The faint pulse inside his chest didn't just fade; it lingered like a stubborn echo. It was weak, uneven, and barely there, but it was undeniably real. Yu Tianran stayed where he was, legs folded and back straight despite the violent tremors that kept running through his spine. His breathing had finally leveled out, but his body was a wreck—every muscle throbbed in protest, as if his bones themselves were trying to reject the very path he was forcing them to take.
"...So it actually moved."
His voice was a mere shadow of a whisper, thick with a sense of disbelief. The system panel shimmered in the air before him, cold and translucent.
[PROGRESS UPDATE]
Meridian Opening: 1%
Qi Control: Increasing
Condition: Unstable
"One percent..."
He let out a long, slow breath. "...So it's not impossible after all."
The words were simple, yet his tone had shifted. It wasn't hope not yet. It was something harder, something edged with the dangerous determination of a man who realized he was finally clawing his way out of a grave.
He closed his eyes again. "System."
The silence was his only answer.
"...Can you hear me?"
A brief pause, then: "Query received."
Tianran's brow furrowed. "...Explain the meridians."
The display flickered and shifted.
[MERIDIAN SYSTEM — BASIC INFORMATION]
Total Pathways: 12
Status: All Sealed
Function:
Circulate Qi
Amplify physical capability
Enable skill activation
Warning: Forced opening increases risk of fatal damage.
Tianran exhaled slowly, the sound heavy in the quiet room. "Twelve..."
His fingers dug into his knees. "...And I need to open at least one in six days." He paused, a grim reality setting in. "...No. Less than that now."
The system offered no reply, but it didn't need to. Time was already slipping away.
His breathing deepened once more. "...Then I won't waste another second of it."
He turned his focus back inward. Darkness. Silence. Then, that faint, ethereal thread of Qi appeared again. It was frail, like a candle flame flickering in a storm, ready to vanish at any moment.
"...Come to me."
This time, his control was different. He didn't rush. He didn't shove. He guided the energy with a deliberate, agonizingly slow precision.
The thread responded. It was slight, but it moved. His chest tightened as the Qi neared the sealed meridian once more. "...This time..."
The moment contact was made, pain hit him. It wasn't the sharp, explosive agony from before, but something heavy and crushing—like pressure building within the very marrow of his bones.
His breath hitched. "...Don't you dare stop." His voice was a ragged tremor. "I said... don't stop."
The Qi pressed forward, but the blockage was unyielding, like a wall forged from ancient iron. His vision began to blur at the edges, darkening into a haze.
"...Break!"
Along with his stifled scream, the internal pressure reached its peak. The black veins at his temples throbbed violently, nearly bursting. In the eyes of the system, that flow of energy didn't look like water; instead, it was a storm of grey dust, eroding the walls of his sealed meridians.
[WARNING: UNKNOWN ENERGY SIGNATURE DETECTED]
[CAUTION: NON-CANONICAL CIRCULATION DETECTED]
Tianran could only manage a grin, even as blood seeped from his pores. "To hell with your rules... If I have to become a demon to live, then so be it."
Nothing. The pressure mounted until it felt like his ribs might shatter. Sweat poured down his face, stinging his eyes.
"...Move!"
Still no progress. Then a shift.
It was tiny, almost imperceptible, but the Qi sank just a fraction deeper into the seal. Tianran's eyes flew open.
"...It moved."
The realization hit him harder than the physical pain. "...It actually moved."
His breathing became erratic again, fueled by a sudden spike in adrenaline. "...Again."
He didn't hesitate. He dived back into the darkness. The thread reformed slowly, and he guided it back toward the same stubborn point. Pain flared up instantly, more intense than the last bout. His whole body began to shake.
"...Damn it...!"
His fists clenched. "I will not stop."
The Qi surged, meeting a wall of resistance that felt insurmountable.
Snap.
The thread shattered, the energy scattering into nothingness. Tianran slumped forward, one hand hitting the floor to steady himself.
"...Still not enough."
His chest rose and fell in jagged heaves, his heart hammering against his ribs like a caged animal.
"...My control is too weak."
The system responded immediately. "Correction: Control insufficient. Physical condition limiting output."
"...I know that." He wiped a smear of sweat from his face with a shaking hand. "...Then what do I need?"
A pause followed. Then: "Recommendation: Increase willpower threshold."
Tianran went still. "...Willpower?"
His gaze sharpened. "...That's it? That's your advice?"
He looked down at his trembling palms, where the Ashen Veins throbbed like dying stars. Through the fragments of memory in his skull, he saw the other Yu Tianran the one who had lived here before. That boy had spent years trying to harmonize with the world. He had followed every scripture, bowed to every elder, and tried to make his Qi flow like a gentle, obedient stream.
He had died because he was too harmonious. He was a piece of glass trying to survive in a rock crusher.
"Harmony is for the comfortable," Tianran whispered, his teeth bared in a feral grin. "I didn't survive my last life by being balanced. I survived by being the one thing that refused to stay dead."
The people of this world were slaves to the Tao of Balance, shackled by the fear of rebound or "corruption." But Fitran Fate was an outsider. To him, the Void wasn't a lack of energy, it was a hunger that couldn't be filled. It didn't need to flow; it needed to consume.
He realized then that his willpower wasn't just about enduring pain. It was about the arrogance to reject their laws.
"You want willpower?" He addressed the cold, shimmering system panel. "I've lived through the end of a world. This little 'blockage' is nothing but a pebble in my way."
His expression hardened, the last traces of Yu Tianran's lingering hesitation burning away in the cold fire of his resolve.
No response.
He leaned back against the wall, eyes tracing the cracks in the ceiling. "...So this isn't just about how much Qi I can move. It's about how much I'm willing to hurt to force it through."
A bitter, dry laugh escaped him. "...Of course it is. Everything in this world works that way, doesn't it?"
His expression hardened again. "...Fine."
He sat upright once more. "I'll force it."
His eyes snapped shut. "...Void Pulse."
The name felt heavier now, as if it were a physical weight waiting just beneath the surface of his consciousness. The system panel flickered.
[VOID PULSE]
Status: Locked
Condition: Survival Intent
"...Survival intent."
His breathing slowed to a crawl. "...You want desperation? You want to see me crawl?" His voice dropped to a low, dangerous growl. "...I'll give you desperation."
He took a deep breath, and in that same instant, the atmosphere around him seemed to be sucked in. Underneath the pale and thin skin of his arm, something began to writhe.
It wasn't a majestic golden light or a soothing blue pulse like in the legends of genius cultivators. Instead, his veins began to bulge out forcibly, changing color into a dull grey that then turned a pitch-black, like ink spilled under his skin.
"Look at this... " Tianran hissed, staring at his arm, which now looked like a rotting black spiderweb. "This path doesn't want me... but I'm the one who will have it."
The black lines crawled up from his wrist toward his heart, leaving a freezing sensation behind, as if his own blood had turned into shards of sharp ice."
He took one final, deep breath. Then, he didn't try to guide the Qi with a gentle hand. He seized it. He crushed the thread, compressing it into a tight, volatile point of energy.
The moment it slammed into the meridian, pain exploded through his nerves. Tianran's body bucked violently.
"—!"
His throat locked; no sound could escape. His vision whited out. The Qi didn't scatter this time. It shoved. It bored into the blockage with a savage intensity.
The seal resisted—then cracked. A thin, spider-web fracture appeared. It was barely there, but it was real.
Tianran's breathing was a series of ragged, broken gasps. "...Again...!"
He pushed. The Qi compressed further, growing more unstable and violent. The internal pressure surged until his veins felt like they were about to burst. His skin flushed a deep, angry red.
"Break...!"
The energy slammed into the fracture. The crack widened. The agony surpassed anything his body should have been able to endure. His muscles went into a full-body spasm. A thin trickle of blood escaped the corner of his mouth.
"...Don't... stop..."
His consciousness flickered like a dying candle.
"...I said... don't stop!"
Suddenly, the Qi collapsed. It exploded outward before vanishing entirely. Tianran's body hit the floor sideways.
The impact was dull. The cold floor bit into his skin, but for a long moment, there was nothing. No thoughts. No feeling. Just a vast, echoing emptiness.
Then, air finally rushed back into his lungs. He coughed violently, the sound wet and ragged.
"...Cough—!"
He tasted blood—warm and metallic. He wiped his chin, staring at the dark red stain on his trembling palm.
"...Heh..." A weak, pathetic laugh escaped him. "...That nearly did it. That almost killed me."
The system flickered in his fading vision.
[WARNING]
Body Condition: Critical
Meridian Stability: Fragile
Risk: Total Collapse
"...Yeah." He exhaled slowly, the sound a mere rasp. "I figured that much out myself."
He shoved himself up an inch, leaning his weight against the cold stone wall. His limbs were shaking uncontrollably, but his eyes were bright with a dark, sharp intensity.
"...It cracked." He lifted his hand, looking at his fingers. "...I felt it give way."
A slow, pained breath. "...So this is how it's done."
It wasn't about flow. It was about force. It wasn't about harmony; it was about breaking.
"...Void..."
The word felt heavy on his tongue. "...So that's what it means." He closed his eyes for a second. "...Not peace. Not balance. Destruction."
The realization was heavy, but it didn't bring fear. Instead, a strange, chilling calm settled over him.
"...Good. That suits me perfectly."
A faint, jagged smile pulled at his lips. "...Again."
The system flickered one last time.
[PROGRESS UPDATE]
Meridian Opening: 3%
Willpower: Increasing
Condition: Critical
"...Three percent." His voice was steady now, despite the blood on his chin. "...Faster than before."
He let his head drop back against the wall. "...So this is the path I have to walk."
Pain in exchange for progress. Risk in exchange for power. "...Then I'll walk it until my legs give out."
He turned his gaze toward the window. The Azure Moon was still there, hanging cold and indifferent in the black sky.
"...Watch me," he whispered, his fingers tightening into weak but determined fists. "...I'm not staying at the bottom."
Silence reclaimed the room. But this time, it didn't feel like a weight. It felt like an audience. And somewhere deep inside his broken body, the tiny crack in his meridian began to expand, just a little more.