Old Li's Gift

After the sudden sewer encounter, Huayin's life settled into a fast-paced yet highly regular routine.

Mornings were reserved for unshakable special training. In the special underground meditation chamber, he continued honing his physique under Li Siyuan's guidance and studying spiritual power control.

He had long since memorized the Basic Meridian Guidance Method, and Elder Li began teaching him more intricate techniques for circulating spiritual power, along with basic close-combat footwork.

Sometimes it was fierce saber techniques, emphasizing speed and instantaneous bursts of power.

Other times, it was grappling techniques that focused more on redirecting force and prolonged entanglement.

Elder Li's demands were so harsh they bordered on cruelty. Every movement had to be precise, every circulation of spiritual power accurate. The slightest mistake meant extra training.

As a result, Huayin's body was often covered in fresh wounds layered over old ones, but the spiritual power within him seemed to grow increasingly condensed under such intense tempering.

In the afternoons, he would usually follow different Operations Department squads on urban patrols or fixed-point monitoring assignments.

Sometimes he followed Captain Wang, and sometimes other veteran members.

He still did not speak much, but his attitude toward observing and learning was beyond reproach.

During this time, he learned how to communicate with community personnel to obtain clues, how to investigate anomalous areas without causing panic, and watched several operations to drive away or capture wandering low-level demonic beasts.

His marksmanship improved further through live-fire training. Occasionally, when it was absolutely safe and permitted, he would also try using his ability—for example, using the smallest, most restrained amount of Pale Dream Butterflies as support.

For instance, he would use the edge of a single dream butterfly's wing to cut a specific rope, or conduct an extremely small-scale, precise investigation. Every attempt was closely monitored by Elder Li or the squad leader and followed by a detailed analysis.

His codename, "White Butterfly," gradually changed within the Operations Department from a mysterious symbol into a new force known as "efficient, but requiring careful handling."

Nights belonged to his own cultivation.

He returned to the single dormitory the Special Affairs Bureau had provided for him—a simple but fully equipped room with basic spirit-gathering effects and strict security measures.

At night, he would take the supplementary pills Elder Li allocated as appropriate, hold spirit stones in his hand, circulate his cultivation method, gradually accumulate spiritual power, broaden his meridians, and repeatedly reflect on the gains and losses from his daytime training and missions.

The hunger remained, but with a steady supply of spirit stones and approved "harmless disposal" of cleared demonic beast remains during occasional missions, it was now basically under control.

The days were fulfilling and exhausting, yet they also allowed him to clearly feel his own growth with every passing day.

Soon, half a month flew by amid sweat and focus.

That morning, Huayin had just finished practicing a saber routine as fierce as a storm. He sheathed his blade and stood still, sweat rolling down from his temples, yet his breathing quickly steadied.

He was preparing to wash up and eat when Li Siyuan entered the training room with his hands behind his back, strolling in unhurriedly.

The old man's gaze swept over Huayin. Seeing his increasingly lean and capable build, as well as the steadier light in his eyes, he nodded slightly and smiled with satisfaction.

"Not bad. You haven't wasted this past half month. Your foundation at the late Meridian-Opening Realm is now completely stable, and your control over spiritual power is on the right track. More importantly, the tempering of your character has begun to show results. You haven't become restless just because your strength has grown."

Elder Li's voice carried approval.

Huayin wiped away his sweat and said respectfully, "It is because Elder Li has taught me so well."

Li Siyuan waved a hand and, chuckling, took something from his clothes.

It was an ancient-looking ring, neither metal nor jade. Its material was smooth and warm, dark silver in color, with extremely fine cloudlike patterns on its surface that seemed naturally formed.

"This is for you."

Elder Li held the ring out before Huayin.

Huayin froze slightly and did not take it at once.

Ever since his father died, he had not received such a "personal" gift in a very long time.

As for his "mother"...

Although she would occasionally ask him whether he needed anything, he would always instinctively fend her off with polite but distant replies like, "No need," "We have it at home," or "I can handle it myself."

And then there was nothing more.

Over time, even that unfamiliar concern had nearly disappeared.

"Elder Li, this..."

Huayin hesitated.

"Take it."

Li Siyuan directly stuffed the ring into his hand. It felt slightly cool.

"A lowest-grade Sumeru Mustard Ring, commonly known as a storage ring. The space inside isn't large, around three cubic meters, but it's enough for your current needs. It'll be more convenient for carrying important items, spirit stones, and pills."

He paused, looked at the complicated expression in Huayin's eyes, and smiled gently. Yet his tone was as casual as if he were talking about something insignificant.

"Don't overthink it. This old man has lived for so many years. I still have a little family wealth."

"I think you're pleasing to the eye, and I believe you're a promising kid. Consider it an early investment. If you truly reach greater heights than me someday, remember to look after the younger generation I leave behind. Uh... forget that. Just take better care of the people."

He patted Huayin on the shoulder. "Recognize it as your master with a drop of blood, then communicate with it spiritually to use it. You can store and retrieve things with your thoughts. It's fairly convenient. All right, go wash up and eat. Don't be late for this morning's fine spiritual power control class."

Without waiting for Huayin to say anything else, he turned and leisurely walked away.

Huayin held the storage ring, which still carried a trace of warmth, and stood there for a long time.

Elder Li had made it sound easy, but Huayin knew that even the lowest-grade storage artifact was extremely valuable on the market and far beyond what an ordinary awakened person could possess.

More importantly, there was the unreserved trust and expectation behind this gift.

In the end, he silently nodded and put the ring on his left index finger.

The size fit perfectly.

That night.

Huayin lay on his dormitory bed without immediately falling asleep.

He raised his left hand and examined the ancient ring on his finger by the faint city lights streaming in through the window.

With a thought, a thread of spirituality cautiously entered it.

Then he froze.

The ring was not empty as he had imagined. Several piles of spirit stones were neatly stacked within the three-cubic-meter space!

With a rough glance, there were at least four or five thousand low-grade spirit stones, as well as a small pile of around a hundred mid- to high-grade spirit stones whose spiritual energy was clearly much denser and purer!

Besides those, dozens of differently colored bottles with labels—obviously various enhancement and healing potions—were quietly arranged together. There were also several sets of brand-new custom training uniforms and casual clothes suitable for movement, along with some sealed high-energy food and clean water.

How was this merely a storage ring meant to "make carrying things more convenient"?

It was clearly a mobile supply depot carefully prepared for him, containing cultivation resources, daily necessities, and emergency reserves!

Elder Li...

At this moment, he was not merely a guide or protector. In his own way, he was silently paving Huayin's path and removing his worries.

For a moment, Huayin's emotions were too complicated to describe.

There was warmth, gratitude, and also a heavy pressure.

He would have to repay this gift, which went far beyond Elder Li's duties, through faster growth and real actions in the future.

He withdrew his spirituality from the ring, and the room returned to silence.

The city's neon lights flickered outside the window, reflected in his calm eyes.

Meanwhile, deep beneath Youcheng, in the abandoned flood channel.

The coiled dark-green serpent stirred slightly. Its ghostly green vertical pupils glowed in the darkness as it coldly watched what lay before it.

"Crack... crack..."

Tiny cracking sounds rang out one after another. The cracks on the surfaces of the white-and-green snake eggs grew increasingly numerous.

At last, the first little snake broke through its shell, its wet head poking out.

Its entire body was dark green, marked with faint white rings. It was about as thick as a finger, and its eyes had not fully opened, yet it was already instinctively flicking its bright red tongue, carefully sensing the cold, damp environment around it and the hunger born from instinct.

Then came the second, the third...

More and more newborn snakes broke out of their shells, wriggling their tiny bodies as they gathered at the center of the mother snake's coils.

The mother snake lowered its head, its cold tongue gently brushing over these newborn offspring. Then it slightly raised its head and let out a low, unusual hiss that human ears could scarcely detect.

As if receiving an order, the newborn snakes began to stir. Their tiny bodies slithered through gaps in the passageways and scattered toward the broader underground world, where the scent of "food" was stronger.

Their targets were clear: the fat rats, insects, and even weaker creatures hiding throughout the sewers.

A few days later, food began to grow scarce.

There were too many little snakes, and they grew quickly. The limited biological resources underground could not satisfy their greedy appetites.

Several especially bold little snakes, crazed by hunger, followed the sound of flowing water and their vague craving for flesh and blood. They traveled upward through the complex, intersecting network of pipes and unknowingly slipped into an inadequately guarded branch of the city's water supply system...

Youcheng No. 3 Middle School, afternoon break.

Several students crowded around the sinks on the first floor of the teaching building, chatting and laughing as they washed their hands.

"Huh? Why does this water smell weird?"

A girl wrinkled her nose, turned off the faucet, and leaned closer to smell her hands.

"What smell? Probably disinfectant. Didn't the school just clean the water tank?"

Another boy said carelessly.

"It's not disinfectant... It's a little fishy, like... like the smell at a fish market. Just faintly."

The girl sounded uncertain.

"You smelled it wrong, didn't you? I don't smell anything."

Someone beside her turned on the faucet and tried it. The water flowed normally, clear and colorless.

"Maybe..."

The girl shook the water off her hands, dried them with a tissue, and put that faint, almost imperceptible fishy smell out of her mind.

No one noticed that deep within the dark U-shaped pipe beneath the sink, several slender dark-green shadows marked with white rings flashed past.