The rain had lightened as Li Wei left the courtyard.
Mist had begun to rise across the terraces of the outer sect, drifting lazily through the air on the mountain like strands of smoke. Water continued to fall off the edges of the tiled roofs, though the rain had passed the peaks of the Azure Cloud Mountains hours before. The sky was dark and heavy with clouds, giving the entire sect a grey color that made the lights of the lanterns on the pathways seem particularly warm.
Li Wei moved along the narrow stone path leading away from the training courtyard.
The sounds of disciples sparring and arguing receded slowly into the distance behind him.
The outer sect was a large place, home to hundreds of disciples across the many levels of the mountain. Even after the events of the day, the attempted execution, the sudden confession of Zhao Tian, and the rumors that had begun to spread, the sect continued on as it had always done.
Some disciples trained.
Some disciples argued.
Some disciples hunted opportunities.
Li Wei's footsteps echoed softly on the damp stone walkway as he made his way towards the residential district.
His face was still serene.
Inside his body, though, he could still sense the faint heat left behind by the piece of his fate that he had extracted from Lin Hao.
It was faint.
Almost imperceptible.
But if he concentrated on it, he could sense the change.
The broken dantian was still broken, but some of the broken lines had started to close, ever so slightly. It was a small change, a tiny fraction of the overall damage, but it was a sign that the system was working, that it was the real deal.
His dantian could be fixed.
Slowly.
Piece by piece.
Li Wei came across a small wooden bridge connecting two sections of the outer sect's residential district and stood briefly in the center of it. Under the bridge, rainwater flowed steadily through a small channel carved out of the stone of the mountain, carrying small leaves and bits of dirt with it towards the lower terraces.
The soft sound of running water filled the air.
Li Wei stood lightly against the railing and reopened the system interface.
The transparent screen came up immediately.
[Karmic Accounting System]
Active Debts: 0
Dantian Repair Progress: 1.3%
Host Condition: Critical
These figures were underwhelming.
But Li Wei did not look like he was disappointed.
After all, progress was progress, no matter how little he had made.
Li Wei's eyes shifted slightly as another screen came up underneath the ledger.
[Host Status Analysis]
Dantian Integrity: Damaged
Meridian Stability: 13%
Cultivation Capability: Body Tempering – Stage 1
Li Wei had read the last one twice.
Body Tempering – Stage 1.
A small smile seemed to play across Li Wei's lips.
Technically speaking, he had not really cultivated. He had simply repaired enough of his dantian to allow the most basic level of qi circulation.
But that was enough.
Body Tempering cultivation did not require a perfect dantian. It required the strengthening of the physical body, and this was done through the controlled absorption of spiritual energy.
For most disciples, this was only the beginning.
For Li Wei, it was something far more valuable.
A second chance.
He closed the interface.
The rain continued to fall softly around him.
Without another word, Li Wei Wei continued across the bridge and on towards the outer sect dormitories.
The disciples dorm came into view shortly after.
Rows of wooden structures stood on the mountain terrace, their lanterns glowing faintly through the mist. The outer sect had hundreds of disciples, and though the buildings were simple, they were large enough to accommodate the constant influx of new disciples entering the sect each year.
Several disciples stood under the roofs of the corridor, speaking of the events that had occurred that day.
"Heard Zhao Tian himself stopped the execution..."
"So, Li Wei really saved his life?"
"If so, then why did he charge him with a crime?"
"Who knows? Maybe Zhao Tian changed his mind."
The voices trailed off as Li Wei walked past them.
Not a single disciple bothered to look at him.
Or maybe they simply chose to ignore him.
After all, Li Wei's reputation in the outer sect had already been ruined. Even if he managed to escape death, many still saw him as a cripple whose cultivation had been ruined.
As someone who no longer mattered.
Li Wei didn't mind.
In fact, he rather preferred it this way.
It made many things easier.
He walked into the long corridor of wood that led to the sect rooms outside.
The corridor had a faint smell of damp wood and the smell of oil that burned in the small lanterns that hung against the wall. Most of the disciples had gone to their rooms for the evening, so the corridor was quiet except for the occasional sound of rain hitting the window panes.
Li Wei went to the last room at the end of the corridor.
He opened the door.
The room was simple in its furnishings.
There was a bed against one wall, a small table with a cushion against the window, and an oil lamp that burned softly on the table, giving the room a warm golden light.
Li Wei closed the door behind him.
He stood there for a moment or two, listening to the soft beat of rain against the wooden wall.
He went to the cushion and sat down.
The room was quiet once more.
The sounds of the outer sect in the distance faded into the background.
Li Wei closed his eyes.
For the first time since his dantian had been shattered, he made an effort to circulate spiritual energy.
The effect was… problematic.
In normal circumstances, spiritual energy would accumulate naturally inside the dantian before flowing through the meridians. Now, however, his spiritual core was damaged, causing the energy to flow erratically through the damaged meridians of his body.
Even drawing in a small amount of spiritual energy had to be carefully controlled.
He slowly and carefully guided the small amount of spiritual energy drifting through the air towards him.
The process was almost agonizingly slow.
But at last, a small amount of spiritual energy entered his meridians.
The moment it entered, however, a dull pain began to spread through his damaged dantian.
Li Wei flinched, but he carefully guided the spiritual energy through the damaged fragments of his spiritual core.
Time dragged by.
The flow of spiritual energy slowly became stable.
Despite this, however, the fact that the cracks had been repaired meant that a small amount of energy was now circulating correctly.
The rain had stopped at some point during the night.
As Li Wei opened his eyes once again, some faint light was leaking through the wooden window of his small room. The faint sound of disciples training in the outer sect courtyard was already echoing through the mountains.
His body hurt.
The act of cultivating with a damaged dantian was much, much harder than normal cultivation. Every time he attempted to guide his spiritual energy through his meridians, it caused strain on the damaged core inside his abdomen.
Li Wei took a deep breath and stood up from his meditation cushion.
The oil lamp next to the table had long since gone out, but it left behind a faint smell of smoke.
He activated his system interface.
[Host Status Analysis]
Cultivation: None
Dantian Integrity: Damaged
Meridian Stability: 13%
Qi Circulation Efficiency: 6%
Li Wei looked at the figures calmly.
Six percent efficiency.
Ordinary outer sector disciples had cultivation efficiencies of more than seventy percent.
Him gathering spiritual energy was like trying to collect water with a cracked bowl when he had a damaged dantian.
Most of the qi would simply scatter before it could stabilize.
Which meant he would take years to rely solely on cultivation to fix his dantian.
Li Wei closed the interface.
That was unacceptable.
Luckily, he already knew of another way.
Fate.
The days that followed were uneventful.
Li Wei lived low in the outer sector. During the day, he would occasionally stroll through the training grounds or the mission halls, observing the way the disciples interacted with one another, searching for opportunities to obtian karmic debts.
Sometimes the opportunities were small ones.
Accommodating a disciple who had gotten in trouble with a patrol elder.
Informing another disciple of the dangers of the mission he had been assigned to.
Stopping minor conflicts from escalating into something worse.
Each of the events would accrue a small karmic debt for Li Wei.
And each of the karmic debts would give Li Wei a piece of fate.
The rewards were never large.
But they accumulated steadily.
Every fate fragment brought the same comfortable warmth within his abdomen, gradually repairing the cracks within his damaged dantian.
At night, Li Wei returned to his room and cultivated.
The process was still slow and painful.
It took constant concentration for him to guide the qi through the damaged meridians. If he let his concentration waver even slightly, the unstable energy would dissipate instantly.
Still, the progress was undeniable.
Five days had passed.
On the evening of the fifth day, Li Wei sat cross-legged once again on the meditation cushion. The room was quiet, except for the faint rustling of the wind outside the window.
The spiritual energy within the air around him moved slowly.
Li Wei guided the energy carefully towards his body.
The energy seemed to stabilize more easily than before.
The cracks within his dantian had significantly reduced over the past few days. While the core was still far from fully repaired, it could now hold a small amount of spiritual energy without immediately falling apart.
The circulation of qi gradually increased.
The familiar sensation washed over him, warming his limbs as spiritual energy infused strength into his muscles and bones.
Time ticked by, then hours, until finally, a slight tremor ran through Li Wei's frame.
He opened his eyes, and the system interface automatically displayed on the screen.
[Cultivation Breakthrough]
Body Tempering - Stage 1
The breakthrough had been small, almost insignificant, especially when compared to other, more dramatic breakthroughs that talented cultivators might experience.
Of course, it was a major breakthrough for someone whose dantian had been destroyed mere days ago.
Another interface popped up.
[Host Status Analysis]
Cultivation: Body Tempering - Stage 1
Dantian Repair Progress: 6%
Qi Circulation Efficiency: 22%
Li Wei perused the data.
Six percent repair.
It was an improvement, and it was noticeable.
But what was even more important was that the efficiency of his cultivation had almost quadrupled since the first day.
The combination of [Fate Harvest] and cultivation was working exactly as he had expected it to.
Li Wei slowly stood up, and he noticed that his body felt lighter than it had in days.
The strength of Body Tempering Stage 1 was not impressive, at least in comparison to the stronger disciples of the outer sect, but it was enough to restore the basic physical vitality.
He walked towards the window, opening it.
Cool night air entered the room.
From far below the outer sect terrace, the faint light of the lanterns flickered on the training grounds, where a few disciples practiced their skills at the late hours of the night.
Li Wei observed the disciples in silence.
Five days ago, he had been a cripple, waiting for execution.
Today, he had begun cultivating once more.
The progress was slow.
But that did not concern Li Wei.
His vision turned for an instant towards the system interface, which faintly appeared in front of him.
The karmic ledger was empty once more.
Which meant that there was only one thing left for Li Wei to do.
He closed the window, turning towards the room.
Tomorrow, he would begin acquiring new debts.
Now that his cultivation had resumed, every bit of his destiny he obtained would help him accelerate his growth.