The sword felt like an extension of his arm.
Wang Ben moved through the basic forms in the pre-dawn darkness, the courtyard stones cool beneath his bare feet. Thrust. Withdraw. Pivot. Cut. The blade caught the first gray light of morning, its edge tracing silver arcs through the air.
Two weeks since the wolf. Two weeks since he'd woken to find himself changed in ways he still didn't fully understand.
He completed the sequence and began again, slower this time, focusing on the transition between movements. The sword Zhao Daniu had forged was perfectly balanced, light enough for speed, heavy enough for power. Six months of a master craftsman's life, distilled into steel.
[FORM ANALYSIS] Current Execution: 73% optimal Primary Deficiency: Shoulder tension during thrust recovery Secondary: Weight distribution favors rear foot excessively Recommendation: Conscious relaxation of trapezius during withdrawal phase
Wang Ben adjusted his stance, letting his shoulders drop. The next thrust flowed more smoothly into the withdrawal.
He'd been doing this every morning since he could hold the sword without his arms shaking. Rise before dawn. Train until breakfast. Study until lunch. Train again until dinner. Study until sleep claimed him.
It wasn't enough. It would never be enough. But it was what he could do.
The System's cold assessments helped more than he'd expected. Not dramatically. A few percentage points here, a minor correction there. But over hundreds of repetitions, those small improvements accumulated. His body was learning patterns that felt ancient, movements that seemed to rise from somewhere deeper than muscle memory.
The dreams, he thought. It has to be the dreams.
He didn't understand where the knowledge came from. Didn't understand why his body sometimes moved before his mind could think. But he was learning to trust it, the way a swimmer learns to trust the water.
The sun crested the eastern wall as he finished his final set. Sweat cooled on his skin. His arms burned with the good ache of honest effort.
"You're getting better."
Wang Ben turned. Zhao Yu stood at the courtyard entrance, leaning against the doorframe. He was still pale, still moving carefully, but the dark circles under his eyes had faded. Two weeks of rest and his mother's cooking had done what pills alone couldn't.
"Watching me train?" Wang Ben sheathed the sword. "Don't you have better things to do?"
"The physicians say I'm not allowed to do anything interesting for another week." Zhao Yu limped into the courtyard, favoring his left leg. "So I watch. Learn what I can." He paused. "You move differently than you used to."
"Nearly dying will do that."
"It's more than that." Zhao Yu's eyes were thoughtful. "The forms are the same ones everyone learns. But you... you flow. Like you've been doing this for years instead of weeks."
Wang Ben wiped his face with a cloth. "Dreams," he said. It was becoming his standard explanation. "I see things in my dreams. Techniques. Movements. When I wake up, my body remembers."
"Strange dreams."
"Strange life."
Zhao Yu was quiet for a moment. Then: "My father says talent reveals itself in crisis. That some people have potential sleeping inside them, waiting for the right moment to wake up." He met Wang Ben's eyes. "Maybe that wolf woke something in you."
You have no idea, Wang Ben thought. But he only nodded. "Maybe."
"I've been thinking." Zhao Yu straightened, wincing slightly. "When I'm recovered. When I can train again. I want to train with you. Not just alongside you. With you."
"You're a stage ahead of me."
"For now." Zhao Yu's voice held no jealousy, only certainty. "That won't last. I've seen how fast you're improving. In six months, a year... you'll pass me. I'd rather be your training partner when that happens than your subordinate."
Wang Ben studied the older boy. Sixteen years old. Body Refinement Stage 5. Son of a retainer family with no political power and limited resources. By all rational calculation, Zhao Yu should be distancing himself, hedging his bets, waiting to see which way the winds blew.
Instead, he was offering loyalty.
"Training partners," Wang Ben said slowly. "Not followers."
"Partners." Zhao Yu extended his hand. "Equal. For as long as that makes sense."
Wang Ben clasped it. "Deal."
The meeting with the Patriarch had been... illuminating.
One week after the wolf, Wang Ben had stood in the same chamber where the elders had questioned him, but this time without an audience. Just him and Wang Tiexin, the seven-hundred-year-old leader of the Wang Clan.
The old man had studied him for a long time before speaking.
"Sit."
Wang Ben had sat. The chair was too large, made for cultivators with centuries of accumulated presence. He felt like a child playing at being an adult.
"I've been thinking about your survival," the Patriarch said. His voice was unhurried, each word carefully weighed. "About your breakthrough. About these dreams your father mentioned years ago."
Wang Ben had kept his expression neutral. "Yes, Patriarch?"
"Do you know what I see when I look at you, boy?"
"A junior clan member who got lucky?"
"No." Wang Tiexin's ancient eyes held something that might have been amusement. "I see my grandson."
The statement caught Wang Ben off guard. He'd known, intellectually, that the Patriarch was his grandfather, Wang Tian's father. But the old man had always been a distant figure, a presence felt more than seen, occupied with clan matters far above the concerns of a single struggling family.
"Your father was brilliant," Wang Tiexin continued. "The most talented of all my sons. When he found that Spirit Fire, I thought..." He shook his head. "It doesn't matter what I thought. What matters is what I see now."
"What do you see, Grandfather?"
The word slipped out before Wang Ben could stop it. He'd never called the Patriarch that. It felt presumptuous. But the old man's expression softened, just slightly.
"I see the same brilliance. The same drive. But tempered by something your father lacked." Wang Tiexin leaned forward. "Caution. Your father was fearless. Too fearless. He reached for Grade 7 refinement before his body could handle it, and it nearly destroyed him. You..." He studied Wang Ben's face. "You calculate. You watch. You think before you act."
If only you knew, Wang Ben thought. If only you knew how much of my 'thinking' comes from something I don't understand.
"The dreams," the Patriarch said. "Tell me about them. Truthfully."
Wang Ben had prepared for this. "I see... fragments. Techniques I've never learned. Battles I've never fought. Sometimes it's clear, like watching someone else's memories. Other times it's just... feelings. Instincts. My body knows things my mind doesn't."
"And the wolf?"
"I don't remember most of it." That was true enough. The fight existed in his memory as flashes: the System's cold analysis, the wolf's hot breath, the moment when his spear had found the creature's heart. "My body moved. The dreams... they moved through me."
Wang Tiexin was silent for a long moment.
"There are stories," he said finally. "Old stories, from before our clan settled in Redstone City. About cultivators touched by fate. About souls that carry echoes of past lives, not full reincarnations, but fragments. Pieces of people who died with unfinished business."
Wang Ben's heart beat faster. "You think that's what happened to me?"
"I think something happened to you. Whether it's ancestral memory, karmic inheritance, or something else entirely..." The Patriarch shrugged. "I'm seven hundred years old, boy. I've learned that the world contains more mysteries than answers."
He rose from his seat, and Wang Ben scrambled to stand.
"I won't ask you to explain what you don't understand. But I will ask you this: whatever gift has come to you, whatever power these dreams provide, use it wisely. Use it to grow strong. And use it to protect this family."
"I will, Patriarch."
"Grandfather." The correction was gentle but firm. "In private, at least. You're my blood. Remember that."
Wang Ben had bowed, lower than protocol required. "Yes, Grandfather."
The meeting had ended there, but its weight had lingered. The Patriarch knew something was different. He'd chosen not to press, for now. But Wang Ben understood that the old man would be watching, waiting to see what his strange grandson would become.
One more person watching. One more person he couldn't fully trust with the truth.
But also, perhaps, one more person who might stand between him and Elder Liu if things went wrong.
The Wang Clan library was a monument to better days.
Three stories of shelves, once filled to bursting with scrolls and bound texts, now stood half-empty. The gaps told the story of the clan's decline more eloquently than any words. Valuable technique manuals sold to pay debts, rare formation diagrams traded for resources, centuries of accumulated knowledge scattered to the winds.
But what remained was still substantial. Basic cultivation guides. Herb encyclopedias. Beast classification texts. Formation theory primers. The foundational knowledge that every cultivator needed, deemed too common to sell.
Wang Ben had been here every afternoon since he'd recovered.
He sat at a reading desk near the window, three books spread before him. A Comprehensive Guide to Blackwood Forest Flora. Principles of Defensive Array Construction. Spirit Beasts of the Northern Territories: Classification and Behavior.
To anyone watching, he was a diligent young cultivator studying for his future. Nothing suspicious. Nothing remarkable.
They couldn't see what was happening inside his mind.
[DATABASE RECONSTRUCTION: ACTIVE]
Processing: "A Comprehensive Guide to Blackwood Forest Flora"
Page 147: "Bloodroot - hemorrhagic suppressant, grows in damp soil..."
Cross-referencing Chen Database...
Potential Match: "Crimson Vitality Grass" (87.3% confidence) Properties: Compatible hemostatic compounds Database:
UPDATED Processing: "Moonshadow Orchid - rare yin-element flower, blooms only under moonlight..."
Cross-referencing Chen Database...
Potential Match: "Lunar Essence Blossom" (91.7% confidence)
Note: Azure Sky World variant shows enhanced purification properties
Database: UPDATED
[STATUS] Local Herb Database: 23% reconstructed Processing Rate: 12 entries/hour Estimated Completion (available texts): 847 hours
Wang Ben turned another page, and the System processed another dozen entries.
He didn't fully understand why he felt compelled to read these books. The urge had started small, a vague sense that he should be studying, that knowledge mattered in ways he couldn't articulate. But over the past two weeks, it had grown into something closer to hunger.
Every herb description. Every formation diagram. Every beast classification. His mind devoured them, and somewhere deep inside, something clicked.
It's not just me, he thought. Something in the dreams... something wants this information.
The System offered no explanation. It simply processed, catalogued, and requested more.
"Young Master Wang."
Wang Ben looked up. The library keeper, an elderly man named Shen who had served the clan for sixty years, stood nearby with a stack of scrolls.
"Elder Shen."
"I brought the texts you requested." The old man set the scrolls on the desk. "Intermediate Formation Theory, volumes four through six. And the clan's copy of Practical Alchemy for Beginners."
"Thank you."
Elder Shen hesitated. "Forgive an old man's curiosity, but... you've been here every day. More than any young cultivator I've seen in decades."
"Knowledge is power," Wang Ben said. It felt like a quote from somewhere, though he couldn't remember where.
"So the old masters taught." Elder Shen's eyes were kind but shrewd. "Most young people prefer physical training. Faster results. More impressive to their peers."
"Physical training has limits." Wang Ben gestured at his body. "I'm Body Refinement Stage 4. I'll never outmuscle a Qi Condensation cultivator. But if I understand formations, herbs, beast behavior... that knowledge doesn't care what stage I'm at."
Elder Shen was quiet for a long moment. Then he smiled, showing teeth worn smooth by age.
"Your father was the same. When he was young, before he found his Spirit Fire, he read everything. Said an alchemist needed to understand the world, not just the recipes." The smile faded. "It's good to see someone carrying on that tradition."
After the old man left, Wang Ben opened Practical Alchemy for Beginners and began to read.
[ALCHEMY DATABASE RECONSTRUCTION: INITIATED]
Processing: "Chapter 1: The Principles of Pill Refinement"
Cross-referencing Chen Database...
Note: Fundamental principles show 94.7% correlation with known universal constants
Deviation analysis: Local variations in qi density require adjusted timing parameters
Database: UPDATING...
Later that afternoon, Wang Ben wandered into the library's forgotten corners.
The third floor's eastern wing hadn't been touched in years. Dust lay thick on the shelves, and the scrolls here were remnants of the clan's distant past. Outdated cultivation manuals. Obsolete formation diagrams. Records of transactions from centuries ago. Nothing valuable enough to sell, nothing useful enough to study.
Perfect for his purposes.
He selected a scroll at random. The paper was old but still intact, covered in faded characters describing some merchant's inventory from three hundred years ago. Worthless. He tucked it into his robe and continued browsing, eventually selecting two more scrolls of similar quality. Old poetry. A letter to someone long dead. Nothing anyone would miss.
That night, in his room, Wang Ben carefully scraped the old ink from the first scroll. The technique required patience. Too much pressure would damage the paper. Too little would leave traces of the original text. He worked slowly, methodically, until the scroll was blank.
Then he began to write.
The System couldn't guide his hand directly, but the knowledge was there, rising from somewhere deeper than conscious thought. He wrote in deliberately archaic language, mimicking the style of the old texts he'd been studying. Vague. Incomplete. The kind of half-remembered technique that might have been copied and recopied over centuries until crucial details were lost.
On the Strengthening and Refinement of Meridian Pathways, he titled it.
The text spoke of thermal shock therapy. Of alternating applications of extreme cold and gentle heat to clear impurities and strengthen the walls of spiritual channels. It referenced herbs with cooling properties, yin-dominant flowers that could survive extreme temperatures, but named none specifically. It mentioned the importance of precise timing and temperature control, but provided no exact measurements. A method to enhance what already existed, to purify and fortify.
A puzzle. A hint. Something that would require a skilled alchemist to interpret and complete. And if such a method could strengthen healthy meridians, a clever practitioner might realize it could also help damaged ones rebuild.
When he finished, Wang Ben held the scroll up to the lamplight. The paper looked appropriately aged. The ink was fresh, but he could fix that. A few days in a drawer with some old books, exposure to air and dust, and it would appear as worn as anything else in the library's forgotten corners.
He rolled it carefully and set it aside. The other two blank scrolls he would save for future use.
The technique was incomplete, of course. Deliberately so. It referenced herbs with powerful yin properties, capable of surviving extreme temperature fluctuations, but named none specifically. Wang Ben knew what was needed, the knowledge rising from that deep place where the dreams lived, but he couldn't simply tell his father. Not without explaining how he knew.
He would need to find the right ingredient. And then, somehow, let his father discover the connection himself.
The market was chaos.
Wang Ben moved through the crowds, a cloth bag over his shoulder, eyes scanning the stalls. Herbs. Medicines. Cultivation supplies. The east market district was a riot of color and noise, merchants hawking their wares while customers haggled over prices.
His mother had given him a list. Basic supplies for the household, some herbs for the baby's care, a few minor cultivation resources. Simple errands.
But the System was anything but idle.
[ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN: ACTIVE]
Threat Assessment: Minimal Crowd Density:
High (estimated 400 individuals within 100m)
Cultivator Presence: 23 detected (BR: 15, QC: 7, FE: 1)
Anomalies: None Processing Local Data...
Market Stall 7: "Old Chen's Herbs"
Inventory Assessment: Bloodroot (fair quality), Spirit Grass (good quality), Silverleaf (exceptional - underpriced by 30%)
Recommendation: Purchase Silverleaf for future use
Wang Ben paused at Old Chen's stall, examining the herbs with what he hoped looked like casual interest. The Silverleaf was indeed exceptional. The leaves had a particular sheen that indicated high spiritual density. Old Chen had priced them the same as his average stock, probably unable to tell the difference.
"These Silverleaf," Wang Ben said. "How much for the bundle?"
"Fifty copper, young master." Old Chen squinted at him. "Good eye. Most people skip right past them."
Wang Ben counted out the coins. A small advantage, but advantages accumulated.
He was about to move on when the System's tone changed.
[WARNING: ANOMALOUS ENERGY DETECTED]
Type: UNKNOWN
Signature: Corrupted qi pattern - does not match standard cultivation
Direction: Northwest, approximately 40 meters
Threat Level: UNCERTAIN
Confidence: LOW (insufficient data)
[ALERT] Energy signature shows 67.3% correlation with "demonic cultivation" patterns in Chen Database Note: Correlation based on fragmentary records Recommendation: Observe. Do not engage.
Wang Ben's hand tightened on the herb bundle. His eyes swept the crowd, searching for the source.
There. Northwest. Three hooded figures moving against the flow of foot traffic, heading toward the city's eastern gate. They moved in formation, one ahead and two flanking, with the practiced ease of people who expected trouble.
Their robes were plain. Unmarked. The kind of anonymous clothing travelers wore to avoid attention. But something about the way they carried themselves set them apart from the merchants and cultivators around them.
Demonic cultivation.
The term surfaced from somewhere in his dreams. Cultivation paths that fed on others, draining life force, corrupting spiritual energy, twisting the natural order for quick power. Forbidden in virtually every major faction. Hunted by righteous sects and kingdoms alike.
[CONTINUED ANALYSIS] Subjects: 3 individuals Cultivation Assessment:
UNCERTAIN (energy signatures obscured)
Estimated Minimum: Qi Condensation Stage 5-7
Movement Pattern: Deliberate avoidance of guard patrols Heading: East gate → Dragon Spine Mountain foothills
Behavioral Analysis: Consistent with covert operatives avoiding detection
Wang Ben watched them disappear into the crowd, his mind racing.
Three demonic cultivators. In Redstone City. Heading east toward the mountains.
Why?
The question burned, but he had no answers. The System's database was too fragmented, its analysis too limited. All it could offer was observation.
Remember this, he told himself. Remember their direction, their timing, their formation. This information might be valuable.
He didn't know how. Not yet. But something told him that knowing things others didn't was a form of power all its own.
That night, Wang Ben sat across from his father at the dinner table, watching him try to hide his trembling hands.
"The auction is in three weeks." Wang Tian's voice was carefully controlled. "The Thousand Treasures Pavilion announced it today. They're featuring several healing treasures, including..." He paused, swallowing. "Including a Grade 8 Mid-Quality Meridian Restoration Treasure."
Li Mei set down her chopsticks. "How much?"
"The estimate is fifteen to twenty mid-grade spirit stones."
Silence. In the corner, baby Wang Chen gurgled in his crib, oblivious to the tension.
Wang Ben knew the numbers. His father had saved approximately thirteen mid-grade stones over nine years. It wasn't enough. Even at the low estimate, he'd be outbid.
"We could ask the clan for a loan," Li Mei said quietly.
"I already did." Wang Tian's jaw tightened. "The Patriarch... offered his sympathy. Said resources were tight with the beast tide warnings. That perhaps after things stabilized..."
A polite refusal, Wang Ben translated. The clan has already written Father off.
"The wolf materials," Wang Ben said. "How much did they sell for?"
Wang Tian blinked at the sudden shift. "The antlers fetched six mid-grade stones. The pelt... the poison damage hurt the price. Only three mid-grade, when an undamaged Jade Snow Wolf pelt might have brought eight or nine." He paused. "After the clan's cut and processing fees, nine mid-grade stones remain. Held in trust for you until you come of age."
"I want to use them. For the auction."
Silence fell over the table. Li Mei's chopsticks stopped halfway to her mouth. Wang Tian stared at his son as if he'd grown a second head.
"Ben'er..." his father started.
"You have thirteen saved. With my nine, that's twenty-two." Wang Ben met his father's eyes steadily. "It's not enough to guarantee victory, but it gives us a fighting chance."
"That money is yours. Your future. Cultivation resources, techniques, opportunities..." Wang Tian shook his head. "I won't take my son's future to fix my past mistakes."
"What future do I have if my father can't protect our family?" Wang Ben kept his voice calm, though something twisted in his chest. "You're Qi Condensation Stage 5. Injured or not, you're still one of the strongest cultivators in our branch. But if you keep declining, if the damage spreads... I'd rather have a healthy father and an empty purse than the reverse."
A long silence.
Li Mei reached over and placed her hand on her husband's arm. "He's right, Tian. We're a family. His resources are our resources, just as ours would be his if positions were reversed."
Wang Tian looked between his wife and son, something cracking behind his eyes. "When did you both become so..."
"Stubborn?" Li Mei offered.
"Practical," Wang Ben said.
His father let out a breath that was almost a laugh. "I was going to say 'willing to sacrifice for a broken old man.' But stubborn and practical work too." He was quiet for a moment, then slowly nodded. "We'll combine our resources. Twenty-two mid-grade stones. It may not be enough, but..." He swallowed. "Thank you, Ben'er. I don't deserve a son like you."
"You deserve better than a son who would let his father suffer when he could help."
Wang Tian's hand found Wang Ben's shoulder and squeezed. "You've changed. Since the forest. The way you talk, the way you think... it's like you aged ten years overnight."
"Nearly dying will do that."
"So you keep saying." His father's eyes searched his face, but he didn't press further. Some questions were better left unasked.
The next week passed in a rhythm of training and study.
Wang Ben's sword work improved incrementally, the System's micro-corrections accumulating into noticeable gains. His forms grew smoother, his transitions more fluid. He was still far from matching Zhao Yu in raw cultivation, but in terms of technique, the gap was narrowing.
[PROGRESS REPORT: WEEK 3]
Physical Condition: Optimal
Cultivation: Body Refinement Stage 4 (stable)
Breakthrough Proximity: 15-20% (natural progression)
Sword Proficiency: 81% optimal execution (up from 73%)
Database Reconstruction: 31% (local herbs), 12% (formations), 8% (beasts)
Zhao Yu began training with him in the third week, his injuries healed enough for light exercise. They sparred carefully at first, both mindful of his still-tender ribs. But even cautious sparring was educational.
"You're reading me," Zhao Yu said after their third session, breathing hard. "Every time I commit to an attack, you're already moving."
"Pattern recognition." Wang Ben offered him a water flask. "You favor your left shoulder. Wind up slightly before power strikes. Your footwork gets wider when you're about to retreat."
"How do you notice these things?"
Because something in my head analyzes combat like a military strategist, Wang Ben didn't say. Because I dream of battles that lasted centuries, fought by beings who could shatter mountains.
"I watch," he said instead. "I remember. Everyone has patterns."
"Including you?"
"Including me. Which is why I need training partners." Wang Ben smiled slightly. "To show me my own patterns before enemies do."
[COMBAT PARTNER ASSESSMENT: ZHAO YU]
Physical Profile: Body Refinement Stage 5, recovering from injuries Technical Proficiency: 64% optimal (limited by injury)
Combat Instinct: ANOMALOUS
Note: Subject displays latent battle awareness exceeding cultivation level Reaction timing suggests subconscious threat prediction Pattern recognition innate rather than trained Assessment: Natural warrior temperament
Cross-referencing Chen Database...
Historical Parallel: "Battle Soul" phenotype Rarity: ~1 in 1,000,000,000 cultivators
Potential Ceiling: SIGNIFICANT
Note: If properly nurtured, subject could develop into empire-shaking combatant Recommendation: Maintain alliance. Invest in mutual growth.
Wang Ben blinked at the assessment. The System rarely offered unsolicited observations about other people. That it had done so now, and with such certainty, suggested Zhao Yu was more than he appeared.
Battle Soul. The term felt familiar, dredged up from dreams he couldn't quite remember. Warriors born with an instinct for combat that no amount of training could replicate. Rare. Valuable. Dangerous if they became enemies.
He looked at Zhao Yu with new eyes. The older boy was wiping sweat from his face, completely unaware of the potential sleeping inside him.
Good, Wang Ben thought. Let it stay sleeping for now. Let him grow at his own pace. But when the time comes...
He filed the information away for later.
Zhao Yu caught his gaze and raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"Nothing." Wang Ben shook his head. "Just thinking that I'm glad you're on my side."
Zhao Yu considered this. "You're strange, Wang Ben. But I think I like strange."
The beast reports grew worse.
Wang Ben heard about them during his patrol shifts, brief assignments to the outer herb fields, watching for threats while gatherers worked. The clan's warning formation was back online, properly maintained this time, but the information it provided was troubling.
"Three Rank 1 beast sightings within a kilometer of the walls this week," the patrol leader muttered. "That's double last month."
"The deep forest?" another guard asked.
"Must be. Something's driving them out." The patrol leader spat. "I've seen this before, five years ago. Beasts getting bolder, pushing into territory they normally avoid. Then the tide hit, and..." He shook his head. "Hopefully it won't come to that."
Wang Ben filed the information away.
[BEAST TIDE ANALYSIS]
Time Since Wolf Incident: 3 weeks
Data Points Collected: 47 Trend Analysis:
- Week 1: 2 Rank 1 sightings near walls
- Week 2: 4 Rank 1 sightings near walls
- Week 3: 7 Rank 1 sightings near walls (3 within 1km)
Pattern: Exponential increase in beast activity
Historical Correlation: 89.2% match with pre-tide behavior patterns
Assessment: Beast tide likely within 4-8 weeks
Confidence: MODERATE
Not certain. Nothing was certain at 1% functionality. But the trend was clear.
Something was coming.
The Watcher
Elder Liu stood at the window of his quarters, watching the courtyard below.
Wang Ben was training again. The boy was always training now, or reading, or both. Two weeks ago, he'd been an unremarkable young cultivator with average talent, average ambition, average everything. The perfect target for an "accident" in the wilderness.
Now he moved like someone who'd been fighting for decades.
Impossible, Liu told himself. Body Refinement Stage 4. Fifteen years old. Whatever happened in that forest, it couldn't have been...
But the evidence was undeniable. He'd reviewed the scene himself, examined the wolf's corpse before it was processed for materials. The killing blow had been surgical. Precise. The work of someone who understood anatomy, leverage, and the application of force in ways that no teenager should.
And then there was the breakthrough. Body Refinement Stage 3 to Stage 4 overnight, triggered by a life-death battle. Rare, but not unheard of. Crisis could accelerate cultivation.
But combined with the impossible combat skill? The sudden dedication to study? The way the boy watched everyone around him with those too-old eyes?
Something happened to him. Something changed him. And I need to know what.
Elder Liu turned from the window and moved to his desk. A small jade token sat in a hidden compartment, bearing Xue Clan markings, keyed to his spiritual signature. He pressed his thumb against it, channeling a thread of qi.
The token warmed. A connection established.
"Report." The voice was cold, distorted by the transmission array.
"The primary target remains viable." Elder Liu kept his voice neutral. "Wang Tian's condition is unchanged. The auction in two weeks will be his last hope for healing. When it fails, his mental state will deteriorate further."
"And the secondary target? The son?"
Liu hesitated. "Complications have arisen."
"Explain."
"The boy has changed. Since surviving the beast attack, he's demonstrated abilities inconsistent with his cultivation level. Combat proficiency far beyond his training. Rapid improvement in all areas. Unusual dedication to study."
A pause. "Your assessment?"
"Unknown factor. Possibly a hidden inheritance activated by crisis. Possibly external intervention. I cannot determine the cause without closer observation."
"Is he a threat to the primary mission?"
Liu considered. Wang Ben was Body Refinement Stage 4. A child. No matter what strange abilities he'd developed, he couldn't possibly challenge a Foundation Establishment Stage 9 cultivator.
"No," he said. "Not directly. But his survival has drawn attention. The Patriarch is watching the family more closely now. Moving against Wang Tian immediately would invite scrutiny."
"Then wait. The beast tide draws near. Chaos provides opportunity."
"Understood."
The connection severed. Elder Liu placed the token back in its compartment and sealed it with a formation.
His hands itched. They'd been itching for weeks now, ever since the wolf incident. A persistent rash had spread across both palms, red and angry, resistant to every salve and healing pill he'd tried. The clan physicians had been useless, mumbling about allergic reactions and suggesting he avoid contact with spirit herbs.
He knew better. The Poison Marsh Serpent's eggs. He'd been careful when handling them, used cleansing talismans afterward, but something had gotten through. Some residue that his cultivation couldn't purge.
It was nothing. An irritation. It would fade eventually.
He scratched absently at his palm and returned his attention to the window.
The beast tide, he thought. Yes. Plenty of cultivators die during beast tides. Even Foundation Establishment elders, if they're unlucky. Or if someone ensures their luck runs out.
He glanced out the window again. Wang Ben had finished his training and was walking toward the library, the sword at his hip catching the light.
Enjoy your books, boy. They won't save you from what's coming.
The end of the month came faster than Wang Ben expected.
He sat in his room as evening fell, reviewing what he'd learned. Three weeks of intensive study had filled his head with information: herbs and their properties, formation principles, beast behavior patterns, basic alchemy theory. The System's database was growing, cross-references multiplying, patterns emerging from the chaos of data.
[MONTHLY STATUS REPORT]
Physical Training: Significant improvement
Knowledge Acquisition: 2,847 entries processed
Cross-Reference Matches: 1,203 confirmed, 892 partial, 752 no match
Notable Discoveries:
- Multiple local herbs show partial matches to Chen Database entries
- Several candidates identified for meridian-related applications
- WARNING: Implementation requires precise temperature control and timing
- Current Database Status: INSUFFICIENT for detailed guidance
Beast Tide Preparation:
- Warning signs continue to accumulate
- Recommend: Stockpile resources, identify evacuation routes
- Recommend: Monitor for additional demonic cultivator activity
Demonic Cultivator Sighting:
- No additional contacts since initial observation
- Direction of travel suggests Dragon Spine foothills destination
- Purpose: UNKNOWN
- Recommendation: Information may have trade value to interested parties
Wang Ben lingered on that last point. The Blood Wolf Company was in the city. He'd heard rumors about mercenaries escorting prisoners toward the domain capital. Professional hunters. Information brokers. The kind of people who paid well for actionable intelligence.
Not yet, he decided. Watch. Learn. Wait for the right moment.
The auction was in two weeks. His father's last hope, or so Wang Tian believed. But Wang Ben had something better than a treasure that others would bid on. The scroll hidden in his room described a technique for thermal shock therapy, applying extreme cold and gentle heat to strengthen meridian walls and clear blockages. If such a method could improve healthy meridians, a skilled alchemist might realize it could help damaged ones rebuild.
The System couldn't guide him through it. Not at 1% functionality. The technique required precision that his current capabilities couldn't provide.
But his father was a Grade 8 alchemist. Or had been. Wang Tian understood temperature control, timing, the interaction of herbs and spiritual energy at a level that few could match.
If Wang Ben could find the right herb at the auction, something with the properties the technique required, then perhaps...
A knock at the door interrupted his thoughts.
"Come in."
His mother entered, Wang Chen cradled in her arms. The baby was awake, dark eyes tracking the lamplight with infant curiosity.
Li Mei studied him for a long moment, something unreadable in her expression. Wang Chen gurgled, reaching for the lamplight.
"You've changed, Ben'er." Her voice was soft. "Your father says it. I see it. Every day you seem... more. More focused. More determined. More like someone carrying a weight too heavy for your shoulders."
"I'm just trying to help."
"I know." She crossed the room and kissed his forehead, the way she'd done when he was small. "But don't lose yourself in the trying. You're still my son. Still fifteen years old. Whatever has changed, whatever you've found... remember that."
After she left, Wang Ben sat in the darkness for a long time.
Remember that I'm fifteen, he thought. Remember that I'm still me.
But who was he, really? Wang Ben, the average cultivator with strange dreams? The vessel for knowledge he didn't understand? The boy who watched demonic cultivators pass through his city and calculated their trajectory like a military strategist?
He didn't know anymore. Perhaps he never would.
But he knew one thing with absolute certainty: the auction was coming, the beast tide was coming, and Elder Liu was watching.
Whatever he was becoming, he needed to become it faster.
END OF CHAPTER 9