Zhao Ling’er stood motionless in the crowd, the scent of crushed snow lotuses clinging to her robes. Her fingers tightened around the remnants of her shattered jade pendant, its edges biting into her palm. Lin Hao’s silhouette blurred before her—a figure now haloed in prismatic energy, distant as a mountain peak.

  Before, I thought him unworthy.

  Now, the chasm between us…

  Her throat tightened. Memories of cold dismissals and turned backs flashed like daggers. The plaza’s distant chatter faded, replaced by the hollow echo of her own heartbeat.

  ——

  Headmaster Ying Yuanzi’s voice cut through the murmuring crowd. “Wu Chi, expedite Lin Hao’s enrollment.” His robes rustled like dry leaves as he gestured to the proctor. “Immediately.”

  The Marrow-Cleansing Pills clinked in their jade case, releasing an acrid herbal tang. Lin Hao accepted the academy’s silver-threaded uniform, its fabric prickling with defensive enchantments. The weight of the five-million-tael banknote burned through his spatial ring—a fortune that could buy entire city blocks.

  “Your accommodations await.” Ying Yuanzi’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Rest well, young prodigy.”

  Lin Hao bowed, the Samsara fractals in his pupils contracting. Rest? The word tasted foreign. Four Treasures nipped his earlobe, its beak clicking in warning.

  ——

  Dormitory 003 reeked of aged cedar and stale incense. Qin Yu sprawled across a vermilion lacquer couch, swirling Dragon’s Breath whiskey in a cracked teacup. “To roommates!” He toasted the spider-webbed ceiling. “May our sins complement each other!”

  Thundermourn sat cross-legged on the floor, polishing a stone mallet with sandalwood oil. The earthy fragrance mingled oddly with Qin Yu’s citrus cologne. “Three beds,” he rumbled. “Fair.”

  Lin Hao traced a finger along the wall’s defensive runes. Their hum vibrated in his molars—a low-grade threat assessment spell. “Fairness is overrated.”

  Qin Yu’s laugh echoed too loudly. “Says the man who cracked a monolith on enrollment day!” Ice clinked as he refilled his cup. “Drink, Blind Sage. Celebrate your ascension.”

  Lin Hao’s nostrils flared. Nightshade. Wolfsbane. Five other neurotoxins. He pushed the offered cup aside. “Celebrate when the hunt concludes.”

  ——

  Midnight painted the dormitory in cobalt shadows. Lin Hao lay motionless on his bunk, the system interface glowing behind closed eyelids.

  < < PET EVOLUTION INITIATED >>

  The spatial ring heated against his finger. A yellow talisman materialized, its edges crisping with blue flame. A woman’s voice slithered into his mind—cold, precise.

  Assassination target: Yang Chengji.

  No descriptors. No aliases. Just a name hanging in mental darkness.

  Four Treasures hissed, feathers bristling. Lin Hao’s jaw tightened. Yang Chengji. The syllables meant nothing. Some noble’s son? A hidden master? The academy’s labyrinthine corridors could hide a thousand Yangs.

  He activated the pet interface.

  < < WOLF SPIDER - TIER A >>

  New Ability: Shadow Veil

  The air above his palm shimmered. An armored leg materialized—then vanished. The spider’s chitinous body faded completely, though the mattress dented under its weight.

  “Test proximity.” Lin Hao whispered.

  Four Treasures swooped, talons raking empty air. A metallic clang resounded as the invisible spider deflected the attack.

  Qin Yu snorted in his sleep across the room, rolling over. Thundermourn’s snores vibrated the floorboards.

  Lin Hao smiled. Perfect.

  ——

  Dawn found Zhao Ling’er pacing the frost-rimmed training grounds. Her breath fogged the air, each exhale sharper than the last.

  Apologize?

  Beg?

  Her boot crushed an iced puddle. The crack echoed like bone snapping. Across the courtyard, a gaggle of first-years whispered behind hands, their eyes darting to her then away.

  She froze.

  Lin Hao emerged from the mist, Four Treasures perched on his shoulder. The spider scuttled unseen at his heels, its presence marked only by dewed footprints that vanished seconds after forming.

  “Zhao Ling’er.” His voice carried no malice, no triumph. “The eastern gardens lack winter plums this year.”

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Her spine stiffened. That grove—where she’d first told him their marriage was a farce.

  “Frost killed the buds.” She forced steadiness into her tone. “Some roots cannot withstand harsh seasons.”

  Lin Hao’s milky eyes narrowed. “Yet the oldest trees survive by growing deeper.” He passed without slowing, his spider’s invisible legs etching temporary patterns in the frost.

  ——

  The mess hall buzzed with speculation. Lin Hao ignored the stares, chopsticks clicking against ceramic as he dissected steamed serpent fish.

  Qin Yu slammed a jar of wine onto the table. “Mourning your anonymity?”

  “Mourning the chef’s restraint.” Lin Hao poked at overspiced vegetables. “Five-pepper fire ant eggs require balance.”

  Thundermourn sniffed his mutton stew. “Tastes like mountain herbs.”

  “Tastes like poverty.” Qin Yu grimaced, swigging directly from the jar. “Hear the latest? Yang Chengji’s hosting a poetry duel tonight.”

  Lin Hao’s chopsticks stilled. “Poetry?”

  “Cover for a black-market auction.” Qin Yu’s grin turned feral. “Rumor says a Sky Devourer’s core will surface.”

  Four Treasures pecked at rice grains. The spider, still veiled, began weaving a silk tripwire between table legs.

  Lin Hao set down his bowl. “This Yang Chengji—describe him.”

  Qin Yu’s eyebrow arched. “Rich. Vain. Collects rare beasts.” He leaned closer, whiskey breath clashing with Lin Hao’s jasmine tea. “Interested?”

  “Merely cautious.” Lin Hao stood, silk tripwire snapping invisibly. “One should know their neighbors.”

  ——

  The auction’s lanterns glowed blood-red in the western pavilion. Lin Hao stood among costumed nobles, Four Treasures camouflaged as a feathered hairpin. The spider clung to his shadow, venom glands pulsing.

  A gong sounded.

  Yang Chengji ascended the dais, sleeves embroidered with phoenixes. His jade hairpin alone could feed a village for years.

  “Esteemed guests!” His voice oiled the air. “Tonight’s rarity—a hatchling void wyrm!”

  The crowd inhaled as one. The cage’s black velvet dropped, revealing…

  Nothing.

  Empty bars.

  Yang Chengji’s smile froze.

  Four Treasures chirped innocently.

  Far above, an invisible spider scaled the academy’s outer wall, its stolen prize rendered weightless by void magic.

  Lin Hao melted into the confused crowd, the first move played.

  Meridian Purge

  The Wolf Spider's new carapace shimmered like oil on water before vanishing completely. Lin Hao exhaled through gritted teeth—the acrid stench of his own body's impurities assaulted his nostrils. Black sludge oozed from his pores, congealing on the dormitory floorboards with the consistency of tar.

  Four Treasures gagged, wings fluttering frantically. "Death stink! Death stink!"

  Kung Fu Fly's laser eyes activated in defense mode, slicing through a drifting cobweb. The severed strands smoldered, releasing burnt-silk fumes that mingled horribly with the purification stench.

  ——

  Two hours earlier:

  The Marrow-Cleansing Pill dissolved on Lin Hao's tongue with glacial sweetness—winter mint undercut by iron. His throat seized as the essence flooded downward, a searing torrent that scoured his meridians like liquid fire.

  Crunch.

  His molars ground enamel dust. Sweat erupted across his skin, sizzling where it touched the Wolf Spider's newly invisible carapace. The pain transcended mere nerve signals—it became texture, color, sound. Ribbons of golden light tore through his qi pathways, each strand vibrating at frequencies that made his fillings hum.

  Four Treasures' alarmed squawks warped into whale song. The dormitory walls breathed in and out, timber grain swelling like diseased veins.

  "Master... dying?" The white ape's hesitant paw hovered above Lin Hao's convulsing form.

  Kung Fu Fly answered with action—a precision laser cut through the window latch. Frigid night air rushed in, carrying pine resin and distant chimney smoke. The temperature differential shocked Lin Hao's system, buying three seconds of clarity before darkness swallowed him whole.

  ——

  Awakening brought sensory overload. Lin Hao's enhanced meridians detected every flea on Four Treasures' plumage, tasted the metallic tang of the Wolf Spider's venom glands. His soiled robes clung like second skin, reeking of fermented seaweed and burnt hair.

  "Status." The word emerged raspy, throat raw from silent screams.

  < < HOST PHYSIQUE UPGRADED >>

  Meridian Capacity: 300% Increase

  Qi Absorption Rate: Heavenly Tier

  Toxin Resistance: Venom Drake Equivalent

  Lin Hao staggered to the washbasin, each step squelching. The water turned opaque gray upon contact. Four Treasures averted its eyes with a theatrical shudder.

  "Disgusting. Disgusting."

  The white ape offered a bristle brush with ceremonial gravitas. Its fur smelled of elderberry soap—a stark contrast to the purification stink.

  ——

  Qin Yu's return coincided with the dormitory's ventilation crisis. He paused mid-stride, fan snapping open to block his nose. "By the Nine Hells! Did someone die in here?"

  Thundermourn sniffed experimentally, then recoiled. "Death... but sweeter."

  Lin Hao emerged from the bathing screen in fresh academy robes, skin glowing with unnatural radiance. The residual purification scent clung to him—sandalwood undercut by lightning ozone.

  "Training accident." He tossed the soiled garments into a corner where they immediately began smoldering. "Nothing consequential."

  Qin Yu's fan tilted, revealing eyes sharp as scalpels. "Consequence seems to have upgraded your qi signature by three magnitudes." His wind mana extended exploratory tendrils, recoiling when met with crackling countercurrents.

  Thundermourn's stone mallet thumped the floorboards. "Stronger. Good."

  ——

  Nightfall brought clandestine tests. Lin Hao stood shirtless in the moonlit courtyard, Wolf Spider prowling invisible perimeter guards. His enhanced meridians pulled at the atmosphere's latent qi—swirling silver threads visible only to the Samsara Eye.

  Flick.

  A pebble became molten slag midair, vaporized by Kung Fu Fly's laser gaze. The Wolf Spider's toxin-tipped legs traced containment sigils in the soil, each glyph fluorescing poison-green before fading.

  Four Treasures observed from a safe distance, muttering commentary. "Show-offs. All show-offs."

  Lin Hao's fist closed around a moonbeam made tangible by qi saturation. The light fractured with crystalline ping, scattering prismatic shards that hovered like drunken fireflies.

  "Mastery requires..." He exhaled slowly, watching the shards realign into defensive constellations. "...adjustment."

  ——

  Dawn found Headmaster Ying Yuanzi observing through a scrying pool, his reflection rippling across water scented with white peony petals. The purification stink still lingered in the dormitory stones—a pheromonal beacon to any cultivator within five li.

  "Three days," he murmured to the empty chamber. "The Samsara Eye accelerates even Marrow-Cleansing's trials."

  A jade slip materialized above the pool, etched with fresh orders from the Imperial Observatory. Ying Yuanzi's sigh disturbed the water's surface, blurring Lin Hao's image as the youth practiced redirecting starlight into attack patterns.

  "Yang Chengji's fate is sealed." The headmaster pinched the slip to powder. "Pity. His family's tea exports were exemplary."

  ——

  In the dormitory attic, unseen by mortal eyes, the lich priest toasted with a femur-bone goblet. "To accelerated timelines!" His drink bubbled with captured starlight and mischief. "May chaos bloom swift and bright!"

  Far below, Lin Hao's enhanced ears caught the faintest clink of phantom glass. He smiled, directing a starlight shard to pierce the attic's illusionary roof. The lich's indignant squawk pleased him more than any system notification.