The obsidian slab was cold, but the loneliness of the Void-Pit was colder.
After the "Rewiring" of his nerves, Li Wei was no longer kept in solitary confinement. Mo Ran had moved him to the **'Common Ward'**—a damp, stone hall deep beneath the glacier where a dozen other children sat in ghostly silence.
These were the 'Spares.' The backups in case Li Wei's body rejected the Celestial Silk.
Each child carried the marks of Mo Ran's madness. Some had eyes that never closed due to nerve-stretching; others had limbs that twitched with artificial Qi-pulses.
"Does it ever stop hurting?"
A small voice pulled Li Wei out of his clinical trance. Beside him sat a girl with skin as pale as the snow outside. Her name was **Xiao Chen**. Her left arm was wrapped in blood-stained bandages where Mo Ran had been experimenting with **Bone-Marrow Grafting**.
Li Wei looked at her. His new **Celestial Silk** hummed under his skin, sensing the erratic, weak pulse of her heart. To his eyes, she wasn't just a girl; she was a failing biological system.
"The pain doesn't stop," Li Wei said. His voice was hollow, devoid of the warmth an eight-year-old should possess. "You just learn to categorize it. It becomes... data. A signal that your body is still functioning."
Xiao Chen flinched. She reached out and touched his hand. Her skin was warm—a biological warmth that Li Wei had almost forgotten existed in this frozen hell.
"I don't want to be data," she whispered. "I want to go home. I want to see the sunflowers in my village. Don't you want to go back, Wei?"
For a split second, Li Wei's **Prefrontal Cortex** sparked. A memory of his sister, Hua, flashed behind his eyes. He felt a sharp, stabbing sensation in his chest—not from a needle, but from a dying emotion.
*Clinical Observation:* Subject experienced a sudden surge in **Oxytocin**. Empathy levels: Critical.
But then, the Silk in his spine vibrated, cooling his blood. The memory of the sunflowers turned into a chemical equation.
"Home is a location that no longer exists in our current coordinates," he said flatly. "Survival is the only valid objective."
The next morning, the heavy iron doors of the Ward groaned open. Mo Ran entered. He didn't look at them as children. He looked at them as tools needing to be sharpened.
"The first stage of surgery is not just cutting," Mo Ran's voice boomed, echoing off the frost-covered ceiling. "It is understanding resistance. Today, you will learn to overcome the **Tensile Strength** of living tissue."
They were led to an arena filled with the smell of musk and dry blood. In the center stood an **Iron-Hide Boar**—a Stage 1 Spirit Beast. Its skin was as thick as plate armor, and its tusks were jagged blades capable of piercing stone.
"Xiao Chen," Mo Ran commanded, handing her a small, star-iron scalpel. "Kill it. Aim for the **Jugular Vein**. If you miss, the beast will graze on your entrails."
The girl's hands shook so violently the blade nearly fell. She stepped forward, her small frame dwarfed by the beast. The Boar roared, its eyes red with **Adrenergic Rage**.
"I... I can't," she sobbed.
The Boar charged.
Li Wei didn't think. His new nerves reacted before his conscious brain could process the fear. The **Celestial Silk** in his legs tightened, boosting his **Motor Neurons** to a superhuman speed.
He tackled Xiao Chen just as the tusks grazed her side. They tumbled across the frozen dirt.
"Interference is not permitted," Mo Ran said, his eyes narrowing into slits of black glass.
"She isn't ready," Li Wei hissed, standing between the girl and the beast. "Her **Fine Motor Skills** are compromised by the grafting wounds. I will perform the procedure."
"Then do it," Mo Ran challenged. "But remember, Li Wei: if you fail to cut the beast, I will let the beast cut the girl. A surgeon who cannot protect his theater is a failure."
The Boar charged again, its hooves cracking the permafrost.
Li Wei didn't move. He closed his eyes and activated his **Anatomical Sovereign** domain. The world turned into a blueprint.
He saw the Boar's **Circulatory System**. He saw the thick layer of **Subcutaneous Fat** protecting the neck. A normal strike would bounce off. He had to find the 'Gate'
He waited until the beast was inches away. At the last micro-second, he slid beneath its belly, his Silk-reinforced muscles acting like coiled springs.
His hand struck upward. He didn't just stab; he performed a **Surgical Incision** with a speed of 0.02 seconds. He targeted the small gap between the **Cervical Vertebrae** and the base of the skull.
The Star-Iron blade slid in like a needle into butter.
*Observation:* The blade severed the **Spinal Cord**. The electrical signals from the brain to the heart were instantly cut off.
The Boar didn't even scream. Its massive body skidded across the arena, stone-dead before it hit the ground. A single drop of blood landed on Li Wei's cheek.
Li Wei stood up. His white training robes were splattered with the warm, metallic blood of the beast. He looked at his hands. They were steady. Too steady.
Xiao Chen ran to him, sobbing, hugging his waist. "Thank you... thank you, Wei. You saved me."
Li Wei looked down at her, but he didn't hug her back. He felt a terrifying coldness spreading from his 'Void Heart' to his fingertips. He realized then that Mo Ran wasn't just testing his skill.
He was testing his **Attachment**.
Mo Ran walked over, looking at the dead Boar with a nod of approval.
"A clean kill. No wasted movement. But tell me, Li Wei... why did you save her? Was it compassion? Or did you just want to see how long a weak system can survive before it inevitably collapses?"
Li Wei didn't answer. He looked at Xiao Chen's smiling face and felt a deep, gut-wrenching dread. He saw her not as a friend, but as a future target.
*Internal Log (Year 3):* First kill confirmed. **Dopamine** levels: Neutral. The 'Boy' has learned that to protect something, he must first learn how to destroy it with absolute precision.
**Target Count: 3,000.**
**Current Status: Learning the weight of blood.**
***Mo Ran assigns Li Wei and Xiao Chen as 'Partners' for the next year of training. "To understand life," Mo Ran whispers, "you must watch it grow—and then you must be the one to stop it."***