[The Dying]

"Mm~, little brother, be gentle!"

Inside the rehabilitation clinic of the Hai City branch of the Destiny Bureau.

Shen Tingxue lay prone on the treatment bed, letting out a muffled groan.

Her white top outlined the fluid lines of her back, while two straight calves peeked out from beneath the hem of her robe.

"I know, sister."

Gu Yuan replied, though the pressure from his hands didn't lighten in the slightest.

This woman was just being pretentious.

She was a Body Tempering realm martial artist, after all; when she was out in the field for the Destiny Bureau, she wouldn't even frown if someone slashed her with a blade, yet now she was making a fuss over a simple back massage.

His hands pressed slowly down along both sides of his cousin's spine, his fingertips precisely grinding over every meridian node.

Shen Tingxue buried her face in the crook of her arms and fell silent.

A sensation of soreness and swelling shot from her lower back all the way up to the back of her head.

Her cousin's fingertips carried the unique, refreshing chill of an ice-attribute Dao Foundation, and with every press, a cool stream of blood energy seeped into her meridians.

It felt incredibly comfortable—so comfortable that even as a Body Tempering realm martial artist, she couldn't muster a shred of temper while in the hands of her cousin, who had just turned eighteen.

"Xiaoyuan, why is your grip getting stronger and stronger?"

"Doesn't that just prove I haven't been slacking off while training at school?"

As Gu Yuan spoke, his gaze lifted upward, almost imperceptibly.

Within his field of vision, a line of blue text hovered above Shen Tingxue's head.

[Trait: Benevolent Hands]

[Acquisition Condition: Perform a full-body massage on the trait holder 10 times]

[Current Progress: 9/10. Accumulate ten points to obtain the trait. (Only one point can be accumulated per day)]

Beneath the text, a pale blue progress bar glowed faintly, with the end marked at 90%.

Gu Yuan withdrew his gaze and continued to move his hands downward.

Ten days ago, Gu Yuan began seeing lines of text above everyone's heads, though acquisition conditions only appeared beneath the traits of a select few.

It was precisely because of this trait that he had shown up at the clinic every day for the past nine days, right on time, to act as his cousin's free laborer.

Every massage allowed him to siphon a bit of attribute bonus from the progress bar.

Strength, speed, blood energy perception.

Over the last nine days, his physical fitness had quietly soared by a significant margin.

Today was the tenth time.

"Sister, your legs."

Gu Yuan walked to the foot of the bed and lifted Shen Tingxue's right foot.

He pressed his thumb onto her right Achilles tendon.

[91/100]

The progress bar in his vision gave a slight jump.

Gu Yuan stopped letting his mind wander, focusing on condensing his blood energy at the tip of his thumb, kneading and pressing with steady, even force.

[92/100]

[93/100]

"Hiss—"

Shen Tingxue gasped, then forcibly swallowed the words "be gentle" back down.

Because she could feel it: a stream of icy blood energy was aggressively drilling into her calf, flushing out the blockages that had accumulated in her meridians from high-intensity combat.

"Xiaoyuan," she suddenly spoke, her voice tight, "your blood energy... it's different from yesterday."

"Maybe it's because I switched to a different breathing technique," Gu Yuan said, brushing it off lightly.

Shen Tingxue was silent for a few seconds, not pressing the matter further.

She knew this cousin of hers too well; from the time he was small, there had never been much truth in his words.

He had awakened a Grade B ice-attribute Dao Foundation at sixteen, making him a true child of destiny.

Now, at only eighteen, he had already reached the third level of the Blood Tempering realm, ranking among the top ten elite students at his key high school.

Gu Yuan's hands moved onto her calves, pushing upward along the meridian lines.

[94/100]

[95/100]

[96/100]

Nonsense, of course it was different; the blood energy perception he had been "freeloading" over these past nine days had elevated his control over his own blood energy to a whole new level.

Before, it was like a shotgun; now, it's a sniper rifle. How could they be the same?

[98/100]

[99/100]

Gu Yuan pressed his thumb onto the final set of acupoints on the back of his thigh.

[100/100]

A sky full of pale blue light particles suddenly scattered before his eyes, only to gather again the next second, condensing into a new line of purple text.

[Entry acquisition complete!]

[Obtained Entry: Saint Hand Pulse Clearing]

A massive surge of information flooded into his mind.

Gu Yuan closed his eyes, rapidly digesting the data.

[Effect 1: Hand of Holy Healing. Hands possess the "Holy Healing" attribute; wounds touched by them heal at an accelerated rate.]

So, I'm really going all the way with this masseur career, aren't I?

[Effect 2: Pulse Clearing. Can actively clear one's own meridians; cultivation efficiency is permanently increased.]

[Effect 3: Eye of Meridians. Can visually perceive the meridian flow within all living beings.]

[Effect 4: Ice Skin. The ice-attribute Dao foundation resonates with the entry, increasing the purity of qi and blood.]

Gu Yuan lowered his head and looked at his hands.

The qi and blood that had been slowed by his own cold energy were now surging wildly through his meridians.

The qi and blood washed over his entire body.

He was at the peak of the Third Level of the Blood Tempering Realm, just one step away from breaking through to become a true martial artist.

He didn't even need to deliberately circulate his breathing technique; his qi and blood were completing a major circulation through his body automatically.

His meridians were unobstructed, and that sense of resistance was completely gone.

"...Sister."

"Hmm?" Shen Tingxue was still lying on the pillow, her voice lazy.

"The massage is finished. Time to pack up and take me home."

Shen Tingxue tilted her head slightly and pushed herself up from the bed.

She looked back at Gu Yuan.

"Are you coming back tomorrow?"

Gu Yuan screwed the cap back onto the massage oil and grabbed a tissue to wipe his hands.

"As long as you're free, Sister."

A free attribute ATM—only a fool wouldn't come.

Shen Tingxue nodded, got off the bed, and put on her coat.

"The soreness in my legs is basically gone today." Shen Tingxue stretched.

"What do you want to eat tonight? My treat."

"Whatever, as long as it fills me up." Gu Yuan replied dismissively; his mind was currently filled with the joy of obtaining the entry, so who cared about food?

The two walked out of the treatment room side by side.

The hallway was permeated with the smell of disinfectant, and several martial artists were walking toward them, supporting each other.

Above their heads, each of them bore a black [Injury/Illness] entry.

Seeing this, Gu Yuan activated [Eye of Meridians].

His vision changed in an instant.

The walls, lights, and floor all lost their color, and the martial artists turned into semi-transparent humanoid outlines.

Inside the outlines, dense, interwoven red and blue lines were distributed throughout.

The burly man on the far left leaning on a crutch had three broken meridians in his right knee, causing his qi and blood flow to be completely blocked there.

The thin man in the middle clutching his arm had meridians in his left arm that were intact, but his qi and blood were pitifully thin.

Gu Yuan felt a pain in his head and deactivated [Eye of Meridians].

It was too mentally taxing.

The two walked out of the Destiny Bureau gates.

The evening breeze blew over, carrying the salty, damp scent unique to Sea City.

Gu Yuan withdrew his gaze and walked with his cousin toward the off-road vehicle parked on the side of the road, sliding into the car as he usually did.

Shen Tingxue started the engine and stepped on the gas.

"Xiaoyuan, how are you preparing for the First High School league after school starts?"

Shen Tingxue asked while turning the steering wheel.

Hearing his cousin's question, Gu Yuan leaned back against the seat, his mind heavy with thought.

Ten days ago.

Just as Gu Yuan had begun to see the entries above people's heads, Haicheng No. 1 High School announced the details of the competition that day.

The top three finishers in the competition would be able to travel to the provincial capital to receive guidance from a powerhouse in the Ningdan Realm.

It was precisely when the school announced this news that he saw the entries above the students ranked in the school's top three for overall strength change to—[Person Nearing Death]!