The Beginning of Seclusion

Three days later, Seventh Master Lin reappeared in the herb garden. Lu Yuan handed him a list.

The paper was rough, and the ink was pine soot ink. The handwriting was neat, and the entries were clear.

Seventh Master Lin took it and glanced at the first line.

"Ten Ice Heart Grass plants, over a hundred years old," he read aloud, then looked up, "Five hundred Gold Soul Coin."

"Yes." Lu Yuan nodded.

"Purple-veined vine root, five catties, dried in the shade for three years. Four hundred."

"Concentration Incense, thirty sticks, specially supplied to the Spirit Hall. Three hundred."

He flipped through the pages, slower and slower. Two pages, totaling over three Gold Soul Coin. This didn't even include the additional requirements such as "requires a specific environment" and "daily fresh preparation."

Seventh Master Lin closed the list.

"Kid, do you know what three Gold Soul Coin mean?"

"I know," Lu Yuan said calmly. "Enough for a hundred ordinary families to live on for a year."

"Do you want more?"

"Yes," Lu Yuan said. "Lin Xiao's Martial Soul is worth the price. If we go for the ideal configuration, the list will triple in length, and the total price will exceed ten thousand."

Seventh Master Lin fell silent.

He paced back and forth along the path in the herb garden, his hands behind his back. The morning mist had not yet dissipated, and dew clung to the grass.

After a long while, he stopped.

"You'll get the items," he said, "But everything will be recorded. If you lose the bet in three months, these expenses will be converted into debt and recorded in your name."

"Can."

Seventh Master Lin gave him a deep look, folded the list, put it in his pocket, and turned to leave.

They left decisively.

Inside the bamboo house, Lin Xiao stood against the wall. He had been looking out the window the whole time.

"Three Gold Soul Coin..." His voice was a little dry, "I've never seen so much money in my entire life."

"Now I've seen it." Lu Yuan walked to the table and spread out another stack of papers.

The top is covered with symbols, lines, and annotations: the path of Soul Power flow, the structure of Martial Soul energy, and mathematical derivations.

Lin Xiao leaned closer, and after just a few glances, he felt dizzy.

"What is this?"

"Your ' Soul Power Map '." Lu Yuan picked up a charcoal pencil and drew a circle on the paper. "Or rather, before drawing a map, you need to understand the 'topography and landforms'."

He pointed to a winding line.

"This is the main flow path of your Soul Power through the meridians in your arm. Look here—" the charcoal pencil pointed to a spot, "Each time it flows through, there will be a slight stagnation. It's not a blockage, it's a 'mismatch.' Like river water flowing through a suddenly narrowed channel, it will form a whirlpool."

Lin Xiao stared at that spot.

"The family's martial arts technique forced me to break through."

"Charge through, and the whirlpool will still be there." Lu Yuan shook his head. "Moreover, each impact will damage the inner wall. Over time, the riverbed will deform."

He changed the paper.

This drawing depicts the energy structure of Lin Xiao's Martial Soul. Against a deep, dark purple background, it is dotted with silver light, unevenly distributed, dense in some areas and sparse in others.

"Your Martial Soul Mutation has brought new characteristics," Lu Yuan said, "but these characteristics are incompatible with your body's original Soul Power system. The family's cultivation methods attempt to 'suppress' or 'correct' them, making them adapt to the old system. My approach is the opposite—"

He paused.

"I want to rebuild a new system. A system that can fully accommodate, and even amplify, these characteristics."

Lin Xiao's throat moved.

"So... those three Gold Soul Coin were for reconstruction?"

"Part of it is," Lu Yuan put down his charcoal pencil, "And the other part is to make sure you suffer less during the reconstruction process."

He looked at Lin Xiao.

"The process will be very painful, ten times more painful than the ' Netlike Channeling ' you're currently experiencing. Your Soul Power will have to re-plan its path, your meridians will have to adapt to the new pattern, and your Martial Soul itself will have to adjust its structure. Every step could go wrong, and if you do, at best your Soul Power will be disordered, and at worst your meridians will be damaged."

Lin Xiao remained silent.

He licked his canine teeth. The faint trace of his vertical pupils reappeared in his amber eyes.

"If you lose the bet, you'll owe your family three Gold Soul Coin," he suddenly said.

"Um."

"What will you use to repay me?"

"I hadn't thought about it," Lu Yuan said, "Because I wouldn't lose."

Lin Xiao stared at him.

After a long while, he forced a smile.

"Madman."

Qingzhu provided a place for seclusion.

Deep within the medicinal herb garden, at the foot of the mountain wall, lies a natural stone cave. The entrance, originally concealed by vines, has Zhu Zhuqing. The interior is not large, but large enough for two people to sit cross-legged. The stone walls are cool to the touch, and the ground is covered with dry thatch.

"This place is cool and quiet, and the fluctuations in Soul Power are stable." Qingzhu stood at the cave entrance. "I will set up an isolation barrier outside. Daily meals will be delivered regularly and placed on the stone platform at the cave entrance. At other times, no one will disturb us."

He paused, then looked at Lu Yuan.

"The medicinal herbs will be delivered starting tomorrow. The Ice Heart Grass and Purple Vein Root will arrive first."

"That's enough." Lu Yuan nodded.

Qingzhu then looked at Lin Xiao.

"Kid, your Seventh Grandpa left a message before he passed away."

Lin Xiao looked up.

"He said," Qingzhu said slowly, "'Tell Xiao'er that the family is waiting for the result. If he wins, he can go wherever he wants. If he loses... he'll obediently come back and be his heir.'"

Lin Xiao's eyes darkened.

He clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug into his palms.

"Knew."

Qingzhu didn't say anything more. The sound of the bamboo cane tapping the ground gradually faded into the distance.

The cave fell silent.

Lu Yuan began to set up. He placed paper and pens on a stone table in the corner, along with several small porcelain bottles containing basic potions prepared by Qingzhu. Finally, he spread out the stack of blueprints and weighed down the four corners with stones.

Lin Xiao stood at the cave entrance, looking outside.

The morning mist has dissipated. Sunlight shines on the herb leaves, making the dewdrops sparkle. Several kingfishers hop on the fence.

He stared at it for a long time.

Then he turned around and went into the cave.

"Let's begin," he said.

There was no practice on the first day.

Lu Yuan told Lin Xiao to sit cross-legged and close his eyes.

"Sensitize your Soul Power," he said. "Don't control it, just sense it. Like watching a river, see how it flows, where it goes, where it's fast, where it's slow, where it swirls."

Lin Xiao did as instructed.

It took him an hour to barely get into the zone. His Soul Power flowed naturally, but a sense of stagnation followed him everywhere. Each time it passed through certain points, the familiar feeling of blockage would come.

"Remember these places," Lu Yuan's voice rang out from the side. "Don't try to break through; just remember them."

Another hour passed.

Lin Xiao opened his eyes, his forehead beaded with sweat.

"I remembered seven." He took a breath. "One on the left shoulder, two on the right rib, three on the back, and one on the left leg."

"Very good." Lu Yuan noted it down on the paper. "Continue tomorrow. The goal is to find all the bottlenecks, at least twenty."

"Twenty?" Lin Xiao was stunned.

"More than that," Lu Yuan said. "Your Martial Soul Mutation affects your entire energy system; there won't be just a few points of stagnation."

Lin Xiao gritted his teeth.

"Continue."

The medicinal herbs were delivered the following afternoon.

The Lin Clan guards carried two large wooden crates, placed them at the entrance of the herb garden, and left without saying a word.

Qingzhu inspected the box. The Ice Heart Grass, Purple Vein Root, and several other auxiliary medicinal materials all met the requirements, and were even slightly better than listed on the inventory.

"The family has been quite generous this time," Qingzhu stroked his beard.

He took out a portion and began to prepare it. He crushed the ice heart grass to extract its juice, mixed it with mild herbs, and simmered it into a light blue medicinal soup. He sliced the purple-veined vine root, roasted it over a low flame, and it emitted a faint fragrance.

In the evening, the medicinal soup and vine root slices were delivered to the entrance of the stone cave.

Lu Yuan accepted it.

The medicinal soup was warm, slightly bitter at first, but a cooling sensation spread through his limbs after swallowing. After Lin Xiao finished drinking it, his Soul Power fluctuations became noticeably more stable.

The root slices are held under the tongue and slowly dissolve. The gentle medicinal power seeps into the meridians, like a soft hand clearing away blockages.

"Once a day, once in the morning and once in the evening," Qingzhu instructed. "Do not skip it."

"Clear."

On the third day, Lin Xiao found the thirteenth bottleneck.

He was so exhausted he was almost collapsing. Sensing the flow of Soul Power sounds simple, but it is actually extremely mentally taxing. Maintaining a state of "observing without interfering" is even more tiring than cultivating at full strength.

Lu Yuan wasn't idle either.

Based on the locations of the bottlenecks reported by Lin Xiao, he marked them on the drawing. For each point marked, he deduced its impact on the overall flow of Soul Power and possible adjustment plans.

The lines on the drawing became increasingly dense.

Sometimes he would suddenly stop writing, stare at a certain point, and fall into deep thought. He could sit there for half an hour at a time, and then grab a charcoal pencil and start writing furiously.

Lin Xiao watched him do calculations during his break, and it gave him the creeps.

He didn't recognize any of those symbols. He couldn't understand those formulas at all. But he could understand Lu Yuan's eyes—focused, sharp, like someone groping in the dark suddenly seeing the light.

On the fourth day, the incense for calming the mind was delivered.

Thirty sticks, packaged in a sandalwood box. Each stick is about the thickness of a little finger, pale yellow, and has a spiral pattern on the surface.

A stick of Qingzhu was lit and placed in the small incense burner at the entrance of the stone cave.

Wisps of smoke rose, carrying a calming and soothing fragrance. Lin Xiao took a breath, and the distracting thoughts in his mind instantly vanished, his Soul Power perception becoming exceptionally clear.

"Good stuff," he whispered.

"It's a special supply for the Spirit Hall, usually only available to high-ranking internal deacons and above," Qingzhu said. "The fact that the Lin Clan could obtain it suggests that the family tacitly approved of your Seventh Grandpa's actions this time."

Lin Xiao remained silent.

He stared at the wisp of smoke for a long time.

On the evening of the seventh day, Lu Yuan put down his charcoal pencil.

There were more than a dozen sheets of paper spread out in front of him, each filled with writing: Soul Power flow path diagrams, magnified local analysis, and energy structure calculations.

Lin Xiao sat opposite him, drinking his second bowl of medicinal soup that day.

"We've found twenty-one bottlenecks," Lu Yuan said, his voice hoarse. "They basically cover all the major meridian nodes in the body. Now, we need to make a decision."

Lin Xiao put down his bowl.

What decision?

"Which one should we address first?" Lu Yuan pointed to the blueprints. "Twenty-one points. If we adjust them all at once, your body won't be able to handle it. We must do it in stages. For the first stage, I've chosen three points—left shoulder, lower right rib, and the center of your back."

He paused.

"These three points are the key nodes affecting your Martial Soul energy output. Solving them will increase your Soul Skill release speed by 30% and power by 20%. However, the process will be extremely painful, and once you start, you cannot stop halfway."

Lin Xiao licked his canine teeth.

How painful?

"It's like someone is poking and stirring your meridians with a red-hot iron rod," Lu Yuan said bluntly, "And it lasts for at least an hour."

The cave was silent for a few seconds.

Lin Xiao suddenly smiled.

"Then let's do it," he said. "Anyway, this body has already been through enough wracking from the family's martial arts techniques. How much more pain can it hurt?"

Lu Yuan looked at him.

Then he nodded.

"Starting tomorrow."

The next morning, Qingzhu set up the final barrier outside the cave.

A pale green light membrane covered the cave entrance, woven from countless fine vine patterns. Sound, Soul Power fluctuations, and light all became blurred.

Outside the barrier, Qingzhu stood leaning on a bamboo cane.

At the entrance to the herb garden in the distance, Seventh Master Lin, accompanied by two guards, watched from afar. They neither approached nor left.

Surveillance is also a form of waiting.

Inside the cave, Lu Yuan spread out the last few sheets of paper.

The diagram above no longer depicts complex equations, but rather concise step-by-step instructions. The first step is to do what, the second step is to adjust which meridian, the third step is to guide the resonance between Soul Power and Martial Soul... each step is clearly marked.

Lin Xiao sat cross-legged opposite him, his expression tense.

He changed into clean clothes and tied his hair up. His amber pupils shone brightly in the dim light, and the vertical iris marks were clearer than ever before.

Lu Yuan looked at him and spoke slowly.

"The first step is not cultivation," he said, "But 'cognitive reconstruction'."

Lin Xiao was stunned.

"Forget everything you learned about the 'correct' path to Soul Power circulation." Lu Yuan's voice was calm, but every word was like a hammer striking a stone. "What your family taught you, what the academy taught you, all those things about 'how you should go' and 'how you must go'—forget them all."

He picked up a piece of paper with a simple human figure drawn on it; the inside was blank.

"We're going to 'draw' a new ' Soul Power Map ' just for you, one that's uniquely yours."

Lin Xiao stared at the blank human figure diagram.

His throat moved.

"How... do I draw it?"

"Use your body, your Soul Power, your Martial Soul," Lu Yuan said. "I will guide you, but every step requires you to 'feel' and 'choose' it yourself. Only you know which path is smoother and which transition is more natural."

He paused.

There is no standard answer to this process. There is only the answer that suits you.

Lin Xiao closed his eyes.

Take a deep breath.

When she opened her eyes again, only resolute determination remained.

"Let's begin."

Lu Yuan nodded.

He picked up the first incense stick for calming the mind, lit it, and placed it in the crack between the two of them. Smoke rose and fragrance filled the air.

Then, he reached out and placed his hand on Lin Xiao's left shoulder—the first point of resistance.

"Sensitize this place," he said. "Don't resist, follow my Soul Power."

A faint trace of Soul Power seeped into Lu Yuan's fingertips.

Lin Xiao's body trembled.

The excruciating pain arrived as expected.

But he gritted his teeth and remained silent.

Outside the cave, the barrier rippled slightly. Qingzhu stood before the barrier, her bamboo staff gripped tightly.

In the distance, Seventh Master Lin stood motionless, his hands behind his back.

The sun gradually rose higher.

The three-month countdown has officially begun.