There was no time for hesitation. The red countdown timer in the corner of Li Chen's vision was a merciless tyrant. With trembling fingers, he uncorked the bamboo tube of Silverwood sap and poured it onto a flat, relatively clean stone he'd designated as his workbench. He then added the Sun-Sipping Moss.
"System, guide the mixture," he commanded.
[Acknowledged. Optimal ratio is three parts sap to one part moss pulp. Infuse with 0.01 units of Qi to catalyze the bonding process.]
Following the System's precise instructions, he began to crush the moss into the sap using the back of another stone. His hands shook violently, and more than once, he almost ruined the delicate process. He focused his Qi, a sliver of his dwindling energy, into the mixture. The sap and moss seemed to melt together, transforming into a smooth, luminescent green paste that smelled of fresh rain and raw life force.
Now came the hardest part.
He stripped the tattered upper half of his robes away, revealing a torso mapped with the angry purple and blue of deep bruises. He took a deep breath, dipped a finger into the cool, green paste, and touched it to the skin just below his sternum.
His mind was the architect's workshop, the blueprint for the [Micro-Vitalization Array] hovering in perfect detail. His body, however, was a failing instrument. His finger, guided by the blueprint in his mind's eye, began to draw the first line of the array. The paste felt cool and soothing against his feverish skin.
It was an act of supreme concentration. He had to ignore the searing pain in his ribs, the tremor in his muscles, and the dizzying waves of fatigue. Each line had to be perfect. Each curve and node had to match the blueprint exactly. A single broken line would turn this life-saving formation into a self-destruct sequence, shredding his meridians with misaligned energy. He was drawing the schematics for his own salvation onto his own failing flesh.
Sweat beaded on his forehead and dripped into his eyes, but he didn't dare stop. He drew the outer containment ring, the delicate pathways that would align with his main meridians, and finally, the central absorption node directly over his dantian. When he lifted his finger for the last time, a perfect, intricate green diagram glowed softly on his chest.
He was shaking uncontrollably, his vision blurring at the edges.
[CRITICAL WARNING: Body Integrity: 12%. Immediate activation required.]
This was it. The final, desperate gamble.
Li Chen placed the palm of his hand over the central node of the array. He gathered every last scrap of controllable Qi left in his body, pulling it away from the useless task of keeping him conscious and forcing it into a single, concentrated point.
"Activate," he grunted, pushing the energy into the array.
For a terrifying second, the pain was absolute. It felt as if a thousand white-hot needles were stabbing into him from the inside out. The array flared with a blinding green light, and his entire nervous system screamed. His fractured spiritual core pulsed with an agony so intense that he blacked out.
He awoke seconds later, gasping on the stone floor. The blinding light had subsided, replaced by a gentle, steady hum that seemed to resonate with his very bones. The glowing green diagram on his chest was pulsing in a soft, steady rhythm, like a second heart.
And the pain… the sharp, stabbing agony was gone. In its place was a deep, profound ache, but it was the ache of healing, not of breaking. He could feel the array at work. It was a gentle, persistent force, pulling the chaotic, stagnant energy from his wounds and filtering it. The blockages in his meridians were being systematically dismantled. The array on his chest was like a divine water treatment plant, and his body was the polluted river being cleansed.
A steady stream of pure, stable life energy from the moss paste was being fed directly into his system, guided by the Silverwood sap conductors. The System's interface, which had been flashing red, now showed a steady stream of calming blue notifications.
[Meridian blockages clearing: 10%... 15%... 21%...]
[Chaotic energy being purged from spiritual core…]
[Spiritual core fissures stabilizing. Qi leakage reduced by 40%...]
[Body Integrity: 13%... 14%...]
The numbers were rising. Slowly, but they were rising.
A wave of exhaustion, more profound than any he had ever known, washed over him. He had stared into the abyss and, with his own mind and hands, had built a bridge to crawl back. The immediate threat of death was over.
He didn't have the strength to move. He simply lay on the cold cellar floor, the soft green glow of his own creation a beacon in the darkness. For the first time since waking up in this brutal, broken world, Li Chen allowed himself to rest. As his consciousness faded into a deep, healing sleep, a final, welcome message from the System echoed in his mind.
[Condition Stabilized. Long-term recovery protocol initiated. Rest is recommended.]