Dawn. The herb fields.
Zhao Lei was already there.
He stood barefoot in the dew, fists clenched, sweat already beading on his brow. In front of him, three sandstone dummies—each cracked, one reduced to rubble.
He hadn't slept.
Chen approached quietly, a basket of freshly picked Moonpetal herbs in hand.
"You look terrible," Chen said.
Zhao Lei didn't turn. "Slept fine."
"Your left shoulder's twitching. You over-rotated the third strike. Again."
Zhao Lei finally looked at him. Eyes bloodshot. Voice raw. "I feel it, Lu Chen. The pressure. The release. But it's… wild. Like holding lightning in a paper cup."
Chen set down the basket. "Then stop holding it."
Zhao Lei frowned. "What?"
"Thunderclap Palm isn't about containing power," Chen said, stepping forward. "It's about becoming the path it takes."
He didn't demonstrate. Instead, he picked up a smooth river stone—palm-sized, cool and grey.
"Here," he said, offering it. "Throw it."
Zhao Lei stared. "A stone? What—"
"Just throw it. Hard. Like you're angry."
With a sigh, Zhao Lei took it—wound up—and hurled it at the farthest dummy.
Thwack. It bounced off, leaving a shallow dent.
"Now," Chen said, "throw it like you're letting go."
Zhao Lei hesitated. Then—slower this time—he drew his arm back. Not with force. With… surrender.
He released.
The stone flew—smooth, silent—and struck the dummy's center.
CRACK!
A clean spiderweb of fractures spread across the surface.
Zhao Lei blinked. "How…?"
"You didn't add power," Chen said. "You removed resistance."
He stepped beside him. "Your Qi doesn't need to explode. It needs to flow. Like that stone. Like rain."
He placed his hand over Zhao Lei's right palm.
"Breathe in… and imagine your Qi isn't fire. It's sky. Vast. Empty. Ready."
Zhao Lei closed his eyes.
In, out.
His tension eased.
"Now… when you strike—don't aim for the target." Chen's voice was soft, steady. "Aim for the space beyond it."
Zhao Lei reset.
Inhale.
Sky.
Release—
THOOM.
The dummy didn't crack.
It vanished—reduced to dust, just like Chen's.
Zhao Lei stood frozen, breath ragged. His palm tingled—not with strain, but with clarity.
He turned to Chen, voice hushed.
"…You didn't just find that scroll, did you?"
Chen met his gaze. Didn't lie. Didn't explain.
Just said: "Some gifts come wrapped in silence."
Zhao Lei nodded—once, slow. A promise passed between them: I won't ask. I'll just… be worthy of it.
Then he grinned—the first real one Chen had ever seen on him.
"Race you to the Pill Hall? Loser buys buns."
Chen laughed. "You're on."
They ran—not with Qi, just legs and lungs—through the waking streets, past market stalls, past the temple gate, past the city wall.
For a moment, they weren't rival cultivators.
Just two boys, chasing the sunrise.
Back at the Lu compound, news waited.
A courier stood at the gate—a man in dark green robes, silver serpent embroidered on his chest.
Azure Serpent Sect.
Yan met Chen at the door, eyes wide. "He's here for you."
Chen's stomach dropped.
The courier bowed slightly. "Lu Chen? The Azure Serpent Sect extends an invitation: Outer Disciple Trials, in twenty days. All youths of Greenpine, aged 15–18, Qi Gathering Stage 3 or higher, may apply."
Stage 3 or higher.
Chen was still Stage 2.
Yan stepped forward. "He's not ready."
The courier's gaze flicked to Chen—then to the training yard, where the shattered ironwood block still sat in a neat pile of sand.
A flicker of surprise. Then, a small smile.
"Stage doesn't always tell the whole story," he said. "Come. Register. The Sect… values potential."
He left a scroll and a small jade token.
After he left, Yan exhaled. "Twenty days. You'd need to break into Stage 3 just to stand in the trial ring."
Chen looked at the token. Cool. Smooth. Serpent coiled around a mountain.
"I'll manage," he said.
But that night, doubt crept in.
He sat in the storeroom, the Skyfall Scroll open, Moonpetal herb glowing beside him.
He'd helped others. But himself?
He took the herb. Swallowed it.
Cool clarity spread through his meridians—like moonlight on water. His Qi pulsed… stronger. Cleaner.
But still grey. Still Stage 2.
He closed his eyes.
Tried to push forward.
Nothing.
The System stayed silent.
No judgment. Just… waiting.
Then—a soft chime.
[DAILY SIGN-IN AVAILABLE]
Streak: Day 3
Rewards:
🔸 10 × Spirit Stones (Low)
🔸 Technique Fragment: Flowing Stream Step — Advanced
🔸 Herb: Sunroot (Common, boosts stamina)
He chose Sunroot.
A thick, golden tuber appeared in his hand.
He didn't eat it.
He walked to his father's room.
Lu Zhong sat at his desk, writing ledgers, a cloth clutched loosely in his fist. Chen saw the faint red stain.
"Father," Chen said, offering the root. "For the guard patrol tomorrow. You've been pushing too hard."
His father looked up—tired, but kind. "Chen-er, I'm fine."
"Please," Chen said softly. "Let me carry something for you."
A pause.
Then Lu Zhong took it. Squeezed Chen's hand. "You're a good son."
He ate the Sunroot.
An hour later, when he stood to stretch—his back didn't crack. His steps didn't lag. He walked to the courtyard, stood tall, and practiced his old guard stance—steady, strong, like he hadn't in years.
Chen watched from the shadows.
In his mind:
[GIFT RECORDED]
— Item: Herb: Sunroot
— Recipient: Lu Zhong (Father)
— Intent: Love. Relief.
Return Ready.
🔸 [QUANTITY]
🔸 [QUALITY]
Quality.
✅ Return: Jade Marrow Dew (Elixir, Sovereign Grade)
Purifies Qi Deviation. Heals deep meridian scars. Restores lost vitality. One drop sufficient.
A small jade vial appeared in Chen's pocket—cool, heavy, filled with liquid light.
He didn't give it yet.
Some gifts needed the right moment.
Three days passed.
Chen trained quietly—Flowing Stream Step now effortless, Thunderclap Palm precise, controlled.
Xiao practiced Ice Affinity: frost flowers, delicate shields, a sphere of cold air that kept herbs fresh for days.
Yan's Crimson Tiger Fist was near-perfect—fluid, powerful, calm.
Zhao Lei visited daily—not to spar, but to learn. He brought rare herbs, old technique notes, even stories of the Sect.
"The Outer Trials have three parts," he said one afternoon, tossing Chen a dried jujube. "Strength. Wisdom. Will."
"Will?" Chen asked.
Zhao Lei's smile faded. "The last one… it's different. No one talks about it. They say it tests what you're willing to lose."
Chen thought of the First Giver. Of the rust-red glimmer in the sky.
What would I lose?
That night—Day 7—the Sign-In glowed brighter.
[DAILY SIGN-IN AVAILABLE]
Streak: Day 7
⚠️ STREAK BONUS UNLOCKED
Rewards:
🔸 1 × Spirit Stone (Mid)
🔸 Technique: Cloudstep (Basic, movement)
🔸 Echo of the First Gift
Select one.
Chen's breath caught.
Echo of the First Gift.
He chose it.
The scroll shimmered—gold, warm, deep.
✅ SIGNED IN.
Streak: 7 days
Reward: Echo of the First Gift
*Allows host to revisit one past gift and re-apply the 10,000x Return—this time, with compounded effect.
Note: Only sincere, selfless gifts qualify. Choose wisely.
Chen didn't hesitate.
He thought of Xiao. Of that first pill. Of her cough, her fear, her quiet hope.
I choose: the first gift.
✅ Gift Re-processed: Qi Nourishing Pill (Low) → Lu Xiao
Compounded Return Mode: [QUALITY]
New Reward: Stellar Soul Lantern
A soul-light artifact. Purifies spiritual impurities. Reveals hidden meridians. Protects against soul-devouring techniques. Bonds to host for life.
Effect: Awakens latent potential to 100%. Stabilizes wild affinities.
A soft light filled the storeroom.
A lantern—no taller than Chen's hand—appeared on the table.
Not glass. Not metal. Woven from starlight and frost, its core a tiny, pulsing blue flame.
Chen carried it to Xiao's room.
She was asleep.
He set it on her nightstand.
The flame flared—gentle, blue-white—and spread, not as light, but as vision.
For a moment, Chen saw her.
Not just her body—but her meridians, glowing like rivers of ice. Her dantian, a swirling vortex of pale blue energy. And deep in her chest… a mark, faint but undeniable: a spiral, like a coiled serpent frozen in time.
Azure Serpent Sect's Soul Mark.
She wasn't just talented.
She was chosen.
The lantern's flame settled.
Xiao stirred—smiled in her sleep.
Chen closed the door softly.
Outside, the night was still.
But high above, the rust-red glimmer in the east pulsed—once.
Stronger.
Closer.
The System didn't speak.
But for the first time, Chen felt it—not as a tool.
As a witness.
He looked at his hands.
Calloused. Ordinary.
But tonight, they held a lantern's light.
A brother's trust.
A rival's respect.
A father's pride.
A sister's future.
Twenty days until the Trials.
He wasn't ready.
But he was giving.
And in this world of hoarders and hunters…
That was the rarest power of all.