The sun broke over the Azure Serpent Sect, casting golden light on jade rooftops and meditation pavilions. Inside Lab 7B, Rayen and Lin Xue stood before a pair of glass-tube furnaces, each pulsing with pale flame. The blue pill they'd concocted—a Harmonizing Catalyst—was now under heavy analysis.
:: Data analysis complete. Resonance pattern stable. Energy output matches predicted quantum harmonics. Compound classified as viable. ::
"Second prototype's more stable than I expected," Lin Xue murmured, watching a Qi thread dance above the pill.
Rayen tapped the tablet-like Qi-slate beside him. "We need field testing. Let's try running it through a Qi absorption circuit."
Lin Xue nodded. "You or me?"
Rayen raised a brow. "Rock-paper-spiritual backlash?"
"Coward." She snatched the pill and downed it before he could stop her.
"Q.E.D., monitor vitals."
:: Monitoring engaged. Neural fluctuations elevated. Qi channels aligning. Subject's spiritual nodes entering harmonic convergence. Side effect prediction: 28% chance of uncontrollable laughter. ::
Lin Xue's eyes glowed faintly. She sat down in lotus position, breathing evenly. The Qi around her pulsed like ripples in a pond, extending outward with an almost musical rhythm. Rayen watched with fascination.
Then she started giggling.
"Okay," she said between laughter, "I can hear colors."
Rayen blinked. "Define 'hear'."
"They're singing."
He sighed, but made careful notes. "No dangerous backlash. Enhancement confirmed. Side effects within tolerable limits."
After ten minutes, Lin Xue opened her eyes, fully composed. "That was incredible. Qi didn't just flow through me. It danced. Like it wanted to cooperate."
Rayen nodded thoughtfully. "The pill doesn't force breakthroughs—it aligns the practitioner with existing ambient Qi fields. That's subtle. Elegant."
"Game-changing," she agreed.
A knock came at the door.
"Wu Rayen, Lin Xue—report to Elder Fan. Immediately."
Rayen winced. "That's never good."
Elder Fan's chambers were cluttered, smoky, and somehow infused with perpetual judgment. She glared at them over the rim of a tea cup.
"I assume the glowing pill making disciples meditate through their sword practice was your doing?"
Rayen opened his mouth. Lin Xue beat him to it.
"We made a Harmonizing Catalyst. It eases Qi alignment and increases cultivation stability without pushing meridian strain."
Fan raised an eyebrow. "And you tested it on disciples?"
Rayen shrugged. "Field testing. Very field."
Fan sighed. "You're lucky the Grand Elder laughed instead of choking. But you've also drawn attention. High-level alchemists want a demonstration. Tomorrow."
Rayen blinked. "Define 'high-level.'"
"Pill Masters from the Crimson Fire Pavilion, the Ghostroot Sect, and an envoy from the Court of Alchemical Truth."
Lin Xue choked. "That's... an audience."
Fan leaned forward. "Don't embarrass me."
:: Probability of public explosion: 41%. Suggest extensive simulation. ::
Back in Lab 7B, panic was brewing. Rayen and Lin Xue stood before their prototype batch of pills.
"We need consistency," Rayen muttered. "These have to perform identically. No spiritual jazz hallucinations."
Lin Xue cracked her knuckles. "Let's stabilize the synthesis with a double-ring Qi inscriber."
"Q.E.D., initiate pill matrix harmonization. Increase precision to atomic layering."
:: Understood. Begin composite simulation. Projecting thermal curve... now. ::
Three hours later, eight perfect Harmonizing Catalysts gleamed on a jade tray. No sparks, no side effects, no colors singing show tunes.
The demonstration courtyard was packed. Disciples, elders, and visiting alchemists sat on tiered platforms. Rayen and Lin Xue stood beside their tray, flanked by Elder Fan.
Grand Elder Lu, long-bearded and half-asleep, opened one eye. "Proceed."
Rayen picked up a Catalyst. "This pill harmonizes a cultivator's internal Qi with external flows. It does not force a breakthrough but eases the resonance between practitioner and realm."
He handed it to a volunteer: an inner disciple named Wen Tao.
Wen Tao swallowed it and began meditating. After minutes, his aura glowed faintly, then expanded, stabilizing like a calm sea. His expression turned serene.
Gasps followed.
One alchemist leaned forward. "No ripple strain. That's unheard of in passive enhancement pills."
Another added, "It doesn't override natural flow. It... amplifies it."
Grand Elder Lu nodded once. "Acceptable. You may live."
Elder Fan exhaled visibly.
That night, back in Lab 7B, Lin Xue tossed Rayen a bottle of tea.
"Congratulations, partner."
Rayen smirked. "We didn't die. Always a win."
:: Collaboration milestone achieved. New research thread unlocked: Resonant Cultivation Architecture. ::
"Still," Lin Xue said, "We'll need stronger cultivation methods soon. Pills won't carry us forever."
Rayen nodded. "It's time we upgrade more than our tools."
He sat down to meditate. His breathing slowed, rhythm syncing to the lingering resonance in the lab. Qi filled his limbs, his meridians, his core.
Then, the ember inside him flared—no longer a flicker but a controlled blaze. For a moment, Rayen felt weightless.
:: Core resonance reaching threshold. Cultivation stage advancing. Foundation Establishment Layer 2 achieved. Stability: 91%. ::
He opened his eyes, a quiet smile tugging at his lips.
"Now we're getting somewhere."
**[Rayen Wu – Cultivator Status Sheet]**
• Cultivation Stage: Foundation Establishment – Layer 2 (Recent Breakthrough)
• Core Stability: 91%
• Martial Techniques:
⁃ Ember Pulse Palm
⁃ Thermal Weave Breathing
⁃ Kinetic Feedback Reversal
⁃ Steam Qi Displacement
⁃ Thermal Refraction Layer
• Alchemy Techniques:
⁃ Recursive Alchemy
⁃ Quantum Fractional Distillation
⁃ Phase-Resonant Modulation
⁃ Pill Matrix Harmonization (New)
• Pill Formulas Mastered:
⁃ High-tier Body Refinement Pill
⁃ Ember Spark Draught
⁃ Soup of Enlightenment (banned)
⁃ Dewfire Insight Tonic
⁃ Harmonizing Catalyst (Stabilized)
• Reputation: Sect-Ranked Alchemist, Quantum Oddity, Proven Innovator