The neon lights of the city at night passed through the grime-coated window of the cheap hotel, casting bizarre patches of color across the walls. Lin Xiao sat cross-legged on the cold, hard bed, his bare upper body taut with muscle. Several freshly scabbed, savage wounds twisted across him like contorted centipedes.
His eyes were tightly shut, veins faintly visible at his temples as fine beads of sweat continuously seeped out.
The ghostly glow of Source Energy Points: -0.160 burned deep in his consciousness like hellfire. Every pulse tugged at his soul with tearing pain and an indescribable sense of exhaustion. Deep within his right leg, the dormant remnant core of "Viper's Kiss" resembled a cold, poisonous tumor, radiating a sinister chill. It engaged in a strange tug-of-war with the faint pull coming from the core of the light screen in his mind.
He was trying!
His will was like a dying beast, frantically ramming the dim blue light screen. He was not foolishly hoping to mobilize Source Energy Points. Instead, he was trying to dig a tiny spring out of this exhausted desert—to guide the pollution activity originating from the "Viper's Kiss" core. Even if only one ten-millionth could be peeled away and converted into safe energy!
Core instinctively suppressing... Attempting passive separation... Separation efficiency: 0.0000001%... Source Energy Points replenished: +0.0001
Source Energy Points: -0.160 + 0.0001 = -0.1599!
The scarlet +0.0001 flashed and vanished, as faint as an illusion, but the price was a stronger wave of dizziness and tearing pain deep in his consciousness! The dark-green core seemed to pulse more clearly, while the chill in his marrow grew heavier.
"Damn it!" Lin Xiao suddenly opened his eyes and slammed a fist into the bedboard, producing a dull boom. Dust rustled down. A drop in the bucket! Drinking poison to quench thirst! This minuscule replenishment was nothing but slow suicide! He desperately needed a true energy source!
Just then, the crumpled cheap communicator on the bedside table began vibrating wildly.
The name flashing on the screen made Lin Xiao's bloodshot pupils contract sharply—Su Qingxue!
At this hour? Lin Xiao furrowed his brows tightly. Ever since the abandoned factory incident, he had deliberately reduced his contact with Su Qingxue because he did not want to bring the trouble of the Ninth Office and the Shadow Alliance to her. And now, she had contacted him of her own accord...
He pressed the answer button. His voice carried a trace of fatigue and deliberately maintained distance. "Hello?"
There was silence on the other end for several seconds, broken only by faint electrical static. Then Su Qingxue's cold voice came through, carrying a clear strain, with the muted sound of a moving vehicle in the background. "...Lin Xiao. It's me."
"Yeah, I know. What is it?" Lin Xiao's tone was bland and carried his usual roguishness, but his finger unconsciously traced the edge of the communicator.
Another brief silence followed. Lin Xiao could almost imagine the struggle and humiliation appearing on Su Qingxue's exquisitely sculpted face on the other end. For someone as proud as her, asking someone for help of her own accord was more painful than being killed.
"...I need your help." Su Qingxue's voice finally sounded again, lower than before but clearer, every word seeming to be forced out through clenched teeth. "The family's internal... minor competition. Tomorrow."
Lin Xiao's eyes shifted slightly. The Su family's minor competition? He immediately thought of how he had helped her crush Su Zhenshan's scheme during the family trial. It seemed the Main Branch's counterattack had arrived—and it was even more vicious!
"Oh?" Lin Xiao drawled, amusement in his voice. "Miss Campus Belle Su, you're a martial artist now. Do you still need help from a 'ruffian' like me? Aren't you afraid I'll get you into trouble again?"
A suppressed intake of breath came from the other end, so faint it was almost inaudible. Su Qingxue had clearly been stung by Lin Xiao's deliberate distance and veiled sarcasm.
"Lin Xiao!" Her voice rose slightly, cold with anger, but she forcibly pressed it back down, leaving only an almost icy exhaustion and... a trace of barely perceptible pleading. "Stop saying useless things! I know you have a way! Just like last time... in the mine!"
She paused, her voice dropping further, carrying the difficulty of surrendering the last shred of her pride. "The Main Branch... Su Hao. This time... he's different. His 'Cold Jade Palm'... can trigger the backlash of the cold energy in my... hidden meridian! I... I can't withstand it!" The final words trembled with humiliation at being forced into a desperate corner.
Backlash from the cold energy of the Jade Balance Hidden Meridian!
A sharp glint flashed through Lin Xiao's eyes. He understood the key instantly! Su Hao's cultivation technique had definitely been designed by the Main Branch specifically to counter Su Qingxue, this "accidental breakthrough" from the Branch family! They were using the properties of the Jade Balance Hidden Meridian that Lin Xiao had forcibly opened inside her and turning them into a weapon against her! What a vicious scheme!
"Trigger the hidden meridian's cold energy?" Lin Xiao's voice remained calm, but a cold curve tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Sounds... interesting. But Miss Campus Belle Su, I can help, but you know the rules." He did not hide his intention to steer the subject toward the core issue—the deal!
Long silence filled the other end, broken only by the rustle of tires rolling over the road. Lin Xiao could almost feel Su Qingxue clenching her fists, her knuckles paling with anger and struggle.
"...What do you want?" Her voice was cold as ice chips.
"The usual rules," Lin Xiao said leisurely, though his gaze was as sharp as an eagle's. "First, get me at least three medium-quality Energy Stones. Second..." He deliberately paused, emphasizing his tone. "Tell me whether the Main Branch has recently been in contact with any... special people. Or whether they have anything in their hands that... does not belong to the Su family."
He suspected that the Main Branch's methods this time were not aimed only at Su Qingxue! To precisely trigger the backlash of the Jade Balance Hidden Meridian's cold energy, could there be... a trace of the Shadow Alliance behind this modification to the technique? And that fragment of the World-Erosion Seed—was the Su family involved as well?
"Energy Stones... fine!" Su Qingxue agreed to the first condition almost through clenched teeth, but she clearly hesitated over the second. "...Special people? Things? I don't know! I can't reach the core of the Main Branch's affairs!"
"Then go investigate!" Lin Xiao's voice hardened with undeniable force. "Su Qingxue, this is part of the deal. If you want to win, if you want to take back what belongs to you, a few stones alone... won't be enough." He knew all too well that information—especially information about the Shadow Alliance and the World-Erosion Seed—was more valuable than Energy Stones in this whirlpool.
The other end of the communicator fell silent again. A full dozen seconds passed before Su Qingxue's cold voice sounded once more, carrying a resolute determination to risk everything. "...Fine! I'll investigate! But you must guarantee what I want!"
"Of course." Lin Xiao let out a silent, cold laugh. "Same place. See you in half an hour. Bring the stones."
After ending the call, Lin Xiao watched Su Qingxue's name disappear from the screen, his expression complicated. His Source Energy Points were depleted, a poisonous tumor was buried inside him, and he was being watched by both the Ninth Office and the Shadow Alliance... He should not have waded into the Su family's muddy waters again. But Su Qingxue's information channels, the possibility of a Shadow Alliance connection within the Su family, and those three life-saving Energy Stones... left him no choice!
More importantly, the Main Branch's methods this time had touched his "creation"—Su Qingxue's Jade Balance Hidden Meridian was the work of his modifier! This was tantamount to slapping him in the face!
He struggled to his feet. The dark-green core deep in his right leg sent a cold pulse with the fluctuation of his emotions. Enduring the discomfort, he quickly put on his clothes and pulled his hat brim low. His figure melted into the night like a ghost and left the cheap hotel without a sound.
Half an hour later, in the shadows on the top floor of an abandoned bell tower in the southern part of the city.
The night wind howled past, carrying the chill unique to high places. Su Qingxue stood there alone with her back to the stairwell. She still wore that cool, moon-white training outfit, outlining a graceful yet powerful back. Moonlight fell over her, but could not dispel the lingering coldness and heaviness surrounding her.
Hearing footsteps, she slowly turned around.
The moonlight illuminated her face. It was still that breathtakingly beautiful face, but an inescapable weariness and anxiety hung between her brows. The cold, aloof gaze she usually wore now held a trace of undisguised fragility and... humiliation. She watched Lin Xiao approach, her lips pressed pale, her expression impossible to read.
Lin Xiao stopped three steps in front of her. His gaze swept over her slightly pale face without the slightest attempt to hide it before finally landing on her tightly clenched right hand. She was gripping a small black velvet pouch.
"The thing." Lin Xiao held out his hand, succinctly.
Su Qingxue's body stiffened almost imperceptibly. She stared at Lin Xiao as if he were a demon taking advantage of a crisis. Several seconds later, she slammed the black velvet pouch into his open palm as if discarding something filthy!
The pouch felt warm and heavy. Three egg-sized jade stones, radiating a gentle milky-white glow, lay quietly inside! A pure energy aura seeped through the velvet, causing even the exhausted core of the light screen in Lin Xiao's mind to stir with faint longing!
Detected energy source of medium purity... Absorbable... Estimated replenishment: 0.3–0.5 points...
The cold notification sounded like heavenly music!
Lin Xiao's heart settled, but his face still wore that careless, roguish smile. "Thanks." He tucked the pouch into his chest without the slightest courtesy.
"I'll do my best to investigate what you want." Su Qingxue's voice was cold enough to pierce bone, suppressed fury burning within it. "Now tell me, how do I deal with Su Hao?"
Lin Xiao did not answer immediately. He stepped forward, his gaze landing on Su Qingxue like a scalpel, sharp with the scrutiny one would give to merchandise. "Circulate your primary techniques—'Plum Blossom Reflecting Snow Steps' and 'Ice Lotus Palm'—more slowly."
Under his gaze, Su Qingxue felt uncomfortable all over, a wave of offended anger rising in her heart. But thinking of tomorrow's desperate situation, she endured the humiliation, closed her eyes, and slowly circulated the cold True Qi within her body. Beneath the moonlight, faint chill radiated from her. Her steps shifted lightly in a unique rhythm, while her palm movements seemed elusive yet concealed sharp force.
Lin Xiao's gaze locked tightly onto Su Qingxue's movements, especially the minute fluctuations in the area of her Jade Balance Hidden Meridian as her True Qi circulated. In his mind, the dim blue light screen struggled to emit a faint glow.
Deep scan initiated... Target: Su Qingxue... Techniques: "Plum Blossom Reflecting Snow Steps" (Mysterious Tier Mid-grade), "Ice Lotus Palm" (Mysterious Tier High-grade)... Status: Jade Balance Hidden Meridian activated (marked)... Analyzing energy circulation trajectory... Warning! Insufficient Source Energy Points! Deep-scan load excessive! Source Energy Points consumed: -0.01!
Source Energy Points: -0.1599 - 0.01 = -0.1699!
A violent wave of dizziness struck! Lin Xiao's body swayed almost imperceptibly, his face turning a shade paler, but his gaze remained as sharp as an eagle's!
He saw it! At the core nodes of Su Qingxue's technique circulation, especially the instant she simulated the exertion of "Ice Lotus Palm," a pure stream of cold energy naturally formed within the passage deep in the Jade Balance Hidden Meridian that he had opened. It should have been an amplification of the technique. But now, surrounding that cold energy, several extremely fine dark-red energy patterns, like spiderwebs, faintly emerged!
The patterns resembled parasites, coiling around the origin of the cold energy and radiating a sinister, restrained malice! They did not belong to Su Qingxue herself. They were "fuses" forcibly branded into her by an outside force! Once they encountered a specific, kindred, and more aggressive force of icy coldness—such as Su Hao's Cold Jade Palm—the "fuses" would ignite instantly, detonating the cold energy in her own Jade Balance Hidden Meridian and causing a terrifying backlash!
"That's enough!" Lin Xiao suddenly spoke, interrupting Su Qingxue's practice.
Su Qingxue stopped, breathing slightly hard. Her cold gaze turned toward Lin Xiao, carrying a question and a trace of barely perceptible tension.
"The problem is deep within your hidden meridian. Someone planted a 'trigger' there." Lin Xiao's voice was hoarse from the drain on his Source Energy, but his gaze was unusually calm. "Su Hao's Cold Jade Palm is the spark that ignites it."
Su Qingxue's face instantly turned deathly pale! Though she had already suspected as much, having Lin Xiao expose it so directly and ruthlessly still sent an icy chill through her, along with fury! The Main Branch! To suppress her, they had actually used such a vicious method!
"How do I break it?" Her voice was dry, trembling almost imperceptibly.
Lin Xiao did not answer immediately. He closed his eyes, and his will sank into the dim blue light screen once more. The several energy nodes of the dark-red "fuses" were clearly marked on it. He did not intend to forcibly remove them—that would detonate them directly. Instead... he would modify the energy circulation trajectory of Su Qingxue's own techniques! When the cold energy passed through those nodes, he would divert and buffer it with extreme precision, like opening a safe, narrow path through a minefield packed with fuses!
Target locked... Modification plan simulation... Optimizing energy circuits at nodes 7 and 11 of "Plum Blossom Reflecting Snow Steps"... Optimizing hidden-meridian energy diversion route during the charging phase of "Ice Lotus Palm"... Modification complexity: High! Source Energy Points required: 0.3! Current Source Energy Points: -0.1699! Severely insufficient! Forced modification carries risk of core collapse and unknown aftereffects!
The cold warning struck like a heavy hammer!
Lin Xiao abruptly opened his eyes, the blood vessels in them even more pronounced. He looked at Su Qingxue, yet a cold, almost crazed curve tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"There is a way. But the price... is high." He spoke slowly, his gaze like a venomous snake that had found its prey. "Besides those three stones, Su Qingxue, you have to agree to one more condition."
Su Qingxue's heart sank. Seeing the near-burning madness and undisguised greed in Lin Xiao's eyes, she was seized by a powerful sense of unease. "...What condition?"
Lin Xiao stepped closer, instantly shortening the distance between them. His hot breath, carrying the dryness of exhaustion, nearly brushed Su Qingxue's icy face. His voice was low, like a demon's whisper:
"Win or lose... after the minor competition, lend me this 'Jade Balance Hidden Meridian' in your body for three days of 'research.'"
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