[Time Remaining: 5 Days, 16 Hours, 30 Minutes]
The Heavenly Dao Sect was usually a place of quiet contemplation.
Today, it was a disaster zone.
"SHE IS MOVING!" an Elder screamed, flying past me on a sword so fast he nearly took my head off. "THE ANCESTOR IS DESCENDING!"
Bells were ringing. Alarm formations were activating.
I stood at the base of the mountain path, adjusting my collar. I felt like a guy waiting for his prom date, except if the prom date got nervous, she could accidentally delete the zip code.
"System," I hissed. "Is this normal?"
[SYSTEM]:She hasn't left her room in 650 years. Imagine if the sun decided to come down for a walk. People are going to panic.
A figure emerged from the mist.
Silence fell instantly. The screaming Elders froze in mid-air. The birds stopped singing. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath.
Ling Shuang walked down the stone path.
She wasn't floating today. She was walking. Her white robes trailed behind her on the dirt, untouched by dust. The air around her shimmered with a terrifying, absolute cold.
She stopped in front of me.
"I am ready," she said.
Her voice wasn't loud, but it echoed across the entire valley.
I looked around. Hundreds of disciples were peeking from behind rocks, trees, and buildings, their faces pale with terror.
"Great," I said, forcing a smile. "You look... efficient."
She tilted her head. "I am wearing the same robes I have worn for three centuries. They are self-cleaning."
"Classic look. Timeless. Shall we?"
I gestured toward the Outer Sect Market.
She nodded.
We began to walk.
The Outer Sect Market is usually loud. Vendors shouting, disciples haggling, beasts roaring.
As we entered the main street, it became a ghost town.
Disciples scrambled over each other to get out of the way. A path ten meters wide cleared in front of us instantly.
It was like parting the Red Sea, but with more sweating.
"Why do they run?" Ling Shuang asked, watching a burly blacksmith dive behind a crate of swords.
"Respect," I lied. "They are overwhelmed by your presence."
"Hmph. My presence is suppressed to 0.01%."
"That's still enough to crush a rhino, Ling Shuang."
We stopped at a food stall. The vendor, a trembling old man named Old Zhao, looked like he was praying for a quick death.
"Dumplings," I said. "Two bowls."
Old Zhao didn't move. He stared at Ling Shuang's feet.
"I said, two bowls, please," I repeated.
Ling Shuang stepped forward. The temperature dropped ten degrees. The steam from the dumpling pot turned into snow.
"He requires dumplings," she stated.
Old Zhao shrieked. He moved with the speed of a Nascent Soul cultivator, filling two bowls and slamming them onto the counter.
"Free! Take them! Please don't freeze my blood!"
I sighed. I took the bowls.
"We are paying," I said.
Ling Shuang raised her hand. A Spirit Stone the size of a fist materialized. It glowed with blinding, high-grade energy.
"Is this sufficient?" she asked.
My jaw dropped.
"Ling Shuang," I whispered. "That is a High-Grade Spirit Stone. That can buy this stall. And the street. And Old Zhao's entire bloodline."
She frowned. "I do not carry trash currency."
"Put it away!" I hissed, grabbing her wrist.
Her skin was cold. Shockingly cold.
She froze. She looked at my hand touching her wrist.
I froze. I just grabbed the Ancestor. I am dead. I am so dead.
But she didn't kill me. She just looked... confused.
"Haggle," I said, my voice squeaking. "We have to haggle. It's the rules."
"Haggle," she repeated. She looked at Old Zhao. "I will offer... half a continent."
"No! Lower! Much lower!"
"Lower?" She looked at the dumplings. "These are sustenance. Sustenance is life. Is life not worth a continent?"
I put my head in my hands.
"Old Zhao," I said. "Here are five low-grade stones. Keep the change."
I dragged the most powerful woman in the world away from the stall before she could accidentally crash the sect's economy.
We sat on a bench near the edge of the market.
Ling Shuang stared at the dumpling. She poked it with a chopstick.
"It is... squishy," she observed.
"It's dough," I said. "Put it in your mouth. Chew."
She hesitated. She looked at me, then at the dumpling. She took a bite.
Her eyes went wide.
I watched the reaction closely. This was it. The moment of truth.
"Oh," she whispered.
"Good?"
"It is..." She swallowed. "It is warm."
"It's hot food. Yes."
"No," she said, looking at me. "Inside. It makes me feel... warm."
She took another bite. Then another. She ate with the precise, deadly speed of a master swordsman. The bowl was empty in seconds.
"More," she demanded.
"Easy, tiger. We have dessert next."
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION][Target: Ling Shuang][Status: Carbohydrate Acquired][Romance Progress: +15%]
We walked further.
Suddenly, a shadow fell over us.
"Hey! Trash!"
I sighed. There's always one.
I turned around. Three disciples stood there. They were wearing expensive silk robes. The leader had a jade fan and a face that screamed 'my father is an Elder.'
"What is an Outer Disciple doing with..."
The leader stopped. He looked at Ling Shuang.
He didn't recognize her. She had been in a cave for 650 years. To him, she was just a beautiful woman.
A predatory grin spread across his face.
"Well, well," the leader sneered. "Forget the trash. You, beauty. Why hang out with a beggar? I am Young Master Liu. My grandfather is—"
I stepped back.
"Don't do it," I whispered to Liu. "I'm warning you. For your own safety."
"Shut up, insect!" Liu reached out to grab Ling Shuang's shoulder.
Ling Shuang didn't move. She didn't channel Qi. She didn't even look at him.
She simply... existed harder.
THUD.
Young Master Liu hit the ground.
It wasn't a push. It was sheer biological terror. His brain realized what he was touching and shut down his nervous system to protect him from the sheer stupidity of his actions.
His lackeys stared at their leader, foaming at the mouth on the pavement.
Ling Shuang turned to me.
"Why is he sleeping?" she asked genuinely.
"He's tired," I said. "Being that stupid is exhausting."
She stepped over the body. "Mortals are fragile."
Scene: The Sweet Shop
"This is ice cream," I announced.
I handed her a cone. It was pink. Strawberry flavor.
"Frozen cream," she analyzed. "Inefficient. The cold will damage the stomach meridians."
"Just eat it."
She took a massive bite.
Three seconds passed.
Suddenly, Ling Shuang gasped. She dropped the cone. She clutched her head with both hands, her eyes wide with genuine horror.
"ATTACK!" she shouted. "MENTAL ATTACK! ENEMY RAID!"
BOOM.
A shockwave of blue energy exploded from her body. The ice cream stand blew apart. Splinters flew everywhere.
"Make it stop!" she yelled. "My brain is freezing! What poison is this?!"
I was laughing so hard I fell off the bench.
"It's... wheeze... it's brain freeze!" I gasped, wiping tears from my eyes. "It's normal!"
She stared at me. The blue aura faded.
"Normal?" she hissed. "You mortals endure this pain... for recreation?"
"Yes," I said, standing up and brushing wood chips off my shoulder. "Because it's sweet."
She looked at the ruined shop. She looked at the pink stain on the ground.
Then, she looked at me laughing.
The corner of her mouth twitched.
"You are ridiculous," she murmured.
"I know."
[CRITICAL HIT][Romance Points: +25]
Suddenly, heat surged through my dantian.
It wasn't the dumplings.
My cultivation base boiled. The spiritual energy around us swirled, pulled into my body by the sheer force of the System's reward.
CRACK.
A barrier inside me shattered.
[SYSTEM ALERT][Romance Cultivation Triggered][Breakthrough Successful!][Current Rank: Foundation Establishment - Mid Stage]
I gasped, feeling the new power coursing through my veins. I looked at my hands.
"Holy..."
Ling Shuang watched me. Her eyes were calculating.
"You broke through," she said. "Just by... laughing?"
"Apparently."
She stepped closer. She picked a blue flower from a nearby (miraculously surviving) stall.
"This world," she said, twirling the flower. "It is loud. It is messy. It is painful."
She looked at me, her ice-blue eyes softening.
"But it is not boring."
She tucked the flower into her sash.
"Thank you, Chen Wei."
My heart hammered. Not from fear this time.
"Anytime, Ling Shuang."
We stood there, amidst the wreckage of the ice cream stand and the unconscious body of Young Master Liu.
It was the best date I'd ever had.
We returned to the peak at sunset.
The sect was still ringing bells, but the panic had subsided into confused murmuring.
Ling Shuang stood at the entrance of her cave.
"Tomorrow," she said.
"Tomorrow?"
"The Tournament," she said. "The Sect Master mentioned it. You must participate."
I groaned. "Do I have to? I just want to write poetry."
"You must," she said. Her voice went cold again. "Because she will be there."
"She?"
Ling Shuang looked at the horizon. Her eyes narrowed.
"The Empress," she spat. "Wu Meiyin."
The name carried weight. The air around us sizzled with static.
"Oh," I said. "You know her?"
"Know her?" Ling Shuang laughed. It was a sharp, dangerous sound. "We sealed a continent together. And then she tried to stab me in the back."
She looked at me.
"Do not let her charm you, Chen Wei. She is fire. And fire consumes."
She turned and vanished into her cave. The boulder slammed shut.
I stood alone on the peak.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
[NEW TARGET DETECTED][Target: Empress Wu Meiyin][Distance: 10 Miles and Closing][Objective: SURVIVE THE EX-GIRLFRIEND DRAMA]
I looked at the blue box. I looked at the sealed cave.
"Fire and Ice," I muttered. "And I'm the stick of dynamite in the middle."
I sighed.
"System?"
[SYSTEM]:Yes, lover boy?
"I need a weapon. A real one."
[SYSTEM]:I have something better. I have the Art of War. Earth Edition.
I grinned.
"Perfect."