Inmerce, as in cultivation, the greatest profits oftene not from driving the hardest bargain, but from fostering trust that leads tosting partnerships. A discount given freely today may return tenfold tomorrow.


    —Master Lin Feng, Scale of Heaven and Earth


    A scaled beast lunged from the murky water. Ren Chun’s de shed, opening a crimson gash across its snout. The creature retreated with a hiss, joining others that prowled at the edges of their path.


    Pain shot through Xin’s ankle, making her stumble. The phantom sensation of blood lotus barbs pierced deep into her flesh. She’d already checked twice—no thorns remained embedded in her skin, but the bloody puncture wounds around her ankle remained.


    The dull throb intensified into sharp stabs with each step.


    Qi refused to flow properly through her injured foot. The blockage forced her topensate by channeling extra energy through her other leg just to maintain the Water Stepping Foot technique. The uneven distribution drained her reserves faster than normal.


    Exhaustion weighed on her limbs. Each step required more concentration than thest. Sweat beaded on her forehead despite the cool swamp air.


    Ren Chun nced back. "We can’t stop until we’re clear of the Wilds."


    "I know." Xin gripped her remaining dagger tighter. The loss of her other weapons left her virtually defenseless if the beasts decided to press their attack.


    She focused on putting one foot in front of the other, leaving their mutual defense to Ren Chun. Just a little further.


    The qi disc beneath Xin’s feet flickered and dissolved. She plunged downward, barely managing to solidify enough energy to catch herself on one knee before sshing into the fetid swamp water. The impact sent fresh waves of pain shooting through her ankle.


    "What are you doing?" Ren Chun turned back.


    "Hah... nothing." Xin spotted a patch of solid ground nearby and dragged herself toward it. The grass-covered earth provided enough stability for her to settle down.


    She pulled back her robe and examined her ankle. Blood seeped through several puncture holes in her boot leather. Neither Qingfeng nor the game had never mentioned Blood Lotus thorns containing poison—but the wound refused to heal.


    A normal injury should have started mending by now.


    "You can’t walk?" Ren Chun’s shadow fell across her.


    Xin looked up at his impassive face, her heart rate elerating. Stories of cultivators betraying theirpanions for precious resources flooded her mind. The Blood Lotus and Earth-Heart Roots they’d harvested would fetch an astronomical price.


    With her injured and vulnerable, what better opportunity for him to eliminatepetition and im all the spoils?


    Xin traced the edges of the puncture wounds. "It’s not healing."


    "How much qi did you use?" Ren Chun’s question made her fingers tighten around the dagger hilt. The worn leather grip pressed reassuringly against her palm.


    "Yes." The word slipped out before she could stop it.


    Ren Chun’s brow furrowed. "Yes what? I meant how much."


    The tension drained from Xin’s shoulders as she released a long breath. "All of it. Twice during the fight." She prodded at the swollen flesh around her ankle. "The problem is this. It won’t heal—poisoned, maybe."


    "You used..." Ren Chun’s eyes widened. "All of your qi... twice? Once at the end, obviously, but in the middle of the fight too and kept going?"


    "How can you—" He shook his head and then dropped to one knee beside her, studying her ankle. His calloused fingers hovered over the wounds. "Are you sure you aren’t past body refinement, Miss Lin?"


    Painnced through her foot at his light touch. Xin jerked back with a sharp intake of breath. "Very sure, thank you. That hurts."


    Ren Chun squatted and turned his back to her. "Well, we should get out of here. Hop on."


    Xin blinked at his broad back. "What?"


    "Ride on my back."


    A nervousugh escaped her lips. "You aren’t going to kill me and take my things?"


    "That wouldn’t be very Justice!" Ren Chun’s enthusiastic deration echoed across the swamp.


    She didn’t miss the hurt look on his face as he turned away. His palms waved her forward.


    Xin shifted forward and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. His hand gripped her injured leg while maintaining a firm hold on his sword with the other one.


    The world tilted as he stood. Each step jostled her ankle, but his steady grip prevented the worst of the pain. The methodical rhythm of his movement almost lulled her into rxing.


    "Plus, I know how you work now." Ren Chun’s cheerful tone sparked immediate suspicion. "You’re definitely going to give me a discount on that reinforcement pill, right? Right, Miss Lin? A big discount?"


    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    Xin tightened her arms around his neck, applying just enough pressure to make him squawk. She leaned close to his ear. "The very biggest discount, of course—if I don’t strangle you first!"


    Ren Chun’sugh rumbled through his back. He picked up speed, weaving between beasts rather than engaging them. The swift movements sent waves of dizziness through Xin’s head, but his grip remained secure as they raced through the darkening swamp.


    It took a while, but eventually they made it to the dense fog wall. Pushing through it only took a few minutes more.


    The other side revealed a clear sky.


    "We’re out." Ren Chun stepped onto solid ground and wiped his de against his robe before sliding it back into its sheath with a metallic whisper.


    Xin released a breath she hadn’t realized she’d held. "We should head back to the stable in the vige."


    "Need to find the road first. Get our bearings." Ren Chun adjusted his grip on her legs.


    "Right."


    Xin closed her eyes and focused inward. Her qi flowed smoothly through most meridians—a gentle current of energy circting through her body. She probed deeper, examining the injured area around her ankle. The chaotic disruption remained unchanged—neither spreading nor healing.


    She pushed qi toward the wound. The energy hit an invisible wall, refusing to prate the affected area. Switching tactics, she tried redirecting the flow through smaller pathways, attempting to bypass her ankle and reach her toes directly. The qi followed these alternative routes but failed to breach the blockage.


    The sensation felt alien. Different from muscle strain or broken bones. Was this what cultivators meant by internal injuries?


    In Phoenix Kingdom Chronicles ,bat mechanics split damage between internal and external rather than using simplified hit points. The distinction made more sense now—her ankle bore both types of wounds.


    The external punctures leaked blood while something deeper resisted her qi’s healing influence. At least cultivation meant she wouldn’t bleed out like a mortal.


    "Surprising," Ren Chun muttered as he carried her through the thinning swamp.


    "What is?"


    "Well..." Ren Chun adjusted his grip. "I read about this, but Miss Lin doesn’t smell like flowers or anything nice."


    Xin squeezed her arms around his neck and thwacked him on the head. "I doubt you can smell anything at all! We’re both covered in swamp shit from head to toe!"


    "Oww..." Ren Chun rubbed the spot she’d struck while maintaining his bnce. "There’s no need to hit me!"


    "Let me give you some advice." Xin rxed her grip but kept her tone stern. "Don’t talk about how a girl smells unless she already likes you, or she’ll hate you."


    "I’m sure you like me though—you’re riding on my back after all!" Ren Chun’s cheerful tone echoed through the swamp.


    "Ren Chun, you’re losing your discount!" Xin tightened her grip around his neck. "Actually, I will charge you double!"


    "Please, no! Not that!" Ren Chun quickened his pace.


    They reached the vige road as dusk approached. She insisted on walking the final stretch despite the throbbing pain. The horses nickered softly as she approached their stalls, ears pricking forward.


    "Stable master?" Xin called out. The old man emerged from the feed room. "Could you spare two tubs of water for us?"


    He tugged at his beard. "Sorry miss, we’re too small for an inn here. But I can get you water barrels meant for the animals. Won’t be hot, though."


    "That will do fine. We can manage." Xin nced around the stable. Ren Chun had vanished somewhere.


    She limped to an empty stall and sank into a pile of fresh straw. The pack containing their prize sat heavy in herp. She wanted to inspect the haul, but breaking Qingfeng’s one-time protective seal would endanger the blood lotus—she set it aside carefully.


    A y pot of water sat near the straw. Xin pulled her leg closer and poured water over the crusted boot. Pain shot through her ankle as she tugged the leather free. The dried blood cracked and peeled away from the puncture wounds.


    "Dammit." She tossed the ruined boot aside and examined her ankle. Blood seeped from the holes as she peeled away her shredded sock, more matted chunks of dried blooding away with the fabric.


    Xin flexed her toes experimentally. The movement sent fresh waves of pain up her leg. Herck of immortal first aid knowledge bit at her. Qingfeng had known about Ren Chun helping her, otherwise she would have assumed he meant for her to die or something.


    She sighed. No ambnces or hospitals existed in this world—she’d have to figure something out on her own.


    Straw crunched in the stable hall. She nced up to find Ren Chun studying her exposed ankle.


    "Already took it off." He reached into his robe and pulled out a spirit stone. The pale crystal caught thentern light as he extended it toward her. "Here."


    Xin epted the stone. The smooth surface pulsed withtent energy against her palm. "What’s it for?"


    "Even if we split all the spirit stones to me, I can give you one to help with your injury withoutint, right?" Ren Chun grinned.


    "I don’t know how to use it." Xin rolled the stone between her fingers. "I need heaven grass tea or some kind of remedy?" The words lifted into a question at the end.


    He gave her ’that’ look again. "Have you never been poisoned or hurt before?"


    "Just minor things." Xin prodded at the swollen flesh around the puncture wounds. "Never anything like this that won’t heal."


    "Fine, I’ll show you." Ren Chun knelt beside her and took back the spirit stone. He held it over her injury, his usual yfulness reced by focus. "There’s corrupted qi from the blood lotus in your meridian there, effectively sealing it. The only way to fix that is to force it open with more qi—it will resist your own internal flows, so it needs something from outside to knock it loose."


    She peered at him. "Why didn’t we just do this earlier then, so I could walk?"


    Ren Chun scratched his cheek and looked away. "I thought if I could carry you, you’d give me a—"


    Xin’s good foot connected with his side. The impact sent him tumbling backward into a pile of hay. "Ren CHUN!"


    She snatched the tumbling spirit stone out of the air and waved it over her injury. The stupid thing remained inert in her grip.


    "That’s going to leave a bruise." Ren Chun rubbed his hip as he sat up.


    Xin swallowed her retort. She couldn’t kill him until he showed her how to use the spirit stone first!