The question of death had occupied Wei Jin's contemplation for thirty-five years.
He sat in his study as the morning light crept across manuscripts that detailed cultivation philosophies from a dozen traditions. The texts spoke of transcendence, of the soul's persistence beyond physical form, of the meaning that existence acquired through the certainty of its eventual ending.
At one hundred fifty-nine years of age, Wei Jin had achieved a realm where such questions became more than academic speculation.
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════CULTIVATION SYSTEM v2.0 - NASCENT SOUL REALM═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════
[AUTOMATED METHODS] Ommited.
[MANUAL METHODS] └── Azure Soul Refining Method ….. 67% [DEVELOPING] ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════
Sixty-seven percent efficiency. Thirty-five years of systematic development had pushed the Azure Soul Refining Method from its initial two percent to levels that approached—but had not yet achieved—the optimal operation that would enable automatic cultivation.
The progress was, as Wei Jin's iron mind had calculated early in the process, snail-like compared to his previous advancement.
Nascent Soul cultivation operated on fundamentally different timescales than the realms that preceded it. Where Foundation and Golden Core had responded to years of dedicated practice, Nascent Soul demanded decades for meaningful improvement. Where previous breakthroughs had approached through steady accumulation, this realm required patience measured in centuries.
The Nascent Soul lifespan of approximately one thousand years suddenly seemed less like infinite time and more like barely sufficient.
Wei Jin had spent these thirty-five years not merely cultivating but contemplating.
The atomic weapons that had horrified him at the moment of his breakthrough had not been deployed in anger. The empire, recognizing the destructive potential it had unleashed, had established restrictions that limited further development. The major powers—cultivation sects and mortal governments alike—had reached uneasy understanding that such weapons threatened everyone equally.
The world had been rather peaceful.
But Wei Jin's enhanced cognition—the reasoning cycle that his sixth pattern had established—calculated probabilities with uncomfortable precision. Even a one percent annual chance of major conflict would compound across centuries into near-certainty. The peace was fragile. The weapons existed. The potential for destruction remained.
Eventually, unless something fundamental changed, the eventuality that Wei Jin feared would arrive.
These were the questions that occupied his mornings. The meaning of existence in a world that might end. The value of cultivation when mortality—whether personal or civilizational—remained certain. The purpose of building family and legacy when destruction threatened everything.
Heavy thoughts for heavy times.
The mobile phone on his desk interrupted his contemplation with its distinctive chime.
—————
The Unexpected Summons
"Master Wei, a visitor requests your presence."
The voice belonged to Secretary Huang—a mortal administrator whose efficiency had made him invaluable to the Wei family's operations over three decades of service. The mobile phone technology that carried his words would have seemed miraculous when Wei Jin first achieved Golden Core. Now it was merely convenient.
"I am occupied with cultivation matters," Wei Jin replied. "Unless the visitor's business is urgent—"
"She claims it is most urgent, Master Wei. And she is…" Secretary Huang's voice hesitated in a way that Wei Jin's enhanced perception found concerning. "She is Nascent Soul, Master Wei. She arrived at the capital office an hour ago and demands immediate audience."
Wei Jin's iron mind processed this information with speed that mortal consciousness could not match.
A Nascent Soul cultivator seeking him specifically. Female, apparently. Demanding rather than requesting audience. These details suggested someone of considerable power and confidence—qualities that did not characterize casual visitors.
Wei Jin had few dealings with other Nascent Soul practitioners. His advancement had occurred through independent development rather than sect instruction. His influence, while considerable in mortal affairs, did not extend significantly into the upper reaches of cultivation society.
What business could a Nascent Soul woman have with him?
"Where does she wish to meet?" Wei Jin asked.
"The Hotel Diamond in the capital, Master Wei. She has reserved a private meeting room and says she will wait as long as necessary."
The Hotel Diamond was the capital's most prestigious establishment—a tower of mortal engineering that had become favored by wealthy cultivators who appreciated its discretion and amenities. An appropriate venue for sensitive discussions between powers whose business demanded privacy.
"Inform her I will arrive within the hour."
Wei Jin ended the call and rose from his study, the manuscripts on death and meaning left behind for concerns that were apparently more immediately pressing.
—————
The Meeting
The Hotel Diamond occupied forty floors of gleaming glass and steel in the capital's financial district.
Wei Jin arrived through conventional transportation—a vehicle that mortal engineering had perfected over decades of liberated innovation. His Nascent Soul cultivation could have carried him across the distance in moments, but such displays attracted attention he preferred to avoid.
The hotel staff directed him to a private meeting room on the thirty-seventh floor with efficiency that suggested significant preparation. The woman who awaited him had clearly made arrangements that ensured their discussion would proceed without interference.
He found her seated beside a window that offered views across the capital's transformed skyline.
She was beautiful.
The observation registered through perception that decades of cultivation had refined beyond mortal capability. Her features were elegant, refined by what might have been centuries of Nascent Soul cultivation. Dark hair cascaded across shoulders draped in robes of deep crimson that suggested wealth and status. Her spiritual presence radiated power that matched Wei Jin's own mid-early stage development—perhaps slightly exceeding it.
But what struck him most was the absence of grievance in her eyes.
He had expected anger. Resentment. The cold fury of someone who had been wronged and sought redress. Instead, her gaze held something more complex—calculation mixed with assessment, purpose underlying apparent patience.
"Master Wei Jin." Her voice was pleasant, cultured, carrying accents that suggested origins in distant provinces. "Thank you for accepting my invitation."
"Your invitation was more demand than request." Wei Jin settled into the chair opposite her, his iron mind analyzing every aspect of her demeanor. "You claimed urgent business. I am here to understand what that business entails."
"Direct. I appreciate directness." The woman's lips curved into a slight smile. "Very well. I will be equally direct."
She leaned forward, her Nascent Soul presence pressing against Wei Jin's awareness with intentional emphasis.
"You must take responsibility for me, Master Wei. You have ruined my life."
—————
The Accusation
Wei Jin's iron mind processed the statement with speed that found no immediate coherent interpretation.
Take responsibility for her? Ruined her life? He had never encountered this woman before. Had never engaged in conflict with any Nascent Soul female. Had never—to his knowledge—caused harm to anyone of her evident status.
"Madam." Wei Jin's voice carried carefully controlled neutrality. "I find myself here contemplating questions of life and death, seeking understanding of existence's meaning and purpose. And you appear from nowhere, making accusations I cannot comprehend." His eyes met hers with the weight of one hundred fifty-nine years of accumulated experience. "Do you take me for a fool?"
The woman's smile widened slightly—not with malice but with something approaching appreciation.
"Contemplating life and death? How philosophical. How appropriate, given the circumstances." She settled back in her chair, her posture relaxing from confrontation toward conversation. "No, Master Wei, I do not take you for a fool. Quite the opposite—I take you for someone clever enough to understand complex situations when they are properly explained."
"Then explain. What responsibility could I possibly owe to someone I have never met?"
"You have met me, in a sense. Or rather, you have met someone very important to me." The woman's expression shifted, old pain surfacing beneath her composed exterior. "You met him approximately seventy years ago, at the Alchemy Peak of the Dark Rose Sect. You treated him for spiritual depletion. You accepted gifts from him—treasures of considerable value."
Wei Jin's enhanced cognition made the connection before her next words confirmed it.
"And then," the woman continued, "you killed him."
—————
The Elder's Widow
The possessor elder.
"You were connected to… him?" Wei Jin chose words carefully, aware that the conversation had entered dangerous territory.
"I was his wife." The woman's voice held grief that decades had not entirely healed. "His partner for seven hundred years of marriage. The one person who knew what he truly was and loved him regardless."
"He was a possessor." Wei Jin's voice hardened slightly. "He stole bodies. Consumed souls. Wore faces that belonged to people he had murdered."
"He was a survivor." The woman's eyes flashed with unexpected fire. "He was ancient, yes. He had done terrible things to extend his existence, yes. But he was also kind, in his way. Thoughtful. Capable of love that transcended the circumstances of his continuation."
"He attempted to seize my body. To consume my consciousness as he had consumed others."
"He attempted to survive." The woman's voice softened again. "As all ancient cultivators must, in a world where advancement beyond Nascent Soul has been forgotten. Would you condemn someone for refusing to accept death when alternatives existed?"
Wei Jin was silent, his iron mind processing implications that the woman's words revealed.
She had known her husband was a possessor. Had loved him regardless—or perhaps because of the unique perspective that ancient existence provided. Had maintained their relationship across seven centuries despite the moral complexities that his survival methods entailed.
And now she was here, seeking something from the man who had ended that seven-hundred-year partnership.
—————
The Complicated Truth
"I did not seek conflict with your husband," Wei Jin said finally. "He approached me. He gave me gifts—treasures I did not request, whose purposes I did not initially understand. When he attacked, I defended myself. The outcome was his choice, not mine."
"I know." The woman's acknowledgment surprised him. "I know everything about your encounter with him. His intentions, his methods, his ultimate failure. I know that you acted in self-defense against a threat you had not provoked."
"Then what justice do you seek? What responsibility could I owe for defending my own existence?"
"Not justice." The woman shook her head slowly. "Justice would demand I attempt to destroy you—an outcome that would be uncertain at best and catastrophic for both of us at worst. No, Master Wei, I do not seek justice."
"Then what?"
"Replacement."
The word hung in the air between them, its implications unclear despite Wei Jin's enhanced cognition.
"Replacement?" he repeated.
"My husband is gone. The partner who shared seven centuries of my existence has been ended. The treasures he gave you—the Root Transformation Lotus, the technique scrolls, the other materials—those were resources he had accumulated across millennia of existence. You have used them. Have benefited from them. Have built your advancement partly on foundations that his death provided."
The woman leaned forward again, her expression mixing calculation with something that might have been genuine emotion.
"I am alone, Master Wei. Have been alone for seventy years. The cultivation world offers few partners for someone of my status—and fewer still who could understand what I have experienced, what I have lost, what I require from companionship."
"You want me to…" Wei Jin's iron mind, usually so efficient at processing implications, struggled to complete the thought.
"I want you to become what you took from me. A partner. A companion. Someone to share the centuries that stretch ahead." The woman's smile returned, but with warmth that had not been present before. "You took my husband, Master Wei. The least you can do is replace him."
—————
The Calculation
Wei Jin's consciousness operated on multiple threads simultaneously, his sixth pattern enabling parallel processing of the situation's various dimensions.
Strategic Assessment: The woman was Nascent Soul—power that could threaten his family if she chose conflict over negotiation. She had resources and connections that her seven-hundred-year marriage to an ancient possessor would have accumulated. She could be a dangerous enemy or a valuable ally.
Personal Consideration: Lin Mei remained his partner of over one hundred thirty years. Their relationship had survived everything the cultivation world had presented. Any arrangement with this woman would require Lin Mei's knowledge and consent.
Political Implications: Alliance with a Nascent Soul cultivator of established status would extend Wei Jin's influence into circles his independent development had never reached. The connections such partnership provided could prove valuable for protecting his family across the centuries ahead.
Emotional Reality: The woman's proposal was, on one level, absurd. Replace a seven-hundred-year partnership because he had killed her previous partner in self-defense? The logic was twisted beyond what ordinary reasoning could accept.
But Wei Jin's iron mind recognized that cultivation society operated on principles that ordinary reasoning did not address. Power created obligations. Actions generated consequences that extended across centuries. The death of an ancient cultivator—even in self-defense—was not a matter that could simply be dismissed.
"You understand that I am married," Wei Jin said finally. "Have been married for over one hundred thirty years to a woman I love deeply."
"I understand. I do not require you to abandon your existing relationship." The woman's tone suggested this was entirely reasonable accommodation. "I merely require acknowledgment. Recognition. A position in your life that compensates for what your actions cost me."
"And if I refuse?"
"Then I will leave peacefully." The woman's expression did not change. "I am not here to threaten, Master Wei. I am here to propose an arrangement that benefits us both. You gain an ally of considerable power and extensive connections. I gain a partner whose capabilities and character are worthy of the position my husband once occupied."
She rose from her chair, her Nascent Soul presence radiating with controlled intensity.
"You need time to consider. I understand. This is not a decision to be made in a single meeting." She moved toward the door, then paused. "My name is Shen Ruyi. I will be in the capital for the next month. When you have reached your decision, contact me through the hotel."
She departed, leaving Wei Jin alone with implications that his iron mind would require considerable time to fully process.
—————
The Evening Reflection
Wei Jin returned to Qinghe as evening settled over the transformed landscape.
The conversation with Shen Ruyi had disrupted contemplations that had occupied his mornings for decades. Questions of life and death, of meaning and purpose, had been replaced by more immediate concerns that demanded practical resolution.
Life, he reflected, was indeed far more complicated than philosophy suggested.
He found Lin Mei in their private quarters, her late-Golden Core cultivation no longer the boundary it had once been. At one hundred sixty-one years of age, she remained vital and sharp—his partner through transformations that neither had anticipated when their relationship began over a century ago.
"You met with a Nascent Soul woman," Lin Mei observed, her perception having tracked his activities through the family's information networks. "In the capital. At the Hotel Diamond."
"Word travels quickly."
"It does when my husband meets privately with unknown female cultivators of considerable power." Lin Mei's tone held teasing rather than genuine concern. "Should I be worried?"
"The situation is… complicated." Wei Jin settled beside her, organizing thoughts that his iron mind had been processing throughout the return journey. "Do you remember the possessor elder I killed seventy years ago? The one whose death triggered our departure from the Dark Rose Sect?"
"He had a wife."
Lin Mei's expression shifted from teasing to serious attention. "A Nascent Soul wife?"
"A Nascent Soul widow. Who has spent seventy years apparently waiting for the opportunity to confront the man who ended her seven-hundred-year marriage."
"She seeks revenge?"
"She seeks replacement."
Wei Jin explained the conversation—Shen Ruyi's demand for responsibility, her proposal for partnership, the offer of alliance in exchange for the position her husband had once occupied.
Lin Mei listened with the attention that their decades of partnership had refined.
"She wants you to become her new husband," Lin Mei summarized when he finished.
"In some capacity. She claims not to require abandonment of our existing relationship."
"How generous of her." Lin Mei's voice held dryness that suggested mixed feelings about the generosity on offer. "And what are your thoughts?"
Wei Jin considered the question with honest attention.
"I find myself contemplating obligations I did not choose and opportunities I did not seek. The woman is powerful—her alliance would provide connections that my independent development has never established. She could protect our family in ways that my cultivation alone cannot guarantee. She could also destroy us if she chose conflict over negotiation."
"You are considering accepting."
"I am considering that refusal may create dangers that acceptance would avoid." Wei Jin met Lin Mei's eyes. "But I would never accept without your knowledge and consent. You are my partner. Have been for over one hundred thirty years. Whatever arrangement might serve our family's interests must also serve our relationship's integrity."
Lin Mei was quiet for a long moment, processing implications that affected her as directly as they affected him.
"This woman—Shen Ruyi—she loved her husband? Truly loved him, despite what he was?"
"She seemed to. The grief I perceived was genuine. The loneliness she described felt authentic rather than performed."
"Then perhaps she is not so different from me." Lin Mei's voice softened. "A woman who loved a cultivator whose nature exceeded ordinary understanding. Who built partnership across centuries despite circumstances that would have driven lesser connections apart."
"You are comparing yourself to the wife of a body-stealing possessor?"
"I am comparing myself to a woman who loved someone powerful and complicated and sometimes dangerous." Lin Mei smiled slightly. "The comparison is not as distant as you might imagine."
She took his hand, her grip carrying the warmth that over a century of partnership had developed.
"Meet with her again. Discuss terms. Understand what she truly wants and what she offers in return." Lin Mei's eyes held the practical wisdom that had always balanced Wei Jin's more analytical approach. "If alliance serves our family, I can accept arrangements that might seem unconventional. If her purposes threaten what we have built, we will face that threat together."
"You would share me with a seven-hundred-year-old widow whose previous husband I killed?"
"I would do whatever our family's survival requires." Lin Mei's voice hardened with determination that her gentle appearance often concealed. "That has always been true, Wei Jin. From the day I agreed to cultivate your modified techniques. From the day I first learned about the possessors and the suppression. From every moment across one hundred thirty years when I chose to stand beside you regardless of what the choice demanded."
She squeezed his fingers.
"This is simply another choice. Another adaptation. Another step on a journey that we walk together."
Wei Jin absorbed her words with appreciation that exceeded what his iron mind could quantify.
His partner. His anchor. His reason for every sacrifice the cultivation journey had demanded.
If she could accept this complicated situation, perhaps he could as well.
"I will meet with her again," he said finally. "I will negotiate terms that protect our family and our relationship. And if alliance proves possible, I will reluctantly sacrifice myself for the benefits it provides."
Lin Mei laughed—genuine amusement that released tension the serious discussion had created.
"Reluctantly sacrifice yourself to the attentions of a beautiful Nascent Soul cultivator. How terrible for you."
"The burdens I carry for this family are indeed heavy."
"Unbearable, I'm sure." Lin Mei pulled him close. "But for tonight, at least, you remain exclusively mine. The widow can wait until tomorrow."
Wei Jin held his wife as the evening deepened, the questions of life and death that had occupied his mornings transformed into questions of relationship and alliance that were somehow both simpler and more complicated.
Life, he reflected again, was never as straightforward as philosophy suggested.
But perhaps that was what made it worth living.
—————
[MANUAL METHODS] └── Azure Soul Refining Method..... 67% [DEVELOPING]
The journey continues.
—————
End of Chapter One, Book Four