Chapter 159: New Mission
They started back up toward Silent Peak together, Lian trailing a few steps behind with Lin Hua’s bundle in her arms and a look that promised she had already found at least three things wrong with Qingyue’s room and was ranking them by how personally they offended her.
The room had been made livable for the night. Now, apparently, Lian intended to make it acceptable, which was a far more serious and dangerous standard.
Xuan kept walking.
Su Qingyue was beside him, Lian was behind him, and neither of them knew the system in his head had chosen that precise stretch of path to insult his finances. That was probably good. There were only so many humiliations a man should endure in one morning.
’Poor?’
[ Three hundred and twenty Origin Points. ]
’That is not nothing.’
[ It is the cultivation-system equivalent of finding two copper coins under a broken table and calling yourself a merchant prince. ]
Xuan’s mouth twitched despite himself.
Su Qingyue noticed, because of course she did. "Did something amuse you?"
"Only my own mistakes."
"That must be a generous source."
Lian made a small sound behind them and covered it badly with a cough.
Xuan looked at Qingyue. "You are adapting quickly."
"I had a good view last night."
[ I like her, ] Mira said. [ She stabs without needing a knife. ]
’Please do not start.’
[ Alright... I will behave. Briefly. ]
They reached Silent Peak soon after. The path opened into the familiar courtyard, empty and wind-brushed, with the spare room across from his already looking less abandoned because Lian had touched it once and apparently declared war on decay.
Qingyue paused before the doorway, studying the bundle in Lian’s arms, the shutters, the floor, the table that had never once stood straight in its life.
Lian stepped inside first. "Lady Qingyue, I will check the bedding. The table should be replaced as well."
Xuan glanced past her. "It held through the night."
"That is not a standard, Young Master."
Qingyue entered and looked at the table for herself. One leg sat shorter than the others, propped by a folded scrap of old paper that had probably been there since before Xuan cared about furniture.
"Replace it," she said.
Xuan looked at her. "You too?"
"I slept here once. I do not intend to negotiate with the table every morning."
Lian nodded with quiet approval, which somehow made it worse.
Mira’s satisfaction brushed through his mind, warm and deeply unnecessary.
[ Sensible women. Both of them. ]
Xuan looked at the room across the hall, where Lian had already begun unfolding bedding and Qingyue was examining a shelf with the quiet severity of a sect inspector.
He made the wise decision and retreated to his own chamber.
The door closed behind him. The noise from across the hall softened into faint movement: cloth being shaken out, wood dragged, Lian’s low voice explaining where things had been kept and Qingyue answering with calm precision. Silent Peak had gained another rhythm overnight.
Xuan sat at the edge of his bed.
"Alright," he said under his breath. "Show me."
The panel opened in front of him.
═══════════════════════════════
[ HOST STATUS — CURRENT ]
═══════════════════════════════
[ Name: Lin Xuan ]
[ Realm: Qi Refining — Stage 7 ]
[ Origin Points: 320 ]
[ Dantian Capacity: 38% ]
[ Sword Absolute Physique Sync: 31% ]
[ Current Issue: Terrible Spending Habits ]
═══════════════════════════════
Xuan stared at the last line.
’Was that necessary?’
[ Yes. I enjoyed writing it. ]
’I spent those points on useful things.’
[ I know. That is the irritating part. The breakthrough pills pushed you to Stage 7, the Marrow Centipede bought us a look behind Blood Fang’s curtain, and Wei Tianming is now a better asset because you poured a talent elixir down his throat. Congratulations. You invested wisely and still ended up poor. ]
’That sounds like a worse insult.’
[ It is. Bad spending can be corrected. Successful spending leaves you broke and annoyingly justified. ]
Xuan had no answer to that.
[ The centipede was worth it, ] Mira added. [ I am not mourning the insect. I am mourning the balance sheet. ]
Xuan leaned back on one hand and looked at the ceiling. He could still see the dark silk screen if he closed his eyes. The young voice behind it. Elder Mu’s fingers crushing the centipede. Han Ying’s corpse on the floor. Blood Fang had lost mines and elders, but the thing behind Blood Fang had smiled.
’Fine,’ he said. ’I am poor.’
[ Good. Acceptance is the first step. The second step is cultivating, since you cannot buy your way out this time. ]
Xuan lowered his gaze to the panel. ’No pills?’
[ No breakthrough pills worth buying with three hundred and twenty Origin Points. No secret bargain. No convenient miracle in the shop. You used your shortcuts, and they served their purpose. Now your body has to do the work. ]
That was less amusing.
He was Qi Refining Stage 7. Strong enough to make people in Yuncheng rewrite their opinions, strong enough to lead outer disciples and carve through mine guards, strong enough that Blood Fang had started speaking his name with care. But Elder Mu had only been an elder. Blood Fang’s patriarch and the two grand elders were Nascent Soul. The person behind the screen stood somewhere higher than his reach in a different way entirely.
Xuan had been winning with timing, leverage, surprise, and Mira’s tools.
Those were not worthless.
They were also not a foundation.
"What exactly do I need for Stage 8?" he asked.
[ The central meridian opened properly. More stable projection of Qi outside the body. Better control when your sword intent leaves the blade. Your current attacks hit hard, but they still waste power. Stage 8 fixes part of that. ]
"Part of it."
[ I am not selling you enlightenment with three hundred and twenty points, Xuan. I am trying to keep you alive. Be grateful. ]
He breathed out. ’And the mission?’
[ There it is. That lovely little hunger. ]
The panel changed.
═══════════════════════════════
[ MAIN MISSION — ACTIVE ]
═══════════════════════════════
[ "Back to Cultivation" ]
[ You have spent too long surviving on politics, ambushes, borrowed corpses, and expensive insects. ]
[ Objective: ]
[ ▸ Reach Qi Refining — Stage 8 through cultivation. ]
[ ▸ Do not use breakthrough pills for this advancement. ]
[ ▸ Complete 3 system-approved training tasks before the breakthrough. ]
[ ▸ Stabilize your Qi after advancement. ]
[ Reward: ]
[ ▸ +10,000 Origin Points ]
[ ▸ 1× Stage 8 Stabilization Pack ]
[ ▸ Shop Tier 3 Progression Hint ]
[ Failure Penalty: None. Embarrassment will occur naturally. ]
═══════════════════════════════
Xuan read the last line twice.
’Mira.’
[ What? ]
’Remove that.’
[ No. ]
’It is not part of the system.’
[ It is now. ]
He stared at the panel, and the panel did not have the decency to look ashamed.
From across the hall came the sound of Lian dragging something heavy. Qingyue said something too low for him to hear. Lian answered with the tone of someone explaining that dust was an enemy, not an inconvenience.
Xuan stood.
For days, everything had been wine cups, hidden doors, political smiles, and enemy corpses speaking with his voice. This was different. Simpler. Crueler in a way he trusted more. Breathe, circulate, cut, fail, repeat until the body understood what the mind had already accepted.
He reached for Marrow Dragon.
The sword gave its low hum as his fingers closed around the hilt.
[ One more thing, ] Mira said.
’What now?’
[ Su Qingyue is going to notice your training changes. She is too sharp for... ] Mira stopped herself. [ Too perceptive for us to pretend otherwise. ]
Xuan glanced toward the door across the hall.
’Then we keep the secret and let her see the work.’
[ Good answer. Almost responsible. ]
He stepped into the courtyard, sword at his side, mission panel glowing pale gold at the edge of his sight.
Across the hall, Su Qingyue appeared in her doorway and looked at the blade in his hand.
"Cultivating?" she asked.
"Apparently," Xuan said, "I have been avoiding the obvious."
Her eyes moved from him to the empty courtyard. "Most people do."
Xuan drew Marrow Dragon halfway from its sheath, the morning light catching the faint crimson line along the edge.
In his vision, the mission waited.
[ Stage 8. No excuses. ] Mira said.
Xuan breathed in.
The first circulation began.
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