The Emperor's private chambers were not just a room; they were a fortress within a fortress.
The walls were lined with Spirit-Jade, engraved with defensive runes that hummed with a low, menacing frequency. Shadows danced in the corners, hiding Nascent Soul guards whose Qi shimmered like heat hazes, ready to vaporize any intruder.
To a normal cultivator, walking into this room was like walking into a lion's den while covered in blood.
But to Aris, wearing the Mask of the Faceless, these terrifying guards were merely high-level NPCs with bad coding.
[System Analysis: Threat Detection]
[Guards: Level 52-55 (Nascent Soul).]
[Stealth Check: Passed.]
[Note: The 'Living Curse' Title disrupts their aggro range. They subconsciously see you as a 'non-threat'—a dying thing.]
Aris walked past them without flinching. His eyes were fixed on the figure at the end of the room.
[Target: Emperor Qin Long]
[Level: 80 (Dao Integration Stage - Partially Hidden)]
[Status: Desperate / Controlled Fury]
[Hidden Weakness: Deep emotional attachment to Target 'Princess Ling'.]
The Emperor sat on a throne carved from a single block of obsidian. He didn't wear armor, just simple golden robes, but the air around him was heavy enough to crush bone. His eyes burned with an authority that commanded the sun to rise.
"Master Alchemist," the Emperor's voice was a low growl, like thunder trapped in a cave. "You claim to have the cure for this… plague. Show me."
Aris bowed slightly—just enough to show respect, but not submission. "I do not claim, Your Majesty. I deliver."
In the center of the room, on a bed draped in imperial silk, lay Princess Ling.
She was barely sixteen, a beauty known across the empire, but now she looked like a wilting flower. Her skin was a sallow grey. Beneath the translucent flesh, her Qi-veins flickered like dying embers, clogged by the "Grey Wither."
A dozen Imperial Alchemists stood around her, their robes stained with sweat and soot. They looked at Aris with a mix of jealousy and desperation. They had failed. They knew if the Princess died, their heads would likely follow.
[Target: Princess Ling]
[Level: 25 (Core Formation Stage - Severely Compromised)]
[Status: Dying / Vulnerable]
[Hidden Potential: Pure Yang-Vein Physique (Perfect for a Yin-Fusion Formation).]
Aris walked to the bedside. Nox remained a silent, unmoving shadow at his feet, trembling slightly at the sheer density of tasty Qi in the room.
"The Grey Wither is not a disease of the body," Aris said, his voice a calm, modulated baritone that cut through the anxious whispering of the elders. "It is a parasite of the Qi. It mimics the collapse of the meridians. Conventional medicine—your Light spells, your Wood herbs—only feeds it."
He paused for effect.
"You have been watering a weed," Aris stated coldly.
The Head Imperial Alchemist bristled. "How dare you! We have used the finest—"
"Silence!" The Emperor's voice slammed into the room like a physical blow. The Alchemist turned pale and fell to his knees.
The Emperor looked at Aris. "Continue."
Aris reached into his black robes. With slow, deliberate movements, he pulled out a jade box and opened it. Inside sat a single, jet-black pill. It pulsed with a faint violet light, mesmerizing every cultivator in the room.
"The Abyssal Foundation Pill," Aris lied smoothly. "It contains a unique strain of Yin-Absorption Qi. It will bind with the Grey Wither, neutralize its parasitic nature, and cleanse the meridians."
"And the price?" the Emperor asked. His eyes narrowed, analyzing the pill, analyzing the man.
"To save the Princess," Aris stated, locking eyes with the most powerful man in the world, "my price is full access to your Imperial Archives on Ancient Formations. And the full authority to conduct my research within the palace walls for one month."
The room gasped.
"Preposterous!" one elder sputtered. "The Archives contain the founding secrets of the Empire! That is highly sensitive material reserved for—"
"My daughter is dying!" The Emperor roared, smashing the armrest of his obsidian throne to dust.
He stood up, his Level 80 aura flaring wild. The room shook.
He looked at Aris. He looked for fear. He looked for deception. But the Mask of the Faceless projected only an aura of stoic, focused genius. And deep down, the Emperor's instincts told him this "cursed" alchemist was his only hope.
"Very well," the Emperor conceded, his voice heavy. "If you save her, the archives are yours. And a position as Head Guest Alchemist."
"Excellent," Aris replied.
He turned his back on the Emperor. He focused on the girl.
This wasn't just about curing her. It was about Installation.
"For this to work," Aris said, picking up a silver needle from the bedside table, "I will need absolute silence. This is a delicate process."
He held the needle up to the light. Subtly, invisibly, he activated his new class skill.
[Skill Activated: Abyssal Poison.]
[Modifying Tool: Silver Needle.]
[Payload: 'Glitched Formation Node'.]
The needle didn't change appearance, but it now carried a microscopic fragment of a spiritual virus—a code meant to rewrite the flow of energy.
Aris gently picked up the Princess's hand. He located the He-Gu point on her wrist—a major Qi artery connected directly to her Dantian.
I'm not curing you, Princess, Aris thought, a cold calculation running through his mind. I'm turning you into a Router.
He inserted the needle.
[Initiating 'Yin-Fusion Formation' on Princess Ling.]
[Target Bloodline: Pure Yang-Vein Physique.]
[Compatibility: 100%.]
[Process: Injecting Glitched Node. Rerouting Yang-Qi flow to create 'Invisible Array Link'.]
A ripple of energy passed through the girl's body. A faint golden light pulsed from her chest, fighting the grey sickness.
Then, the grey vanished.
The "Wither"—which was Aris's creation to begin with—recognized its master's code and dissolved. The Princess's cheeks flushed with color. Her breathing deepened.
Her eyes fluttered open.
"Father..." she whispered, her voice weak but clear. "I feel... stronger."
The Emperor was at her side in an instant, his terrifying aura vanishing, replaced by the trembling hands of a father. "Ling? Can you hear me?"
"I can," she smiled. "The cold... it's gone."
The Imperial Alchemists rushed forward, scanning her with their senses.
"Her meridians are clear!"
"The Wither is gone! It's a miracle!"
"She lives!"
The Emperor turned to Aris. There were tears in his eyes, but behind them was a profound, dangerous gratitude. "Master Alchemist... you have done the impossible. The Empire owes you a great debt."
Aris bowed low, hiding his face. "I only require the payment agreed upon. The Archives. And my month of research."
[Quest Completed: The Imperial Virus.]
[Reward: 800 AP + Feature Unlocked: 'Forbidden Archeology'.]
[Bonus Reward: Living Formation Established.]
[Princess Ling is now a Tier 1 Living Formation: 'Palace Drain'.]
[Effect: Drains 0.1% of the Imperial Palace's total Qi every hour, feeding it directly to the Host.]
As the servants rushed to attend to the Princess and the Emperor began barking orders to prepare the Guest Palace for the "Savior," Aris stood silently in the corner.
He could feel it already. A trickle of high-grade Imperial Qi was flowing from the Princess, through the invisible Abyssal link, and into his own Dantian.
0.1% doesn't sound like much, Aris thought, watching the happy reunion. But 0.1% of a Empire's core is enough to build a god.
The naive fools. They thought they had been saved. They didn't realize he had just installed a backdoor in their entire operating system.
"Come, Nox," Aris whispered. "We have a library to loot."