Night settled differently here.
Not heavy.
Not watchful.
Just… quieter.
The house wasn't silent—but it didn't press in either. It simply existed around me, contained and distant.
I sat on the bed.
The five stones rested in front of me.
Evenly spaced.
Their surfaces caught the dim light in small, fractured reflections.
To anyone else—
They would look like nothing.
Just stones.
I reached forward and picked one up.
The moment it touched my skin—
…There.
A thread.
Faint. Thin.
But real.
Qi.
Not the dense, overwhelming flow I was used to.
Not even close.
Just… residue.
Still—
Structured.
I closed my eyes.
Not to relax.
Just to focus.
Breath slowed.
Inhale.
Pause.
Exhale.
Again.
The thread didn't move.
Of course it didn't.
There was no natural flow here. No circulation. No ambient pull.
This world didn't support it.
…So I would.
I adjusted slightly—
And pulled.
Gently.
The response came immediately.
The thread tightened.
Resisted.
Then—
Shifted.
Qi entered through my palm.
Not clean.
It broke apart as it moved—uneven, unstable.
Like trying to draw water through something cracked.
…Annoying.
I slowed my breathing.
Reduced the pull.
Adjusted the angle.
The flow steadied.
Not stronger.
Just… less waste.
Better.
The sensation spread slowly.
Palm—
Wrist—
Forearm—
Weak.
But there.
My body reacted.
Not visibly.
But internally—
Things aligned.
Edges sharpened.
The air felt a little clearer.
I opened my eyes.
The room hadn't changed.
But it felt… more defined.
"…Good enough."
I set the stone down and looked at the others.
Five.
That wasn't much.
Better not waste them.
I picked up another.
More carefully this time.
Contact.
Pull.
This one—
Resisted more.
I paused slightly.
"…Different."
Not unfamiliar.
The flow wasn't just weak.
It was uneven.
I adjusted again.
Slower.
Less force.
The Qi responded.
Not fully.
But enough.
"…Low-grade," I muttered.
The thought came easily.
In my previous world, nothing like this was equal.
Everything had levels.
Density. Purity. Output.
These—
Were at the bottom.
Even then—
There were differences.
Small ones.
But noticeable.
I turned the stone slightly in my fingers, feeling the flow again.
"…Not identical."
That confirmed it.
I'd learned that the hard way before.
Back then—
Resources weren't given to grow.
They were given to maintain.
Menial disciples didn't cultivate.
They worked.
The memory surfaced—
brief, sharp—
then settled.
My grip tightened for a moment.
Then loosened.
…That didn't matter anymore.
I exhaled slowly.
Looked at the stone again.
Adjusted the pull.
Less force.
More control.
The Qi responded better this time.
Cleaner.
"…So it can be optimized."
That was enough.
This wasn't a dead system.
Just—
suppressed.
Neglected.
Forgotten.
I watched the flow for another second.
If I refine this—
If I get efficient—
Everything else improves with it.
Movement.
Reaction.
Control.
It all follows.
A second thought started to form—
If others here—
I stopped.
Didn't finish it.
Didn't need to.
Not yet.
—
Knock.
The sound cut through the room cleanly.
I stopped immediately.
The flow collapsed.
Not fully—but enough.
The stones dimmed back into stillness.
"Li Shen?"
Claire.
I placed the stone back with the others.
Even spacing.
Nothing out of place.
"Come in."
The door opened halfway.
She stepped in—
then paused.
Her eyes moved.
Room.
Table.
Me.
Something in her expression shifted.
"You… look different."
"I am sitting."
"That's not what I meant."
She stepped in fully, closing the door behind her.
Her gaze lingered on the table for just a moment longer than normal.
"…What were you doing?"
I thought about it.
Truth—
complicated.
Lying—
unnecessary.
"…Testing something."
She blinked.
"Testing what?"
"…Myself."
She stared at me.
"That's vague."
"It works."
A pause.
She studied my face, like she was trying to line something up.
"You've been like this a lot lately."
"…Yes."
"Why?"
I looked at her.
"…I want to know where the limits are."
She exhaled softly.
Not frustrated.
Just… not satisfied either.
"Okay, but—" she gestured vaguely toward me, "—you don't have to look like you're about to unlock something every time you sit still."
I didn't answer.
Because… that wasn't wrong.
She watched me for another second.
Then shook her head slightly.
"You're weird."
"…I've heard that."
She turned toward the door.
Then paused.
"Oh—also."
I looked up.
"People are still talking about the race."
Of course they were.
"Some of them are trying to find your account."
"…Account?"
"Online. Social media. Instagram. Something like that."
I processed that.
"They're trying to locate me digitally."
"Yes."
"…Why?"
Claire stared at me.
"Because you exist."
That answer—
didn't explain much.
But it was probably enough.
She opened the door.
"Just don't disappear completely, okay?"
A small pause.
Then, lighter—
"It'd be boring."
She left.
The door closed.
Silence returned.
—
I looked at the stones again.
Then at my hand.
The sensation was still there.
Faint.
But present.
Two systems.
One—
visible.
Noisy.
Uncontrolled.
The other—
quiet.
Hidden.
Predictable.
I picked up a stone again.
This time—
more precise.
Less force.
The thread responded immediately.
Cleaner than before.
"…Better."
I watched it for a moment.
The outside world gathered attention easily.
Didn't matter how.
Didn't matter why.
It just… happened.
This—
was different.
Slower.
But reliable.
I exhaled quietly.
"One draws attention," I said under my breath.
"The other builds power."
A pause.
"…Both matter."
I adjusted the flow again.
More stable this time.
"Then I'll use both."
The Qi moved.
Slow.
Controlled.
Outside—
the world kept going.
Noise.
Voices.
Movement.
Inside—
something steadier had begun.
And this time—
I wasn't reacting to it.
I was building it.