----
Autumn came to Cloud-Ridge like a slow breath.
Golden leaves drifted through the courtyards, catching the light of spirit-lanterns. The mountain's qi felt different now—thicker, sweeter, as if the whole range had been drinking from hidden springs.
Ria stood on the eastern terrace, eyes closed, letting the wind wrap around her. The twin suns within her belly turned in lazy orbits, feeding warmth through her veins. Every morning she woke to find them brighter, stronger, still perfectly balanced.
> Core Progress — 18 % → 20 %
Dual Rate Protocol Active.
She smiled. Twice the speed, still steady. Yet something in the air hinted at more.
Ren appeared behind her carrying two steaming cups. "You know," he said, handing one over, "the cooks think you're the reason their rice grows twice as tall."
"Maybe the rice just listens better than some people."
He pretended to think. "Fair. Rice doesn't interrupt its teacher."
They drank together while the bells called the sect to practice.
---
Instructor Kao waited for them in the outer fields. "Today we continue Dual-Flow," she said, "but we add a resonance pulse. Let your core breathe with the mountain, not merely inside it."
The disciples sat in neat circles. Ria took her place at the center; Ren settled opposite her. Their auras brushed and hummed. She felt the energy of hundreds of students gather like mist around a rising sun.
The Boundless System flickered across her vision.
> Environmental Bonus Detected — Human Realm Saturation Level 100 %.
Reward Protocol: Abundance Pulse x 4.
All qi growth within 1000 m radius temporarily quadrupled.
Her heart jumped. Quadrupled?
She tried to dampen the surge, but the twin suns spun faster on their own. Light poured through her meridians, out into the ground. The mountain answered with a deep hum, low enough to shake the leaves from the trees.
Instructor Kao shouted, "Hold formation!"
Too late. A wave of silver-gold energy rippled outward. Grass flared emerald; the air thickened until every breath tasted of lightning. Disciples gasped as their qi channels flooded with warmth.
---
Minutes passed before the brilliance faded. Silence fell except for the crackle of re-formed grass. Then one by one, laughter and disbelief.
"My core advanced three percent!"
"I felt the mountain breathe!"
"Even my pet rock's glowing!"
Ren stared at his own hands, haloed in golden fire. "You—what did you do?"
Ria blinked, still dazed. "I… cultivated?"
Kao approached, awestruck rather than angry. "Whatever you are, child, the Dao seems to bloom around you."
> System Notice — Abundance Field Stable.
All nearby growth rates × 4.
Core Progress — 20 % → 22 %.
Ria felt it clearly: her dual cores thrummed like twin hearts, each rotation feeding the other faster than before. The effect radiated outward; everyone's qi had grown in the pulse.
---
By evening the news reached the elders. Cloud-Ridge glowed like a lantern seen from miles away. Farmers at the mountain's base found their fields bursting overnight; fish leapt from rivers suffused with spiritual light. The Sect Council gathered in emergency session.
Elder Hanzo looked down from the balcony toward the shining terraces. "The Abundance Pulse will fade, but traces may linger," he said.
Another elder frowned. "Should we contain her? Study it?"
Hanzo shook his head. "Contain the sunrise if you can. She is not a weapon; she is the tide returning."
---
That night, Ria sat by the lake with Ren. The water mirrored the double moons, one silver, one gold. Their reflection echoed her own cores perfectly.
Ren tossed a pebble into the surface. "So we quadrupled everyone's progress today. Any side effects?"
"Other than astonished teachers? None yet."
He grinned. "At this rate we'll finish the thousand-chapter path before lunch."
She laughed softly, then grew thoughtful. "If this gift spreads beyond Cloud-Ridge, it could change everything. Every sect, every realm."
"Then we better learn to control it first," he said. "Before the whole planet explodes with joy."
She smiled. "A nice problem to have."
---
Later she returned to her chamber to meditate. As soon as she closed her eyes, the System unfolded around her like a star map.
> Core Progress — 22 % → 24 %.
Abundance Aura Confirmed.
New Skill: World-Pulse Cultivation.
Effect: While in Human Realm, all qi entities within range gain × 4 efficiency.
The words pulsed once, then melted into a vision. She found herself standing again inside the Web of Worlds. Threads gleamed brighter than before—thicker now, stronger, as though her pulse had nourished them.
From each glowing line, Ria felt life stirring. Faraway fox-spirits, human sages, even unknown beings in hidden heavens—all drew in a little more light. She realized the truth with a thrill that left her dizzy:
Every cultivation she performed here in the mortal world now fed the entire web.
---
Images poured through her:
—A realm of crimson sand where monks bowed toward her light and began their own age of renewal.
—An ocean kingdom where whales sang her pulse beneath the waves.
—A city of mirrors where Ren's laughter echoed through a thousand reflections.
—And, far away, the vague silhouette of herself standing on the edge of eternity, the twin suns in her chest joined into one vast star.
She reached toward that future and felt it reach back.
> System Projection: Path Length — Infinite.
Recorded Chapters: 27 of 1 000 +.
Abundance Field Propagation: Commenced.
---
She returned to herself with a gasp. Outside, rain began to fall—soft, shimmering rain that carried a faint glow. Each droplet was thick with qi. Disciples ran from their quarters, laughing, cupping the luminous water in their hands.
"Spirit rain!" someone cried. "It's restoring the gardens!"
Ren appeared beside her, soaked and grinning. "Your fault again."
"Mine?" she said, stepping into the downpour. The raindrops soaked her hair; warmth ran through her skin like sunlight. "Maybe the world's just happy."
---
Hours later the storm cleared. The sect lay shining under twin moons, every blade of grass trembling with energy. Instructor Kao approached, bowing deeper than she ever had before.
"You've given this mountain a new spring," she said. "Use it wisely. Too much blessing can become burden."
Ria met her eyes. "Then I'll learn to carry it."
Hanzo's voice floated from the shadows behind them. "Good. Because the realms beyond have noticed. I felt new ripples in the Web tonight—answers to your call."
Ria looked to the stars. "Then it's beginning."
---
When she finally lay down to rest, the Boundless System murmured like a lullaby.
> Bonus Protocol Maintained.
Current Core Progress — 24 %.
Next Threshold at 28 % (dual rate + abundance field active).
Advisory: Sustained cultivation may elevate local realm to higher tier within ten cycles.
She exhaled slowly. The thought that an entire world might ascend alongside her filled her with both joy and fear.
"Then we'll climb together," she whispered. "All of us."
The twin suns within her turned once, twice, in perfect harmony. Their light spread through the mountain and out across the sleeping realm, carried by rain and wind, by laughter and breath. Wherever it touched, life quickened.
---
At the farthest edge of the Web, countless lights flared in answer—new worlds awakening, new stories waiting to be written. The age of renewal had only begun, and the first spark belonged to the fox who dared to breathe too deeply.
---