The Medicine Hall of the Ancient Xie Clan smelled of bitter herbs and burning moxa.
Xie Yu lay on a bed of warm jade, his chest heaving. He had woken up an hour ago, but his mind was still in a fog. The clan physicians—grey-bearded men who could reattach severed limbs—were baffled.
"It is... Qi Deviation," the Head Physician muttered to the Third Elder, who stood by the bed with a face like thunder. "Young Master Yu exerted too much strength. His meridian channels spasmed and backlash occurred. It is a common mistake for children who cultivate the Bronze Skin Art too aggressively."
The Third Elder slammed his cane on the floor. "He is a genius! He does not make common mistakes! He was fighting that invalid, Xie Feng! How could he faint against a cripple?"
Xie Yu stared at the ceiling.
Backlash?
No. That wasn't it.
He remembered the moment before he fell. He remembered Xie Feng tripping. He remembered the sharp, electric shock that pierced his ribs—a specific point under the third rib, right where his cultivation technique had a tiny gap in defense.
It wasn't an accident. It was a snipe.
"Grandfather," Xie Yu croaked. "I want to be alone."
The Third Elder frowned but nodded. "Rest. Tomorrow, I will increase your training volume. You disgraced us today."
The Elder left, taking the physicians with him.
The room fell silent. Xie Yu closed his eyes, clenching his fists. He saw it. The Sickly Prince saw my weakness.
Creak.
The heavy wooden door opened slowly. The sound of wheels rolling on stone echoed in the room.
Xie Yu opened his eyes.
Xie Feng sat in his wheelchair, pushing himself into the room. His face was still pale, and he held a basket of spirit fruits in his lap.
"Cousin Yu," Xie Feng whispered, his voice weak. "I came to apologize. I... I didn't mean to startle you into fainting."
Xie Yu sat up. His eyes locked onto Xie Feng.
"Cut the crap."
Xie Feng paused. He tilted his head slightly. "Cousin?"
"There is no one else here," Xie Yu growled. "The servants are gone. My grandfather is gone. Drop the act. You hit my 'Gate of Life'. How did you know?"
Xie Feng stared at him for a long moment.
Then, slowly, the trembling in his hands stopped. The slump in his shoulders vanished. The dull, sleepy look in his eyes sharpened into something cold and metallic.
He didn't stand up, but his presence suddenly filled the room, making the air feel heavy.
"The Bronze Skin Art," Xie Feng said, his voice no longer a whisper but a smooth, calm baritone that sounded far too old for a seven-year-old. "Chapter 4, Verse 2. 'When the skin becomes iron, the breath must be held.' But you don't hold your breath, do you? You exhale on impact."
Xie Yu froze. That was his secret habit. No one knew that.
"When you exhale," Xie Feng continued, picking up a spirit apple and polishing it on his sleeve, "The Qi protection around your diaphragm thins for 0.3 seconds. I didn't need strength to drop you. I just needed a needle."
He tossed the apple to Xie Yu.
Xie Yu caught it reflexively. His hands were shaking.
"Who are you?" Xie Yu whispered. "You are not a cripple."
"I am whatever the Clan needs me to be," Xie Feng said indifferent. "Right now, the Clan needs a cripple, so I am a cripple. But I also need something."
Xie Feng rolled his wheelchair closer to the bed. He leaned in.
"The Third Elder is using you, Xie Yu. He feeds you pills that boost your strength but rot your foundation. He wants you to shine bright for ten years so he can grab power. He doesn't care if you burn out by age twenty."
Xie Yu gritted his teeth. "You lie! He is my grandfather!"
"Check your Dantian," Xie Feng said simply. "Do you feel a cold ache when the moon is full? Do your joints stiffen in the morning?"
Xie Yu went pale. He did. He thought it was just growing pains.
"That is Corpse Poison from low-grade spirit pills," Xie Feng explained. "In three years, your meridians will calcify. You will be a cripple. A real one."
Xie Yu dropped the apple. It rolled across the floor.
"Can... can it be fixed?"
"I can fix it," Xie Feng said. "I can revise your cultivation manual. I can teach you how to breathe so that your defense has no gaps. I can make you the strongest shield in the Imperial Heavens."
"What do you want?" Xie Yu asked. He was young, but he was a cultivator. He knew nothing was free.
Xie Feng smiled. It was the smile of a devil offering a contract.
"I am tired of people looking at me," Xie Feng said. "I want to be invisible. But the Clan needs a hero. They need a loud, arrogant, powerful genius to attract attention, to fight the duels, to win the glory."
He pointed a finger at Xie Yu's chest.
"You will be the Genius. I will be the Trash."
"You will beat everyone who challenges us. You will take the credit. You will shine so bright that no one even looks at the shadowy corner where I sit."
"In exchange, I will make you an Emperor."
Xie Yu stared at the pale boy in the wheelchair.
His instincts were screaming that this was dangerous. This was treason against the Elders.
But the aura radiating from Xie Feng was not that of a child. It was the aura of a Kingmaker.
Xie Yu slowly got out of bed. He knelt on one knee. It wasn't a formal bow of a servant, but the respect of a warrior to a commander.
"Fix my foundation," Xie Yu said. "And I will be your shield."
Xie Feng reached into his robe and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. He had written it last night. It was a revised version of the Bronze Skin Art, corrected with the knowledge of a former Supreme Being.
"Memorize this. Then burn it."
Xie Feng turned his wheelchair around.
"Get strong, Cousin. In three years, the Clan Assessment begins. I expect you to crush everyone."
As Xie Feng rolled out of the room, he started coughing again, his shoulders trembling weakly.
"Oh, Auntie Lan," he wheezed as the maid appeared in the hallway. "I feel faint..."
Inside the room, Xie Yu held the paper with trembling hands. As he read the first line, his eyes widened in shock. The Qi in his body began to circulate spontaneously, the pain in his joints vanishing like smoke.
He looked at the empty doorway.
A dragon in a wheelchair, he thought. The world is going to be terrified.