The cave was silent except for Shen Yuan's breathing.
It was uneven at first—too shallow, too fast—but he forced it into rhythm, just as he once had during long nights in his previous life when stress threatened to spiral into panic.
In.Hold.Out.
Pain pulsed faintly through his limbs, but it no longer dominated his awareness. The system's presence remained steady, like a distant pillar holding the world in place.
"Begin stabilization?" The Primordial Edict System asked.
"Yes," Shen Yuan replied without hesitation. "But slowly. I want to feel everything."
There was a pause.
"Acknowledged.""Initiating foundational guidance only."
Good.
Shen Yuan adjusted his posture, sitting cross-legged on the cold stone floor. The position felt awkward—his muscles protested, his joints stiff—but something deep within him recognized the stance instinctively, as though this body had once tried to cultivate correctly and failed.
Then we try again, he thought.Properly this time.
The first sensation came as heat.
Not warmth—pressure.
It gathered deep within his abdomen, heavy and sluggish, like thick mud being stirred. Shen Yuan frowned, focusing inward as instructed.
"That's the spiritual energy?" he asked.
"Correct," the system replied."Impure, stagnant, and harmful if left unrefined."
Shen Yuan felt it clearly now. The Qi inside him was uneven, clouded with foreign residues—traces of poorly refined spirit food, chaotic environmental energy, and something darker.
Demonic residue.
His jaw tightened slightly.
"So that's why my meridians are clogged."
"Correct."
"Then we don't absorb more," Shen Yuan said calmly. "We clean what's already there."
The system did not respond immediately.
Then—
"Optimal decision confirmed."
Guided by precise instructions, Shen Yuan began circulating the stagnant Qi—not forcing it forward, but compressing it. Layer by layer, breath by breath, he gathered it inward.
The process was slow.
Excruciatingly slow.
Sweat beaded along his temples as pressure built inside his body. His muscles trembled, veins standing out sharply along his arms and neck. Every instinct screamed at him to stop, to disperse the energy and end the pain.
He ignored it.
Pain was information.
And right now, it was telling him exactly where the impurities were.
The first purge came without warning.
A sudden wave of nausea surged upward, so violent that Shen Yuan barely had time to lean forward before dark, foul-smelling sludge poured from his mouth onto the stone floor.
He coughed hard, body shaking as more impurities followed—thick, blackened residue mixed with streaks of dark red.
The stench filled the cave.
Shen Yuan's vision swam, but he did not stop circulating his Qi.
"Do not interrupt," the system warned."Purge incomplete."
"I know," he rasped, wiping his mouth with a trembling hand. "Just… tell me if I'm about to die."
"Death probability: low."
"Comforting."
The second purge was worse.
His skin burned as oily black substances seeped from his pores, coating his arms, chest, and back. His muscles cramped violently, forcing a low groan from his throat as impurities that had been embedded deep within his flesh were forced out.
This was not cleansing.
This was Extraction.
Shen Yuan clenched his teeth, refusing to scream.
So this is what happens when you cultivate wrong for years,he thought grimly.And then try to fix it all at once.
Minutes stretched into something indistinct.
By the time the process finally slowed, Shen Yuan was barely upright, leaning against the cave wall, chest heaving. His entire body was slick with filth, his robes soaked and ruined.
But beneath the exhaustion—
Something felt different.
Lighter.
He focused inward again.
The murky Qi that once clogged his meridians had thinned. It was still impure, still weak—but it moved now. Slowly, yes, but smoothly.
Shen Yuan laughed quietly, breathless.
"So this is progress."
"Body impurity reduced to 61%," the system reported."Meridian flow improved: minimal but stable."
Minimal.
But stable.
That was enough.
Shen Yuan dragged himself to the cave entrance and used a nearby stream to wash the filth from his body. The water ran dark at first, then gradually cleared.
As he looked down at his reflection in the rippling surface, he paused.
His face was still pale. Still thin.
But his eyes—
They were clearer.
Not stronger.
Just… clearer.
Foundation first, he reminded himself.Everything else comes later.
He returned to the cave and sat once more.
"Next step?" he asked.
The system responded after a brief pause.
"Rest.""Followed by controlled exposure to refined spiritual energy.""Talent seal loosening estimated after multiple purge cycles."
Shen Yuan nodded.
Slow.Painful.Unimpressive.
Exactly the kind of path that lasted.
Outside the cave, the forest stirred.
A low growl echoed somewhere not too far away.
Shen Yuan opened his eyes, gaze steady despite his exhaustion.
"…Looks like I don't get to rest for long."
"Warning," the system intoned."Spiritual beast approaching."
Shen Yuan inhaled slowly.
No techniques.No weapons.No power worth mentioning.
Only a slightly cleaner body and a mind that refused to panic.
He stood.
"Then," he said quietly, "this will be a good test."