Morning light crept across the ceiling of Lin Tian's room, but he had already been awake for a long time. He lay still on his back, staring at the wooden beams above him, trying to figure out about the system.
His hand moved to his chest.
He inhaled slowly. "It wasn't a dream… was it?"
The more he thought about the system, the stronger the beat from his chest felt. Then—like it had been waiting for his attention—light flickered across his vision.
A familiar screen unfolded in front of him.
[ Harem Link Cultivation System Activated ]
[Calibration On Progress…]
[Status]
Host: Lin Tian
Realm: None
Physique: None
Bloodline: None
Talent: Mortal Grade → Spirit Grade
Spirit Roots: Mortal Grade → Spirit Grade
Cultivation Technique: None
Cultivation Arts: None
Linked Partners: 0
Harem Points: 0
He frowned. "Still Mortal…?"
A sharp jolt shot through his spine.
Lin Tian sucked in a breath and pushed himself upright. His palms pressed against the bed as his vision swayed. The warmth in his chest turned hot—almost burning—and ran through his meridians like a thin stream of liquid fire.
Before he could steady his breath, the interface changed.
[ System Check Initiated ]
[ Host foundation incompatible with Partner Link ]
[ Adjusting Host parameters… ]
Pain spread to his limbs.
The pain that made him flinch away, twisting pain that seemed to come from the marrow of his bones. His breath caught as the sensation rolled through him, everything felt like it was being taken apart and rebuilt grain by grain.
He gripped the edge of the mattress. "What—what is happening…?"
The system answered with a cold pulse.
[ Updating Host attributes… ]
His fingers trembled. His heartbeat pounded in his ears. The warmth condensed into a single point just below his sternum, dense and heavy, before bursting outward in a wave that made him gasp.
Then—silence.
The pain faded all at once.
Lin Tian leaned forward, elbows on his knees, chest rising and falling. Sweat dotted his forehead. His hands shook as he lifted his head to look at the screen again.
The interface no longer flickered.
It had already decided the outcome.
[Status]
Host: Lin Tian
Realm: None
Physique: None
Bloodline: None
Talent: Mortal Grade → Heaven Grade
Spirit Roots: Mortal Grade → Heaven Grade
Cultivation Technique: None
Cultivation Arts: None
His breath stopped.
He stared so long he forgot to blink.
Heaven Grade.
The same as Bai Xueya.
A talent level most sect masters couldn't hope for. A spiritual root quality that only geniuses of the Azure Snow Sword Sect possessed. Something impossible for someone like him—someone who had been told all his life that his body wasn't capable of anything.
He whispered, voice barely there, "It changed me… already…?"
The realization sank in slowly.
The system didn't wait for dual cultivation.
It didn't wait for a cultivation technique.
It didn't even wait for him to accept or reject anything.
The moment Bai Xueya stood in front of the two clans and said she would not dissolve the engagement—
The Link was formed, his fate already changed.
Lin Tian pressed a hand to his chest again, but the warmth there was different now. Stronger. Clearer. Like a heartbeat that wasn't fully his.
He forced himself to breathe and lowered his gaze. He needed to test something. Anything.
He folded his legs beneath him and closed his eyes.
Basic breathing.
The simplest thing he had been unable to do for eighteen years.
He inhaled.
And for the first time—
Something responded.
But the pathways in his body that had always felt blocked… opened a fraction. A faint, subtle current moved along his meridians, like the first drop of rain sliding down a dry stone.
His eyes opened slowly, disbelief written all over his face.
"I can… I can feel it."
Not enough to cultivate on his own. But it was the first sign that his body was no longer a dead end.
He exhaled shakily, hands loosening as tension drained from his shoulders. A quiet laugh left his lips—half relief, half disbelief.
He stood and made his way to the old training hall where his father once taught him the basics. The wooden floor creaked beneath his feet. Dust clung to the corners. The old practice swords leaned against the wall the same way they always had.
He reached out and picked up the iron sword his father used to demonstrate techniques. The handle fit naturally into his palm, familiar and worn.
He remembered his father's voice:
"Strength isn't just cultivation, Tian. Strength is the will to keep walking even when everyone says you should stop."
His grip tightened.
"Father… maybe… maybe I can finally walk forward."
He lowered the sword slowly and returned it to its place. His thoughts drifted to Bai Xueya. Her calm eyes. The way she stood firm in front of her sect and refused to sever their bond. The way she listened to him. The way she spoke without pity.
He swallowed.
Her decision… changed everything.
The sun had already begun to set when he returned to his courtyard. The peach tree rustled softly overhead, scattering a few petals that drifted across his sleeve.
He sat beneath it, back resting against the trunk. The warmth in his chest pulsed again—gentle, steady, like a distant echo of someone else's heartbeat.
He closed his eyes.
For the first time in his life, he didn't feel empty.
Night settled over Cloudcrest City.
The clan grounds grew quiet.
Lin Tian leaned his head back and let the silence wash over him. Until the system interface appeared on its own.
[ Linked Partner Has Completed Cultivation ]
Name: Bai Xueya
Shared Cultivation Stored
Synchronization Stable.
Awaiting the Host to claim and start cultivation.
Lin Tian stared as the words settled in front of him.
She finished cultivating.
And even without touching him—even without speaking to him—her effort flowed directly into him.
His heart beat once again.
He whispered into the quiet courtyard:
"…She really is my Linked Partner."
The night felt different after that.
End of Chapter 7