Yu Tao'er stepped fully into the room, her initial worry now mixed with a dawning awe. She approached cautiously, her eyes fixed on the Frost-veined Leaf in his hand.
"Young Master... this... this is incredible!" she breathed, her voice full of genuine astonishment. "The spiritual energy within it is so pure and stable! How did you...?"
She cut herself off, remembering his pale, strained face. The admiration in her eyes was quickly replaced by concern. "But Young Master, you must stop! Look at you! You're drenched in sweat and pale as a ghost! You're still injured from the explosion today! This kind of exertion will damage your foundations!"
Lin Yun chuckled, a dry, tired sound. He carefully placed the purified leaf on a clean cloth he had laid out. "This is nothing, Tao'er. Just a warm-up."
He reached for the next ingredient from the pouch, a gnarled Stonehide Root. His hand trembled slightly with fatigue.
"Warm-up?!" Tao'er's voice rose in pitch, her worry overriding her usual deference. "Young Master, please! You've already succeeded once! That's an amazing achievement! You can continue tomorrow! Your body needs to rest!"
"Can't stop now," Lin Yun said, his voice firm but not unkind. He focused, activating his Heavenly Eyes once more. The golden overlay returned, and the system's analysis of the root's impurities began to scroll. "I have to do nine more. The... the process requires momentum. If I stop now, I'll lose it."
It was a flimsy excuse, but it was all he could think of. He couldn't very well explain daily quest resets and skill books to her.
"Nine more?!" Tao'er looked horrified. She reached out as if to grab his arm, but stopped herself, remembering her place. "Young Master, that's impossible! Your spiritual energy... you'll exhaust yourself completely! It's too dangerous!"
"Tao'er," Lin Yun said, finally looking at her. Despite his exhaustion, his eyes held a steely resolve she had never seen before. It was a look that brooked no argument. "Thank you for your concern. But I know my limits. Please, leave me to my work."
He turned his attention fully back to the Stonehide Root, his expression closing off. The conversation was over.
Yu Tao'er stood there for a long moment, her hands clenched into frustrated fists at her sides. She wanted to argue, to drag him out of the room by force if necessary. But the authority in his tone and the unfamiliar determination in his eyes held her back. This wasn't the lazy, easily dissuaded Young Master she was used to.
With a final, helpless sigh of frustration, she bowed her head.
"Yes, Young Master," she whispered, her voice thick with worry. She backed out of the room, closing the door softly behind her.
She didn't go far, instead choosing to sit right outside the door, listening intently, ready to rush in at the first sign of true collapse.
Inside, Lin Yun was already immersed in the second purification. The pain was immediate. His spiritual energy, already depleted from the first effort, protested violently. His dantian felt like a dry well being scraped for the last few drops of water. A sharp, stabbing pain lodged itself behind his eyes, a direct result of overusing the Heavenly Eyes skill with his low cultivation.
But he gritted his teeth and pushed through. He followed the system's golden instructions with robotic precision, his movements becoming slightly more efficient, his control a hair's breadth better. The agony was a price he was willing to pay.
The second purification took longer than the first. When the soft chime finally sounded in his mind announcing success, he slumped forward, catching himself on his hands. He was breathing heavily, his vision spotting at the edges.
[Purification Successful. Stonehide Root Purity: 81%]
[Progress on Daily Quest (C-Rank): 2/10]
He didn't pause. He couldn't afford to. He grabbed the next ingredient.
The night wore on. The only sounds from the training room were Lin Yun's ragged breaths, the occasional hiss of pain, and the soft, constant flicker of the fire crystal.
Yu Tao'er remained vigil outside, her heart aching with each strained sound she heard. She lost track of time, only marked by the slow, painful progress she could sense through the door.
The spiritual energy fluctuations from the room would grow faint and weak, then gather into a desperate, focused pulse before fading again, each cycle leaving the aura inside a little more drained than before.
Lin Yun was operating on sheer willpower alone. His body was a symphony of pain. Every muscle screamed. His head throbbed as if it were splitting open. His spiritual energy was so depleted he felt hollowed out, a shell running on fumes.
But with each successive purification, something else was happening. His movements, though fueled by agony, were becoming more precise. The initial clumsy flailing of his spiritual energy was replaced by a more direct, efficient application.
The ninth purification broke him. As the chime sounded, he collapsed onto his side on the cold floor, his body convulsing with dry heaves. He had nothing left to vomit. The world swam in and out of focus. He could barely keep his eyes open.
[Purification Successful. Firebell Root Purity: 79%]
[Progress on Daily Quest (C-Rank): 9/10]
One more... just one more... The thought was a faint echo in the overwhelming static of his exhaustion.
Somehow, he pushed himself back up to a kneeling position. His limbs felt like lead. His hand shook uncontrollably as he reached for the final ingredient, a Spirit-chalk Stone. It was the hardest one yet, its impurities deeply embedded.
He wasn't following the system's instructions anymore; he was barely conscious. He was running on pure instinct, on the muscle memory beaten into him over the last few hours of hellish repetition. He poured the last dregs of his existence into that final effort.
It felt like an eternity. The world narrowed to the stone in his hand and the crushing weight of his own body. Finally, with a sensation that felt like his soul tearing, the process completed.
[Purification Successful. Spirit-chalk Stone Purity: 76%]
[Daily Quest (C-Rank) Completed!]
[Rewards: 30 EXP, Skill Book: Enhanced Ingredient Purifier (Level 1) have been placed in your inventory.]
[Current EXP: 30/1000 to Level 2.]
A wave of indescribable relief washed over him. He had done it.
A final, soft chime, different from the others, echoed in his mind—the sound of a skill book being automatically learned.
[Ding! You have learned the passive skill: Enhanced Ingredient Purifier (Level 1). All ingredients you handle will have 5% of their impurities passively removed.]
A weak, triumphant smile touched his cracked lips. Then, the last vestiges of his strength vanished. The world went black. His body went limp, and he crumpled to the floor in a dead faint.
The thud was loud in the quiet room.
Outside the door, Yu Tao'er jolted upright.
"Young Master!" she cried, throwing the door open.