The days at Skyview Manor bled into one another in a blur of construction noise and silent, nighttime cultivation.
While Fatty Zhang argued with contractors about the "secret underground server room" (which was actually a meditation chamber), Lin Hao remained in the West Wing, honing his new arsenal.
He spent hours running the perimeter, his Phantom Step leaving ghostly afterimages in the fog. He spent hours smashing granite boulders with his Vajra Body, turning rock to dust with his golden-skinned forearms.
He was a weapon being sharpened. But he was still a Level 7 weapon.
He had been checking his [$Self Upgrade$] tab every hour, on the hour, for the last two days.
He sat in the center of the main hall, the moonlight reflecting off the polished black floor. He wiped sweat from his forehead, real sweat, from physical exertion, not the fake "hero" sweat he'd used on campus.
He opened the interface.
[Weekly Cultivation Upgrade: LOCKED (0 days, 0 hours, 1 minute remaining)]
He stared at the timer. The "week" since his upgrade to Level 7 (back before the tiger attack) was finally up.
00:00:00
The red text flickered. It vanished.
It was replaced by the permissive, beautiful blue.
[Weekly Cultivation Upgrade: UNLOCKED.] [Quota: 1/1 Available.]
Lin Hao didn't waste a second. He had 33,860 UP. The cost for the next level was a pittance.
[Cultivation: Level 7: Viscera Fortification] [Upgrade: Level 8: Meridian Opening (Pathway)]? (Cost: 500 UP)
Level 8. The penultimate stage of the Houtian Realm. The stage where the body's internal energy system was fully excavated, connecting the organs, the marrow, and the Dantian into a single, unified highway.
"Confirm."
[Deducting 500 UP. 33,360 UP Remaining.] [Upgrading Host to Level 8: Meridian Opening...]
Lin Hao braced himself. He expected heat. He expected pressure.
He didn't expect the explosion.
BOOM.
A soundless detonation rocked his entire body. It felt as if a stick of dynamite had been set off inside his Dantian.
The massive, dense reservoir of Qi he had built up with his High-Grade Gongfa, the Azure Ocean, was suddenly released. It didn't flow gently. It erupted.
It surged into his meridians, the 108 pathways that carried energy through his body. Until now, they had been narrow streams, clogged with the silt of mortality.
The torrent of upgrade energy hit those blockages like a high-pressure water cannon hitting a mud wall.
"Ngh, AAAAH!"
Lin Hao screamed, his back arching off the floor.
It was agony. It was the feeling of being flayed from the inside. He felt every single blockage shatter. He felt the pathways widen, forced open by the sheer, violent volume of the energy. It tore through his arms, his legs, his spine, and finally, his skull.
CRACK-POP-WHOOSH.
A final, sickening snap echoed in his ears, and then... the pain vanished.
A sensation of absolute, terrifying flow instantly replaced it.
He gasped, collapsing onto his hands and knees, sweat pouring from him.
He took a breath.
The Qi didn't "trickle." It didn't "circulate." It roared. It raced through his body with zero resistance, a super-conductor of spiritual power. He felt connected. His toes felt as energized as his brain. His fingertips buzzed with the same power as his heart.
He stood up. He felt... light. He felt as if gravity had lost half its hold on him.
He clenched his fist. The air inside his palm cracked, a sonic boom created by the sheer speed of his movement.
He was Level 8: Meridian Opening.
He walked to the window and looked out at the city lights. Somewhere down there, Chen Long was sleeping in his luxury hotel, a Level 4 Prodigy, proud of his "Raging Lion" aura.
Lin Hao scoffed.
Chen Long was a candle. Lin Hao was becoming a star.
He looked back at his status, eager to push for the summit, to reach the peak of the mortal world.
[Upgrade: Level 9: The Perfect Foundation (Peak Houtian)]? (Cost: 1,000 UP)
He reached out to press it.
[Upgrade FAILED.] [Weekly Cultivation Upgrade: LOCKED (6 days, 23 hours remaining)]
The red text was back.
Lin Hao froze. Then, he let out a low, dry chuckle.
Of course.
He had used his "one." He was a god, yes. But he was a god on a schedule.
He had seven days to wait. Seven days to master his new, flowing power. Seven days to prepare for the final step of the Houtian realm.
He looked at his balance: 33,360 UP.
He couldn't upgrade his realm. But he had a mountain to fortify, and he had a sister who still needed protection.
"Seven days," he whispered. "Let's see how much money I can make."