2026-02-22 08:08:36
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
Chapter 611
Too thin shell → dissolve too fast, refill hits too early, a small sharp feeling at the wrist.Too much refill → warm push that makes hands tingle, test subject wants to move too fast.Bad mark (shallow notch on second ring) → separation step hangs, paper assay shows a gray rim that does not clear.We made one of each on purpose. We ran paper tests. We also did live tongue touch with a flake the size of a seed so we could feel the onset without taking a full pill.Yin wrote FAILURE SIGNS in a box:“Fast dissolve = tingle = not safe for tired bodies.”“Over-refill = eager hands = bad for brittle meridians.”“Bad mark = hang at separation = gray rim; fix mark depth.”We then ran a correction pass: “Fast dissolve = tingle = not safe for tired bodies.” “Over-refill = eager hands = bad for brittle meridians.” “Bad mark = hang at separation = gray rim; fix mark depth.”I marked the discarded slivers with a cross and put them in a bag labeled “trash.”And then we had the final problem to sol
Chapter 610
I wondered how much of them occurred due to the Demon God and how much occurred just as backlash of the cultivators drawing the little Chi that remained in the atmosphere.Either way, the small bead in its groove stayed steady. Good. So the pills were clearing the miasma from the bodies, not expelling it back into the ground.“Ask Ren for a read.” Just in case.The tortoise rounded the door on slow feet and looked up at us the second I reached out to my connection with him. His shell was clean, darker at the grooves where water had dried, a cable of a thin silver line tucked along his left side. He stopped at the bench and tilted his head.“Ren. We kept it small.”He blinked and looked toward the ward plate, then toward the floor, as if looking through it.“Slow,” Ren said. “Daily cap.”“Yes, yes, we made sure to maintain a cap on using the Chi and leaves and not experiment too much.”He looked at the ten pills on the tray, then back at the floor again. “Lines. Little slack, no pull.
Chapter 609
I cleaned the table. Yin set the small cauldron on the steady plate. I took a leaf sliver with tweezers and held it against the light. The treatment had left it flat and matte. I rested it on the etching pad and took up the fine needle.“Route mark v0,” I said, more to the log than to Yin. “Three steps. We keep the lines short and straight. No curls.”I scratched three small rings with breaks at the top. I added one notch on the first, two on the second, three on the third. Stillness, separation, purification. I paused and checked the depth. Too deep and it would crack the sliver during rolling. Too shallow and the mark would not hold its path.“Depth?” Yin asked.“Hair-thin,” I said. “No more.”I etched nine more slivers, checking each one with a finger tap to make sure it did not bend or split.“Base mix,” I said. “Six parts base, two parts binder, one part refill, one part temper shell.”I measured with the small scoop, leveled each scoop with a straight edge, and wrote the ratios
Chapter 608
Being back in my own lab was very nostalgic. The room had the old smells and I stood for a moment just to take it all in. Spirit ink, dried peel, heat from a plate that had been cleaned but not used for weeks. The crack in the third plank of the bench was still there. The bitten talisman brush was where I had left it, the bite clean and round. I picked it up, felt the teeth marks, and set it in the cup with the better brushes.I took a stick of chalk and wrote on the wall beside the worktable.Ki’s seal: one year.I looked at the line, then added a second.Less if the leaves sap the Chi from the tree even after they’re disconnected.There was a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it in. Still…“It is good to be back,” I said, not to anyone in particular.Yin came in with a tray and heard me. She set the tray down and looked around once, like she was taking stock of all the small things that made this room “ours.”“It is,” she said. “I missed the bench. I missed the way it quiets the
Chapter 607
Sound filled the workshop and bounced off brick, wood, and clay. We had cleared three benches to lay everything out but the room still felt crowded. Baskets of dried leaves sat stacked by size on the floor, the stems bundled tight with thread so the grades wouldn’t mix.Two mortar sets rested near the window where the light was strongest at this hour. The pill furnace hissed softly as it released the last of its heat, a thin ribbon of steam rising from the exhaust valve.The vent crystals in the ceiling pulsed, shifting from bright to dull as they balanced the air. On the nearest table, nine fresh pills cooled on a lacquered tray, each one the pale green of new shoots with darker veins running through their centers. The smell coming off them was sharp and clean, like crushed leaf and wet soil after rain, only stronger, enough that it tickled the back of the throat.Old Man didn’t move right away. He bent over until his breath fogged the tray’s cover, then lifted the lid with practiced
Chapter 606
I stared at Flee. “So this is the underground pathway that leads straight toward the divine tree?”Flee nodded fervently.Ren had gone back to their house, perhaps to continue his duties, and Ash had given me an apologetic look, saying Zhang might appreciate his help. That left Flee as my sole companion.I looked over the tunnel system with a flicker of pride. It resembled the old mines I’d seen in films—the bracing, the ribs of mortal metal holding the rock in place. Good choice: if they’d trusted cultivator formations, the recent fluctuations in ambient chi might have shaken the whole warren apart.Formations all over the city were straining; if not for Liuxiang’s craft and the old man’s and Granny Lang’s efforts, with the occasional assist from my pets, the barrier would have already failed.“I’m very proud,” I said, and ruffled Flee’s hair.She bounced in place, pleased. “Yes, Master should be proud. Flee is amazing!”I couldn’t help but chuckle.The entrance she chose was a low s
You may also like
THE FUTURE IS BEHIND.
Jaydee15.4K viewsKing of succubus
Golden_raise92.5K viewsReincarnation Of The Bullied
Udoka Okoh113.6K viewsMultiverse Fighting Championship: I'm the President
Namazu13.5K viewsThe Thirteen Knight
GrandDaddy805 viewsTHE HUNTED HUNTER
Phoenix writes475 viewsSon Of The Universe
Evanscapenovel120.1K viewsBullied Hollowborn: My Tribrid System Awakening
Alexander Jackson685 views