The air outside the Sunken Sea Secret Realm felt thin and coarse—a sensation sharp enough to cut a common man, but to Lin Fan, it was simply the texture of a dying world.
He emerged, the decades of quiet cultivation collapsing into a single, sharp breath of the Azure Cloud World's failing atmosphere. Though only a handful of years had passed externally, the ten thousand years of structural mastery and theoretical advancement were locked within his Foundation Establishment Stage 10 (Peak) core.
His goal was immediate and three-fold:
1. Secure Resources: Find the alchemist Mei Ling and turn her flaw into his factory.
2. Acquire Force: Recruit the martial talent Jian Yu and refine his technique.
3. Gain Fate Energy: Fight the Crimson Serpent Cult and solve the Hidden Drain to unlock the Azure Sovereign's Inheritance.
He moved with a speed and silence impossible for his supposed rank, heading straight for the Alchemy Pavilion.
The Alchemist's Despair
Lin Fan found his first target in the courtyard. Mei Ling, a talented alchemist known for her prodigious spiritual sense, was utterly defeated. She sat before a small, cracked cauldron, the air thick with the faint, bitter scent of burnt medicinal herbs—the residue of her latest failure.
Lin Fan approached quietly. He didn't need to speak; he activated the Insight Engine and scanned the failure itself.
[Target: Mei Ling. Status: Spiritual Blockage (Self-Doubt). Technique: Five Element Condensation Array (Flaw Rate: 42%).]
[Dao Residuum Trace Active: Analyzing Pill Residue...]
[Imprint Found: Unstable Heat-Binding Intent (Residual Failure). Root Cause: Inconsistent Earth-Vein Qi Flow.]
The revelation was instant: Mei Ling's frequent failures were not technical errors in the recipe, but a subtle, constant leakage in her body's Earth-Vein, causing an uneven distribution of foundational Qi at the final, delicate stage of pill formation. She was doomed to fail until the structural flaw was fixed.
"Your Fire Intent is excellent, Junior Sister Mei," Lin Fan said, his voice level and resonant—lacking the subservient tremor of the former "Coreless Trash."
Mei Ling jumped, startled. She recognized the disgraced disciple who had vanished years ago. "Lin Fan? You—you're still here? My failure is none of your concern. Just... go."
"Your concern is the Earth-Vein Qi in your dantian," Lin Fan stated, cutting to the heart of her hidden shame. "You overcorrect the Heat-Binding Intent because you sense the instability from the start. That instability isn't coming from the formula; it's coming from a minute, constant leakage in your Earth-Vein meridian."
Lin Fan pointed with an expert hand. "You need to shift your initial Qi-draw three degrees to the left of the meridian gate to compensate. It's structural, not technical."
The Birth of an Ally
Mei Ling stared, breathless. That was exactly the flaw her Master had alluded to, but no one could see the Qi flow with such precision, let alone a Foundation Establishment Stage 1 disciple. The knowledge in his eyes was terrifying.
"Prove it," she challenged, tears gone, replaced by sudden, desperate hope.
"I don't need to prove it," Lin Fan said, allowing a faint pulse of his perfectly stable Unbroken Core to radiate outward—a quality of Qi she recognized as profoundly pure. "But I need a source of high-grade medicinal pellets for extended cultivation. You, Junior Sister, will be that source."
He dropped a simple scroll onto her bench. "I will give you a recipe—a Chaos Rebirth Elixir—that is beyond this world, but if you succeed, you will never struggle with failure again."
Mei Ling's eyes widened at the scroll's archaic script. Recognizing the sheer audacity and promise in his voice, she instantly knelt. "I accept. If you can fix this, my life is yours to command!"
Lin Fan gave her the precise correction for her Earth-Vein—a simple fix derived from the Jade Pendant's complete knowledge. He had secured his Pill Partner and the fuel for his rapid ascension.
The Incomplete Sword
His next priority was Jian Yu, the rising star swordsman. Lin Fan needed raw martial power that could stand against a Golden Core master.
He located Jian Yu practicing the Iron Serpent Sword Manual in the outer martial field.
Lin Fan paused, focusing the Dao Residuum Trace on the powerful energy Jian Yu was channeling.
[Target: Jian Yu (Foundation Establishment Stage 5). Technique: Iron Serpent Sword Manual (Flaw Rate: 75%).]
[Trace Imprint: Rigid Force Application (Incomplete Manual). Required Intent: Shattering Void Intent.]
Jian Yu was merely anchoring the blade when he should have been severing the void. Lin Fan held the key to transforming the sect's star into a secret weapon.
He had the pill source, and soon, he would have the sword. The Crimson Serpent Cult, who sought to exploit the Hidden Drain, would be the perfect testing ground for the debut of the Coreless Sovereign.