The fire crackled low, hidden in the pit of an old furnace half-buried beneath collapsed stone. Lian Zhen crouched beside it, one eye on the flames, the other on the narrow path leading through the ruins.
His hands were shaking again.
It wasn't fear. Not exactly.
It was the power—the thing inside him. The Panel. He could feel it now, like a second pulse under his skin, beating out of rhythm with his own heart. Quiet. Patient. Waiting.
He opened his status screen for the first time.
[STATUS]
Name: Lian Zhen
Realm: Qi Gathering Stage 1 (Artificial Boost)
Body Condition: Unstable
Abilities: Thunder Pulse Veins (Rare)
Inventory: None
Panel Energy: 1 Charge
Steal Cost (Next Target): 1 Charge
There it was. Simple. Brutal.
No cultivation base of his own. Just stolen scraps, barely stable in his body.
"Artificial Boost," he muttered under his breath. It was a lie. A crutch. The Thunder Pulse Veins pulsed faintly in his meridians, but they didn't belong to him. They weren't bound. They didn't listen.
He tried circulating Qi again.
Pain flared instantly, like someone jamming hot needles through his veins. He grit his teeth, forcing it to flow. A trickle. Enough to light a spark in his fingers. Then it snapped, the energy fizzling out violently. He stumbled back, coughing blood into his sleeve.
The Panel didn't care. It gave. But it didn't integrate. Not without a cost.
He'd stolen someone's years of cultivation. But the foundation? Still his own. Weak. Untrained. Fragile.
And the worst part?
That memory—the one he'd absorbed along with the skill—kept replaying in the back of his head.
"Don't tell anyone. If they find out you mastered that, they'll burn the whole sect to ashes."
Buried. Forbidden. And now stuck inside him.
Lian heard Footsteps approaching him .
Lian froze, senses sharp. Not from instinct—those were dulled. But the Thunder Pulse Veins heightened perception just enough.
Three shadows passed by the edge of the ruins, moving with deliberate silence.
Hunters.
The same group from before? Or another? Didn't matter. They were looking for someone using a rare cultivation art. He didn't need to guess who.
He slipped deeper into the ruins, heart pounding.
[STEAL AVAILABLE]
New Target Detected: Ming Ke — Qi Gathering Stage 2
Ability: Flowing Wind Footwork (Uncommon)
Begin extraction?
He almost dismissed it on instinct.
But then he looked again.
The name. The footwork.
That man—Ming Ke—had passed him less than five seconds ago. And now he was lingering near the furnace, crouching, inspecting something.
No weapon drawn, yet.
A quiet opportunity.
Cost: 1 Charge. Proceed?
Lian hesitated. But the answer was obvious.
[STEALING…]
No energy surge this time. The process had adapted—quieter, subtler. A breeze brushed his skin, and in the next second, knowledge slid into his brain like a memory he'd lived all his life.
Ming Ke blinked twice, unsteady. Then collapsed.
Lian bolted. The footwork activated almost on instinct—his legs moved smoother, faster, the gaps between his steps minimized. He darted between rubble and fallen stone, silent, leaving no clear trail.
Behind him, someone shouted. A burst of Qi slammed into a wall just behind his shoulder, exploding brick and dust.
No time to look back.
He sprinted into the night.
He didn't stop until the city lights were just distant flickers and the woods swallowed everything in silence.
His legs burned. His head throbbed. The new memory—Ming Ke's—was fresh, unfinished. He could feel a faint sense of panic and confusion lingering inside it. A life interrupted
Lian Zhen dropped to his knees in the underbrush and finally exhaled.
This was his life now.
A fugitive with power not his own. Every step he took was borrowed. Every skill stolen. Every breath earned by taking something from someone else.
The Panel didn't care who he was.
Only what he could extract next.