Through Zhuge Su Yeon's Eyes
Zhuge Su Yeon's room, as always, remained silent, immaculate, and serene.
Su Yeon sat cross-legged on his tatami.
The Store tab was open—more specifically, the Professions menu.
Nine icons flickered before him, each representing one of the Auxiliary Professions of the cultivation world.
Alchemist — Masters of fire and transformation. They manipulate herbs and minerals with refined Qi to create pills, elixirs, and poisons. A high-level alchemist can prolong life, alter fate, or unleash chaos with a single pill.
Artifact Forger — Smiths of the extraordinary. They combine rare metals, spiritual crystals, and intricate runes to mold swords that sing, armors that breathe, or treasures that defy natural law. Absolute control over heat, energy, and intent is required.
Formation Master — Architects of the unseen. They draw spiritual structures into space, manipulating ambient Qi to create barriers, illusions, or lethal traps. A well-placed formation can be deadlier than a thousand soldiers.
Talisman Creator — Scribes of the Dao. They channel Qi through ceremonial brushstrokes, inscribing effects into paper, cloth, or wood. Talismans can protect cities, seal beasts, or summon lightning from a clear sky.
Beast Tamer — Those who whisper to monsters. They understand, train, and form bonds with spiritual beasts. It requires empathy, control over pheromones, and a link of the soul.
Spiritual Cook — Alchemists of flavor. They craft dishes infused with Qi that can boost cultivation, heighten senses, or aid in overcoming inner tribulations. A well-prepared spiritual banquet can raise cultivation more than a year of meditation.
Spiritual Doctor — Surgeons of the soul. They use Qi and anatomical knowledge to heal blockages, seals, mental deviations, and spiritual wounds. They tune meridians as if they were strings of a celestial instrument.
Spiritual Engineer — Inventors of the hidden. They create mechanisms, puppets, traps, and structures powered by spiritual energy. They merge formations, alchemy, and runes into contraptions capable of defending an entire clan.
Spiritual Artist — Channelers of the sublime. Painters, musicians, or dancers who express spiritual energy through art. Their creations can purify, seal, enchant, or guide lost hearts.
It was a range of possibilities as vast as the paths of the Dao. And yet...
This section's interface was notably different from the others. When he opened the menu of a profession, the system revealed something he had never considered before:
A list of clan members who possessed talent for that art.
Some menus showed over twenty names. Others, only ten. Some even fewer.
Su Yeon narrowed his eyes.
He recognized many of those faces. But others surprised him—members of distant branches, newly initiated disciples, youths from secondary bloodlines.
"The system doesn't assess current skill..." he thought. "It measures talent."
And the first names of each list left no room for doubt.
At the top of the Artifact Forger tab, a familiar image shone brightly.
— "Yu Jin..."
His younger brother. The very same who, until recently, had been seen as the weakest link of the clan. Now listed as the most talented artifact forger of the Zhuge Family.
In the Spiritual Doctor tab, his twin sister's name appeared.
— "How could it be otherwise..." — he murmured, almost smiling.
The system declared Yui Lan as possessing extraordinary talent as a spiritual doctor. Yet it still charged two hundred thousand points for her full profile. That could only mean one thing—her potential in the profession was truly absurd.
Then, in Formation Master.
At the top of the list...
A familiar name surfaced.
Zhuge Mei Xue.
Because she was Mei Lin's younger sister, she had always seemed like a discreet presence in her shadow—helping with minor tasks, keeping away from the clan's heavier affairs, almost invisible in major decisions.
Su Yeon blinked slowly.
— "Mei Xue...?"
He had no idea. He had never seen her approach a formation, never heard of her studying Qi flows or spiral runes. And yet, the system listed her talent there.
"She probably doesn't even know it herself..."
And there was more.
In the Spiritual Artist tab, another familiar name appeared.
Zhuge Lian Yin.
His younger sister. Still asleep. The one who had never been given a chance to express herself... now marked as the clan's most gifted spiritual artist.
Su Yeon's heart tightened.
And finally, a solitary name.
The Beast Tamer tab displayed only one face. Young. Rigid. Determined.
Zhuge Ren Bo.
From one of the secondary branches. A discreet cultivator, nearly ignored in the main records. Yet here, before the system... he was the only one.
Su Yeon read the name aloud, as though sealing a vow:
— "Zhuge Ren Bo..."
— "The talent of taming spiritual beasts... is not one we can waste."
As for Yeon himself, he wasn't listed in any profession.
Not as alchemist, forger, spiritual doctor, or even as cook.
Nothing.
He remembered. Since his teenage years, he had tried each of those auxiliary arts. Not out of ambition, but out of caution. He knew the great clans valued formation masters, alchemists, and artifact forgers as much as warrior cultivators.
And he tried.
He tried to craft talismans. He tried to refine pills. He tried to activate simple formations.
But...
Nothing happened.
It wasn't like failing and exploding a furnace. It wasn't like misdrawing a stroke and corrupting a seal.
It was... empty.
His Qi didn't react. It didn't infuse. It didn't shape.
The herbs didn't change. The runes didn't light up. The spiritual needles didn't vibrate.
For years, that emptiness hung over him as a mystery without an answer. As if his monstrous cultivation talent was counterbalanced by complete sterility in auxiliary arts.
But when the system appeared... he finally had an explanation.
His Martial Physique.
Martial Physique: Supreme Jade Body
Hidden Qi fluctuations: no cultivator can sense his spiritual presence unless he intends it.
Absolutely pure Qi: any martial or spiritual technique adapts instantly to his body, as if it were created for him.
Absolute Physical Purity: naturally eliminates toxins, poisons, and impurities, without the need for pills or external methods.
One with Heaven and Earth: barriers and spiritual seals simply fail to detect him.
Silent cultivation: his presence leaves no trace in the environment, even after hours of intense meditation.
Silent Core: his dantian is like a still, deep lake... even in combat, his inner circulation betrays nothing.
Spiritual Refraction: reflects attempts of spiritual probing, illusion, or soul reading, like a smooth mirror casting light back.
Self-sustaining cultivation: even without actively cultivating, his body gradually accumulates energy— as if the world itself wished to strengthen him.
Note: due to its absolute harmony with the natural world, the Qi of this body does not impose alteration upon structures created by natural law.
Honestly, his martial physique felt almost like a true bug in the world—completely unbalanced.
And his initial fear was valid... his monstrous talent for cultivation left him utterly sterile in auxiliary arts.
All those professions, no matter how distinct in practice, shared the same essential principle:
— Manipulating the cultivator's Qi to alter the natural structure of the world.
It was subtle, but fundamental.
Alchemy, for instance, refined herbs and minerals through Qi. The cultivator imposed his will upon matter, transforming it into something new: a pill, an elixir, a poison. Qi acted as flame and mold.
Talisman Creation required the cultivator to channel Qi into precise strokes, forcing runes to imitate Dao patterns. It was spiritual writing that mirrored the grammar of the heavens.
Spiritual Formations demanded that Qi be infused into space, distorting ambient energy according to command lines. It was sculpting temporary realities atop the natural flow.
But Zhuge Su Yeon...
His Qi was the world's Qi itself. It was balance.
And because of that...
He could impose nothing.
Not because he lacked power. But because his Qi saw no reason to alter what it already sustained.
— "How could perfect balance break itself?"
It simply made no sense.
And in that moment, seated in the center of his immaculate room, surrounded by the system's golden panels...
He felt peace.
Not frustration. Not sorrow.
But complete understanding.
At last, some problems... had found their explanation.