“Test Subject Two, step forward,” Sun Yi announced after checking the data logs from the first trial. “Name?”

“Disciple Luo Yifei reporting.” The young man looked nervous, his eyes darting between the data-gathering equipment and the sect leader.

Sun Yi smiled, activating his ‘Leadership’ charisma buff. “Relax. Han Yue just cleared the level without the cheat code. The success rate is non-zero. Trust the process, trust the data, and trust me.”

Luo Yifei took a deep breath, his expression hardening. “I believe in the Sect Leader’s vision!”

“Good. Initiate the protocol. Attempt a raw breakthrough first. If system stability drops below critical thresholds after two attempts, we deploy the Foundation Establishment Pill patch.”

Luo Yifei nodded, drank the Bodhi Tea to boost his processing speed, and sat cross-legged in the center of the array.

As Luo Yifei began his breakthrough, Sun Yi monitored the internal telemetry. The data stream mirrored Han Yue’s trial almost perfectly. When Luo Yifei hit the bottleneck, a violent feedback loop—the rebound force—surged through his meridians.

Warning: Hardware and Software integrity compromised.

Luo Yifei’s face went pale as the backlash hammered his body and soul.

On the second attempt, the damage compounded. The bottleneck showed minor signs of destabilization, but the cost to the host’s system was too high.

“Deploying patch,” Sun Yi ordered. “Take the pill.”

Luo Yifei swallowed the Foundation Establishment Pill. As he resumed the attack on the bottleneck, Sun Yi leaned forward, his Divine Sense analyzing the interaction between the pill’s medicinal energy and the rebound force.

Observation: The medicinal energy is acting as a buffer, neutralizing approximately 60% of the feedback loop.

With the pill’s protection, the rebound force was dampened significantly. Luo Yifei’s subsequent impacts no longer caused damage. After eleven consecutive strikes, the bottleneck shattered.

System Upgrade Successful.

Luo Yifei’s aura exploded, his Dantian expanding to accommodate the influx of environmental Qi. He had successfully advanced to Foundation Establishment.

Sun Yi handed him a Vitality Pill for post-op recovery and sat back, processing the data. The rebound force is the primary obstacle. The pill doesn’t remove the barrier; it just mitigates the damage from hitting it.

Two hours later, it was time for the mid-grade Spirit Root subjects.

“Next,” Sun Yi called out.

“I’ll go.” A disciple named Zhao Lun stepped forward. He hadn’t drawn a pill in the lottery, but he seemed resigned to his fate.

“Name?”

“Disciple Zhao Lun.”

“Don’t look like you’re heading to a funeral,” Sun Yi chided gently. “We have the best tech support in the region right here. You’ll be fine.”

Zhao Lun drank the tea and began his breakthrough. Sun Yi hooked into his bio-metrics immediately.

The moment Zhao Lun hit the bottleneck, Sun Yi’s brows furrowed.

Anomaly Detected.

The rebound force generated by Zhao Lun’s impact was massive—nearly five times the magnitude of the force Han Yue had faced.

Hypothesis: Lower Spirit Root quality correlates with exponentially higher firewall resistance.

Under this crushing force, Zhao Lun’s first impact caused immediate, severe damage. His face turned paper-white, blood trickling from his nose.

Gritting his teeth, Zhao Lun launched a second impact. The rebound force didn’t weaken; it hit him like a freight train.

Critical Warning: System Failure Imminent.

Sun Yi acted instantly, shoving a Vitality Pill into Zhao Lun’s mouth. The pill repaired the physical damage, but Sun Yi could see the cracks forming in Zhao Lun’s soul—damage the pill couldn’t fix.

Zhao Lun, desperate and aware that stopping meant failure, launched a third, fourth, fifth impact. By the sixth, his soul was on the verge of fragmentation.

“Abort!” Sun Yi roared. “Elders, emergency shutdown protocol! Isolate his Qi flow!”

Zhao Lun collapsed, sobbing, as he was forced to stop. His rampaging True Qi threatened to detonate his body, but the five Golden Core Elders moved in, their immense power clamping down on his meridians and stabilizing his condition.

It took a full incense stick of time to quell the chaotic energy.

Sun Yi scanned Zhao Lun. The physical body was recovering, but the soul damage was severe. The cultivation path for this account was effectively bricked.

The room fell silent. Han Yue and Luo Yifei looked at their fallen comrade with pity. The remaining low-grade disciples looked terrified. If a mid-grade talent failed this badly, what chance did they have?

Zhao Lun slumped, his eyes dead. “Sect Leader… I know. My path is over.”

Sun Yi shook his head. “It’s just a software glitch. Soul damage is tricky, but not impossible to patch. I’ve been researching the ‘Split Spirit Technique’ and have leads on a resource called Heavenly Soul Liquid. It can repair and even upgrade soul architecture.”

“Don’t give up, Zhao Lun. I’ll find the patch for you.”

Zhao Lun looked up, hope flickering in his eyes. He fell to his knees. “Thank you, Sect Leader! I will not give up!”