The jade beads in Wújì’s circuit do not hum anymore. They stutter. The old rhythm he trusted becomes a jagged count, and the wall-rings answer with a harsh, beating clang that shakes dust from the ceiling.
He sets the preserved marrow-cleansing elixir beside the original records. The seal-core’s light turns from steady green to warning crimson, and the floor under the dais spiders with fresh cracks.
Zhāng Wújì
The pulse was never feeding me. It was holding the chamber together.
Wújì opens the ancient instructions and studies the diagrams line by line, matching the elixir’s route to blood, bone, marrow, organs, and meridians. The text is severe, precise, and utterly unsparing.
He drinks. Heat rolls through him in layered waves, then narrows into a hard, bright pressure that forces his qi deeper, cleaner, denser. His frame tightens as if being forged from within.
The wall-rings accelerate into a frantic strobe. More stone flakes free overhead, and the red seal-core thuds like a failing heart, as if the inheritance itself is counting down to collapse.
✓ Quest Accepted
Complete the Primordial marrow-cleansing refinement
“Wújì follows the Primordial Ancestor's original marrow-cleansing method, circulating the elixir through his blood, organs, flesh, bones, marrow, and meridians. As his body absorbs the medicinal power, he synchronizes his qi with the chamber's ancient formation, directing the excess energy back into its structure until the refinement is complete, his physical constitution is permanently strengthened, and the chamber is fully stabilized.”
SUCCESS (Great Health, rolled +3)
Wújì keeps the elixir moving, not in one rush, but in the old order. Blood first, then organs, flesh, bone, marrow, and back through the meridians, each turn tightened by his breath. The pain burns clean, without waste.
His qi catches the chamber’s pulse and turns with it. The crimson thud in the seal-core slows, then steadies, as if his circulation has taken hold of the collapse itself.
Stone dust hangs in the air, then sinks. The frantic strobe fades into a patient glow, and the cracking floor stops splitting wider beneath the dais.
Zhāng Wújì
The route is complete.
A new stillness settles into his frame. His bones feel denser, his breath quieter, his skin cooler to the touch, as though the marrow has been washed and set.
At the same moment, the seal-disc at the chamber’s center flashes with a thin line of light, then locks into silence. The formation holds without strain, and the red core dims back toward its old green.
The ceiling stops shedding grit. From deeper inside the inheritance, a hidden seam opens with a soft grind, revealing a narrow passage that was not there before.
Quest Complete
Complete the Primordial marrow-cleansing refinement
Attribute Upgrade: Health Great→Superb
