The Imperial Library of Qin was not a building; it was a cathedral of forbidden knowledge carved into the living heart of a Spirit-Jade mountain.
To enter was to walk into the collective memory of a thousand-year-old dynasty. The air smelled of dry parchment and timeless dust. Towering shelves, reaching fifty feet into the darkness, held scrolls that contained techniques capable of leveling cities.
For Aris, however, this was not a place of learning. It was a crime scene waiting to be picked clean.
As he walked through the canyon-like rows of scrolls, his footsteps echoed with a hollow, metallic ring—the sound of his Steel-Tendon physique hidden beneath silk robes. The guards at the entrance—Level 52 Shadow Sentinels—had barely looked at him. Their eyes were clouded by the Emperor's personal seal and Aris's own 'Living Curse' title. To them, he was just a frail, eccentric genius granted permission by God.
To the System, he was a thief in an unguarded vault.
"System," Aris whispered, his voice lost in the vastness of the hall. "Synchronize with the Palace Drain. Give me a status report on the Princess."
[Status: Princess Ling (Living Formation)]
[Qi Accumulation: 1.8% of Imperial Reserve.]
[Stability: 100%. The Emperor's physicians have attributed her 'rapid recovery' to your Alchemical brilliance.]
Aris smirked under his mask. Good. Let them nurture my battery.
He activated the Abyssal Eye. The world of leather-bound books and ink-stained parchment dissolved. In its place, a world of glowing ley lines and spiritual frequencies appeared. Most of the knowledge here was "junk data"—patriotic poems, flawed martial techniques, and biased histories written by victors.
But Aris wasn't looking for books. He was looking for the blueprints.
[Skill Activated: Forbidden Archeology.]
[Scanning Structural Integrity of the Imperial Palace...]
His vision cut through the mountain itself. He saw the "veins" of the palace—the massive formations that drew Qi from the earth to power the city's defenses. They all converged toward a single point, deep below the lowest dungeon, buried beneath layers of anti-teleportation wards and "Void-Lock" seals.
"There you are," Aris murmured.
In the center of his vision, he saw a pulse. It wasn't the pulse of a machine, but the heartbeat of a god.
The Primal Root of the World Tree.
It was a massive, gnarled structure of silver-white wood, glowing with a light that hurt his eyes even through the Abyssal filters. It was the "Server" that ran the entire Qin Empire. Without it, the city would fall into ruin, and the Emperor's Level 80 cultivation would begin to wither.
[Warning: The Primal Root is protected by a 'Dao-Binding Seal'.]
[Requirement to Breach: Level 50 OR 'The Key of Solomon' (Forbidden Alchemist Rank 3 Item).]
Aris frowned beneath his mask. He was Level 15. The gap was impossible. In a typical cultivation novel, the protagonist would go into seclusion for ten years to bridge that gap.
Aris didn't have ten years. He had a 9-to-5 soul that hated waiting.
"I need a shortcut," Aris thought. "If I can't break the seal with power, I'll break it with a bug."
He turned his gaze toward a restricted section of the library: The Records of the First Emperor. These scrolls were sealed in amber, describing the original construction of the palace. Using Forbidden Archeology, Aris "read" the scrolls without even touching them, downloading the data directly into his mind.
He saw the First Emperor, a man of terrifying ambition, striking a deal with a dying celestial entity to plant the Root. But the First Emperor was paranoid. He had left a "Safety Valve"—a specific frequency of Qi that could force the Root into a "Hibernation State" if it ever turned against the bloodline.
[New Blueprint Acquired: The Harmonic Resonance Spike.]
[Type: Forbidden Artifact.]
[Function: Injects a 'Null-Frequency' into a spiritual source, temporarily disabling all wards for 300 seconds.]
[Cost: 1,000 AP, 5x High-Grade Spirit Stones, and the 'Tears of a Sovereign.']
Aris checked his inventory. He had the AP. He had the Gold to buy the stones from Manager Feng. But Tears of a Sovereign?
"Nox," Aris called out softly. The shadow-beast slithered up his leg, its violet eyes inquisitive. "We need to make a Princess cry. But not out of sadness. Out of 'Gratitude'."
The Manipulation of a Heart
That evening, the Royal Gardens were bathed in the soft glow of spirit-lanterns.
Princess Ling sat by a koi pond, her face full of color for the first time in months. When she saw the masked "Pale Alchemist" emerge from the shadows, she stood up and bowed deeply—a gesture usually reserved for her father.
"Master Alchemist," she said, her voice trembling with genuine emotion. "I... I never had the chance to thank you properly. You didn't just save my life. You saved my soul. The Grey Wither felt like... like being buried alive in ice."
[Target: Princess Ling]
[Emotional State: Extreme Gratitude / Emerging Obsession.]
Aris approached her, his movements slow and methodical. He used his Merchant's Eye to analyze her mood. She was primed.
"Princess," Aris said, his voice dropping to a gentle, hypnotic hum. "Your recovery is not yet complete. The Wither has left a 'Cold Spot' in your heart. If left untreated, you will never reach the Nascent Soul stage."
Ling's eyes widened. For an Imperial Princess, strength was her only protection against political marriages. "Is there... is there a way to fix it?"
"It requires a ritual of 'Spiritual Vulnerability'," Aris lied flawlessly. "I must resonate my Qi with yours. It will be painful, as it touches the very core of your emotions. Can you trust me?"
"I would trust you with my life, Master," she said fervently.
Aris reached out and touched her forehead. He didn't use Qi. He used his Abyssal Eye to trigger a "Feedback Loop" in her nervous system—a simulated surge of pure, overwhelming relief and joy.
The sensation was so intense, so beautiful, that Princess Ling began to tremble. Her soul vibrated with a release of tension she had held for years. A single, pearlescent tear rolled down her cheek—a tear produced by the peak of her spiritual resonance.
Aris caught the tear on the tip of a glass needle.
[Item Acquired: Tears of a Sovereign.]
[Requirement Met.]
[Initiating Creation Forge: Harmonic Resonance Spike.]
[Crafting... 30%... 70%... 100%]
[Item Created: The God-Blight Spike (Rank: Forbidden).]
"Rest now, Princess," Aris whispered, withdrawing his hand. "You have served your purpose."
The Descent
At midnight, the Palace was silent.
Aris didn't use the stairs. He used Nox.
[Skill Activated: Shadow-Walk.]
They became a ripple in the floorboards, sliding down through the stone like oil through water. They bypassed the patrolling guards, slipped through the cracks of the "Void-Lock" doors, and descended into the earth.
Deeper. Deeper. Until the temperature dropped to absolute zero and the air smelled of ozone.
The chamber was massive, filled with a subterranean lake of liquid Qi. In the center stood the Primal Root. It was massive, terrifying, and ancient. It hummed with a sound that felt like it was trying to rewrite Aris's DNA.
[Warning: Dao-Binding Seal is detecting an unauthorized presence.]
[Sentinels Initializing...]
Two massive stone statues—Guardians of the Root (Level 65)—began to grind their joints. Their stone eyelids snapped open, revealing blue fire.
"Too slow," Aris smirked.
He lunged forward, his Steel-Tendon muscles propelling him like a cannonball. He held the God-Blight Spike like a dagger.
Before the Guardians could lift their massive halberds, Aris slammed the Spike into the base of the Root.
CRACK.
A shockwave of violet and silver light exploded. The Root let out a high-pitched scream that only souls could hear. The blue fire in the Guardians' eyes flickered and died instantly as their power source was cut.
The "Dao-Binding Seal" fractured like a piece of cheap glass.
[System Notification: The World Tree is 'Glitched'.]
[Status: Vulnerable / Rebooting.]
[Option: Consume?]
Aris stood before the glowing heart of the Empire. He could drain it dry right now. He could become Level 50 in a heartbeat.
"No," Aris said, his hand hovering over the silver wood. "If I consume it all now, the Empire collapses tonight, and I have nowhere to hide. The Sects will swarm like vultures."
"I'll do what a true player does. I'll Install a Patch."
Aris pressed his palm against the Root. He didn't drain the energy; he injected his own Abyssal Qi. He began to "re-code" the World Tree, turning the foundation of the entire Qin Empire into an extension of his own body.
[Process Complete.]
[New Ability Gained: Sovereign of the Root (Partial).]
[Effect: You now control 5% of the Empire's total Qi output.]
[Ability: 'Admin Access' – You can now 'disconnect' any specific cultivator from the ambient Qi network at will.]
As Aris walked out of the chamber, the World Tree was no longer glowing purely silver. If one looked closely, they could see tiny, violet veins pulsing deep within the wood.
The Emperor sat on his throne above, thinking he was the master of his domain. He didn't realize he was now just a tenant in Aris's house.