The news of the violence in the Hall of Judgement spread through the Outer Sect like a plague wind.
The Waste is alive. The Waste is a killer. The Waste crippled Captain Zhang.
As Li Ye walked down the pristine white stone paths of the disciple residential district, the atmosphere was thick with tension. Disciples who usually walked with their noses in the air now veered off the path to avoid him. They whispered behind their fans and sleeves, their eyes tracking the blood that still stained the hem of his borrowed robes.
Li Ye ignored them. He was busy integrating the [Phantom Step] technique he had just purchased.
Right foot heavy, left foot light. Shift the center of gravity. Become a shadow.
It was a crude movement art compared to what he knew existed in higher realms, but for now, it made his steps silent and his silhouette slightly blurred, as if he were vibrating at a different frequency than the world around him.
He consulted the jade map Su Hong had given him. His assigned dwelling was Cave Estate #404.
"Ominous number," Li Ye mused. "Fitting."
He turned a corner, heading toward the quieter, more overgrown section of the mountain where the lower-tier caves were located.
"Li Ye!"
The voice was not a roar like Zhang Fei's, nor a seductive purr like Su Hong's. It was sharp, clear, and trembling with a cocktail of rage and disbelief.
Li Ye stopped. He didn't turn immediately. He let the silence stretch, asserting control before the conversation even began. Then, he slowly pivoted.
Standing ten paces away, under the shade of a flowering peach tree, was a young woman.
[SYSTEM ALERT] [TARGET DETECTED: LIN XIAOYUE] [RELATIONSHIP: ESTRANGED CHILDHOOD FRIEND / EX-FIANCÉE] [CULTIVATION: BODY TEMPERING LAYER 6 (PEAK)] [ATTRIBUTE: WIND] [PHYSIQUE: HIDDEN (ANALYSIS REQUIRED)]
She was small, petite enough that Li Ye could likely pick her up with one arm. But her presence was fierce. She wore the standard white robes, but unlike Han Ruoxue's elegant silks or Su Hong's scandalous drapes, Lin Xiaoyue's robes were practical, tied tightly at the wrists and waist for combat.
She was undeniable "cute" in a way that masked danger. Large, expressive almond eyes dominated a heart-shaped face. Her hair was bound in twin tails that swayed in the wind, giving her a deceptively innocent look. But her hands were clenched into fists so tight her knuckles were white, and her small chest was heaving with suppressed emotion.
"You..." She took a shaky step forward. "You're actually alive."
Li Ye searched the memories.
Lin Xiaoyue. The genius of their small hometown. They were betrothed since birth. She had protected the cowardly original Li Ye for years. And how did he repay her? Ah. The memory surfaced. To pay off a gambling debt to Wang Teng, the original Li Ye had stolen her family's heirloom technique and given it to the Young Master. The betrayal disgraced her family and broke their engagement.
"It seems the King of Hell has high standards," Li Ye said smoothly, his face impassive. "He sent me back."
"You have the gall to joke?" Lin Xiaoyue hissed. Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears—not of sadness, but of pure frustration. "Do you know what happened after you... after you died? Wang Teng's men came. They mocked me. They said my fiancé was a peeping tom who died in a pile of filth. They laughed at my father's name!"
She marched up to him, stopping just inches away. She looked up at him, her neck craning. The height difference was significant; the top of her head barely reached his chin.
"You humiliated me in life, Li Ye. And you humiliated me in death. Why did you come back? Why couldn't you just stay dead?!"
She shoved him.
It was a push fueled by Wind Qi, strong enough to knock over a stone statue.
Li Ye didn't budge. He rooted his feet using the principles of his new cultivation. He absorbed the force, his body swaying slightly like bamboo in a storm.
"Are you finished?" Li Ye asked.
"No!" Lin Xiaoyue shouted. She raised her hand to slap him. It was a fast, reflex strike.
Li Ye caught her wrist.
He didn't crush it like he had the guard's. He held it firmly, his thumb pressing against her pulse point.
"Let go!" She struggled, but his grip was iron.
"You're angry," Li Ye said, his voice dropping to a low, hypnotic register. He stepped closer, forcing her to step back until her back hit the rough bark of the peach tree. "You have every right to be. The old Li Ye was a coward. A thief. A waste."
Lin Xiaoyue froze, confused by his admission. "The... the old Li Ye?"
"He's dead," Li Ye whispered, leaning down. He trapped her against the tree, his free hand resting on the bark next to her head. "I am what rose from the ashes."
He looked at her. Really looked at her. She was different from Han Ruoxue. Ruoxue was an ice sculpture—perfect, cold, distant. Xiaoyue was a firecracker—vibrant, emotional, alive. Her skin was flushed pink with anger. Her lips were parted. Up close, he could smell the scent of wild jasmine and sweat.
His gaze dropped to her chest. She was petite everywhere, but her robes were tight across her torso, revealing the firm, athletic curves of a martial artist. She wasn't voluptuous like Su Hong, but she was... compact. Dense with energy.
[SYSTEM ANALYSIS] [TARGET: LIN XIAOYUE] [SPECIAL TRAIT DETECTED: NINE-WIND SPIRIT MERIDIANS] [NOTE: THIS PHYSIQUE ACCUMULATES 'WIND POISON' IF NOT VENTED. SYMPTOMS INCLUDE EXCESSIVE ANGER AND PAIN IN THE DANTIAN. CURE: MASSAGE OR DUAL CULTIVATION TO SMOOTH THE QI FLOW.]
Li Ye smirked. Of course. Another problem I can solve.
"What are you looking at?" Lin Xiaoyue stammered, her face turning beet red. The way he looked at her... it wasn't the fearful, guilty look of her ex-fiancé. It was the look of a wolf deciding which limb to bite first.
"You're in pain," Li Ye said abruptly.
"What?"
"Your cultivation. It's stuck," Li Ye stated confidently, bluffing with the System's info. "Every night, your dantian burns. You feel a stabbing pain under your ribs when you circulate Qi. That's why your temper is so short. The Wind Qi is tearing you apart from the inside."
Lin Xiaoyue's eyes went wide. Her struggle ceased. "How... how do you know that?"
It was a secret she hadn't told anyone, not even her masters.
Li Ye leaned in, his lips brushing her ear. "Because I can see everything now, Xiaoyue. I can see the knots in your soul."
He released her wrist, but instead of backing away, he slid his hand down to her waist. He pressed his thumb into a specific acupoint on her side.
"Ah!" She gasped, her knees buckling. A jolt of pleasure-pain shot through her body.
"Right there," Li Ye murmured. "Blocked."
Lin Xiaoyue was trembling. She should push him away. She should kill him for touching her. But the pressure on the acupoint brought a relief she hadn't felt in months. And his proximity... his masculine scent, mixed with the faint metallic tang of blood... it was making her head spin.
"Stay away from me," she whispered, but there was no heat in it.
"I can fix you," Li Ye said. "But not for free. The debt I owe you? I'll repay it. But on my terms."
He pulled back, giving her space to breathe.
"Come to Cave #404 tonight," he said, turning his back on her. "If you want to stop the pain. If not... continue to suffer and stagnate."
He walked away, resuming his path toward the caves.
Lin Xiaoyue slid down the trunk of the peach tree, her hand clutching the spot on her waist where he had touched her. Her heart was pounding like a war drum. She watched his retreating back—broad, confident, dangerous.
"He's... he's a monster," she whispered to herself.
But she knew, with a sinking feeling in her gut, that she would go to Cave #404.
The Cave of Bones
Li Ye followed the map until the pristine paths turned to cracked stone and weeds. The area for the lower-ranked disciples was a slum compared to the palaces above.
Cave #404 was located at the end of a blind canyon, shadowed by overhanging cliffs. The entrance was choked with vines. A faded wooden sign hung askew: "BEWARE."
"Subtle," Li Ye muttered.
He slashed the vines with his sword and stepped inside.
The cave was damp. Water dripped from the stalactites. The air was cold—unnaturally so.
[SYSTEM WARNING] [ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARD DETECTED] [HIGH CONCENTRATION OF YIN MIASMA.] [SOURCE: UNDERGROUND SPIRIT VEIN (CORRUPTED).]
Li Ye's eyes lit up.
For a normal cultivator, Yin Miasma was poison. It would rot the meridians and cause madness. That was why this cave was abandoned.
But for the Celestial Plunder System?
"It's a buffet," Li Ye grinned.
He walked deeper into the cave. The main chamber was surprisingly spacious, with a stone bed, a stone table, and a small pool of water in the corner that glowed with a sickly green light.
Sitting on the stone bed was a skeleton.
It was dressed in tattered Daoist robes. In its lap lay a dusty scroll and a small, black bag.
"Previous tenant, I presume?" Li Ye approached the skeleton.
He reached out and picked up the scroll. It crumbled slightly in his hands.
[ITEM ACQUIRED: 'GHOST STEPS' MANUAL (PARTIAL)] [ITEM ACQUIRED: BAG OF HOLDING (LOW GRADE)]
"Rent is paid," Li Ye said. He swept the skeleton off the bed with a callous kick. The bones clattered into the corner.
He sat down on the stone slab. The cold seeping from the rock was intense. He could feel the Miasma trying to invade his skin.
"System. Absorb."
[INITIATING ENVIRONMENTAL PLUNDER...]
A vortex formed around Li Ye. The green mist filling the cave began to swirl, sucked into his pores.
To anyone else, this was suicide. To Li Ye, it was power. The Miasma was broken down, filtered, and converted into raw, dark Qi.
[CULTIVATION INCREASING...] [BODY TEMPERING LAYER 5: 20%... 25%...]
He closed his eyes, entering a meditative trance. He had hours before nightfall. Before Lin Xiaoyue arrived.
He needed to prepare. Not just his cultivation, but the "trap."
He opened the System Shop again.
[PURCHASE: APHRODISIAC DUST (HIGH GRADE) - 20 PTS] [CONFIRM?]
"Confirm."
A small red packet materialized in his hand.
He looked at the entrance of the cave.
"Tonight," Li Ye whispered to the darkness, "we play doctor."