The Mind-Calming Incense helped. Truly, it did. Its subtle fragrance smoothed the rough edges of Kai’s focus, allowing him the patience needed for the mind-numbing intricacy of the Myriad Rivers Convergence Art. But patience couldn't entirely overcome physical limitations. Days turned into a week, then nearly two, spent mostly in the seclusion of his meditation room, tracing infinitesimal Qi threads through pathways that still felt bruised and tender from Li Wei’s Azure Vortex Tempest.

  Progress was happening, yes, but it was like carving granite with a fingernail. Every time he tried to push Qi through a particularly stubborn secondary meridian identified by the Art – one crucial for anchoring the Dantian during Foundation Establishment – a dull ache would blossom into a sharp throb, forcing him to pull back, his circulation stuttering. The Seven Treasures Healing Liquid had fixed the major breaks, but the micro-damage, the subtle strains on the very fabric of his energy network, lingered like ghosts.

  He needed those pathways pristine. The Myriad Rivers Art demanded it. Trying to build a Foundation Establishment on cracked riverbeds was suicidal. And Jian Feng wasn't going to wait patiently forever. That thinly veiled threat lingered, a promise of trouble brewing just beneath the Inner Sect's placid surface. Kai needed strength, needed stability, needed to master this technique faster.

  Frustration gnawed at him. He had the resources – Mid-Grade Spirit Stones piled in his storage, a comfortable point balance – yet his own damaged body was the bottleneck. He tried using more High-Grade Qi Gathering Pills, hoping sheer volume could force the pathways open, but it only aggravated the tenderness.

  Then, scrolling idly through the System Store during a frustrating pause in his cultivation, his eyes landed on an item he’d dismissed as too expensive weeks ago, back when fifty points seemed like a fortune.

  [Low-Tier Fictional Items]

  Senzu Bean (Fragment): A tiny piece of a legendary bean. Instantly restores 10% Stamina and Qi when consumed. Single use. Cost: 50 System Points.

  He’d focused then on the Qi and Stamina restoration. But thinking back to the source material… didn't those beans do more? Weren't they famed for near-instantaneous recovery from grievous injury? Not just topping off the tank, but actual healing? The description was vague – "restores" could mean many things. But maybe, just maybe, that restoration included repairing the kind of subtle, lingering damage that hampered him now.

  Fifty points. He had over 580. It was almost an impulse purchase now, a drop in the bucket compared to the emergency expenditures during the competition. The potential payoff – smoothing out his pathways enough to accelerate his Myriad Rivers practice – was immense. If it worked, it could shave weeks off his consolidation phase. If it didn't… well, fifty points wasn't going to break him anymore.

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  Purchase: Senzu Bean (Fragment) x 1.

  [-50 Points. Balance: 535]

  A tiny, unassuming dried green bean, looking slightly chipped (hence 'fragment'), appeared in his dimension storage. It looked utterly mundane, like something you'd find swept into a corner of a granary. Could this truly hold legendary power?

  Retrieving it, Kai hesitated only a moment. He popped the fragment into his mouth. It tasted… like nothing. Slightly dry, a bit chalky, then gone.

  For a second, disappointment washed over him. Was that it?

  Then, warmth.

  Not the fiery heat of the Body Tempering Liquid, nor the cool rush of the Qi Attunement Pill. This was a gentle, pervasive warmth spreading outwards from his core, suffusing every inch of his body. It felt like sinking into a perfectly heated bath after a long, freezing day.

  More than just warmth, it was vitality. Raw, pure life energy flowed through him. He could feel the lingering aches from his old injuries dissolving under its touch. But the most profound effect was within his meridian network.

  He immediately sat cross-legged and began circulating Qi according to the Myriad Rivers Art, focusing again on that troublesome secondary pathway near his Dantian. Where before there was resistance, a dull throb, now the Qi flowed… smoothly. Impossibly smoothly. It wasn't just forcing its way through; the pathway itself felt subtly repaired, widened, the lingering tenderness simply gone, erased by that wave of gentle vitality.

  It wasn't an explosive power-up. His Qi level didn't jump. But the quality of his internal state, the very foundation upon which his cultivation rested, felt fundamentally improved. The 10% Stamina and Qi restoration was almost secondary; the true miracle was the subtle, deep healing effect on those damaged energy channels.

  Excitement surged through Kai. This was the boost he needed. He immediately immersed himself back into the Myriad Rivers Convergence Art, pushing Qi through pathways that had been blocked or painful just moments before. The flow was effortless, his control precise. He could feel the Qi soaking into the walls of the meridians, strengthening them, widening them, just as the technique described.

  Hours melted away. The single incense stick burned down, unnoticed. Kai was lost in the flow, making more progress in a single session than he had in the entire previous week. He mapped complex networks, reinforced junctions, smoothed out energy flows with a proficiency that felt exhilarating. The Myriad Rivers Art wasn't just about preparation anymore; it felt like an upgrade in itself, unlocking a deeper level of control over his own body's energy system.

  By the time dawn painted the sky outside his window, Kai reluctantly pulled back from his meditation, feeling pleasantly tired but deeply satisfied. He had mastered the first three stages of the Myriad Rivers Art – 'River Source Tracing', 'Channel Dredging', and 'Bank Reinforcement'. His Qi pathways felt noticeably clearer, stronger, more resilient. His Level 7 cultivation felt more solid, more deeply rooted than ever before. He estimated he was maybe halfway through mastering the entire technique, significantly ahead of schedule thanks to that single bean fragment.

  The 50 points felt like the best investment he’d ever made.

  He stood up, stretching muscles that felt supple and free from the aches that had plagued him since the competition. That Senzu Bean fragment… its effect was truly miraculous, even in such a tiny dose. What would a whole bean do? The thought was tantalizing. Checking the store again – no, still only fragments available at his Vendor Level. Something to aspire to.

  For now, though, he felt a renewed confidence. His foundation was solidifying rapidly. He was adapting to the Inner Sect's energy levels. Let Jian Feng scheme. Let the currents swirl. Kai was reinforcing his own riverbanks, preparing for the flood. And he still had plenty of tricks – and points – left in reserve. The game in the Inner Sect was just getting started, and thanks to a little green bean, Kai felt ready to play.