Wu Meng leaned back, rubbing his stomach as he finished the frog leg. Despite its monstrous appearance, the meat had been tender, juicy, and surprisingly delicious. He glanced across the table, watching in awe as Lin Feiyan, the little girl, continued devouring the rest of the massive bullfrog. It was hard to believe that such a small girl could consume the entire thing in less than an hour.
Her appetite was... remarkable.
Seeing Wu Meng’s wide-eyed expression, Lin grinned between bites, pausing just long enough to speak. “Cultivators like me don’t need to eat to survive, you know.” She licked her fingers, completely at ease. “But every time I finish a long and boring seclusion, I treat myself to something like this. It’s my way of reconnecting with the world, I guess.”
Wu Meng raised an eyebrow. “You really don’t need to eat? Then how...?”
Lin laughed, wiping her mouth with the back of her sleeve. “It’s more for pleasure than necessity. We cultivate to sustain ourselves, Qi becoming our food. But that doesn’t mean I can’t indulge once in a while.” She shot him a mischievous look. “Plus, I’m a bit of a foodie.”
Wu Meng stared in disbelief. Despite the massive amount of food she had consumed, Lin’s stomach hadn’t bulged in the slightest. “You ate the entire bullfrog,” he muttered. “Are you some kind of bottomless pit?”
She laughed again, the sound light and carefree. “Maybe I am.”
Before Wu Meng could ask any more questions, Lin glanced at the doorway, her expression turning thoughtful. “My friend should arrive in about an hour,” she said, standing up and stretching. “So in the meantime, if you have questions, now’s the time to ask.”
Wu Meng nodded, his mind swirling with questions. He hesitated for a moment, then reached into his robes and pulled out the scroll Lian Hua had given him—the one with the basic cultivation technique.
“Actually, I do have a question.”
Lin glanced at the scroll, her eyes gleaming with interest. “Oh, that old thing? What about it?”
Wu Meng unrolled the parchment, showing her the technique. “I’ve been trying to cultivate using this, but... nothing’s working. Am I doing something wrong?”
Lin took the scroll, her eyes scanning the text with an almost amused expression. She didn’t even pause to think before rattling off a list of critiques. “This technique? It’s old and clunky. The Qi flow’s inefficient, the breathing patterns are outdated, and the whole thing’s too focused on raw power. Plus, it doesn’t account for flexibility in elemental affinity...”
Wu Meng blinked, unsure of how to respond. “Wait... what?”
Lin paused mid-critique, her brow furrowing in thought. “What was your question again?”
Wu Meng chuckled nervously. “Why can’t I cultivate using this?”
She placed the scroll back on the table and crossed her arms, her tone more thoughtful now. “The problem isn’t just the technique. Cultivation techniques aren’t one-size-fits-all. Every cultivator has a different affinity and constitution, and the technique has to suit both. There are techniques that do work for every cultivator, but they aren’t usually good.”
Wu Meng frowned. “Affinity? Constitution?”
Lin nodded. “Exactly. This technique, for instance, is heavily tied to fire. It’s a basic technique in our sect, but it’s designed for people with a fire affinity or at least a constitution that harmonizes with the element. That’s why when we test people who want to join the sect, we measure their affinity for fire. Without it, this technique is pretty much useless to you.”
Wu Meng stared at the scroll, feeling a sinking sensation in his chest. “So... I’m just not suited for this?”
Lin smiled and shook her head. “Yes. It also means that we need to figure out what you are suited for.”
Before Wu Meng could ask any more questions, Lin suddenly stood up, brushing off her robes. “Wait here for two minutes,” she said, already heading toward the door. “I’ve got an artifact that’ll help us figure this out.”
She disappeared from the room, leaving Wu Meng to sit in silence. He looked down at the scroll, wondering if perhaps it wasn’t that he was broken, but that he was trying the wrong thing. A few minutes later, Lin returned, whistling casually as she carried a strange object in her hands.
The artifact looked... oddly mundane. It was made of clear glass and seemed to consist of two parts: a tall, thin vial filled with a black, viscous liquid and a small metal needle attached to a side compartment. The whole thing resembled something out of an alchemist’s laboratory, not at all what Wu Meng expected.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
Lin set the artifact down on the table with a grin. “This little thing is going to tell us everything we need to know about your affinity and constitution.”
Wu Meng stared at the device, feeling underwhelmed. “That’s it? Doesn’t look very... impressive.”
Lin chuckled. “Yeah, I know. It looks like a piece of junk, right? But don’t judge a book by its cover.”
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[Essence Extractor (Low-Grade Qi Tool)]
Type: Blood Extraction Artifact
Function: Precisely draws a drop of blood imbued with the user’s Qi, maintaining the integrity of the cultivation essence.
Notes: A standalone low-grade artifact, it is often used in Qi-affinity tests due to its precision. When combined with the Elemental Resonance Chamber, the artifact’s effectiveness is significantly enhanced.
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[Elemental Resonance Chamber (Low-Grade Qi Tool)]
Type: Elemental Affinity Detector
Function: Reacts to the user’s blood, displaying their elemental affinity by altering its color, texture, or viscosity based on the user’s elemental Qi.
Notes: When used alone, the chamber can detect basic elements like Fire, Water, and Earth. When paired with the Essence Extractor, it becomes part of a mid-grade artifact capable of identifying even rare or unique affinities.
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Set Combination:
[Affinity Tester Set (Mid-Grade Qi Tool)]
Function: A combination of the Essence Extractor and Elemental Resonance Chamber, this set provides highly accurate affinity results. It can detect standard elements, as well as hint at rare or unique affinities, depending on the user's constitution.
Notes: This set is often used by sects to evaluate potential disciples, especially those with rare constitutions or non-standard Qi types.
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Lin took the needle and motioned for Wu Meng to extend his hand. “This artifact works in two stages,” she explained. “First, I’ll take a drop of your blood, and we’ll drop it into this black liquid. The liquid will react based on your affinity, and the stronger the reaction, the stronger your connection to that element.”
Wu Meng nodded and extended his hand. The needle pricked his finger, drawing a small bead of blood. Lin carefully placed the blood on the tip of the needle and held it above the glass vial.
“Now,” she said with a grin, “let’s see what you’ve got.”
She let the drop of blood fall into the liquid.
For a moment, there was silence as Wu Meng watched with bated breath. The blood hit the surface of the black liquid, and he waited for something—anything—to happen. His heart raced with anticipation.
But nothing happened.
The liquid remained still, dark and viscous, completely unchanged. Wu Meng’s stomach sank.
Lin raised an eyebrow, then gave the vial a few sharp taps, as if trying to get it to work. “Come on,” she muttered under her breath, tapping it again. But still, nothing happened.
Wu Meng stared in disbelief. “What does... that mean?”
Lin scratched her head, looking almost embarrassed. “Well, that’s... strange.”
Seeing Wu Meng’s disheartened expression, she quickly tried to salvage the situation. “Look, it’s not as bad as it seems. There are a few possible explanations.”
Wu Meng perked up slightly, his eyes filled with hope. “Like what?”
Lin leaned back, crossing her arms as she considered the possibilities. “For starters, it could mean you have an affinity so rare that it doesn’t register on this basic test. Things like Life or Darkness don’t fall into the usual elemental categories, so they might not show up. If that’s the case, you’re looking at a very unique affinity.”
Wu Meng’s eyes lit up. “So I could have a rare affinity?”
Lin shrugged. “Maybe. But before you get too excited, let me warn you—having a rare affinity isn’t always a good thing.”
Wu Meng frowned. “What do you mean?”
Lin leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table. “Rare affinities might sound impressive, but they’re extremely hard to work with. There are barely any cultivation techniques designed for them, and the ones that exist are either lost or locked away in some ancient sect’s vault. You could spend your whole life trying to find a technique that matches your affinity and never succeed.”
Wu Meng’s shoulders slumped. “Oh...”
Seeing his disappointment, Lin quickly added, “But hey, that’s just one possibility. There’s another explanation.”
Wu Meng sat up straighter, clinging to the hope of good news. “What’s the other explanation?”
Lin gave him a half-smile. “It’s also possible that you just don’t have an affinity at all.”
The words hung in the air for a moment, and Wu Meng’s face fell. “No affinity? Is that... rare?”
Lin’s smile turned sympathetic. “Oh, it’s very rare. But also... it kinda suck.”
Wu Meng stared at her blankly, the weight of her words sinking in. “So I’m... just bad at cultivation?”
Lin chuckled softly. “Not necessarily. It just means that you won’t be able to cultivate any sort of elemental cultivation. Having no elemental Qi is not bad in itself, but you will miss out on some of their advantages. In the end we don’t know if you are elementless or just have a weird one…”
Before Wu Meng could process any more of what she had said, the ceiling above them suddenly exploded. Dust and debris rained down, and Wu instinctively threw his arms up to shield himself.
But not a single rock hit him.
As the dust cleared, Wu Meng blinked in confusion. The object that had crashed through the ceiling... was rising. He rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn’t imagining things, but no—it was definitely a human figure.
Before he could say anything though, Lin’s voice cut through the silence.
“You couldn’t have used the door like everyone else?!”