The Granite Tunnel became a factory of power.
There was no day or night, only the cycle of the Harvest.
Ji Han would descend into the Yin Hollow, his breath puffing in the sub-zero air. He would use his Frost-Iron War Pick to shatter the ice around a frozen Shadow-Swimmer Myriapod. It was delicate work; strike too hard, and the brittle meat shattered. Strike too soft, and the ice didn't break.
He became a surgeon with a pickaxe.
He would drag the frozen logs of meat up the ramp to the fire. There, Lin Qinghe—wrapped in layers of centipede fur like a barbarian queen—would oversee the cooking.
They didn't boil it into heavy stew anymore. They seared it.
Ji Han sat by the fire, holding a slab of Myriapod meat. The firelight danced on his armor, which he rarely took off now.
He took a bite.
The meat was no longer repulsive. His body, adapted by months of monster consumption, craved it. The Myriapod meat was stringy and cold, even when hot. It tasted of deep ocean trenches.
[System Notification: Consumed Shadow-Swimmer Meat (Elite).] [Meridian Elasticity +0.2.] [Cold Resistance +1%.] [Shadow Affinity +0.5.]
He swallowed. He could feel his internal pathways expanding. If the Isopod Meat had made him a brick wall, the Myriapod Meat was making him a rubber hose. His veins felt loose, capable of handling higher pressure without bursting.
"Your skin," Lin Qinghe noted, watching him from across the fire. "It is changing."
Ji Han looked at his hand. His skin was no longer just pale; it had a faint, iridescent sheen to it, like oil on water. When he pinched it, it didn't just fold; it resisted, then snapped back instantly.
"I'm becoming a monster," Ji Han said, taking another bite.
"You are becoming efficient," she corrected. "The human form is a generalist vessel. It is weak at everything. You are specializing."
She picked up a charcoal stick and drew a circle on the soot-stained floor.
"You are Qi Condensation Level 2. Your Dantian is a bucket. You have filled it with grey Qi, Iron Qi, and now Water Qi."
She drew a line across the top of the circle.
"You are full. You cannot absorb the Yin Spirit Pearl."
Ji Han stopped eating. "Why?"
"Because the Pearl is not a bucket of water. It is a tsunami," she explained. "If you swallow it now, your 'bucket' will overflow. You will explode. To take the Pearl, you need a bigger container."
"Level 3," Ji Han guessed.
"Foundation Establishment is the goal," she shook her head. "But Level 3 is the bridge. You need to expand your Dantian. And to do that, you don't need more energy. You need compression."
She pointed at him.
"You are eating too much. You are hoarding energy in your flesh because your core is full. You need to stop eating and start compressing."
Ji Han looked at the pile of frozen meat in the corner. He looked at his own body, which felt like a coiled spring ready to snap.
"How?"
"The Isopod survives pressure," Lin Qinghe said. "The Myriapod survives depth. You have eaten both. Now, simulate the depth."
She gestured to the tunnel floor.
"Burpees?" Ji Han asked dryly.
"No," she said, her eyes serious. "Gravity cultivation. You must force your Qi to spin. Centrifugal force pushes the energy against the walls of your Dantian, stretching it. Expanding it."
Ji Han stood up. He closed his eyes. He visualized the grey sludge in his belly.
Spin.
It was sluggish. It was like trying to stir concrete.
"Faster," Lin Qinghe commanded. "If it doesn't hurt, it isn't working."
Ji Han gritted his teeth. He poured his Spirit into the rotation. The Qi began to move. Slowly at first, then gaining momentum.
Whoosh... Whoosh...
He could feel it physically. His stomach churned. Sweat popped on his forehead. The centrifugal force pressed against his insides.
"Faster!"
Ji Han roared. He spun the energy until he felt like he was in a centrifuge.
CRACK.
A sharp pain radiated from his navel.
"Keep going!" Lin Qinghe shouted. "The pain is the walls stretching!"
Ji Han held the spin for an hour. Then two. He collapsed only when his Spirit was completely drained, lying in a pool of sweat on the stone floor.
When he woke up, he was hungry again.
"Good," Lin Qinghe said, tossing him a piece of meat. "The bucket is bigger. Fill it again."
And so, the Winter Grind began.
Month 9. Ji Han spent twelve hours a day spinning his Qi. He ate four times his body weight in elite meat. His Cold Resistance capped at 50%. He could walk into the Yin Hollow naked and feel only a mild chill.
Month 10. The supply of frozen Myriapods dwindled. He had eaten forty of them. His Shadow Affinity allowed him to move silently in the tunnel, despite wearing fifty kilograms of plate armor. He was a silent tank.
Month 11. The breaking point.
Ji Han sat in the lotus position. He wasn't spinning his Qi anymore. The Qi was spinning itself—a perpetual, grey vortex in his core. It was dense. It was heavy.
He felt a barrier. An invisible ceiling in his cultivation.
Push.
He fed the vortex. He ate the last piece of Shadow-Swimmer meat.
Push.
The vortex screamed. The walls of his Dantian groaned.
BOOM.
A shockwave of energy blasted outward from his body, blowing the fire out and knocking Lin Qinghe's drying rack over.
Ji Han opened his eyes. They glowed with a momentary grey light.
[System Notification: Breakthrough Successful.] [Current Rank: Qi Condensation Level 3.] [Attribute Unlocked: Qi Liquidization (10%).]
He stood up. He felt... hollow. Not weak, but spacious. His capacity had tripled.
"Level 3," Ji Han whispered. His voice was a rumble that vibrated in the floor.
He looked down the shaft toward the Yin Hollow.
"The bucket is big enough," Ji Han said.
He grabbed his Frost-Iron War Pick.
"Time to steal the pearl."