Midnight.
Lin Hao was not sitting. He was pacing.
He walked the vast, empty, 12,000-square-foot perimeter of his warehouse, his footsteps the only sound in the concrete tomb. He was a caged tiger, his mind replaying the visit to his family on an endless, agonizing loop.
His mother's terrified, fussing hands. His father's proud, but worried, gaze. His sister, Lin Meng, punches a hole in the drywall, her face alight with a naive, suicidal, talented joy.
[Talent: Level 3: Inferior Root]
The fact was a beacon of both pride and pure, unadulterated terror. She was a natural. She was a shining, unprotected treasure, and he had just left her in a flimsy, suburban house, in a world that was beginning to spawn monsters.
He was frustrated. His [Weekly Cultivation Upgrade: LOCKED] timer was a prison, still showing [1 day, 21 hours remaining]. He couldn't get stronger. He couldn't help her.
He stopped his pacing. He stared at his phone, his body tense.
11:59:59
00:00
The clock ticked over. The ritual. The only part of his life that was still in his control.
His will, sharp and disciplined, struck. He paid his tithe.
[Daily Boost: Increase Global Reiki Density (0.01%)]? (Cost: 60 UP)
The cost had climbed again. He didn't care. He had 1,060 UP left from his High-Grade Gongfa purchase.
[Deducting 60 UP. 1,000 UP Remaining.] [Ascension Bonus: ACTIVE. Your next daily UP gain will be 6,400 UP.]
And then, his salary.
[Daily UP Generation: Active.] [Ascension Bonus: Applied (x2).] [You have received 3,200 UP.]
His balance, his true power, refilled. His 1,000 UP was joined by the new flood.
[Upgrade Points (UP): 4,200]
Four thousand, two hundred.
It was a fortune. It was a river of power.
He immediately, his heart hammering, opened the [$Upgrade Others$] tab. He had to see the number. He had to know the goal.
[Target: Lin Meng | Talent: Level 3: Inferior Root] -> [Upgrade: Level 4: Common Root]?
He braced himself.
[Cost: 10,000 UP]
He stared at the number. Ten thousand.
He looked at his own 4,200 UP.
He wasn't even halfway there.
The frustration from his locked realm, the terror for his family... it all coalesced into a single, burning, agonizing spike of impatience.
He was failing.
He stopped, forcing his panicked mind to be the planner. He took a breath. He did the math.
"Wait..."
His mind, now a finely-honed calculator, ran the numbers. "I have 4,200. My next payout, in 24 hours, is 6,400. My next investment will be 70 UP..."
4,200 (current) + 6,400 (next payout) - 70 (next investment) = 10,530 UP.
He would have it.
He would have just enough. Tomorrow night.
A wave of profound relief washed over him, so strong his knees almost buckled. He could do it. He could save her. He could give her the foundation she deserved.
The relief lasted for one, single, glorious second.
It was instantly replaced by a new, cold, terrifying thought.
"Tomorrow."
Twenty-four hours.
In twenty-four hours, his sister, a proud, naive, 16-year-old with a brand new [Iron Skin] power and a [Level 3] talent—could punch another wall. She could pick a fight with a "brute" from school. She could be seen by a BSA recruiter.
In twenty-four hours, a pack of mutated dogs, like the ones he had barely "survived," could wander into their quiet, unprotected, suburban neighborhood.
He couldn't speed up the UP gain. He had to wait 24 hours. He was trapped by the System's clock.
He paced the floor, his frustration returning, hotter than before. He couldn't upgrade her spirit tonight.
But he could protect her body.
His family was still in that house. That flimsy, wooden-fenced, glass-doored trap.
He needed to move them. Now. He needed to buy them a fortress, a safe house. He needed to buy them plane tickets, a new life, something.
And that... took mortal money.
He looked at his bank account on his phone. The $15 million was his "new life" fund. It was his anonymity. He'd already spent a chunk on his car and this warehouse lease. He couldn't, and wouldn't, touch it. It was compromised.
He needed a new fund. A family fund.
He needed more real money.
He looked around the dark, empty warehouse. He was a factory. He was a one-man treasure-production line.
It was time to make another withdrawal from the world.
He needed to sell another artifact.