The private training facility beneath Descartes estate existed for exactly this kind of operation—experimentation that required isolation from Academy oversight and security that prevented observation by factions who'd ask uncomfortable questions about methodology. Riyan stood in center of reinforced chamber designed to contain SS-rank affinity manifestations, his scarlet eyes tracking Lóng Hǎifēng with analytical focus that mixed strategic assessment and something approaching professional interest.
Lóng's four-armed form remained awkward despite week of adaptation—enhanced musculature providing strength he didn't know how to deploy effectively, coordination improving but still requiring conscious effort for movements that should be automatic. His Qi cultivation, weak as it was, continued operating through meridian pathways that had been restructured during mutation but maintained fundamental incompatibility with his biological systems.
