The infirmary was a place of quiet healing. Today, it would be a place of calculated psychological warfare.
When I entered, Elder Liu, the head physician, nearly jumped out of his skin. He bowed so low I was worried he might sprain something.
"Master Li! An unexpected honor! To what do we owe the pleasure?"
"Chen Wei," I said, cutting straight to the point.
Elder Liu's face paled slightly. "Ah, Young Master Chen. He is… recovering. His spirit is fragile, but his rage seems to have stabilized into a manageable, simmering hatred. We were making progress."
Excellent. A stable foundation upon which I can build a glorious skyscraper of frothing, homicidal fury.
"I will see him. Alone," I commanded.
"Of course, Master Li. Whatever you deem necessary for his... continued therapy." He scurried away, happy to be anywhere else.
I entered the room. Chen Wei was sitting up in bed, staring blankly at a wall. He wasn't catatonic anymore, but he looked hollowed out, a ghost haunting the shell of a proud young master. When he saw me, his eyes widened, and a flicker of the old hatred returned, but it was weak, like a dying ember.
He had been broken. My work had been too effective. I needed to stoke that ember back into an inferno.
"Greetings, Young Master Chen," I said, my voice calm and even. I walked to a chair and sat down, placing the glowing Phoenix Egg on the bedside table between us.
He flinched away from the egg's light, his eyes locking onto my face. "What do you want?" he rasped, his voice raw.
I leaned forward, my expression one of deep, clinical interest, like a doctor examining a fascinating new disease.
"I came to see my handiwork," I stated simply. "I planted a seed of despair in your soul. I am curious to see how it has taken root."
The ember of his hatred glowed a little brighter. Calling his spiritual trauma my "handiwork" was a good start.
"You… you monster," he hissed.
"Am I?" I mused, tilting my head. "Or am I a mirror? I showed you a truth you were not prepared to see: that your pride was a house of cards. A single breath of reality, and it all came tumbling down."
Come on, Chen Wei. Get angry. Remember the pat? Remember the firewood comment? Let the hate flow through you! Your continued survival, and more importantly MINE, depends on it!
He gritted his teeth, his knuckles turning white as he clutched his blanket. "You know nothing of pride."
"Oh, but I do," I countered, my voice dangerously soft. "True pride is a mountain, immovable and serene. Yours was a loud, fragile thing. An empty vase, shattered by a single touch." I tapped the bedside table for emphasis. "Now, look at you. Hollow. Empty. Pathetic."
The word "pathetic" was the spark. The ember flared.
"I am NOT pathetic!" he snarled, a flash of the old arrogance returning.
[Emotional State: Simmering Hatred -> Defensive Anger.]
[Chaos conversion initiated. Low yield.]
It was a start, but it wasn't enough. I needed to escalate. I needed to attack the one thing he had left. His family.
"Your father, the First Elder," I began, my tone conversational. "He confronted me today. A formidable man. He spoke of your family's honor, your ancestral sword."
I paused, picking up the Phoenix Egg and examining its warm, pearlescent surface.
"I wonder what he would think," I said, not looking at Chen Wei, "if he knew that the legacy of the Chen family, his prized heir, was broken so easily. That the Azure Wave was not the only thing that proved unfit for purpose."
That did it.
The comparison of him to his family's destroyed sword, the implication that he was a flawed tool, just like it... it bypassed all his defenses.
Chen Wei let out a roar of pure, undiluted rage. He threw himself out of the bed, his eyes blazing with a madness that dwarfed all his previous anger. This wasn't just about his pride anymore. This was about his family, his legacy, his very reason for being.
"I'LL KILL YOU!" he screamed, his voice shredding his own throat. "I'LL ERASE YOU FROM THIS WORLD!"
He lunged, not at me, but at the most precious thing in the room. The thing I was tasked to protect.
He lunged for the Phoenix Egg.
Oh, you utter fool! That was NOT part of the plan!
This was a catastrophic miscalculation. I had wanted his rage, not a suicidal attack on a god-beast's egg. If anything happened to it, the System would probably turn me into a sentient pile of salt as a penalty.
I had no time to think. I reacted on pure instinct. I shoved the chair back and moved to intercept him, placing my body between him and the egg.
He crashed into me, his hands clawing, his teeth bared like a rabid animal. He was a man possessed, with no thought for his own safety. We tumbled to the ground in a heap, him flailing and screaming, me desperately trying to shield the egg from his madness.
His fist connected with my jaw. Real, physical pain erupted on my face. It was shocking. It was grounding.
And in that moment of pure chaos, with Chen Wei screaming bloody murder and the precious egg digging into my ribs, the System chimed in, its timing as impeccable as ever.
[CRITICAL CHAOS EVENT: TARGET HAS ACHIEVED 'SOUL-DEEP FAMILIAL RAGE'.]
[CONVERTING... CONVERTING...]
[THIS IS A HIGH-YIELD, PURE EMOTIONAL SOURCE.]
[ULTRA-TIER REWARD MATERIALIZING.]
The infirmary door burst open. Elder Liu and two burly physician-disciples stood there, their faces aghast at the scene of their fragile patient throttling the sect's living legend.
"Young Master Chen, stop!"
They rushed forward and pulled the screaming, thrashing Chen Wei off of me.
I lay on the floor, my cheek throbbing, my robes in disarray, but the Phoenix Egg was safe, clutched tightly to my chest. I had done it. I had pushed him over the edge.
As they dragged him away, Chen Wei still screaming threats and curses, I slowly got to my feet. I looked at the egg, then at my reflection in a polished metal tray. A nasty purple bruise was already forming on my cheek.
I touched it gently. It hurt.
The reward materialized in my mind. It was not a pill. It was not an amulet. It was knowledge. A complete, perfect, intricate understanding of a new power.
[Reward: The Art of the Empty Fortress (Technique)]
[Description: A defensive spiritual technique. By circulating Qi in a specific, paradoxical pattern, you can create a mobile defensive field around your body. It has no offensive capability, but can passively deflect and absorb incoming attacks. The strength of the fortress is dependent on the amount of Qi funneled into it.]
It was a defensive art. A powerful one. It was exactly what someone who was being hunted by a giant serpent would need.
But more importantly, it was a technique. Something I could power myself. Something that wasn't a one-use panic button.
There was just one tiny, insignificant problem.
The technique required a steady, massive flow of my own spiritual energy to function.
And thanks to the Chains of Acclaim, my Inherent Cultivation Speed was at a catastrophic -55%. I couldn't generate enough Qi to power a lightbulb, let alone an "Empty Fortress."
The System had given me the blueprints to a war machine.
But it had taken away my ability to buy the fuel.