The diagnosis was a cold splash of water, washing away Lin Hao's arrogance.
He stood in the stark, industrial light of the underground vault, looking down at his sister. Lin Meng was sitting on the edge of the metal workbench, her breathing shallow, her face pale. The Spirit-Grade pills had stabilized her, stopping the Meridian Overload, but the underlying problem remained.
She wasn't broken. She was just... small.
"System," Lin Hao subvocalized, his expression tight. "Re-scan target."
[Target: Lin Meng] [Cultivation: Level 1: Novice (Iron Skin) - Unstable] [Talent: Level 3: Inferior Root (Peak)]
There it was. The truth he had ignored in his rush to build a fortress.
In the chaos of the last week, fighting the tiger, building the manor, setting up the formations, he had convinced himself that the Peak purification he had given her (in Chapter 70) was enough. He had told himself that an optimized Inferior Root could handle a Spirit-Grade manual if she was careful.
He was wrong.
You couldn't run high-voltage current through a copper wire meant for a toy battery. It didn't matter how clean the wire was; it would melt.
"I didn't upgrade you," Lin Hao whispered, the realization heavy with guilt. "I was cheap."
He had hoarded his points. He had prioritized the World Upgrade loop, the formations, the "Phantom Fear." He had treated his sister's cultivation as a side project, something to be managed with "efficiency."
And because of that, she was in pain.
He opened the [$Upgrade Others$] tab. The option he had bypassed days ago stared him in the face.
[Target: Lin Meng | Talent: Level 3: Inferior Root] [Upgrade: Level 4: Common Root]?
The cost blinked, unchanged and uncaring.
[Cost: 50,000 UP]
Lin Hao looked at his balance: [Upgrade Points (UP): 185,650].
He had the money. He had plenty of money.
But he also had a plan. A selfish, necessary plan.
He opened his [Self Upgrade] tab, looking at the goal he had been salivating over for two weeks.
[Gongfa: Azure Ocean Divine Chant (High-Grade Spirit Tier)] [Upgrade: Peak-Grade Spirit Tier]? [Cost: 100,000 UP]
And below that, the looming, titanic cost of the next World Upgrade step.
[World Upgrade: Planar Ascension (Middle Spiritual Plane)] [Cost: 10,000,000 UP]
Every point he spent now was a point not compounding in his daily interest. Every 50,000 UP he "wasted" on a non-host upgrade delayed his Ascension, and the world's safety, by days.
He was a logical creature. The logic dictated that he, the Host, was the priority. If he became stronger, he could protect her. If he upgraded his Gongfa to Peak-Grade, his cultivation speed would double again. He could reach Level 9 in a week.
Spending 50,000 UP on a "Common Root" for a Level 1 cultivator felt... inefficient. It was a massive capital sink for a low return on investment.
He looked at the button: Upgrade Sister. He looked at the button: Upgrade Self.
He looked at Lin Meng.
She was rubbing her arm, where the meridian pain had been sharpest. She caught him looking and forced a weak, brave smile.
"I'm okay, Brother," she lied. "I just... I guess I'm not talented enough for the Legacy. I'll stick to the yoga."
She was ready to give up. She was ready to accept that she was "Inferior," just to stop being a burden to him.
The logic shattered.
Lin Hao felt a flare of anger, not at her, but at himself. At the part of him that was still calculating ROI on his own family.
"No," he said, his voice hard.
"What?" Lin Meng blinked.
"You're not sticking to yoga," Lin Hao said. He walked over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "And you're not untalented. You're just... locked."
He closed his eyes. He summoned the interface.
He didn't look at the Peak-Grade Gongfa. He didn't look at the Planar Ascension fund.
He looked at the 50,000 UP price tag for his sister's future.
"Efficiency be damned," he growled.
"System. Confirm."
[Deducting 50,000 UP. 135,650 UP Remaining.]
The points vanished. A quarter of his fortune, gone in a blink.
But in the silence of the vault, a new power began to hum.