The sound of urgent pounding on my door, the kind that suggested someone was using their entire fist rather than just the knuckles, woke up me up.

  For a moment, I lay there staring the unfamiliar ceiling, trying to orient myself.

  Oh yeah, I was in the Wei Family guest room, I thought as memories of yesterday’s events came flooding back.

  The breakthrough, building the terrain in my inner world, the Sun Family financially crippling the Wei Family, and Wei Ye’s strange expression as he left…

  More pounding.

  Right, someone was still at the door.

  “Master,” Azure said, “there doesn’t seem to be any qi disturbance that may indicate battle, but Wei Lin… he does seem oddly determined to get your attention.”

  With a sigh, I rolled out of the bed, grabbed an outer robe to throw over myself, and made my way to the door. I opened it to find Wei Lin as Azure predicted, yet his usual composed laid back demeanor was completely shattered.

  His hair was disheveled as though he’d ran his hands through it repeatedly, and his eyes had that wild, almost desperate look that would make the receiver subconsciously taken a step back.

  “Ke Yin! You need to come with me,” he said, already grabbing my arm. “Now, please!”

  “Wei Lin, what’s goin—” I started to ask, but he was already dragging me down the hallway with the death drip he had on my sleeve.

  “It’s Father,” he finally explained, his voice cracking slightly. “He’s ill. Really ill.”

  I frowned.

  Usually, cultivators didn’t get ill.

  Not only was our physique typically stronger, healthier, but our qi naturally fought off disease.

  While Wei Ye claimed to be a regular mortal, I’d seen enough to doubt that. Even if I was wrong, and he really wasn’t a cultivator, then he had access to enough resources that common illnesses shouldn’t be an issue.

  “Have you had a physician see him?” I asked, increasing my pace to match Wei Lin’s frantic stride.

  “Mother told us to keep it to ourselves,” Wei Lin shook his head, the tone of his voice suggested that he didn’t understand the reason. “She was very specific, not even the servants can know, only…you.”

  “Me?”

  I stopped walking so abruptly that Wei Lin’s grip nearly tore the fabric of my sleeve.

  Slowly, he nodded, the expression on his face indicated that he was as confused as I felt.

  “Mother seems fairly certain that only you can help him…”

  I opened my mouth to ask why would even think that, but Wei Lin was already pulling me through the winding corridors again.

  My body went into autopilot as my mind tried to figure out what was going on.

  Why would she think I could heal him?

  While the Woodweave Seal could be used for surface wounds, it wasn’t designed to cure illnesses, but more importantly, I had never demonstrated any sort of healing ability publicly.

  Had they seen me channel the blue sun’s energy? If so, then that meant they really were somehow monitoring me in the guest room…

  “Master,” Azure chimed in, “remember how Wei Ye seemed to recognize something during the fight? Perhaps it’s from that.”

  That was less concerning than having my privacy violated, but before I could respond, we arrived at Wei Ye’s private chambers.

  The scene inside me stopped me dead in my tracks.

  On an enormous bed, lay a corpse, or at least what looked like a corpse.

  Wei Ye’s skin was so pale that it appeared almost translucent. His chest barely moved, and without my enhanced vision, I wouldn’t have been able to tell whether he was breathing or not.

  His wife, Wei Ting, sat beside him, her eyes were red-rimmed from crying, both of her hands held one of his tightly. The wrinkles on her robes and the dark circles beneath her eyes indicated that she’d been up all night.

  Wei Guang stood by the window, but his usual confident posture was nowhere to be found, the look in his eyes only contained helpless tension. Through the glass behind him, I noticed Rocky’s massive stone face peering in, his rough features conveying concern. Even Liu Chen was here, sitting quietly in a corner, his hands wrapped around his legs as his chin rested on his knees, the boy looked very small and lost.

  “You’re here,” Wei Ting whispered, looking up at me. She gestured for me to come closer. “Please, you have to…you have to save him.”

  “Auntie, I don’t understand,” I started, taking a hesitant step forward. “How could I possibly hel—"

  “Before he fell unconscious,” she interrupted, “he said only you could heal him.”

  Well, that’s concerning.

  Only someone who knew of the existence of the blue sun would believe I could help someone who was half a step in the grave.

  “What happened to him?” I asked her.

  “I…I don’t know,” she replied, but the tone of her voice, the expression on her face, they made me doubt that. “Last night, he finished his meeting, came home, and then just…collapsed.”

  It seemed whatever it was that happened, she had no intentions of sharing.

  With a sigh, I looked around the room, I saw nothing except the desperate hope of the people close to me.

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  Wei Lin, who’d become a true friend, looked ready to collapse at any moment.

  Liu Chen, who probably saw Wei Ye as the closest thing he had to a father figure, still had his face hidden by his knees.

  “Azure,” I called internally, “what do you think about the chances of this being some kind of ploy to get the blue sun’s energy?”

  “Master, it’s extremely unlikely that this is a ploy,” Azure replied. “His vital signs are critically low, it seems that he is genuinely dying.”

  Taking a deep breath, I weighed my options carefully.

  The blue sun’s energy was just as dangerous as the red sun, if not more so. The ability to drive people mad with religious fervor without letting them realize was terrifying. I had never used the blue sun’s energy on anyone else, it was definitely risky. But was the possibly of driving Wei Lin’s father insane better or worse than letting him die?

  Despite these thoughts coming to mind, I knew was the right decision was, and looking at Wei Lin’s desperate face only made that decision easier.

  Whatever the blue sun’s effects on others was, and whatever secrets that Wei Ye may have, I couldn’t stand by and do nothing, he was still my friend’s father.

  “I’ll try my best,” I said, walking over to Wei Ye’s bedside. “But I’ve never tried anything like this before so I’m not sure if it will work.”

  As I sat down, Wei Ting moved aside, though she kept a hold of her husband’s hand. Closing my eyes, I reached for the familiar righteous feeling of the blue sun’s energy, I then placed my palm onto Wei Ye’s forehead.

  Before channeling any energy into his body, I had to do something which would normally be considered a severe breach of privacy, extending my spiritual sense into another’s body without consent.

  In cultivation society, examining someone else’s meridians without permission was a clear taboo, a comparison that came to mind was peeking at someone naked. Even medical cultivators sough explicit consent before such examinations, however, in a life-or-death situation like this one, seeking consent was waived out of necessity.

  What I found made me catch my breath.

  There were no meridians to examine.

  No blocked ones, no damaged ones, none at all.

  Even mortals with zero cultivation talent still had meridians, the only difference being that their meridians would be too thin and unsuitable for qi circulation.

  The absence of meridians wasn’t just rare, it was physically impossible.

  Every living being in this world had them, similar to how every human back on Earth required a heart or lungs.

  The shock that I experienced almost made me recoil, but I forced myself to maintain the connection.

  The impossible void, where the meridians should be, filled with blue sun energy, it was then that something extraordinary happened.

  The energy began to trace patterns through Wei Ye’s body, like blood flowing through veins. Despite the structures themselves being gone, it seemed that the memory of the meridians remained.

  The deathly pallor receded as color bloomed beneath Wei Ye’s skin, spreading outward from where my palm touched his forehead. The dark circles beneath his eyes faded, his shallow, almost undetectable, breaths deepened and steadied.

  What stood out to me most was when something like scar tissue, not physical but spiritual, dissolved wherever the blue sun’s energy touched. It was as if previously Wei Ye’s entire energy system that had been burned away and roughly healed over, but now, the effect of the blue sun softened those spiritual scars, allowing energy to flow through them once more.

  Before I could ask Azure about this impossible phenomenon, someone gasped as Wei Ye’s eyes snapped open.

  A chill ran down spine as the same azure eyes met mine.

  There, hidden deep in those depths, something flickered in them.

  It was the same maniacal righteous fervor that I’d seen in those priests.

  My gamble had failed.

  But then Wei Ye’s face contorted in what looked like intense concentration, and the madness rapidly receded. His eyes returned to their normal color, but I noticed that they retained that slight azure tinge.

  “Father!” Wei Lin shouted in happiness, rushing forward.

  Wei Guang held his brother back, giving their father time to sit up.

  Wei Ye looked down at his hands as though seeing them for the first time.

  “Amazing,” he whispered, “I feel…restored.”

  Wei Ting, sobbing in relief, threw her arms around her husband – who still had a shocked expression on his face.

  The Wei brothers smiled at each other, then joined the family embrace.

  Liu Chen’s head lifted from his knees, despite the tears streaming down his face, the boy was grinning widely. Outside, Rocky’s stone face split into what looked like a terrifying attempt at a smile.

  Feeling a little overwhelmed by the show of emotions, I started to step back, but Wei Lin turned around and caught me in a hug. The fierceness almost knocked the wind out of me. “Thank you,” he whispered into my ear.

  For a moment, I stood there awkwardly, realizing with a start that this might be the first time anyone had hugged me in this world.

  It felt…nice.

  At least until a voice broke the moment.

  “When did you learn healing techniques,” Lin Mei asked, materializing next to us with her brows furrowed.

  “Yeah,” Wei Lin said, realising me whilst wiping his eyes, “why didn’t you tell us you could do this?”

  “It’s just a technique from the World Tree Sutra,” I shrugged, attempting to look casual. “Honestly, I didn’t even know if it would work.”

  They both nodded slowly before turning their attention back on the Wei Family Patriarch.

  It seems using my mysterious cultivation method as an excuse alleviated their suspicions.

  “Young Ke Yin,” Wei Ye waved off his wife’s concerned protests as he swung his legs over the side of the bed. “You have my deepest thanks.”

  For once his words held no calculation, there was only simple gratitude.

  Not used to praise, I shifted uncomfortably. “it was nothing—"

  “Guang,” Wei Ye interrupted, “go fetch the Earth Essence.”

  Earth essence? I looked at him in surprise.

  “My boy mentioned you were searching for it,” Wei Ye laughed, noticing the expression on my face. “Consider it a token of my gratitude.”

  “No, really,” I started. “I didn’t do this for any rew—"

  “Ridiculous,” Wei Ye cut me off again. “After saving my life, it’s the least I could do.”

  A few moments later, Wei Guang returned with a box in one hand and a ring in another. The jade box looked similar to the one that held the wind essence. As for the ring, could it be…the infamous storage ring?

  “There’s ten thousand spirit stones inside,” Wei Guang explained, handing the ring over to me. “It’s for saving our father.”

  Ten thousand spirit stones…

  My eyes widened at the amount. For an outer disciple like myself, it was a nonsensical amount, probably more than most would see in their entire time at the sect.

  Well, since they’re insisting, it would only be rude to protest any further.

  Without mentioning just how useful a storage ring would be, even the Earth essence could be put to good use.

  “Alright, everyone out,” Wei Ting announced, bringing me back to reality. “My husband needs rest.”

  “But Mother—" Wei Lin began to protest but his mother immediately cut him off, with a not-so-gentle smile on her face.

  “No buts, your father isn’t going anywhere.” With that, she whispered a quick prayer of thanks to the heavens.

  “Is Uncle Wei really going to be okay now?” Liu Chen asked, he was now standing beside the window where Rocky’s massive face peered in.

  "I'm fine, young one," Wei Ye assured him. "Though I wouldn't mind if you and Rocky kept watch outside. Just in case."

  Being tasked with such an ‘important’ mission lit up Liu Chen’s face.

  "We won't let anyone suspicious near!" He shouted, hurrying out.

  Through the window I could see Rocky straightening to his full height, taking his new guard duty very seriously.

  "Father, shouldn't someone stay—" Wei Guang began.

  "I'll be with him," Wei Ting interrupted. "Now shoo, all of you."

  Lin Mei, who had been quietly observing everything, tugged on Wei Lin's sleeve. "Come on, your father is in good hands. Besides, didn’t you volunteer to supervise morning training?"

  "The recruits!” Wei Lin's eyes widened. “I completely forgot!" He rushed out, calling back, "Father, I'll check on you later!"

  As the others began to file out, I turned to Wei Ye. "How did you know I could help?"

  A distant look entered his eyes. "In my younger days, I encountered someone with an aura very similar to yours," he said softly. "That young man could do... incredible things. Healing was just one of them."

  I opened my mouth to ask more questions, but Wei Ting was already herding me toward the door with surprising strength for a supposedly mortal woman.

  "Master," Azure's voice was unusually serious as we walked back to our room. "Wei Ye isn't a normal human."

  “Yeah,” I replied, almost laughing at the obvious statement. “I think we established that already."

  "No," Azure said. "Based on my analysis of his body when you were healing him... Wei Ye isn't human at all. He's an artificial being, a construct of some kind. Those weren't missing meridians we saw – they were manufactured channels that had burned out.”

  I stopped walking.

  “Wait, what?”