Midnight.
Skyview Manor was a ship sailing through a sea of stars. The high altitude and the lack of city lights made the night sky brilliant and vast.
Lin Hao stood in the center of the West Wing, bathed in the moonlight filtering through the glass walls. He wasn't looking at the stars. He was looking at his phone.
11:59:58
The numbers flickered.
11:59:59
00:00
Day 10. A milestone.
His will lashed out, performing the ritual that had become his religion.
[Daily Boost: Increase Global Reiki Density (0.01%)]? (Cost: 100 UP)
The price had hit triple digits. One hundred points. A week ago, that was his entire daily income. Now, it was a penny thrown into a fountain.
"Confirm."
[Deducting 100 UP. 36,660 UP Remaining.] [Ascension Bonus: ACTIVE. Your next daily UP gain will be 102,400 UP.]
Lin Hao stared at the notification.
One hundred and two thousand.
He had broken the six-figure barrier. The exponential curve was no longer a wave; it was a tsunami. Tomorrow, he would earn enough to upgrade a Mortal to a Waste root every two hours.
But that was tomorrow. Tonight, he had a different milestone to cross.
[Daily UP Generation: Active.] [Ascension Bonus: Applied (x2).] [You have received 51,200 UP.]
The interface flashed, a silent, blue-white explosion of wealth.
[Upgrade Points (UP): 87,860]
Eighty-seven thousand.
It was enough. It was finally, undeniably, enough.
He didn't wait to celebrate. He didn't pace. He didn't hesitate.
He opened the [$Upgrade Others$] tab.
"Target: Lin Meng."
[Target Acquired: Lin Meng. Status: Sleeping.] [Talent: Level 3: Inferior Root (Peak)]
The stats glowed in the dark. She was at the peak of her current potential, thanks to his 5,000 UP gift yesterday. But "Inferior" was still inferior. It was a glass ceiling she would hit in a year or two.
He looked at the button that had mocked him for days. The button that cost fifty thousand points.
[Talent: Level 3 -> Level 4 (Common Root)]? (Cost: 50,000 UP)
Fifty thousand.
It was more than half his fortune. It was a staggering sum that could have bought ten Spirit-Grade artifacts or a Mid-Grade formation for the entire mountain.
But compared to his sister's future? It was cheap.
"Confirm," he said, his voice echoing in the empty hall.
[Deducting 50,000 UP. 37,860 UP Remaining.]
There was no sound. No flash of light in the room.
But Lin Hao felt it.
A massive, heavy pulse of pure, white-hot potential left his body. It didn't dissipate into the air. It shot outward, invisible and unstoppable, traversing the twenty miles of darkness, bypassing the fog, the city, and the suburbs, homing in on a single, specific bloodline signature.
It was a guided missile of destiny.
[The Lin Family Home]
In her bed, Lin Meng gasped.
She didn't wake up. She was too deep in the rhythmic, healing sleep induced by the "Clear Water Chant."
But her body arched. Her fingers gripped the sheets.
The pulse hit her.
It wasn't the gentle, warm wash of the purification. This was a reconstruction.
Deep inside her, in the metaphysical space where her soul met her body, the "Inferior" structures, the narrow, twisted spiritual veins that defined her limits, shattered.
They didn't break. They expanded.
They widened, straightened, and reinforced themselves. The muddy, restricted flow of her natural Qi suddenly roared, finding new, broad avenues to travel.
She let out a long, shuddering breath, her brow relaxing.
She was no longer "Inferior." She was "Common."
It sounded mundane. But in the cultivation world, "Common" meant limitless. It meant the glass ceiling was gone. It meant she could walk the path to the Houtian peak without hitting a wall.
[Skyview Manor]
Lin Hao let out a breath he felt like he'd been holding for a week.
He checked the status one last time.
[Target: Lin Meng | Talent: Level 4: Common Root]
It was done. She was safe. She was on the path.
He looked at his remaining balance.
[Upgrade Points (UP): 37,860]
He was poorer than he had been a minute ago. But he felt richer.
And now... he looked at the dark, silent mountain around him.
His sister was upgraded. His cultivation was unlocked. His daily income was about to break 100k.
It was time to turn his attention back to himself. It was time to reach for the real power.