A few hours passed.

  The frantic energy of the emergency had settled into a heavy, waiting silence. Mingzhi sat in a chair by the window, eyes closed, cycling his breath to recover his Qi. Rou sat beside him, polishing her sword, occasionally glancing at the bed.

  On the bed, Liu Feng stirred.

  "Feng'er?" Madam Liu leaned forward, clutching his hand.

  The boy’s eyes opened. They were no longer cloudy with poison. They were clear, dark, and sharp—the eyes of someone who had spent three months trapped in a frozen nightmare, fully conscious but unable to move.

  "Mother," he whispered, his voice cracking. "Father."

  "You're back," Patriarch Liu choked out, tears streaming down his face. "The doctors said... they said it was a cold fever."

  "It wasn't a fever," the boy rasped. He turned his head slowly, locking eyes with Mingzhi across the room. "It was... something eating me."

  Mingzhi opened his eyes. He stood up and walked to the bedside.

  "Correct," Mingzhi said. "It is a Frost-Origin Silkworm. A parasitic spirit beast."

  He gestured to the boy's stomach.

  "It is currently sleeping, suppressed by the medicine I brewed. But it will wake up eventually. And when it does, it will be hungry."

  The Patriarch stood up. "Then we must extract it! Young Immortal, you said there was an Option 1. Kill the beast. Save my son."

  "I did," Mingzhi nodded. "If I extract it, Feng will live. But the parasite has been feeding on his root foundation for months. If I rip it out now, his cultivation base will be shattered. He will live a long, healthy life... as a mortal. He will never cultivate again."

  Madam Liu squeezed her son's hand. "That is fine! He doesn't need to be a cultivator. We have wealth. He can run the family business."

  "Option 1 is safe," Mingzhi agreed. He looked at the boy. "But there is Option 2."

  "The Silkworm is a creature of pure Ice," Mingzhi explained to the boy. "For three months, it has been changing you. It tried to turn your body into a suitable nest. That’s why you froze. But you survived. Your will kept you alive."

  "Because you survived," Mingzhi said, leaning closer, "your body has adapted. You are no longer just a Water constitution. You are primed for Ice."

  "If we don't kill the worm... if we help you absorb it..."

  Mingzhi held up a hand, clenching it into a fist.

  "We can crush the beast's consciousness and force its essence into your Dantian. It would replace your weak Water Root with a 90% Ice Spirit Seed. You wouldn't just recover; you would become a genius that the Azure Cloud Sect would fight to recruit."

  The room went silent.

  "No," Patriarch Liu said firmly. "It’s too dangerous. What if he fails?"

  "If his will breaks during the absorption," Mingzhi said honestly, "the cold will shatter his mind. He will die."

  "Then it is not a choice!" Madam Liu cried. "We choose Option 1!"

  "It is not your choice," a weak voice cut through the argument.

  Liu Feng pushed himself up. He was trembling, weak as a kitten, but his eyes burned with a terrifying intensity.

  "Who did this to me?" Feng asked Mingzhi.

  "The Zhao Family," Mingzhi replied. "A double trap. Poison and Parasite."

  Feng looked at his hands—skeletal, wasted. He looked at his father, who had aged ten years in three months.

  "If I stay a mortal," Feng whispered, "the Zhao family will just try again. And next time, they might kill Father too."

  He looked at Mingzhi. "If I absorb it... I can kill them?"

  "If you absorb it," Mingzhi said, "you will have the power to freeze the blood in their veins."

  Feng looked at his parents. "I am sorry. But I will not be prey anymore."

  He turned to Mingzhi. "Do it. I choose Option 2."

  Mingzhi smiled. It was the choice he would have made.

  "Good," Mingzhi said. "Then we need to prepare. This isn't a surgery; it's a battle."

  He turned to Rou.

  "Rou, I need you. Ice is the advanced element of Water. I need your Peak-Grade Water Qi to act as a buffer."

  He outlined the plan rapidly:

  The Cage: Mingzhi uses Earth Qi to wrap the Silkworm and apply crushing pressure, force it to release the ice Qi.

  The Filter: Rou uses Water Qi to coat the Earth cage. This softens the transition, turning the jagged Ice Qi into a flow the boy can handle.

  The Absorb: Liu Feng uses his will to pull the filtered energy into his Dantian and condense it into a Seed.

  "Spirit," Mingzhi thought. "Are we ready?"

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  "My strength is waning, Mingzhi. I have enough left to guide your clumsy hands, but no more. The boy must do the heavy lifting. If he wavers, I cannot save him."

  "Liu Feng, I’ll teach you the cultivation technique now, I can only support you, so you will have to work hard."

  "Close your eyes," Mingzhi commanded. "Focus on the cold in your gut. Don't fight it. Own it."

  Mingzhi climbed onto the expansive bed, positioning himself directly behind Liu Feng. He sat cross-legged, pressing his palms against the boy’s back, right over the kidneys.

  "Rou," Mingzhi commanded. "Sit in front of him. Place your hands on his Dantian. You are the filter. Do not let the cold touch him directly."

  Rou nodded, her face pale but determined. She sheathed her sword and climbed onto the mattress, arranging her blue robes. She placed her hands on the boy’s stomach.

  "I’m ready."

  Mingzhi leaned close to Liu Feng’s ear.

  "Listen to me, Feng. In a moment, I am going to wake the beast up. It will try to freeze your blood to protect itself. It will feel like swallowing razor blades."

  "I can take it," Feng whispered, his hands gripping his knees so hard his knuckles turned white.

  "Don't just take it," Mingzhi hissed. "Eat it. Visualize your Dantian not as a cup, but as a whirlpool. When the energy comes, pull it down. If you hesitate, you die."

  Mingzhi closed his eyes. He took a deep, centering breath, ignoring the ache in his own meridians.

  "Spirit. Monitor the boy's structural integrity. If his Dantian begins to crack, signal immediately."

  "Acknowledged," the Spirit’s weary voice echoed in his mind. "My sensory range is limited to the bed. Proceed with caution."

  Mingzhi flared his aura.

  Phase 1: The Cage.

  He didn't use fire. He channeled his Earth Seed. Heavy, dense, gravitational Qi poured out of his palms and into the boy's back. It didn't enter the meridians; it wrapped around the boy's core, forming a crushing sphere of pressure.

  Inside the boy’s gut, the dormant Frost-Origin Silkworm sensed the sudden gravity. It woke up.

  SCREEE!

  A high-pitched, psychic shriek tore through the room. The parents covered their ears.

  The Silkworm thrashed. Realizing it was trapped, it did the only thing it knew how to do: it detonated its energy reserves.

  BOOM.

  A shockwave of absolute zero exploded outward from the boy's stomach.

  The temperature in the room plummeted twenty degrees in a second. The water in the vase on the table froze solid with a loud crack. Frost raced up the walls, covering the windows in opaque white patterns.

  "He's freezing again!" Madam Liu screamed, lunging forward.

  "Stay back!" Mingzhi shouted, sweat instantly freezing on his forehead. "Rou! Now! Water Buffer!"

  Rou gasped as the cold hit her hands. It burned. But she gritted her teeth and pushed back.

  She unleashed her Peak-Grade Water Qi. It flooded into the boy’s Dantian, meeting the jagged, expanding ice.

  Water accepts Ice. Instead of shattering against the cold, Rou’s Qi wrapped around it, turning the sharp shards of freezing energy into a slurry—a thick, flowing river of super-cooled slush.

  "It’s... so heavy!" Rou grunted, her arms trembling. "Ming'er, it's fighting me!"

  "Hold it!" Mingzhi ordered. "Compress!"

  He tightened the Earth Cage. He used gravity to squeeze the Silkworm. The beast shrieked again, its physical form beginning to dissolve under the pressure. It was being crushed into raw energy.

  The boy, Liu Feng, threw his head back. A silent scream tore from his throat. His veins turned blue, bulging against his skin.

  "He is slipping away!" the Spirit interjected urgently. "The boy's heart rate is dropping. The cold is numbing his will. He is fading."

  Mingzhi looked over the boy's shoulder. Feng’s eyes were rolling back. He was surrendering to the numbness.

  "Feng!" Mingzhi roared, sending a pulse of Qi into the boy's spine to rattle his bones. "WAKE UP!"

  "Think about the Zhao Family! Think about the banquet! The wine they gave you! They watched you drink it and smiled!"

  The boy’s eyes snapped open. The haze of pain cleared, replaced by a spark of pure, unadulterated hatred.

  "They... smiled..." Feng rasped.

  "They want you dead!" Mingzhi pressed, his voice relentless. "Are you going to let them win? Are you going to die here and let them laugh at your father's funeral?"

  "No," Feng growled.

  "Then EAT IT!"

  Feng slammed his mental jaws shut.

  He didn't shy away from the cold anymore. He grabbed the slurry of energy Rou was filtering for him and pulled it violently into his Dantian.

  The Silkworm sensed its end. It unleashed one final, suicidal burst of cold.

  The bedframe cracked. The frost on the walls thickened into ice sheets. Rou cried out, blood trickling from her nose as the backlash hit her.

  "Hold!" Mingzhi yelled, pouring the last dregs of his Earth Qi into the cage to keep it from exploding. "Don't let go, Rou! Or we all freeze!"

  Rou screamed, channeling everything she had. Her blue aura flared wild and bright, forcing the ice back into the boy.

  Inside Liu Feng, the war ended.

  His Dantian became a vortex. The crushing gravity of the Earth, the fluidity of the Water, and the boy's sheer will combined to pulverize the Silkworm.

  The beast dissolved.

  Its physical form vanished, replaced by a dense, swirling cloud of white mist.

  Feng pulled.

  The mist collapsed inward. It spun faster and faster, condensing into a single point of singularity.

  Hummmmm.

  A sound like a tuning fork struck against crystal resonated through the room.

  The cold pressure vanished instantly.

  Mingzhi slumped forward, his forehead resting on Feng’s back. Rou collapsed backward onto the mattress, gasping for air.

  Silence returned to the room. The ice on the walls stopped growing.

  Liu Feng sat perfectly still.

  He looked down at his hands. His skin was no longer the sickly blue of a corpse. It was pale, yes, white as alabaster, but it glowed with a healthy, ethereal luster.

  He turned his palm up.

  Whoosh.

  A small, perfect snowflake formed above his hand, spinning lazily. It wasn't made of water; it was made of pure Qi.

  "How is he?," Mingzhi wheezed, unable to lift his head.

  "Hmph... Look at that. The parasite is gone. Eaten whole. He actually did it. The Water Root is shattered, replaced by pure Ice. A brutal method, but effective. Liu Feng now possesses a 93% Ice Spirit Constitution. He almost managed to form a Perfect Seed. It is a shame a lot of the essence was used to change his constitution."

  The boy clenched his fist. The snowflake shattered into diamond dust.

  He looked at his parents, who were staring at him as if he were a stranger.

  "I'm alive," Feng whispered. His voice was different—deeper, cooler.

  He turned to Mingzhi. He didn't bow. He looked at Mingzhi with the intense, terrifying gratitude of a soldier who had been pulled out of hell.

  "You saved me," Feng said. "And you gave me a weapon."

  Mingzhi managed to push himself up, sliding off the bed to stand on shaky legs.

  "I gave you a chance," Mingzhi corrected, dusting off his robes. "How you use the weapon is up to you."

  He looked at the Patriarch, who was still kneeling by the bed, weeping with relief.

  "Patriarch Liu," Mingzhi said, his voice raspy. "The Mission is complete. I believe you owe me ten High-Grade Spirit Stones."

  Liu Yan stood up. He wiped his face, regaining his composure. He looked at his son—who was now radiating the aura of a cultivator—and then at Mingzhi.

  "Ten?" Liu Yan shook his head. "No."

  Rou sat up, her hand going to her sword. "You want to renege?"

  "No," Liu Yan said fiercely. He walked to a wall safe hidden behind a tapestry. He unlocked it with a pulse of Qi and pulled out a heavy chest.

  He placed it on the table and threw the lid open. The room was instantly illuminated by a blinding, multicolored glow.

  Inside were not just stones. There were deeds. Tokens. Gold.

  "Ten stones was the price for a doctor," Liu Yan said, turning to Mingzhi. "But you... you didn't just cure him. You gave the Liu family a future. A Genius heir."

  He pushed the chest toward Mingzhi.

  "Twenty High-Grade Stones," Liu Yan said. "And the token of the Liu Merchant Alliance. Wherever you go in the Azure Province, if you see the Silver Leaf banner, you are a V.I.P. You buy at cost. You sell at premium."

  Mingzhi looked at the chest. Twenty High-Grade Stones. That was 2,000 Low-Grade Stones. It was enough to rent the best Alchemy Room for a year. It was enough to buy the materials for the Array Flags.

  It was enough to build the Engine.

  Mingzhi smiled. He closed the chest with a satisfying thud.

  "Pleasure doing business with you, Patriarch."