The warehouse was a vast, cold, concrete tomb.
The city's ambient light, a dirty orange glow on the horizon, did little to pierce the darkness inside. Dust motes, thick as fog, hung in the air, visible only in the pale moonlight streaming through the grime-caked skylights far above. It was absolutely silent, save for the distant, mournful cry of a train.
Lin Hao was sitting cross-legged on the dusty, oil-stained floor, his back against a massive concrete support pillar.
He had been here for hours. He had walked the three-mile "exclusion zone" from the nearest bus stop, his new, superhuman legs eating up the distance without the slightest hint of fatigue.
He had explored his new home. It was 12,000 square feet of empty, echoing potential. The mortal money, the $15 million, was already an abstract concept to him, a tool he had used to solve a mortal problem. It had bought him this, privacy. A fortress. A foundation.
His old life was over. His new one was about to truly begin.
He was still hungry. The craving for food was a deep, demanding ache from his new, high-performance body. But he had waited. He had endured it.
Because it was almost midnight.
He had his cracked phone sitting on the floor in front of him. The screen glowed, displaying the time.
11:59:52 PM
He looked at his System interface, his eyes fixed on his current balance.
[Upgrade Points (UP): 210]
He had earned this. He had resisted the urge to spend his 200 UP daily gain all day. He had resisted the temptation to immediately upgrade his talent or buy a new cultivation level.
He had a plan. The exponential loop was everything.
He had already opened the [$World Upgrade$] tab. He was just waiting, his will poised.
He had noticed the change immediately. The system was smarter than he'd thought. The "cost" of the investment scaled with the "reward."
[Daily Boost: Increase Global Reiki Density (0.01%)]? (Cost: 20 UP)
The price had doubled, just as his income had. It was a 10% tithe. A 10% investment to secure a 100% return. It was the easiest, most obvious choice in the world.
11:59:58 11:59:59
00:00
The clock on his phone ticked over.
Lin Hao did not wait for the daily gain message. He had to invest before the new day's points were delivered to get the next day's bonus. It was a feedback loop. He had to pay his "tithe" for Day 2 to get the bonus for Day 3.
"System," he commanded in his mind, his will sharp and absolute. "Invest."
[Deducting 20 UP. 190 UP Remaining.] [Investment Confirmed. Global Reiki Density (0.01%) added to global queue.]
A new, beautiful message immediately followed.
[Ascension Bonus: ACTIVE. Your next daily UP gain will be 400 UP.]
He had done it. He had secured his future.
And then, the second, even more beautiful message arrived, right on schedule.
[Daily UP Generation: Active.] [Ascension Bonus: Applied (x2).] [You have received 400 UP.]
Lin Hao's vision swam for a second. His previous total had been 190 UP. The new points flooded in.
[Upgrade Points (UP): 590]
He stared at the number. Five. Hundred. And. Ninety.
He had started this journey less than 72 hours ago with zero.
This was the power of the loop. This was the reward for patience.
Now, he could finally address his own, screaming needs.
His hunger. His foundation.
He looked at his 590 UP. It was a treasure. He could buy his [Level 2: Waste Root] (100 UP) five times over.
But... first things first. He had shattered the mortal limit. Now he had to build on it.
He mentally opened the [$Self Upgrade$] tab.
[Host: Lin Hao] [Cultivation: Level 5: Blood Vitality (First Sensation)]
The next option on the Houtian path was waiting for him, available and glowing.
[Upgrade: Level 6: Marrow Cleansing (Purification)]? (Cost: 50 UP)
He had felt the power of [Bone Forging]. This was the next step. Not just hardening the bone, but cleansing the very source of his blood, his life force, the marrow.
This was a true, deep, foundational upgrade.
He had 590 UP. Fifty points was a laughably small price.
"Yes."
[Deducting 50 UP. 540 UP Remaining.] [Upgrading Host to Level 6: Marrow Cleansing (Purification)...]
The sensation was nothing like the ones before.
It wasn't a hot rush, or a cold forge, or a muscular pressure.
It was an itch.
An ungodly, impossible-to-scratch, deep-in-the-bone itch. It was like his entire skeleton, from his skull to his toes, had been infested with a million fire ants.
He gritted his teeth, a low groan escaping his lips. He squeezed his fists, his [Iron Skin]-covered knuckles cracking.
The itch was coming from inside his marrow. He could feel it. And then, the "purification" began.
Ssssss...
A new, profound, freezing sensation started in his spine and flooded his limbs, chasing the itch. It was a cold so deep it felt like it was freezing his very soul.
And with the cold, came the filth.
He had thought his [Iron Skin] and [Blood Vitality] upgrades had purged his impurities. He had been wrong. That was just the surface-level grime.
This was the dross. The genetic, ancestral junk that had been passed down for a thousand generations.
A new, black, impossibly foul-smelling sweat poured from his skin, different from the greasy film before. This was thick, like tar. It pooled on the concrete floor around him, smelling of burnt hair and rotten metal.
He felt his bones become light, hollow, and then... pure. Like crystal. The very source of his new, Qi-infused blood was being upgraded.
When the sensation finally faded, Lin Hao was left gasping in the dark, his body covered in a thick, disgusting crust. He felt violated, scoured, and reborn.
And his hunger... his hunger was now a raging, all-consuming inferno.
But his body... his new, cleansed, Level 6 body... was a perfect, pristine, crystal chalice, waiting to be filled.