Healing in the Fragrant Chamber?

The cold smell of disinfectant mixed with the low hum of medical equipment. It was the first world Lin Xiao perceived after regaining consciousness.

His eyelids felt as though they had been welded shut. Every attempt to open them tugged at the -1.95 deep within his soul, bringing an agonizing exhaustion that seemed ready to tear his consciousness apart.

Under the effects of powerful painkillers, the wounds on his back and right shoulder had become a dull, flesh-cutting ache, reminding him of how thoroughly broken his body was.

The Special Operations Ninth Division's safe house.

That realization was like ice water, instantly tensing his remaining consciousness.

Fragments of memory flashed through his mind like lagging footage: Scarface Qiang's vicious claw marks, flames exploding into the sky, despair spreading through gaps in cold steel, Qin Bing's suddenly enlarged, frigid face, and... that twisted, pupil-less eye imprinted on the oil-stained floor!

The Shadow Alliance!

How had they appeared there? Were they targeting him, or was it merely a coincidence?

The questions gnawed at his nerves like venomous snakes, intensifying the pain in his soul.

The deep-blue light screen in his mind was as silent as a grave. The black cracks covering its surface showed no sign of healing. Under the heavy pressure of -1.95, they instead seemed ready to collapse completely into dust.

Every faint mental activity was like walking across cracked glass, bringing sharp stabs of pain.

"Awake?" A cold, emotionless voice sounded beside the bed, carrying a metallic quality.

Lin Xiao struggled to lift his eyelids. As his blurred vision focused, he saw Qin Bing's sharply defined profile, as cold as an ice sculpture.

She stood beside the bed with a tablet terminal in hand. Her gaze was not on him but on the data scrolling across the screen.

Her black combat uniform clashed with the pure-white, high-tech ward, making her look like a sharp blade ready to leave its sheath at any moment.

"Tough life."

Qin Bing finally moved her gaze from the screen to Lin Xiao's paper-pale face. Her sharp eyes were like surgical knives, as though they intended to dissect him from the inside out.

"Six Blood Wolf Gang elites—dead or crippled. There was also a mark at the scene suspected to belong to the Shadow Alliance. Lin Xiao, you always manage to bring me 'surprises.'"

Her tone revealed neither praise nor mockery, only a cold scrutiny.

Lin Xiao tugged at the corners of his mouth, wanting to give his usual roguish grin, but he only pulled at his cracked, bleeding lips and brought on a burst of pain.

"Officer Qin... cough... thank you for saving my life... I'll never forget it..." His voice was as hoarse as a broken bellows.

"Spare me." Qin Bing interrupted him, setting down the tablet and folding her arms as she looked down at him.

"You saved your own life. I was merely doing my duty. While clearing the city's trash, I happened to find someone who still had breath left."

She paused, and her eyes suddenly sharpened like needles. "What concerns me more is why the Shadow Alliance's mark appeared there. What does it have to do with you?"

Here it comes! Lin Xiao's heart tightened.

He endured the agony in his soul and his physical weakness, summoning the last trace of his mental strength. His eyes held just the right mixture of post-disaster confusion, the listlessness of serious injury, and the grievance of being wrongly suspected.

"The Shadow Alliance? What's that? The explosion... it was too powerful... I only remember... Scarface Qiang trying to kill me... then the oil drum exploded... I ran for my life... after that... I don't know anything..."

He panted, his voice broken and halting, his gaze unfocused. He played the part of a seriously injured, near-death student who had yet to recover from the shock to perfection.

Qin Bing's gaze remained on his face for more than ten seconds. Her cold scrutiny almost froze the air.

Lin Xiao felt his heart beating heavily inside his exhausted chest. Cold sweat seeped from his back and soaked his hospital gown, which clung stickily to his wounds and made him uncomfortable.

At last, Qin Bing seemed unable to find any obvious flaw—or perhaps she believed that the severely injured Lin Xiao could not be squeezed for any more useful information.

She gave a cold snort. "The Special Operations Ninth Division's medical system can keep you alive, but further recovery will require time and resources. Until you have fully recovered and cleared yourself of suspicion, you are confined to this area. Don't try anything clever, Lin Xiao. The Shadow Alliance... isn't something you can touch."

After saying that, she no longer looked at Lin Xiao. She turned and strode toward the door.

"Rest well. Your troubles are far from over."

Before her voice had faded, the ward door had already closed silently, leaving Lin Xiao with the room's icy silence and the lingering, gunpowder-tinged chill that belonged to Qin Bing.

Lin Xiao let out a long, silent breath. His tense nerves suddenly relaxed, only to bring an even stronger dizziness and the sensation of his soul being torn apart.

He closed his eyes. The desolation of -1.95 clung to him like a bone-boring parasite, eating away at every shred of consciousness.

He was kept under tight surveillance in the Special Operations Ninth Division's safe house for two days.

During those two days, Lin Xiao was like a trapped beast locked inside a sterile cage.

Highly effective nutrient fluids and biological repair gel maintained his vital signs. Under advanced medical treatment, the wounds on his back and shoulder began slowly closing, but the exhaustion and weakness originating deep within his soul remained like a parasite attached to his bones, without the slightest improvement.

The dead, deep-blue light screen in his mind remained covered in sinister cracks.

Source Energy Points: -1.95.

Every time he sensed that number, it was like an ice pick stabbing into the depths of his consciousness. The shadow of core collapse never lifted.

On the afternoon of the third day, someone knocked on the ward door. The person who entered was neither Qin Bing nor a medical worker.

Su Qingxue stood in the doorway.

She was still wearing the neatly tailored uniform of Tianhai First High School. Her long black hair fell smoothly behind her shoulders, with several strands stirred by the breeze drifting in through the window and brushing her fair, delicate cheeks.

Sunlight outlined her peerlessly cold profile, making her look like a goddess carved from ice and snow.

Yet at that moment, the "campus belle" known as the Ice Mountain had an even colder complexion than usual. A trace of barely perceptible... irritation lingered between her brows.

Her gaze swept over Lin Xiao on the hospital bed—haggard, pale-faced, and wrapped in thick bandages. A deeply complicated emotion flashed through her cold eyes.

There was shock at the severity of his injuries, anger that he had entangled himself with the Blood Wolf Gang and the authorities—the Special Operations Ninth Division—and also a trace of... helplessness and resistance at being forcibly dragged into the matter.

"Still breathing?" Su Qingxue's voice remained cold, like ice beads falling onto a jade plate, without the slightest warmth.

She entered the ward. Her high heels struck the polished floor with crisp, distant sounds.

A cool, youthful fragrance carrying the faint chill of winter plum instantly dispelled some of the ward's oppressive smell of disinfectant and medicine.

The moment Lin Xiao saw her, a calculating glint flashed deep in his eyes, then was covered by even heavier weakness and pain.

He laboriously raised his uninjured left hand, seeming to try to support himself, but the movement tugged at the wound on his back. He immediately sucked in a sharp breath, fine beads of cold sweat appearing on his forehead as his face grew frighteningly pale.

"Hiss... Su... Student Su... why... why are you here?" His voice was as weak as a dying breath, hoarse from his still-healing injuries.

This miserable appearance was more powerful than any words.

Su Qingxue stopped several steps from Lin Xiao's bed and did not come any closer.

Her delicate brows knitted even tighter as she watched his face twist in pain and his lips turn deathly pale. The trace of irritation seemed to grow heavier.

She pressed her lips together, as though engaged in a difficult internal struggle.

"You caused too much commotion. It would have been hard not to hear about it."

Su Qingxue's voice remained cold, but she spoke a little faster than usual. "The Blood Wolf Gang ambushed someone in the street, an abandoned factory exploded, and the Special Operations Ninth Division got involved... Lin Xiao, do you think your life is too long?"

Her words carried undisguised reproach.

Lin Xiao forced out a smile more wretched than crying. "I didn't want this either... cough, cough... Who knew that scar-faced bastard... would hold such a grudge... If I hadn't been lucky..."

He panted, his eyes dull and lifeless, radiating the helplessness of a dying little beast. "Student Su... I almost didn't make it this time... My back hurts so much... It feels like all my bones are broken..."

As he spoke, he seemingly shifted his body slightly, exposing his bandage-wrapped back, where traces of blood still seeped through, toward Su Qingxue. At the same time, he secretly gritted his teeth and forcefully circulated the tiny amount of mixed, chaotic True Qi inside him, which barely obeyed his command, striking the wound on his right shoulder once!

"Ugh!" A stifled groan forced its way from Lin Xiao's throat. His body trembled violently, his face changing from pale to a sickly waxen yellow as beads of sweat the size of beans rolled from his temples.

The reaction was utterly genuine, beyond all possibility of acting!

Su Qingxue's body visibly stiffened.

She watched Lin Xiao's body twitch faintly from the pain, watched the sweat roll down his temples and his eyes squeeze shut in agony. In the depths of her ice-sealed gaze, an almost imperceptible ripple finally appeared.

A friend?

She sneered inwardly.

What kind of friend was she to this roguish, lecherous man plagued by trouble?

It was merely a cold transaction, an instance of mutual exploitation.

But... what about the favor he had done by helping her break through?

Without him forcefully opening the Jade Balance Hidden Meridian, she might still be struggling at the Martial Disciple peak, suffering scorn during the family's internal assessments and being wantonly bullied by people like Su Hao.

The opportunity that had allowed her to enter the Martial Warrior realm was genuine and substantial.

The cold rules of their transaction and that weighty favor collided fiercely within her heart, tearing at her.

They left her agitated, causing a fine crack to appear in her perfect Ice Mountain mask.

The Special Operations Ninth Division's official medical treatment could preserve her life, but when it came to nourishing and repairing damaged muscles and bones—especially hidden injuries involving a Martial Warrior's True Qi—the Su family's secret medicines, passed down for centuries, were undoubtedly superior.

Silence spread through the cold ward. Only Lin Xiao's suppressed, intermittent gasps could be heard.

At last, Su Qingxue seemed to have made some decision.

The final trace of struggle vanished from her eyes, which once again became cold and distant, as though the hesitation that had appeared moments ago had never existed.

Expressionless, she took a small, exquisite silver metal clutch from her person and drew out a milky-white sheep-fat jade bottle, smooth and warm to the touch.

The bottle was only the size of a thumb. It bore no markings, yet a restrained spiritual fluctuation faintly radiated from it.

Without even looking at Lin Xiao, she raised her arm. The valuable jade bottle traced a cold arc through the air, accompanied by a faint whoosh, and landed precisely on the metal bedside table with a snap.

The motion was crisp and decisive, carrying an unmistakable meaning: boundaries had been drawn.

"Take it." Su Qingxue's voice held no warmth, as though she were ordering someone to handle an insignificant matter. "The Su family's secret-formula Jade Marrow Muscle Growth Powder. Apply it externally once a day. It will accelerate flesh growth, remove decay, and promote regeneration. It also nourishes hidden injuries to the muscles and bones."

She did not say "I'm giving it to you" or "This is for you." She merely said, "Take it." It was as if the precious medicine were no more than a stone she had casually thrown down.

Lin Xiao laboriously turned his head toward the milky-white jade bottle on the bedside table.

The instant he came into contact with the bottle, the deep-blue light screen in his exhausted soul, silent as dead water, actually flickered so faintly that it was almost impossible to detect!

Detected: high-purity life-energy aggregate in a weakly dispersing state... Energy properties: gentle, nourishing, containing faint botanical spiritual energy... Can be converted into a small amount of Source Energy Points... Absorb?

The prompt was as weak as a mosquito's buzz, carrying the frailty of something that could stop breathing at any moment, but its content made Lin Xiao's heart jolt!

High-purity life energy! Faint botanical spiritual energy!

The Su family's secret medicine truly was extraordinary!

Even the faint aura naturally dispersing from the medicinal powder inside the bottle could be barely sensed by the modification system on the verge of collapse, and it had been identified as energy that could be converted into Source Energy Points!

It was weak, but it was the only hope he had right now!

The only straw that could repair his core and ease his exhaustion!

He forcibly suppressed the excitement and greed in his heart. His face remained weak and pained, full of gratitude, as he spoke with a tremble in his voice. "Su... Student Su... This... this is too precious... I..."

He reached out and slowly, awkwardly tried to take the jade bottle, his fingers trembling slightly from his "weakness."

Su Qingxue watched his clumsy movements and the "sincere" gratitude in his eyes. The discomfort she had felt from giving away the secret medicine faded somewhat.

A transaction was a transaction, and a favor was a favor.

Once she gave it, they would be even.

"Enough nonsense." Su Qingxue cut him off, her tone carrying a trace of barely perceptible irritation. "Use it sparingly. Don't waste it. Once your injuries heal, don't forget what you're supposed to do."

She was referring to his status as a "friend," as well as the "help" she might need in the future.

After saying that, she did not linger, as though staying another second would contaminate her with the air here.

She turned neatly. Her black hair traced a cold arc through the air, and the tapping of her high heels resumed as she headed toward the door without hesitation.

"Student Su..." Just as she was about to leave, Lin Xiao summoned all his strength and called out weakly.

Su Qingxue stopped at the doorway without turning around. She merely turned her face slightly, revealing her perfectly shaped jawline, which looked somewhat hard amid the light and shadows.

"Thank you..." Lin Xiao's voice carried the weakness and sincerity of the severely wounded. "For not letting me die out there."

The words pricked Su Qingxue lightly, like a tiny needle.

Her cold back seemed to stiffen for an instant. Then an extremely soft, complicated snort drifted over.

"Hmph."

The ward door closed softly, cutting off that cold figure and the light from the outside world.

Only Lin Xiao remained in the room, along with the milky-white jade bottle lying quietly on the bedside table.

After confirming that Su Qingxue had left and that there were no monitoring devices nearby, most of the dying weakness vanished from Lin Xiao's face. In its place appeared the focused attention of a hunter who had spotted valuable prey, along with a trace of greed he could not conceal.

He laboriously shifted his body, extended his left hand, and carefully picked up the warm jade bottle.

The bottle felt slightly cool in his hand, its delicate texture like fine silk. He pulled out the stopper, which was carved from the same sheep-fat jade.

An exceptionally fresh medicinal fragrance carrying a refreshing coolness instantly filled the room, more than ten times stronger than before!

With just one breath, Lin Xiao felt the burning pain in his lungs ease slightly, and his spirits lifted.

Detected: high-purity life-energy aggregate in a continuously dispersing state... Energy properties: gentle, nourishing, containing botanical spiritual energy... Can be converted into a small amount of Source Energy Points... Absorb the dispersing energy?

The prompt in his mind remained weak, but it was a little clearer than before!

"Absorb!" Lin Xiao issued the command in the depths of his consciousness without hesitation!

Command received... Absorbing... (The light screen flickered extremely faintly. The black cracks seemed to have... very slightly... closed a fraction?)... Absorption complete. Source Energy Points obtained: +0.01.

Source Energy Points: -1.95 + 0.01 = -1.94.

Only 0.01 points!

A drop in the bucket!

But Lin Xiao's eyes shone with astonishing brightness!

He was like a traveler crossing an endless desert who had finally spotted the faintest trace.

This 0.01 points was more than an increase in a number!

It proved that the energy contained in the Su family's secret medicine could indeed be absorbed and converted by the modification system!

It proved that the hope of repairing his core and escaping his exhaustion was not an illusion!

More importantly, the faint energy flowing in had caused the dead, cracked blue light screen in his mind to "come alive" for the briefest, faintest instant!

Though it lasted only a moment and remained dim and near death, that flash of "activity" allowed him to clearly sense that his core had not completely collapsed!

It was still there! It had merely been exhausted to the extreme!

Hope!

Lin Xiao gripped the jade bottle tightly, his knuckles turning faintly white from the force. He carefully poured a tiny amount of powder onto his fingertip.

It was a powder as fine as snow, shimmering with an extremely faint jade-colored luster. He gathered his pitiful mental strength and cautiously extended it into the powder.

Sure enough!

Through the modification system's perception, which was on the verge of collapse yet barely maintained a trace of "activity" after receiving 0.01 Source Energy Points, he "saw" it!

The powder contained life energy ten or even a hundred times purer and denser than the dispersing aura!

That gentle yet powerful botanical spiritual energy was firmly locked within the powder's core by an exquisitely intricate energy structure resembling a miniature formation!

The structure was incredibly stable. Ordinary Martial Warriors could not directly absorb the energy essence within it and could only passively accept the medicinal effects as they slowly seeped into and nourished the body.

But for Lin Xiao, who possessed the modification system... this lock was not unbreakable!

If he could decipher the structure of this energy lock—even if he only pried open the smallest crack... could he directly absorb the pure energy in the core of the medicinal powder?

The number -1.94 in Source Energy Points flickered dimly in his mind.

His exhausted core released a silent wail.

Lin Xiao licked his cracked lips. He stared at the tiny jade-colored powder on his fingertip, his eyes flashing with an almost crazed light.

Su Qingxue... your medicine is probably going to have an effect... far beyond what you imagined.

Current Source Energy Points: -1.94.