The scent of sharp vinegar and old stone filled the narrow hallway leading to the guest quarters. Han Sen clutched the iron badge in his palm, the metal edges biting into his skin. Each step felt like a heavy chore.
[HP: 6/10]
[Status: Mental Exhaustion]
His body was screaming. Using God-Hand Transmutation at Level 1 was like running a lightning bolt through a copper wire. It worked, but the wire was melting. He needed to rest before his own heart gave out.
He reached the door to his assigned laboratory. It was a small, circular room with a stone table and a single, flickering mana lamp. The air was thick with the dust of neglected shelf space.
"Well, look at this. The beggar got a key."
Han Sen didn't turn around. He recognized the voice: it was Alchemist Zhou. The man was standing at the end of the hall, surrounded by three other disciples.
Zhou's face was flushed with a mixture of shame and fury. He didn't look at Han Sen's eyes. He looked at the iron badge as if it were a personal insult.
"Grandmaster Mo is old," Zhou said, his voice trembling with forced bravado. "He was blinded by a lucky trick. But the City Lord's daughter? That isn't a trick. That is a death sentence."
Zhou stepped closer, his Level 25 aura flaring. The pressure hit Han Sen like a physical wave, making his vision blur for a second. To a normal person, it was a light breeze. To a man with 10 HP, it was a sledgehammer.
[HP: 5/10]
Han Sen leaned his shoulder against the doorframe to keep from swaying. He looked at Zhou, his gaze cold and perfectly still. He didn't waste breath on an insult. He just watched the man, his eyes tracing the pulse in Zhou's neck.
"You are a Level 1 mistake," Zhou hissed, leaning in. "In three days, when you fail, I will be the one who sweeps your ashes out of this lab."
"Are you finished?" Han Sen asked.
The simplicity of the question caught Zhou off guard. He expected begging, or anger, or fear. He didn't expect to be treated like a buzzing fly.
"I have work to do," Han Sen said, turning his back on the group.
He stepped into the lab and closed the door. He didn't lock it with the key. He used his [Dimensional Anchor] skill again. The soft hiss of reality sealing shut was the only sound in the room.
Outside, Zhou kicked the door in frustration. The heavy wood didn't even vibrate. It was as if he had kicked a mountain.
Han Sen slumped into a wooden chair, his chest heaving. He reached into his tunic and pulled out Nixi. The little Phoenix was glowing with a worried, flickering light.
"I'm fine," Han Sen whispered, though his hand was shaking. "But the City Lord's daughter is a problem. I can't heal a soul with a pill alone."
He opened his system. He needed something deeper than physical alchemy. He scrolled through his basic skills until he found [Basic Awareness].
[Allocating Skill Points: 3,000,000]
[Basic Awareness has evolved into: Spirit-Sovereign Vision (Max Level).]
The world inside the lab vanished. The walls, the table, and the dust were replaced by a sea of glowing threads. He could see the mana flowing through the stones. He could see the golden core of Nixi's soul.
He looked at his own reflection in a bowl of water. His soul was a tiny, flickering white flame, but it was surrounded by an infinite, dark void that seemed to swallow everything around it.
"Her soul is fragmenting," he muttered, closing his eyes as the strain of the vision pushed his HP down to 4. "I don't just need to be an alchemist. I need to be a surgeon of the spirit."
He had three days to master the laws of life and death. If he failed, the City Lord wouldn't just kill him: he would erase his very existence.
Han Sen reached for a bundle of herbs on the table. He didn't have time for sleep. He only had time for perfection.