Elder Ren’s footsteps faded down the path. Lian excused herself to put on water for tea. Lin Xuan sat on the edge of the bed in the silence they left behind, looked up at the crooked ceiling beam, and exhaled.

’Mira. Shop. Now.’

[ Finally!! I have been polite for two whole days and my patience is a finite resource. (¬‿¬) ]

The panel unfurled across the wall. Not a window this time. A full storefront, shelves layered back into what looked like depth but wasn’t, categories glowing along the edges. Consumables. Techniques. Artifacts. Services. Each one lit soft gold.

Lin Xuan leaned forward.

’Walk me through it.’

[ Eight days, host. Your body is Stage One with cultivation efficiency restored, but your muscles have been in bed for two years. A normal cultivator would need three months of conditioning before fighting anyone above their stage. You don’t have three months. You have eight days. So we are going to buy exactly what you need, and we are going to buy it in the order is the best. ]

’Go.’

The panel obeyed. Items surfaced from the shelves and lined themselves up across his vision.

═══════════════════════════════

[ RECOMMENDED BUILD — 1,800 OP BUDGET ]

═══════════════════════════════

[ ▸ Body Awakening Pill (x1) — 800 OP ]

[ ]

[ ▸ Cloud Step (Intermediate) — 300 OP - Movement technique. Yellow rank. ]

[ ]

[ ▸ Basic Sword Intent — 400 OP - Passive. Accelerates Sword Intent gain during sword practice. ]

[ ]

[ ▸ Minor Defensive Talisman (x3) — 250 OP ]

[ ]

[ Total: 1,750 OP. Reserve: 50. ]

═══════════════════════════════

Lin Xuan read the first line twice.

’Body Awakening Pill? Whats that? Explain it, pretty please.’

[ Host. Read your own status panel for a second. The bottom half of it. ]

Lin Xuan pulled it open.

═══════════════════════════════

[ PHYSIQUE: Sword Absolute Physique ]

[ └ STATUS: DORMANT ]

[ └ Awaiting host compatibility sync. ]

═══════════════════════════════

[ That line has been sitting there since day one. Do you know what a physique is, Xuan? ]

’I do, I was a fan of these novels but... educate me.’

[ A physique is a body condition a cultivator is born with. Most people have nothing. A few have small advantages, like the Pure Iron Body or the Cold Water Root, which are nice but not remarkable. And then there are a handful of physiques that sit in a different category altogether. They are not advantages. They are the body itself becoming a weapon in a way most bodies cannot become. The Sword Absolute Physique is one of those. ]

[ The old Lin Xuan was born with it. He never knew. It was dormant, waiting. The curse was engineered specifically to keep it dormant. Someone out there understood what this body was capable of and arranged things so that it would never wake up. ]

Lin Xuan went very still.

’Mira.’

[ Yes. ]

’You’re telling me my body is a rare physique that was deliberately suppressed?’

[ That is what I am telling you, yes. The curse is gone now, but the physique is still asleep. It has been asleep so long that it does not know anything has changed. The Body Awakening Pill is going to wake it up. Tonight. ]

’What does it do when it wakes up?’

[ Read the name again, Xuan. Absolute Sword . Your muscles, your tendons, your meridians, your bones, every part of the body is going to synchronize with the sword the way a sheath synchronizes with the blade that was cut to fit it. Your reflexes with a weapon in hand are going to stop being muscle memory and start being something closer to instinct. Your Qi is going to flow into a blade as naturally as it flows through your own arm. You will not need to think about sword forms. Your body will already know them before your mind catches up. ]

’...That sounds fake.’

[ It sounds fake because it is extremely rare. But it is also extremely painful to trigger from a dormant state. The pill does the activation in one night. Years, months, weeks of gradual awakening compressed into a handful of hours. Your body has to accept the physique all at once, and your body has been suppressed for so long that it is going to fight the process like an animal fighting a cage. ]

[ You will scream. You will not sleep. You will bleed a little. Your muscles will cramp until you cannot stand. Your bones will feel like they are being rewritten. And in the morning, you will wake up with a body that finally matches what you were born to be. ]

Lin Xuan looked at the small dark red pill in his palm.

’One night.’

[ One night. ]

’And I wake up as what I should have been.’

[ As what you were always going to be, Xuan. The pill only takes the time out of the equation. The result was always waiting. ]

He tucked the pill into the small fold of cloth at his belt.

"Mira."

[ Yes. ]

"Thank you."

[ ...Don’t thank me yet. You are about to spend a night wishing you had been born without nerve endings. (◉＿◉) ]

"Can’t wait for it."

He stood up from the bed. His knees held, which was a habit he was quickly starting to like. Outside, the light had begun to soften toward afternoon. He had until nightfall to get the courtyard ready.

’Mira. She can’t be here tonight.’

[ No. She cannot. ]

’If she hears me, she will run to Elder Ren to tell him thbat I’m dying or something.’

[ Or worse, she stays in the room and tries to help. Either way if the secret breaks it will be really bad for us. So send her away for the night. ]

’What reason do I give her.’

[ Tell her you need to rest alone. Master Fu’s ointment has you dizzy and you want the room empty. She will resist. Ask her anyway. ]

He crossed to the door and slid it open.

Lian was in the side room, folding Master Fu’s used cloths, humming something under her breath so quietly he almost missed it. She looked up when his shadow fell across the doorway and straightened out of the hum the instant she saw his face.

"Lin Xuan. Do you need something?"

"Come sit, Lian."

She came. She perched on the stool by the bed and folded her hands in her lap, the way she did when she was expecting instructions she would not enjoy.

"I need you to do something for me tonight. I need you to go back to the servants’ quarters and sleep there. I need the room empty. I’ll bolt the door from the inside. Come back after sunrise."

Her whole face changed.

"Lin Xuan, no."

"Lian."

"No. You were cursed yesterday and bleeding the day before, and today a man came in and re-broke your wrist, and now you want me to leave you alone in a bolted room because you feel dizzy? That is not dizzy, that is —"

"Lian. I’m asking."

"And I’m refusing, I’ve been by your side for the two years when you couldn’t move on your own, I helped you then and I want to help you now that it finally seems you’ll be okay. You need to be taken care of now, you’re still recovering."

He let a small silence sit between them.

Then, quieter: "I’m not asking as your Young Master, Lian. But if you make me ask as the Young Master of this pavilion, I will."

Her mouth closed.

He hated it the second it left his mouth. He watched the small shift in her shoulders, the way her hands went flat on her knees, and he felt something tighten somewhere under his ribs that had nothing to do with the pill in his palm. She was his maid. She had been his maid before he had ever spoken to her gently. One word in the right tone and she would obey him, and he knew it, and she knew he knew it.

It was still necessary.

She looked at the floor for exactly three breaths. When she looked back up, her eyes were wet, but her voice was steady.

"As the Young Master commands."

"Lian, I —"

"Don’t. Please don’t apologize for it. Just tell me one thing honestly."

"Ask."

"Are you going to be alive when I come back."

"Yes."

"Give me your word, Lin Xuan."

"I give you my word."

She nodded once, stood up, and crossed to the side room to pack her things. She did it quickly and without looking at him. At the door she paused without turning around.

"You are a terrible Young Master to serve, Lin Xuan."

"I know."

"The only one worth serving, though."

The door closed behind her.

Lin Xuan listened to her steps fade down the path and sat on the edge of the bed for a long moment, not moving.

’Mira.’

[ I know. ]

’I feel bad for her.’

[ Me too , but it was also right. She could not be here for this, Xuan, and every version of asking her to leave was going to feel like this one. You chose the shortest version. She will forgive you tomorrow. ]

’Will she.’

[ She already has. (◠‿◠) ]

He stood, crossed to the door, and slid the bolt home with his good hand.

The Body Awakening Pill sat warm in his palm.

"Mira."

[ Yes, Xuan. ]

"Let’s do this."

[ I’ll be here the whole time. ]

He put the pill in his mouth.