That week in Viridia passed for Aryan in a state of deep and productive tranquility. His room at the inn had become a sanctuary, a sealed cultivation chamber amidst the roaring sea of the city's ambition. Where others were burning their limited time and resources on the fleeting currency of reputation in teahouse squabbles and flimsy alliances, Aryan invested everything he had into the foundation of true power.
He did not leave the room. Food was a simple affair, a few copper coins left for the innkeeper's son, who would leave a tray of plain bread, cheese, and water outside his door. The outside world, with its noise and pageantry, was a distraction he had no time for.
His days were meticulously structured. The mornings were for refining his techniques. He would stand in the center of his small room, a simple steel sword in hand, and practice the basic forms he had developed. He moved with such slowness that an outside observer might have found it comical, but every swing, every parry, every thrust was a study in perfection. He wasn't just moving his body; he was synchronizing his Qi, his breath, and his muscles into a single, harmonious unit. The sword was no longer just a piece of steel; it was becoming a seamless extension of his will.
The afternoons were for the Iron-Core Finger. He would sit cross-legged on his bed, eyes closed, and practice the intricate, elegant pathways of Qi circulation he had learned from the manual. He would channel energy into his fingertips, not to form the deadly Void Piercer, but simply to hold the Qi, to feel its texture, to understand its nature. He was like a master musician practicing his scales, building the fundamental dexterity that would one day allow him to play a divine symphony of destruction.
The nights, however, were for cultivation. He laid out the remaining Spirit Stones his father had given him. One by one, he drew their pure energy into his body, feeding the insatiable hunger of the Supreme Immortal Scripture. The breakthroughs in the forest had been violent, forced evolutions. This was different. This was the work of a craftsman, carefully sanding and polishing a rough piece of wood.
He solidified the foundation of his 8th Layer of the Qi Condensation Realm, compressing his Qi, making it denser, purer, and more potent. He could feel the barrier to the 9th Layer, the final peak of the Qi Condensation Realm, and he knew he could shatter it with a concerted effort. But he held back. He treated his cultivation like a master architect, refusing to build the next floor until the current one was fully cured and settled. Speed was an acceptable variable; stability was the prime directive.
On the fourth night, when his foundation was stable and his techniques refined, he finally turned his attention to the greatest prize from his hunt in the cellar. He sat on his bed and, with a thought, summoned the crystalline, glowing mineral from his Supreme Inventory.
The moment it materialized, the small inn room transformed. A soft, ethereal light, pure and gentle, pushed back the shadows, casting a serene glow on the simple wooden walls. The ambient Qi in the room, normally thin and lifeless, surged, drawn to the mineral like moths to a flame. The air grew thick with a clean, vital energy that was a hundred times richer than that of the Spirit Stones.
Aryan held the rock in his hands. It was cool to the touch, its surface as smooth as polished glass, and it pulsed with a slow, rhythmic beat, like a sleeping heart.
"System," he thought, his mind focused, "analyze this object."
The familiar blue panel appeared, its light seeming almost dull compared to the mineral's glow. A beam of analytical light scanned the rock.
[Analyzing... Energy signature is complex, containing high-density, purified Earth-elemental Qi. Cross-referencing with geological and alchemical databases...]
[Match Found.]
[Object: Heart of an Earth Vein (Fragment, Low-Grade)]
[Description: A naturally occurring crystallization of Qi where the world's spiritual energy veins intersect. It passively absorbs ambient Qi, purifies it, and stores it in a highly condensed state. An invaluable aid for cultivation, creating spiritual arrays, and nourishing spiritual herbs and beasts.]
[Note: This fragment is responsible for the abnormal growth and potency of the Shadow Weaver Queen.]
Aryan's breath caught in his throat. This wasn't just a valuable mineral. This was a piece of the world's own circulatory system. It was a treasure that, if its existence were known, would cause a bloodbath in a place like Devgarh. Even at the Azure Dragon Academy, it would be considered a significant find.
Then, a new notification flashed on the panel, one he had never seen before.