed, predominantly curious]
[Recommendation: Demonstrate practical application rather than theoretical superiority]
The discussion continued for another hour, with Wang Ben walking the team through his analytical process while carefully obscuring the System's role in his conclusions. By the time the session ended, he had established himself as a legitimate contributor to the team's work rather than an inexplicable anomaly.
"Young Master Wang Ben," Captain Liu said as the others filed out. "A moment."
Wang Ben remained, waiting as the captain gathered her thoughts.
"Your analysis saved lives yesterday," she said directly. "The reinforcement that protected Sectors 4 and 6 prevented an estimated forty to sixty additional casualties. I've submitted a commendation to Commander Feng for your contribution."
"Thank you, Captain. But the credit belongs to the entire team."
"The team contributed, yes. But the insight was yours." Captain Liu's expression was unreadable. "You're an unusual young man, Wang Ben. Qi condensation cultivation, barely seventeen years old, yet you think about warfare with the perspective of someone who has seen much more."
"My clan has a long military tradition," Wang Ben said. "Some lessons are inherited."
"Perhaps." Captain Liu didn't sound convinced, but she didn't press. "I've requested that you be assigned to the tactical team permanently rather than rotating between duties. Commander Feng has approved. Your insights are too valuable to waste on standard formation rotation."
It was a compliment wrapped in a complication. Greater visibility meant greater scrutiny. But refusing would be more suspicious than accepting.
"I'm honored to serve," Wang Ben said.
"Good. Report here after morning formation duty. We have work to do."
...
The evening brought reflection.
Wang Ben sat in the small meditation chamber that had become his refuge, processing the day's events while his cultivation continued its steady advancement. The Scripture's methods worked even during contemplation, each breath drawing spiritual energy into patterns that grew more efficient with practice.
[CULTIVATION SESSION: Hour 2]
[Qi absorbed: 387 Motes]
[Qi retained: 27 Motes]
[Retention efficiency: 7.1%]
[Elemental composition:]
[- Earth: 13 Motes (48.1%)]
[- Metal: 8 Motes (29.6%)]
[- Fire: 4 Motes (14.8%)]
[- Water: 2 Motes (7.4%)]
[Environment: Azure Dragon Fortress (Mixed elemental)]
[Note: Efficiency continues to improve. Current trajectory suggests first milestone (10%) achievable within 4-6 weeks]
The numbers were encouraging, but they weren't what occupied Wang Ben's thoughts.
Forty to sixty lives. That was what Captain Liu had said. His analysis had saved forty to sixty people who would otherwise have died in the assault. Real people, with families and futures, who would continue living because he had noticed a pattern and reported it.
But how many more could he save if he shared everything?
The question had haunted him since his first day at the fortress. He possessed knowledge that could transform the kingdom's military capabilities, techniques that could double or triple the effectiveness of every cultivator in the defensive forces. The Scripture's cultivation methods alone could change the war's trajectory.
And he couldn't share any of it.
The reasons were practical. Revealing his true capabilities would attract attention from powers he wasn't ready to face. Shen Wuyan and Phantom Gate would want to know how a qi condensation youth possessed knowledge that exceeded their own archives. The kingdom's intelligence services would investigate. Even the Youming entities that fed on worlds might sense something that drew their attention to Azure Sky.
But the reasons felt hollow against the reality of daily casualty reports.
[ANALYSIS: Ethical calculus regarding knowledge sharing]
[Lives potentially saveable through full revelation: Thousands to tens of thousands]
[Risk of revelation: Attention from hostile actors, possible elimination, loss of long-term strategic potential]
[Current approach: Incremental improvement through indirect contribution]
[Assessment: Current approach is mathematically inefficient but strategically necessary]
[Note: The goal is not merely to save lives in the present but to develop capabilities that can address larger threats in the future. Short-term optimization may compromise long-term objectives]
The System's analysis was coldly logical. Wang Ben understood the reasoning. But understanding didn't make it easier to watch people die from problems he knew how to solve.
This is what it means to have knowledge you can't share, he thought. This is the burden that comes with secrets.
He thought about Chen Tianlong, the consciousness whose memories had merged with his own. How many similar decisions had that ancient cultivator faced? How many lives had been lost while he waited for the right moment to act?
The memories didn't provide answers. What remained of Chen Tianlong's consciousness was fragmented, impressions and instincts rather than coherent recollection. But Wang Ben suspected the feeling was familiar, that the grief he felt was an echo of something much older.
A knock at the chamber door interrupted his meditation.
"Come in."
...
Zhao Yu entered, his expression serious. "The casualty list for yesterday has been posted. I thought you might want to know."
Wang Ben rose, his cultivation session incomplete but no longer sustainable. "Show me."
They walked together through the fortress corridors, the evening quiet settling over the massive structure. The memorial wall had been updated, new names added beneath the accumulated toll of the previous weeks.
[CASUALTY UPDATE: SPRING SEASON, WEEK 4]
[New confirmed deaths: 37]
[Total season casualties: 449]
[Formation team Seven losses: 3]
[Medical corps losses: 2]
[Infantry losses: 28]
[Other: 4]
Thirty-seven names. Wang Ben read them one by one, committing each to memory as he had done with the previous lists. These were the people who had died so that others could live, the cost extracted by a war that showed no signs of ending.
Li Xiaoming, mid-stage foundation establishment. Sector 4 response team. Died during defensive action.
Zhang Hui, early-stage qi condensation. Supply runner. Died during formation breach.
Chen Wei, late-stage body refinement. Infantry support. Died during enemy withdrawal engagement.
"Thirty-seven," Zhao Yu said quietly. "The analysis said we prevented forty to sixty more. That's something."
"It's not enough."
"It never is." Zhao Yu's voice held no judgment. "But it's what we have. What we can do."
Wang Ben stared at the names, feeling the familiar burden settle onto his shoulders. These deaths he couldn't have prevented. They had died in combat, killed by enemies whose attacks he couldn't personally stop. The guilt he felt was irrational, a response to tragedy rather than a reflection of actual responsibility.
But the other deaths, the ones that hadn't happened because of his analysis, those were real. Forty to sixty people who would be alive tomorrow, who would write letters home and eat meals and dream about futures that the war might still take from them.
"Why do you come here?" Zhao Yu asked.
"To remember them." Wang Ben touched the wall, his fingers tracing the carved characters of a name he didn't recognize. "Someone should."
"The whole fortress remembers."
"The fortress remembers the number. I want to remember the names."
Zhao Yu was quiet for a long moment. When he spoke again, his voice was gentle.
"You can't carry all of them, Wang Ben. It will crush you."
"Then I'll get stronger." Wang Ben turned away from the wall, his expression settling into calm determination. "Strong enough to carry whatever I have to."
It wasn't an answer, not really. But it was the only one he had.
...
That night, sleep came slowly.
Wang Ben lay in darkness, his mind cycling through the day's events. The battle, the repairs, the tactical analysis session, the names on the wall. Each piece of information slotted into place, forming patterns that the System processed while his conscious mind tried to find rest.
[PROCESSING: Daily integration complete]
[Tactical insights: Cataloged for future reference]
[Ethical considerations: Flagged for ongoing analysis]
[Cultivation status: Stable, efficiency improving]
[Recommendation: Accept current limitations while working toward future capability. The path to greater impact runs through survival and development, not premature revelation]
The advice was sound. Wang Ben knew it intellectually. But knowing and feeling were different things, and the feeling that persisted was one of frustrated potential.
Someday, he promised himself. Someday I'll be strong enough to help without hiding. Strong enough that the knowledge I carry can be shared without fear.
Until then, he would do what he could. Analyze patterns. Repair formations. Contribute insights that might save lives without revealing the source of his capabilities.
It wasn't enough. But it was something.
And in a war that extracted its price one life at a time, something was better than nothing.