The morning after his breakthrough found Wang Ben in his private courtyard, attempting to make sense of what he had become.
His body felt different. Not stronger, exactly, though that too. Early-stage qi condensation had expanded his meridian capacity and deepened his qi reserves in ways that would take weeks to fully integrate. But beyond the physical changes, something more fundamental had shifted during his confrontation with the heart demons.
He sat in meditation position, his awareness turned inward toward the presence that had guided him since he first awakened in this life.
[SYSTEM STATUS: Post-breakthrough assessment]
[Host cultivation: Qi Condensation Stage 3]
[Meridian capacity: 214% of baseline (expanded through breakthrough)]
[Core functionality: 2.0% (stable)]
[Qingxuan Transcendent Archive: Integration protocols active]
Wang Ben noticed the name change immediately. The System had referred to its knowledge repository as the Chen Database since the beginning. Now that designation had shifted to something older, more formal.
Qingxuan Transcendent Archive.
The name carried weight he didn't fully understand. Chen was a family name. Qingxuan was... something else. A title, perhaps. Or a place. The System offered no explanation for the change, only the cold fact of it.
[Scripture access expanded at 2.0% functionality:]
[MYRIAD EONS CONVERGENCE SCRIPTURE - Fragment I: Veiled Presence technique now available. Enhanced concealment methods accessible. Host may learn to suppress cultivation signature against all planetary realm observers]
[System function unlocked: Basic Combat Prediction - Passive threat analysis during combat. 70% accuracy against comparable opponents]
The Scripture's description made Wang Ben's breath catch.
Planetary realm. The term snagged in his thoughts. He had never encountered it in any cultivation text. The implication was unsettling. If there were planetary realms, did that mean there were realms beyond the planet? Could cultivators at the highest levels leave Azure Sky World entirely, traveling the void between stars?
The System offered no clarification. It simply presented the technique as fact: every cultivator bound to this world, from body refinement to the mysterious heights above nascent soul, could be fooled. None of them would see through his concealment.
Questions for another time. He reached for the technique, wanting to test it.
[VEILED PRESENCE TECHNIQUE]
[Source: Myriad Eons Convergence Scripture, Fragment I]
[Classification: Concealment Foundation]
[Enhanced Access: At current functionality, this technique allows concealment from all planetary realm cultivators]
[Your current signature: Qi Condensation Stage 3]
[Technique applications: Complete suppression (appear as mortal), partial suppression (appear as lower stages), signature dampening (reduce detection range)]
[Limitation: Cannot project higher than actual cultivation. Designed for concealment, not deception]
The Scripture. Wang Ben felt something shift in his awareness as the knowledge settled into place. Not new information exactly, but deeper access to what had always been there. The basic concealment methods he had learned before were fragments, incomplete. Now he could see how they fit into a larger framework, techniques the Qingxuan Transcendents had refined over eons to hide from the terrible things that hunted them.
Wang Ben experimented, practicing the technique at different levels of suppression. He felt his cultivation signature shift and compress, becoming first a void where no cultivation existed at all, then reforming as something dimmer. The faint flicker of early qi condensation, then body refinement, then nothing at all.
The sensation was strange. Like pulling a cloak over his spiritual essence, each layer of concealment fitting more tightly than the last.
"You can make yourself invisible," he murmured. "Or you can appear weaker than you are."
[Clarification: Both options available. Invisibility is generally safer. False signatures may be detected through behavioral analysis or extended observation]
"But no one can see through it directly?"
[Correct. Spiritual pressure detection, meridian scanning, and cultivation assessment techniques will return the modified signature. Only behavioral inconsistencies or extended proximity exposure risk detection]
The implications cascaded through his thoughts. Senior Investigator Qin Hualing had spent the past days observing him, trying to read his potential and assess his value. If he had possessed this capability from the beginning...
But no. He hadn't possessed it, and she had formed her conclusions based on what she could observe. Changing his apparent cultivation now would only raise questions about why his signature had shifted.
Better to appear as he was expected to appear, and save the capability for situations where misdirection mattered more than consistency.
He turned his attention to the System's new function.
[BASIC COMBAT PREDICTION: Demonstration mode]
[Note: Active combat required for full functionality assessment]
[Current status: Passive analysis engaged. Environmental threat assessment ongoing]
[Detected individuals within range: 7]
[Threat classification: None immediate]
The System was already watching, analyzing everyone near enough to pose potential danger. Wang Ben felt the capability humming in the back of his awareness like a secondary set of instincts.
"What do you mean by seventy percent accuracy?"
[Statistical probability that combat predictions will correctly anticipate opponent actions against single targets at or below host cultivation level. Accuracy decreases with multiple opponents, cultivation gap, or opponents with anomalous combat capabilities]
Seventy percent wasn't certainty, but it was far better than nothing. In a fight against a single opponent, knowing seven out of ten moves before they happened could mean the difference between survival and death.
"What about opponents above my level?"
[Accuracy degrades based on gap. Foundation establishment opponents: Estimated 50% accuracy. Core formation: Estimated 30%. Higher realms: Insufficient data for reliable projection]
Still useful, even at reduced effectiveness. A thirty percent chance of predicting a core formation cultivator's movements was better than the zero percent he would have had otherwise.
Wang Ben released the meditation posture and rose to his feet. The sun had climbed while he practiced the technique and tested the System's new analysis function, and the courtyard was warming under its light.
He needed to think about what this meant. Not just for his survival, but for the negotiations his family was conducting. If he could deceive even nascent soul cultivators about his true nature, the strategic implications were significant.
But he couldn't tell anyone about this. The System's existence remained his deepest secret, known only to his father and to powers who already suspected more than he was comfortable with.
His thoughts were interrupted by a shift in the air.
The presence arrived without warning, as it always did.
One moment Wang Ben stood alone in his courtyard. The next, Shen Wuyan was there, seated on a stone bench as if he had always been present. His dark robes absorbed the morning light, and his ancient eyes held the same casual amusement they had shown since their first meeting.
"You seem troubled," Shen Wuyan observed. "Breakthroughs should bring joy. Why do you look like someone who has discovered a burden rather than a gift?"
Wang Ben's pulse accelerated, but he forced his breathing to remain steady. The Veiled Presence technique hummed in his awareness, but he kept his signature at its true level. Shen Wuyan already knew his cultivation. Suddenly appearing different would only reveal that Wang Ben possessed concealment capabilities worth hiding.
[THREAT ASSESSMENT: Shen Wuyan]
[Detected cultivation: Suppressed (beyond System assessment parameters)]
[Known classification: Nascent Soul Stage 9 Peak]
[Threat level: Absolute]
[Combat Prediction accuracy against this target: Insufficient data. Do not engage]
"Master Shen." Wang Ben inclined his head respectfully. "I wasn't expecting visitors."
"Visitors arrive when they choose, not when they're expected." Shen Wuyan's smile didn't reach his eyes. "I sensed your breakthrough from quite some distance. The third stage of qi condensation, achieved under pressure. The stress of your current situation seems to be beneficial for your cultivation."
"I'm not sure beneficial is the word I would choose."
"No? Your advancement accelerates. Your enemies multiply. Your value increases with each new demonstration of capability." Shen Wuyan tilted his head, studying Wang Ben with an intensity that made the hairs rise on his neck. "From a certain perspective, everything is proceeding exactly as it should."
"Whose perspective?"
"An interesting question." The ancient cultivator rose from the bench, moving with the fluid grace of someone for whom physical motion was an afterthought. "I've been watching the Bastion's negotiations with some amusement. They think they're claiming a prize. They don't understand what they're actually reaching for."
Wang Ben felt the weight of implication in those words. "And you do?"
"I understand more than most." Shen Wuyan circled slowly, his presence a mountain's worth of pressure barely contained. "Your formation work exceeds what your cultivation should allow. Your strategic thinking anticipates patterns that young cultivators rarely recognize. And your breakthrough just now carried resonances that reminded me of... old things."
The System offered no analysis of this moment, no guidance on how to respond. It simply recorded, waiting.
"I've had good teachers," Wang Ben said carefully. "And access to unusual resources."
"Yes. You have." Shen Wuyan stopped his circling, facing Wang Ben directly. "The question I find myself asking is: Which teachers? Which resources? Because the answers that seem obvious don't quite fit the evidence."
Wang Ben kept his expression neutral. "You've helped my family significantly, Master Shen. I'm grateful for that assistance."
"And you still owe me two favors." The reminder came with a smile that showed too many teeth. "I haven't forgotten. Neither should you."
"I haven't."
"Good." Shen Wuyan's presence shifted, becoming somehow less overwhelming without actually changing. "The Bastion's delegation includes individuals who want you punished more than they want you claimed. They lost colleagues during the auction incident. They lost investments. They lost face. The political resolution your grandfather is negotiating won't satisfy everyone."
Wang Ben felt cold settle into his thoughts. "You're warning me."
"I'm informing you. What you do with that information is your own concern." Shen Wuyan began to move toward the courtyard's exit. "But I would be disappointed if my investment were to be damaged by someone else's petty revenge. You understand?"
"I understand."
"Then prepare accordingly." The ancient cultivator paused at the threshold, turning back one final time. "Two favors remain, little formation master. I look forward to seeing what you become before I call them in."
He departed as he had arrived, without ceremony or transition. One moment present, the next gone, leaving only the fading impression of pressure in the air.
Wang Ben released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.
[ANALYSIS: Shen Wuyan interaction]
[Observed behavior: Warning delivered regarding potential hostile action from Bastion elements]
[Probable motivation: Protecting investment value]
[Debt status: Two favors remain owed]
[Risk assessment: Shen Wuyan is neither ally nor enemy. He is an investor monitoring returns]
[Recommendation: Take warning seriously. Prepare for potential violence from parties outside main negotiation framework]
The System's analysis matched Wang Ben's own assessment. Shen Wuyan hadn't warned him out of kindness. He had warned him because a dead formation prodigy couldn't fulfill the remaining favors, couldn't continue demonstrating mysterious capabilities that the ancient cultivator found intriguing.
But the warning was real regardless of its motivation.
Someone in the Bastion delegation wanted him hurt or killed. Someone who didn't care about political resolutions or formation service arrangements. Someone who wanted revenge.
Wang Ben found his father in the family's main hall, reviewing correspondence with the focused intensity that had characterized him since his return to foundation establishment.
"Father. We need to talk."
Wang Tian looked up from his papers, concern flickering across his features. "Ben'er. You look pale. Is something wrong with the breakthrough?"
"The breakthrough is fine." Wang Ben closed the door behind him, checking that no one else was in earshot. "But I just received a warning from Shen Wuyan."
His father's expression sharpened. "He came here?"
"To my private courtyard. Just now." Wang Ben moved to sit across from his father, keeping his voice low despite the privacy. "He said there are people in the Bastion delegation who want revenge more than resolution. People who might act outside the official negotiation."
Wang Tian was quiet for a long moment, processing this. "Did he say who?"
"No. Just the warning, and a reminder that I still owe him two favors." Wang Ben hesitated. "I think he's protecting his investment. He doesn't want someone else to damage what he considers his future asset."
"Which means the threat is real, even if his motives are selfish." Wang Tian rubbed his temples. "This complicates things. Your grandfather is negotiating in good faith with the delegation's leadership. If there are rogue elements working against the resolution..."
"Then we need to prepare for the possibility of violence." Wang Ben met his father's eyes. "The System has given me new capabilities since the breakthrough. I can handle more than I could before. But I need to know who might be coming."
His father's expression shifted, something between pride and worry. "What capabilities?"
Wang Ben considered how much to reveal. His father knew about the System now, understood at least part of what made his son different. But some details were better kept close.
"Enhanced detection. Some predictive ability in combat situations. Nothing that makes me invincible, but enough to give me a fighting chance if someone underestimates me."
"And they will underestimate you." Wang Tian nodded slowly. "You're early-stage qi condensation. Strong for your age, but nothing that should threaten anyone with real power. If assassins come, they'll send someone competent but not excessive."
"Core formation at most. More likely foundation establishment assassins."
"Which you might be able to handle. With preparation. With support." His father's eyes were steady. "I won't let you face this alone, Ben'er."
"I know." Wang Ben felt gratitude settle into his chest. "But I also won't let fear control how we move forward. The negotiation is important. The family's future depends on it. If I hide in the compound until the threat passes, we lose leverage."
"So we prepare. Quietly. Without alerting the delegation that we know their internal politics are fractured." Wang Tian reached across the table, gripping his son's shoulder. "I'll speak with your grandfather. And with Zhao Yu. If there's an attempt on your life, we need people we trust close at hand."
"What about the Dao Clan?"
"Dao Zhen." His father considered this. "They're vassals, yes. But Dao Zhen has shown loyalty beyond obligation in the past. His presence would provide another layer of protection."
"And plausible deniability if we need to claim the arrangement was for negotiation support rather than assassination defense."
Wang Tian's smile was thin but genuine. "You think like a politician, Ben'er. That's not always a compliment, but right now it's useful."
Wang Ben accepted the observation without comment. He had to think like a politician because politics had claimed him whether he wanted it or not. The Bastion wanted his formation skills. The prince wanted them for the war effort. Shen Wuyan wanted them for purposes yet undefined.
And somewhere in the background, people wanted him dead.
"I'll continue as if nothing has changed," Wang Ben said. "Attend the negotiations. Demonstrate capability where appropriate. But I'll keep the new abilities ready in case someone decides to test how difficult it would be to remove me from the equation."
"And if the test comes?"
"Then I'll show them why that would be a mistake."
The afternoon brought a return to the political theater that had dominated the past days.
Wang Ben sat in his assigned position at the City Lord's manor, watching as his grandfather and Senior Investigator Qin Hualing exchanged formal proposals for the formation services arrangement. The terms had shifted since the ultimatum, each side probing for advantage while maintaining the appearance of good-faith negotiation.
[NEGOTIATION ANALYSIS: Current proposal status]
[Wang Clan position: 30 consultation days annually, defensive formations only, 500 mid-grade spirit stones compensation]
[Bastion position: 45 consultation days, all formation types, 300 mid-grade spirit stones compensation]
[Gap assessment: Moderate. Resolution probable within current framework]
The System tracked the discussion with cold precision, analyzing every offer and counter-offer. But Wang Ben's attention was elsewhere.
He was watching the delegation's secondary members. The ones who sat behind Senior Investigator Qin, who nodded when expected and stayed silent when not. Several of them had looked at him with expressions that went beyond professional assessment.
One in particular. A middle-aged cultivator with foundation establishment pressure and eyes that held something Wang Ben recognized from his time dealing with Xue Feng's hatred.
Resentment. Cold and patient and waiting for opportunity.
[THREAT IDENTIFICATION: Delegate Liu Changyun]
[Cultivation: late-stage foundation establishment (estimated)]
[Behavioral markers: Elevated hostility indicators. Attention patterns suggest specific interest in host]
[Note: Insufficient data to confirm hostile intent. Recommend continued observation]
Wang Ben memorized the face, the name if it could be learned, the position within the delegation hierarchy. If Shen Wuyan's warning was accurate, this man or someone like him might be planning something that the official negotiations couldn't prevent.
The afternoon session concluded without incident. Proposals were exchanged. Positions were recorded. Progress was made toward an arrangement that would bind the Wang Clan to Bastion service while preserving some measure of autonomy.
But as Wang Ben rose to leave with his family, he felt eyes on his back. Assessing. Calculating.
Someone was making plans that had nothing to do with formation services.
And Wang Ben intended to be ready when those plans became action.
END OF CHAPTER 91