Their new routine was a secret solace.
The "Harmonious Resonance" technique became their ritual, their religion. Every night, in the
dark, cold hovel, they would sit back-to-back, her small, warm hands pressed against his spine.
The world would fall away, and there would be only the flow.
It was an intimacy Ren Wei had never known, even in his past life. It was a complete, silent, and
total trust. He would open his mind, his meridians, his very core to her, and she would guide the
Qi, a shared river, into them both.
Their progress, once a stagnant pond, became a rushing stream.
Ren Wei's arm healed, not just mended, but stronger. The bone had been tempered by the
"Stone-Knot" root and reforged by their shared Qi. The tiny, rice-sized grain in his dantian
stabilized, grew, and one night, with a soft, mental pop, it cracked open. He had reached the
second stage of Qi Condensation.
Li Mei had broken through a week earlier.
They were still weeds, but they were no longer frail. They were tough, resilient, and growing in
the most hostile of environments.
Ren Wei had, for the first time, truly accepted his new life. His past as a psychologist was a
distant, monochrome dream. This world—the pain, the struggle, the cold, and the profound,
desperate warmth of the girl who sat back-to-back with him—was reality.
He had rationalized her. The "coldness" he'd felt after Jiao's "accident"? It was trauma. The
"too-perfect" act of innocence? A defense mechanism born from a world that punished
weakness. He, as a psychologist, understood her. He saw her as his savior, his shy, brilliant,
and deeply wounded partner. It was his duty, and his joy, to protect her.
For Li Mei, this was paradise.
Her world had shrunk to the perfect size: the ten-foot-square hovel. Her "gentle, shy" persona
was no longer an act; it was her genuine state of being. She was content. She had her treasure.
She was feeding him, nurturing him, and weaving her Qi so deeply into his that, in her mind,
they were already one entity. The hunter was at rest, basking in the sun with her prize, and all
she had to do was... watch.
The bubble burst on the first day of spring.
A brassy, discordant gong echoed across the peak. An Outer Sect elder, a man with a face like
dried leather, announced the "Triennial Assessment." It was a tournament. A brutal culling.
The top twenty disciples would be offered a place in the Inner Sect. The bottom half would be
expelled, stripped of their cultivation, and sent down the mountain as mortal laborers.
The stakes were absolute.
"This is it," Ren Wei said, his voice thrumming with a nervous, sharp energy. They were in their
grove, the air no longer stinking, as spring melt had washed the ravine clean. "Mei, this is our
chance."
Li Mei went still. The faint, happy light she'd carried for weeks vanished, extinguished like a
candle. "What... what do you mean?" she whispered.
"To get out," he said, grabbing her hands. His were warm and calloused; hers were cold. "The
Inner Sect. Better techniques. More resources. A... a life. No more starving. No more hiding. We
can do this. Together."
Her eyes were wide with a quiet, bottomless panic. "It's... it's dangerous, Ren Wei. The... the
fighting. You... you could get hurt. And... and the Inner Sect..."
"What about it?"
"It's... full of... of them," she said, her voice dropping. "Geniuses. Powerful, arrogant people. Like
Jiao, but... but stronger. They'll... they'll see us. They'll... they'll..." They'll see you. They'll take "So we hide?" he argued, his new-found confidence making him impatient. "We stay 'trash'
forever, just waiting for the next Jiao? Waiting to be expelled and sent to the mines? No. I won't
have that." He softened, cupping her face with his good hand, the one that had first kissed her.
"I want more. For you. For us."
That was the key. For us. He was not trying to leave her; he was trying to elevate her.
Her panic receded, replaced by a cold, reluctant resolve. "For... us," she agreed, her voice tight.
"Okay. We'll... we'll fight."
Their training redoubled. Ren Wei, with his healed arm, began practicing the clumsy, basic
"Verdant Jade Sword Forms." He was terrible. His body was not a fighter's. But he was
analytical. He treated it like a problem to be solved.
He was on the main training ground, hacking at a practice dummy, when a cheerful voice cut
through his concentration.
"You're leaning too far forward."
He stumbled, turning. A girl, with a high ponytail and bright, curious eyes, was watching him.
She had a wooden sword of her own. He recognized her. Sun Xiao. Also a second-stage
disciple, also "average" talent, but known for her obsessive work ethic.
"You're putting all the weight on your front foot," she said, stepping forward. She wasn't shy. She
wasn't flirting. She was just... direct. "You're off-balance. Here."
Before he could react, she tapped his lower back with her sword's hilt. "Sink your weight. Like
this." She then moved to his side and tapped his shoulder. "And keep this back. You're leading
with your head. You'll get it cut off."
Ren Wei, stunned by the open, honest correction, adjusted his stance. "Oh... like this?"
"Better," she said, nodding. "You're new to the second stage, right? Me too. The energy is...
weird. It makes you clumsy." She grinned, a bright, uncomplicated expression. "I'm Sun Xiao."
"Ren Wei," he said, feeling a strange sense of normalcy. A classmate. He hadn't had one of
those since... his old life. "Thanks. That... actually helps."
"We 'average' talents have to stick together, right?" she said with a laugh. "See you around, Ren
Wei."
She jogged off, leaving Ren Wei feeling... good. He'd made a connection. Another "weed." He
turned, a smile on his face, to head back to his hovel.
Li Mei was standing ten feet away, in the shadow of the dining hall.
He startled. "Mei! I... I didn't see you."
"I just arrived," she said. Her voice was perfectly light, perfectly normal. Her face held the same,
gentle, adoring smile she always had for him. "I brought you some water."
She held out the waterskin. "Who was that, Ren Wei?"
"Oh. Just... Sun Xiao," he said, taking the skin. "She was just giving me a tip on my sword form."
"That's so nice of her," Li Mei said, her smile not wavering.
But as Ren Wei took a drink, he felt a sudden, inexplicable chill. He looked at her, really looked
at her. Her eyes were fixed on the spot where Sun Xiao had been standing, and her gentle,
sweet smile... it did not, for a fraction of a second, reach her eyes.
He dismissed it. He had to. It was just his imagination.