Morning light filtered through the paper windows, dusty and gold. Li Wei hadn't slept. He had
spent the entire night reading the System menus, understanding the currency (Support Points),
and realizing the sheer absurdity of his situation.
He gained points by giving her things—resources, advice, emotional support. He could spend
those points to buy cultivation manuals, pills, and treasures from the System Store. It was a
loop. The more he gave, the more he could give.
But first, he had to explain.
Li Wei was a cautious man. In novels, protagonists often hid their systems. But this System was
about her. He couldn't exactly force-feed her Spirit Gathering Pills and pretend they were candy.
Su Mei was intelligent; she would notice.
And Li Wei loved her. He had vowed on their wedding day to share his burdens.
Su Mei stirred, stretching her arms. She opened her eyes and smiled, the sleepy, unguarded
smile that Li Wei cherished. "Morning, husband. You're up early."
"I didn't sleep," Li Wei said, his voice grave.
Su Mei sat up instantly, the sheet clutching to her chest. Her smile vanished, replaced by worry.
"Is it the shop? Did the tax collectors come back?"
"No. It's nothing like that." Li Wei took a deep breath. He sat on the edge of the bed and took
her hands. They were warm. "Mei'er, I have to tell you a story. A story about where I really come
from."
Su Mei frowned, confused. "You come from the Northern Plains. You told me."
"That is where this body was born," Li Wei said. "But my soul... my soul is from a place called
Earth."
For the next hour, Li Wei spoke. He told her everything. He stripped away the vague backstory
he had constructed for the neighbors. He told her about skyscrapers, airplanes, the internet. He
told her about his death in that world and his sudden awakening in this one.
He told her about the ten years of humiliation in the cultivation world.
Su Mei listened in silence. Most women would have called for a doctor, thinking their husband
had gone mad. But Su Mei watched his eyes. She saw the pain, the exhaustion, and the
desperate sincerity there.
"So," she said slowly, processing it. "You... are a ghost?"
"No. A traveler," Li Wei corrected gently. "But that is not the most important part. Last night,
something happened. Something that changes our future."
He waved his hand. He couldn't show her the screen, but he could show her the effect. He
accessed the System Inventory.
[Item Redeemed: Ice Heart Jade Pendant (Starter Pack)]
A pendant materialized in his hand out of thin air. It glowed with a soft, azure light, dropping the
temperature in the room by ten degrees instantly. Frost began to creep across the bedsheets.
Su Mei gasped, pulling her hands back. "Magic... you are a cultivator?"
"I am barely one," Li Wei said, placing the pendant on the bedside table to stop it from freezing
her. "But you... Su Mei, you have a gift. A terrifying, wonderful gift."
He explained the System. He softened the language. He didn't call it a "System" or a machine. "It says you have the Heavenly Yin Ice Body," Li Wei said. "In the cultivation world, sects would
war over you. You could become immortal. You could fly, move mountains, live forever."
He paused, looking deep into her eyes. "But the path is bloody, Mei'er. It is cruel. If we step on
this road, we can never go back to being simple shopkeepers. I can help you. I can guide you.
But I need you to choose."
Su Mei looked at the freezing pendant, then at Li Wei. She didn't look at the power. She looked
at him.
"You said... this Legacy gives you an immortal lifespan?" she asked.
Li Wei nodded. "Yes. But only lifespan. I am still weak."
"So if I don't cultivate," Su Mei whispered, her voice trembling, "I will grow old. My hair will turn
white. I will wither and die. And you... you will look exactly as you do now. You will have to bury
me."
Li Wei gripped her hands tighter. "I would stay by your side until the end."
"No," Su Mei said firmly. The softness in her eyes hardened into something like resolve. "I
cannot bear that thought. Leaving you alone? Becoming a handful of dust while you remain?
That is not acceptable."
She reached out and grasped the Ice Heart Jade Pendant. The frost didn't hurt her; instead, the
blue light seemed to rush into her skin, welcoming its master. Her black hair floated slightly as if
caught in an invisible breeze.
"I will cultivate," she declared. "Not for power. Not to move mountains. But so that I can stand
beside you forever."
Li Wei felt a pang of sorrow. It was a beautiful reason. The purest reason.
That is how it starts, the cynical part of his mind whispered. They always start with love. But the
Dao is jealous.
"Very well," Li Wei said. "Then today, we close the Golden Phoenix Pavilion. Today, your training
begins."
[System Notification: User Acceptance Confirmed.] [Reward: Novice Cultivation Manual -
'Sutra of the Frozen Heavens'.] [Support Points Gained: 100]
Li Wei retrieved the manual from the void. It was an ancient, bound book that smelled of snow.
He handed it to her.
"Read the first chant," he instructed.
Su Mei opened the book. As she read the words, the ambient Qi in the room—thin and weak as
it was in the mortal capital—suddenly surged. It swirled around her like a vortex.
Li Wei watched, stunned. It had taken him three months to feel a wisp of Qi. Su Mei took a
single breath, and the air shimmered.
She looked up, her eyes glowing with a faint, azure luminescence. She looked breathtaking.
She looked dangerous.
"I can feel it," she whispered, looking at her hands. "It feels... like I've been holding my breath
my whole life, and I finally exhaled."
She looked at Li Wei, her excitement bubbling over. "Husband! With this power, I can protect the
shop! No one will dare steal our silk again!"
Li Wei forced a smile. "Yes. The shop."
He looked out the window. The safe, mundane world of the Cloud Sparrow Kingdom suddenly
looked very fragile. He had just handed a nuclear weapon to a toddler.
"Remember, Mei'er," Li Wei said, his voice serious. "Caution. Always caution. We do not show
this to anyone. To the world, we are just merchants."
"I know, I know," she said, already diving back into the book, entranced by the flow of power.
Li Wei watched her. She was already drifting away, just a few inches, carried by the tide of the Dao. He stood up and went to the kitchen to make tea.
He put the water on the boil. As he waited, he whispered to the empty room.
"System. Is there a way to make her immortal without her becoming... that?"
[Answer: No. The path to the peak is a path of shedding weakness. Mortality is a
weakness.]
Li Wei poured the tea. His hand didn't shake. He had made his choice. Now, he had to live with
it. Or rather, he had to make sure she lived through it.