[Task Completed.]
The moment control returned to Lin Chen, his legs gave out beneath him.
Bang!
He crashed to the ground, his breath ragged.
"Aaagh—!" he cried, clutching his chest as waves of pain ripped through him. It wasn't simple pain—it was as if every tendon, every meridian, every muscle fiber had been ground between millstones and torn apart from within.
Every twitch sent agony spiralling into his bones. His body trembled uncontrollably, sweat pouring down his face and dripping onto the icy floor already stained crimson with blood.
"F-Fuck… why does it hurt this much!?" Lin Chen gasped between clenched teeth.
It felt like he had been chewed up by a ferocious spirit beast and spat back out in pieces.
Only his head remained clear—his thoughts sharp—while the rest of his body howled in torment.
[The body was forced beyond optimal thresholds.]
[Strain Level: 94%. Overclocked combat response triggered to match Yu Feng's superior physique and cultivation. This backlash is the result.]
"Overclocked…?" Lin Chen spat blood, groaning, his whole body twitching. "You mean I'm in this much pain… just because you made me live?"
[Affirmative. The pain response is temporary. Muscles and meridians will recover. Status: Alive.]
"Shit…!" His voice cracked, half a growl, half a scream.
He collapsed backward, staring blankly at the fractured ceiling. The adrenaline drained from his body, leaving behind nothing but weakness and exhaustion. His limbs refused to move, but his mind refused to be silent.
[Do you wish for me to suppress your pain receptors ?]
Lin Chen bit down hard on his lip, drawing blood. "No… let me feel it. I need this pain. I need it as a reminder… not to gamble recklessly again."
He ignored Aiva's suggestion, and jumped in without knowing much info. Such blind courage was nothing but folly, and now the price had come due.
Now he had to face it like a man, bearing the torment without flinching. In the future, it would remind him—mercilessly—that recklessness was a luxury cultivators could not afford. One mistake could cost a life.
***
Three hours have passed,
The intense pain that had racked Lin Chen's body had finally begun to subside. He groaned as he pushed himself up from the cold, cracked floor, every movement sending dull aches through his joints.
His body was far from healed — his muscles still throbbed, his limbs trembled with fatigue — but at least he could walk.
Combat, however, was out of the question.
He staggered slightly, using the wall for support. Then, his gaze fell on the cold, lifeless corpse of Yu Feng.
He thought he would feel something — guilt, regret, even fear — after taking a human life for the first time. But as his gaze lingered on Yu Feng's lifeless body, there was only silence in his heart.
Perhaps it was because he no longer saw Yu Feng, or the other man before him, as human at all. Their cruelty, their disdain for life, had already stripped them of that title. To kill them felt no different than slaughtering beasts.
And in that cold clarity, Lin Chen understood something crucial.
The path of cultivation was steeped in blood. Today it was Yu Feng. Tomorrow, it might be countless more. If he wished to climb higher, his hands would inevitably be stained with the lives of others.
But that did not mean he would lose himself.
No matter how many corpses littered his path, no matter how much blood soaked his hands, he would walk forward with his will unshaken. He would not become a beast in human skin.
He would tread this bloody road… without abandoning what made him Lin Chen.
Lin Chen's gaze lingered on Yu Feng's corpse once more.
"Aiva… about the dissection you mentioned in the past, to understand how a cultivator's talent works…"
[Do you wish me to dissect the body and gather data?]
"Yes," Lin Chen replied without hesitation.
[Understood.]
In an instant, Aiva took control of Lin Chen's body. He moved forward smoothly, kneeling beside Yu Feng. Aiva placed Lin Chen's hands on the fallen cultivator, beginning a simulation of Essence Qi circulation within the corpse.
"Aiva… what exactly are you doing?" Lin Chen asked, out of curiosity.
[Simulating the conditions of cultivation. I am analyzing how Essence Qi circulates within this body, how it is absorbed, and where it differs from your physiology. This allows me to map talent, potential, and limitations without physically dismantling the body.]
Lin Chen blinked. He had expected Aiva to surgically open Yu Feng, slice by slice—but this… this was far more elegant. Good thing, too—he didn't think he could stomach watching human "dissection" without losing his lunch.
Minute by minute, energy swirled invisibly under his palms, the pale glow of simulated Qi dancing like frost along Yu Feng's skin.
Fifteen minutes passed.
[Data gathering complete.]
Lin Chen's body, guided by Aiva, stepped back from Yu Feng's corpse. Almost immediately, the corpse began to bloat unnaturally, swelling as if filled with air and pressure. Veins bulged beneath pale skin, muscles stretched taut.
A faint creak… creak… echoed through the room as the pressure built, a grotesque warning of what was coming.
Then—
BOOM!
The corpse erupted violently. Blood, viscera, and shards of frozen tissue shot outward in every direction, splattering the floor and walls in a crimson arc. The icy mist from before mixed with the gore, turning the air thick with the metallic scent of iron.
Lin Chen staggered back slightly, finally regaining control, and muttered in disbelief:
"Aiva… why did he just explode like a cow?"
[It appears to be a side effect of infusing your Essence Qi into his body. Residual Essence Qi in his body clashed violently with your Essence Qi, causing rapid pressurization of internal fluids and gases, much like the bloating that occurs in bovine post-mortem decomposition. ]
[The sudden energy surge ruptured vessels and organs, resulting in this… explosive outcome.]
Lin Chen's eyes widened, a mix of awe and disgust. "Good thing you made me step back in advance…"
Lin Chen's gaze fell on the scattered organs on the icy floor. Something caught his eye — a hand, still eerily intact. Around its wrist was a bangle-like object, faintly pulsing with Essence Qi.
"Huh… what is this?" he muttered.
Curiosity prickling, he picked up the bracelet and examined it closely. At first glance, it looked like a simple purple band etched with intricate designs.
He cautiously channeled a thread of his own Essence Qi into it.
"Whoa… is this… a storage treasure? Like the ones in the novels?" Lin Chen's eyes widened in disbelief. He hadn't expected to gain something so valuable in this battle.
Without hesitation, Lin Chen slipped the bracelet onto his wrist and linked it to his spiritual sense. The artifact throbbed with resistance for a few seconds, likely shielded by Yu Feng's lingering imprint.
But with the cultivator gone, the barrier weakened—and then faded entirely, leaving the treasure fully under Lin Chen's control.
"Now… those two said the girls were still alive," Lin Chen muttered, his eyes scanning the devastation around him. "But both the first floor and the ground floor are almost completely destroyed… where could they be?"
He crouched slightly, surveying the shattered floorboards. His gaze drifted downward, lingering on the cracked foundation. Could this house have a basement…?
Then he spotted a staircase leading downwards.
The air shifted as he went down — damp, moldy, tinged with a metallic scent. Blood.
At the bottom, a dim chamber glowed with dying spirit lanterns. Iron cages lined the walls, and inside… girls. Pale, thin, terrified, some barely fifteen.
"Finally… a good thing out of all this mess," he muttered, a tired smile crossing his face.
*****
A/N: Enjoying the story? Hit 'Add to Library' to follow Lin Chen's journey — your support means a lot!
*****