The adrenaline, which had sustained me through the confrontation at the Glacial Moon Residence, evaporated the moment the heavy gates of the Serpent's Nest Pavilion clicked shut behind me. My legs, which had stood firm against the pressure of a Soul Transformation Matriarch and four Nascent Soul Elders, suddenly felt like lead.
I didn't bother calling for the servants. I didn't want the "pampered" treatment. I navigated the familiar opulence of the main hall, my boots dragging slightly across the jade-inlaid floorboards.
Reaching my private chambers, I bypassed the meditation mat and threw myself onto the massive bed. The silk sheets were cool against my skin, but they couldn't soothe the throbbing ache in my skull.
Using the Eye of Insight [Level 4] had been like trying to channel a river through a needle's eye. The sheer volume of the data—the spiritual blueprints of beings who had transcended mortality—was still echoing in my mind.
'Soul Transformation. Nascent Soul.' In my past life, I thought I knew what power was. I had commanded legions and seen empires crumble. However, those were mortal games.
Here, the Matriarch, Yin Mei, wasn't just a leader; she was a force of nature. To her, I was likely still a fascinating insect that had suddenly learned how to sting.
I stared up at the ceiling, where the spirit lamps cast soft, oscillating shadows. I was at the Early 1st Stage of Qi Condensation. I had forty-eight hours until the Major Awakening.
"System," I whispered, my voice raspy. "Open the Shop."
The familiar blue screen flickered into existence, floating in the dim light of the room. It felt different now. With the System Shop unlocked, the interface had expanded, revealing categories that made my Chaos Meridian pulse with an almost physical greed.
I scrolled past the "God-Tier" artifacts that cost hundreds of thousands of SP—items like the Heaven-Shattering Bell or the Myriad World Seed. Those were dreams for a future I hadn't earned yet. I focused on the "Consumables" and "Alchemical Formulas" sections. I needed something that could give me leverage, not just raw power.
After a few minutes of browsing, a particular scroll caught my eye.
[Formula: Ethereal Beauty Pill]
* Rank: Mortal/Spirit Hybrid
* Cost: 3 System Points (Formula Only)
* Description: A pill that focuses on cellular regeneration and the purging of external necrotic tissue.
* Effect: Rejuvenates the physical appearance and vitality of the consumer by exactly twenty years.
* Note: This pill has diminishing returns for high-level cultivators (Nascent Soul and above) as their bodies are already sustained by pure Qi. However, for those with low cultivation or non-cultivators, the effect is permanent.
I stared at the description for a long time. My mind, honed by years of military strategy and political maneuvering, immediately began calculating.
High-Level cultivators like Yin Mei or Elder Zhao Tie wouldn't care about a "pretty face." Their lifespans were already measured in centuries, and their bodies were refined by the Dao. But this world wasn't just made of cultivators.
It was built on the backs of Merchant Lords, noble families with waning bloodlines, and the thousands of wealthy mortals who held the purse strings of the Eastern Continent.
"A single pill that grants twenty years of youth..." I mused, a cold smile touching my lips. "In the hands of a Merchant Lord's aging wife or a declining patriarch, this isn't just medicine. It's a miracle. They would kill their own kin for a single dose."
To most cultivators, this was "trash" medicine. To me, it was a political nuclear weapon. If I could produce these, I wouldn't just be a "Supreme Genius" the family wanted to use—I would be the sole source of a commodity that could buy me an entire city's worth of favors.
"Buy it," I commanded.
{Ding!}
{3 System Points consumed. Formula: [Ethereal Beauty Pill] added to Alchemical Knowledge Base.}
I felt a sharp tingle in my brain as the list of ingredients and the precise heat-regulation techniques for the pill were etched into my memory. It was complex, requiring rare herbs like Silver-Thread Grass and Vitality Lilies, but nothing the Yin Family's treasury didn't already possess.
I kept scrolling, my eyes searching for something more immediate. My victory over Elder Yuan Mo had been fueled by Absolute Domination, but that technique was a drain on my soul. If I were to face a Nascent Soul expert, I wouldn't just need a "sovereign aura"; I would need an ocean of Qi to back it up.
The Star-King Breathing Technique was Divine-tier, yes, but it was limited by the "atmospheric density" of the environment. Even in the Serpent's Nest, I was only absorbing Qi at a fixed rate.
Then, I found it.
[Consumable: Qi Devouring Pill]
* Rank: Peak-Earth Rank
* Cost: 1 System Point per pill
* Effect: Upon consumption, the user's pores and meridians undergo a temporary "Void State." Increases the rate of ambient Qi absorption by 300% for a duration of six hours.
* Constraint: Does not work for cultivators at the Soul Transformation Realm or higher.
* Warning: Frequent use may cause temporary "Qi Fever" as the body struggles to process the sudden influx.
My breath hitched. 300%? For six hours?
I looked at the cost. 1 SP.
For a 1st-stage Qi Condensation ant like me, this was a lifeline. If I used this in tandem with the Star-King technique, my cultivation speed wouldn't just be fast—it would be a vertical climb.
Most importantly, it worked up to the Nascent Soul Realm. That meant I had a tool that would remain relevant for a very long time.
"System, buy two Qi Devouring Pills," I ordered.
{Ding!}
{2 System Points consumed. Items transferred to Inventory.}
I reached into the void of my mental inventory and pulled one out. It was a jagged, pitch-black pill that seemed to pull the light from the spirit lamps into its surface. It felt cold, hungry, and dangerously potent.
I held it between my fingers, looking at the black sludge that still stained my robes from the morning's breakthrough. I was still weak—a 1st-stage novice playing a game against Nascent Soul monsters and a Soul Transformation Matriarch.
I looked at the clock. I had roughly forty-six hours left.
"Twenty years of youth for the world," I whispered, looking at the Ethereal Beauty formula in my mind, then at the black pill in my hand. "And a ravenous hunger for me."
The Matriarch thinks the Major Awakening is a crucible, while Elder Yuan Mo thinks it will be my tomb. They are all waiting for the "True Primordial Obsidian" to tell them what I am.
But as I looked at the system window, seeing my SP drop to 0, I realized that I was no longer interested in their "Certainty."
I swallowed the first Qi Devouring Pill.
WHOOM.
The air in the Serpent's Nest Pavilion didn't just move; it imploded. Every pore on my body felt like a tiny, starving mouth. The high-density Qi mist in the room was sucked toward me with such force that the sandalwood walls began to creak.
I sat cross-legged on the bed, the Star-King Breathing Technique igniting with a violet-gold ferocity I hadn't felt before. The Chaos Meridian roared, expanding to its limits as it began to process the tidal wave of energy.
I didn't just need to awaken a vein in two days. I needed to be ready to fight the very ancestors who were watching from the higher realms.
I closed my eyes, the darkness of the room fading as the internal world of my meridians lit up with the brilliance of a thousand stars.
The hunt hadn't just begun. It was about to become a massacre.
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