Qin Lu sat slumped over his table, head buried in his hands.

The images wouldn’t stop. The blood. The scorched flesh. The vacant eyes.

He had taken lives.

Since arriving in this cultivation world, he knew this day was inevitable. It was a dog-eat-dog reality. But he hadn’t expected it so soon, and he hadn’t expected to drop two men in a heartbeat.

For a modern youth raised in a lawful society, the weight of it was suffocating.

Two living, breathing humans. Gone with a flick of a finger.

Qin Lu gripped his hair, trying to force the nausea down.

But if I hadn’t killed them, I’d be the one rotting in the street.

They weren’t good men. They were thugs. Murderers, probably. Killing them was… it was justice. Right?

Self-defense. It was pure self-defense. No one could blame me.

He muttered the words like a mantra, trying to suppress the trembling in his soul.

After a long while, he stood up. He stripped off his robe and threw it into a bucket of water. He crouched beside the basin and scrubbed his hands.

He scrubbed until the skin was raw and red.

He stopped, staring at his reflection in the rippling water. The face staring back looked older, harder.

Environment shapes the man. In this hellhole, saints die young. You have to be decisive. You have to be ruthless.

Right. Hesitation is death.

Fang Hu escaped. That was a mistake. If there is a next time, I have to tear out the roots. No loose ends.

Qin Lu’s gaze hardened. He had watched enough TV dramas to know that villains died because they talked too much or hesitated at the critical moment. He wouldn’t be a statistic. Even a lion uses its full strength to catch a rabbit.

The chaotic thoughts settled. The fear receded, replaced by a cold clarity.

He sat back in his chair and dumped his earnings onto the table. Forty Spirit Stones clattered against the wood. He stared at them, then looked up at the debt chart pasted on the wall.

The small debts were almost cleared. The only mountain left was the gambling debt at the Jishan Store. But they had been strangely quiet.

Three hundred stones down to one hundred and ninety.

“If Jishan Store isn’t knocking, I won’t go looking for them. I’ll clear the small debts tomorrow. This money… I need to invest in myself.”

Today was a wake-up call.

In the slums, wealth was fleeting. Only strength belonged to him.

“I need new skills. Talisman crafting can wait.”

Qin Lu sighed, frustration gnawing at him. His spiritual energy reserves were pathetic. He couldn’t afford to split his focus.

He picked up the Simple Spell Cultivation Method.

There were only four spells available for a low-level cultivator like him. He had mastered Ignition and Finger Flick. That left Illumination, Cutting, Amplified Voice, and Soft Wind.

He skipped Soft Wind; it was too subtle for his current needs. He focused on the others.

Two hours passed.

The Illumination Technique was simple. Channel Qi to the palm, and a ball of white light appeared. It was dim, barely brighter than a cheap flashlight, but useful for night operations.

The Cutting Technique was equally straightforward. Qi focused into the index and middle fingers, creating an invisible shear.

Qin Lu tested it on his beard. The invisible blades trimmed the scruffy hair with the ease of a razor. He looked in the mirror. The grooming took years off his face, revealing a rugged, mature charm beneath the grime.

The Amplified Voice Technique, however, was a headache. It required resonating Qi through the diaphragm and vocal cords. After several failed attempts that resulted in nothing but coughing fits, he gave up.

His spiritual energy was drained.

Qin Lu sat cross-legged on his bed. He closed his eyes and began to meditate.

The familiar warmth of Qi rose from his dantian. Guided by his will, it flowed through his meridians, completing the Grand Heavenly Cycle.

Usually, this was a soothing rhythm. Tonight, it was different.

The Qi was restless. It surged through his veins, moving twice as fast as normal.

Qin Lu’s heart skipped a beat.

This is it. The bottleneck is loosening.

He knew the signs from the Mystic Sun Mantra manual. Combined with the maxed-out proficiency bar on his system panel, there was no doubt.

Breakthrough.

The original owner had been stuck for a decade. Qin Lu was breaking through in less than a month.

He suppressed his excitement and focused. He recited the mantra, guiding the turbulent energy as it crashed against the invisible barriers within him.

One cycle. Two cycles. Three.

The chaotic energy began to slow, growing denser, heavier. It transformed from a gaseous mist into something more substantial.

A wave of heat erupted from the soles of his feet, rushing up his spine and exploding in his brain.

His mind cleared. The world felt sharper.

Success.

Qin Lu exhaled a long, turbid breath and opened his eyes.

“Finally. Layer Three.”

It wouldn’t have been this fast without the Spirit Gathering Pills he had found in the original owner’s stash.

He summoned the panel.

[Name: Qin Lu]

[Lifespan: 35/107 years]

[Cultivation: Qi Refining Layer Three: 1/100]

[Cultivation Method: Mystic Sun Mantra (Proficient): 48/200]

[Skills:]

[Spells: Ignition Technique (Mastered), Finger Flick Technique (Mastered), Illumination Technique (Novice), Cutting Technique (Novice)]

[Talisman Crafting: Water Qi Shield (Proficient), Cleansing Talisman (Novice)]

Lifespan increased by five years. Spiritual energy capacity up by thirty percent.

Qin Lu grinned. The extra juice meant more practice, more talismans, more survival.

He stretched, his joints popping. The gloom of the killing had faded, replaced by the intoxicating rush of progress.

“As expected of me.”