The holographic profiles of his parents hovered in the air against the backdrop of the night sky.
[Target: Lin Wen (Father)] [Ailment: Chronic Lumbar Compression (L4-L5). Nerve Impingement.]
[Target: Jia Li (Mother)] [Ailment: Stage 2 Hypertension. Early-onset Osteoarthritis (Hands).]
They were the scars of a hard life. The back pain from years of desk work and lifting; the blood pressure from years of worrying about bills and tuition. They were "normal" problems.
But Lin Hao wasn't "normal" anymore.
"You don't need to be cultivators to be free of pain," he whispered.
He selected the specific upgrade path. He didn't want the violent expulsion of black tar that his sister had endured. That was for channeling Spirit Qi. His parents just needed their mortal vessels repaired.
[Upgrade: Perfect Mortal Health (Restorative)]? [Cost: 5,000 UP per target]
Ten thousand points. The price of a used car to fix the two people who had given him everything.
"Confirm."
[Deducting 10,000 UP. 330,330 UP Remaining.]
A soft, golden pulse, different from the harsh white light of the Talent upgrade, rippled out from him. It passed through the glass walls of Skyview Manor, traversed the twenty miles of darkness, and descended gently onto the sleeping suburb.
[The Lin Family Bedroom]
The room was dark. The rhythm of breathing was punctuated by the occasional sharp intake of breath from Lin Wen as he shifted in his sleep, his bad back protesting even the soft mattress.
The golden energy drifted through the ceiling. It split into two streams.
One stream sank into Lin Wen's lower back.
It didn't burn. It felt like a warm, soothing balm, penetrating deep into the muscle and bone.
The compressed discs between his L4 and L5 vertebrae, worn thin by decades of gravity, suddenly swelled. They rehydrated, regaining the sponge-like elasticity of a twenty-year-old. The inflamed nerves, angry and red, were bathed in cooling energy. The inflammation vanished instantly.
POP.
A small, audible sound echoed in the room as his spine naturally realigned itself, sliding into a perfect, pain-free curve.
Lin Wen sighed in his sleep, his brow unfurrowing for the first time in years.
The second stream sank into Jia Li's chest and hands.
Her heart, which had been beating with a slightly erratic, stressed rhythm against the resistance of stiffened arteries, suddenly smoothed out. The arterial walls relaxed, becoming flexible again. Her blood pressure dropped from a dangerous 150/95 to a perfect 110/70.
The energy traveled to her hands, curling around her knuckles where the arthritis was beginning to gnarl the joints. The microscopic calcium deposits dissolved. The cartilage regenerated.
She rolled over, her hand relaxing into a loose, pain-free curl on the pillow.
[The Next Morning]
The alarm clock buzzed at 6:30 AM.
Lin Wen's hand shot out to silence it.
He braced himself. Usually, the morning routine involved a grimace, a slow roll to the side, and a stiff, painful push to sit up, followed by five minutes of "warming up" his back.
He swung his legs out of bed. He stood up.
He blinked.
He stood... straight.
He twisted his torso left. Then right. He bent down and touched his toes.
There was no catch. No sharp stab of lightning. No dull ache. His back felt... solid. Like it was made of new steel.
"Jia Li?" he whispered, staring at his hands. "Jia Li, wake up."
His mother stirred. She sat up quickly, rubbing her eyes.
"What time is it? Did I oversleep?" she asked, her voice clear. She paused. usually, waking up too fast gave her a dizzy spell—her 'morning head.'
Today, the room was sharp. Her head was clear. She felt a surge of energy she hadn't felt since she was in her thirties.
She looked at her husband, who was doing deep knee bends by the wardrobe.
"Wen? Your back?"
"It's gone," Lin Wen said, his voice trembling with disbelief. "The pain. It's just... gone. I feel incredible."
Jia Li looked at her own hands. She flexed her fingers. The stiffness was gone. She looked in the mirror. Her skin looked rosier. The bags under her eyes had vanished.
"Is it..." She looked toward the window, toward the bright morning sun. "Is it the 'Awakening'?"
"It must be," Lin Wen said, grinning like a schoolboy. "The news said the Reiki levels are rising. Maybe... maybe this is the benefit? Maybe we're evolving too?"
"A miracle," Jia Li breathed, clasping her hands together. "It's a miracle."
They laughed, hugging each other in the morning light, feeling strong, healthy, and alive, completely unaware that the "god" who had granted this miracle was currently twenty miles away, drinking coffee and checking his bank balance.
[Skyview Manor]
Lin Hao watched the "Health Status" indicators on his screen turn from amber to a bright, solid green.
[Status: Optimal]
He closed the window.
[Upgrade Points (UP): 330,330]
He took a sip of his coffee. It tasted better than usual.
"Money well spent," he said.
Now, his parents were safe from time. His sister was safe from mediocrity.
But he was still stuck.
He looked at the [Weekly Cultivation Upgrade: LOCKED (5 days remaining)] timer.
He had 330,000 UP. He couldn't just sit on it for five days.
"Time to upgrade the Host," he murmured.
He opened the Self Upgrade tab.
It was time to buy the thing he had denied himself yesterday. It was time for the Azure Ocean to become a Divine Ocean.