Let It Change

Lang Tuyet stood several steps away.

Her clothing was neat and practical.

Her gaze first rested on Hao Nhien, then moved toward the small patch of medicinal herbs growing in the soil.

Hao Nhien stood and smiled.

“I thought you would need several more days.”

“Lanh Hoa happened to find me while I was still at the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion.”

“When I heard you’d encountered serious trouble, I thought I would arrive and find someone lying in bed unable to move.”

She looked Hao Nhien over from head to toe.

Then one eyebrow rose slightly.

“Looks like it isn’t quite that bad.”

Hao Nhien gave a bitter smile.

“From the outside, no.”

Lang Tuyet noticed the tone of his answer.

But she did not immediately question him.

Instead, she walked over to the medicinal herbs, crouched beside them, and lightly touched one of the drooping leaves.

“You planted these?”

“Mm.”

“About a month ago.”

“What have you done to them?”

“I chose relatively moist soil, added spirit stones, adjusted the amount of water, and moved them twice.”

“These species normally have decent vitality.”

“But even now they haven’t developed the way I expected.”

Lang Tuyet examined the soil around the roots.

Then she used one fingertip to gently brush away part of the top layer.

She looked at the exposed root system.

Afterward, her gaze moved toward the wild grass growing from the nearby cracks.

A moment later, she asked,

“Do you know why some rare spiritual medicines only grow well in a few specific places, even when you transplant them to land with richer spiritual energy?”

Hao Nhien thought.

“Because they require particular conditions?”

“Yes.”

“But those conditions are not limited to soil, water, or the amount of spiritual energy.”

Lang Tuyet pointed toward the roots of one medicinal plant.

“Every plant absorbs and adapts to its surroundings differently.”

“Some need abundant spiritual energy.”

“Others cannot tolerate having too much spiritual energy concentrated around the roots.”

“Some grow extremely slowly, but if left undisturbed in the right environment, their root systems will become stable on their own after several years.”

She looked at Hao Nhien.

“You brought these plants here.”

“You changed the soil.”

“Added spirit stones.”

“Then moved them again when they failed to grow.”

“All of those choices had reasons behind them.”

“But are you certain the plants had enough time to adapt to one change before you imposed the next?”

Hao Nhien paused.

Lang Tuyet continued studying the drooping leaves.

“I’m not saying everything you did was wrong.”

“You were trying to create what you believed were the best conditions for them.”

“But you still don’t know what these plants actually need.”

She paused, then smiled faintly.

“Sometimes the thing you believe is helping them grow is exactly what forces them to keep adapting over and over again.”

Hao Nhien looked down at the medicinal herbs.

There was nothing mystical in Lang Tuyet’s words.

It was merely the kind of experience anyone who had cultivated medicinal plants for many years might eventually understand.

But when she spoke about repeatedly changing their growing conditions, Hao Nhien suddenly thought about everything he had done to his meridians over the past month.

Pills.

Spirit stones.

Different circulation cycles.

Different speeds.

Different attempts to force True Qi through blocked pathways.

Every method had reasoning behind it.

But whenever one failed, he almost immediately moved on to another.

He had rarely given his body enough time to reveal what the smaller changes were actually doing.

Lang Tuyet watched his expression and seemed to realize where his thoughts had gone.

“You’re thinking about your cultivation?”

Hao Nhien looked up.

“You already knew?”

“Lanh Hoa only said you had problems with your meridians after forming your core.”

“He didn’t know the details.”

“I originally planned to examine you, then see whether the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion had any suitable pills.”

She glanced toward the plants.

“But when I arrived and found you sitting here studying medicinal herbs, I guessed you were probably searching for something else.”

Hao Nhien remained silent for a moment before nodding.

“I’ve tried many methods for opening the meridians.”

“None had a clear effect.”

“The Yin energy in my body has been weakening, but my True Qi still cannot circulate normally.”

A quiet reminder of provenance: the chapter came from where the author publishes it, without their permission.

He briefly explained what had happened after the Golden Core tribulation.

How the Yin energy had entered his body.

How it had obstructed the meridians without destroying them.

And how the pathways tempered by heavenly tribulation now seemed to be undergoing changes that had not fully completed.

Lang Tuyet listened carefully.

She did not immediately offer a treatment.

Nor did she behave as though several sentences were enough for her to understand the problem.

Only after some time did she speak.

“I don’t know the properties of the Yin energy you encountered.”

“But if your meridians truly aren’t destroyed…”

“perhaps what you need is not simply to find a way to open them again.”

Hao Nhien looked at her.

Lang Tuyet said nothing further.

She did not know that her remark had just reminded Hao Nhien of something important.

From Qi Condensation to Foundation Establishment, Hao Nhien had always circulated True Qi through cycles built upon the existing structure of his own meridians.

Later, through the Body-Soul Fist Art, he had learned to adjust certain pathways to adapt to lightning, wind, and other forms of pressure.

But most of the time, cultivation still depended upon his conscious intent directing True Qi.

He was accustomed to maintaining stable circulation routes through will.

Guiding power along cycles formed and refined over years.

But his current body was no longer entirely the same.

The heavenly tribulation had tempered his meridians.

Some pathways had widened.

Their ability to bear pressure had changed.

Before the transformation following Golden Core could fully finish, the enemy’s Yin energy had invaded.

Normal circulation was blocked in the middle of an ongoing reconstruction.

Meanwhile, the Body-Soul Fist Art had never stopped possessing the ability to adapt under pressure.

Hao Nhien suddenly remembered the faint fluctuations he had sensed throughout the meridians during the past month.

Before now, he had assumed they were only signs of healing after heavenly tribulation.

But what if they were not?

What if the Body-Soul Fist Art had been quietly adjusting the affected pathways all this time?

What if the post-Golden-Core transformation was still continuing at an extremely slow rate?

Then the current structure of his meridians might already be somewhat different from what it had been immediately after his breakthrough.

Hao Nhien sat on a nearby rock.

Lang Tuyet watched him but did not hurry him.

He closed his eyes.

His soul began examining the meridian sections that had repeatedly drawn his attention.

This time, he did not immediately send True Qi through them.

He only studied the structure.

After a while, Hao Nhien noticed that in several regions, extremely small meridian branches showed signs of having widened.

The points where those branches connected with the main pathways were also clearer than before.

Not enough for him to claim they had already become stable circulation routes.

But the difference existed.

Some sections remained heavily coated in Yin energy.

Nearby, smaller branches were much less affected.

Hao Nhien continued observing.

He remembered these branches clearly.

In the past, they had rarely been used.

They had always existed.

But they were either too narrow or too inconvenient to be included in the main circulation cycle.

Now, several of them had changed.

Was this the result of the Body-Soul Fist Art quietly adapting under prolonged pressure?

Hao Nhien could not yet conclude that.

He allowed a tiny thread of True Qi to emerge from the Golden Core.

This time, he did not immediately use his intent to push it along one of the familiar pathways.

A long time passed.

The strand of True Qi merely fluctuated near the region surrounding the dantian.

It showed no clear sign of forming a circulation route by itself.

Hao Nhien continued waiting.

Then, for a brief moment, he sensed the current deviate slightly from the main pathway.

It drifted toward a small adjacent meridian branch.

The movement was extremely weak.

It lasted only a few breaths before gradually dispersing.

Hao Nhien opened his eyes.

There had been no clear success.

But compared with his earlier attempts to force circulation, what he had just observed caught his attention far more strongly.

He did not yet know whether the deviation had been a natural response of the True Qi.

An effect of the remaining Yin energy.

Or part of the adaptive process occurring within his meridians.

To determine that, he would need to continue observing under different conditions.

Compare the changes over time.

And avoid allowing excessively forceful experiments to interrupt a process that had not yet finished.

Lang Tuyet was still sitting nearby.

When she saw him open his eyes, she asked,

“Find something?”

Hao Nhien thought for a moment.

“A few things I never paid attention to before.”

“But I still can’t be certain.”

“Tell me.”

“I’ve been assuming I need to restore the blocked meridian routes so True Qi can circulate the same way it used to.”

“But perhaps after forming my core, my body changed more than I understood.”

Lang Tuyet looked at him, signaling for him to continue.

Hao Nhien turned his gaze toward the medicinal herbs.

“I’ve used many methods to force True Qi through the routes I’m familiar with.”

“But if those routes themselves are still changing…”

“then repeatedly forcing them may not be the best approach.”

Lang Tuyet nodded slightly.

“That makes sense.”

“But a few fluctuations in the meridians aren’t enough to prove it.”

“I think so too.”

Hao Nhien smiled faintly.

“Perhaps I was too impatient.”

Lang Tuyet looked at him for a moment.

Then she laughed.

“You finally noticed.”

Hao Nhien raised an eyebrow.

“You make it sound as though I’m always impatient.”

“I didn’t say always.”

“But you formed your Golden Core, suffered severe injuries, and then spent an entire month continuously trying to restore all of your True Qi.”

“Did you ever seriously consider that a transformation interrupted halfway through might simply need time to finish?”

Hao Nhien fell silent.

He had thought about it.

But every time he remembered the things still waiting for him, he instinctively wanted to shorten that time.

Lang Tuyet rose and lightly brushed dust from her hands.

“I don’t know exactly how to treat your condition.”

“If you want, I can still help you look for more records and ask people at the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion who understand meridians better.”

Hao Nhien nodded.

“That will probably still be useful.”

“But for now, I want to observe things a little longer.”

He looked toward the drooping medicinal herbs.

“There are changes I still don’t understand.”

“If I keep using pills or forcing circulation right now, I may only make things more complicated.”

Lang Tuyet considered that.

“Then don’t rush.”

“I wasn’t planning to force you to recover in a few days.”

She paused.

A hint of amusement appeared in her eyes.

“Just don’t turn one month into one year.”

Hao Nhien laughed.

“I’ll try.”

The two remained on the mountainside for a while longer.

Hao Nhien told Lang Tuyet some of what had happened in Heavenly Eye.

The changes throughout the Western Wastes.

The condition of Hoa Van after his return.

She listened carefully.

Occasionally she asked about the relationships between different powers.

But she did not force Hao Nhien to reveal anything he was not ready to discuss.

By the time the sunlight began tilting westward, the two finally descended the mountain together.

When they reached a relatively flat section of road, Hao Nhien stopped.

“Lang Tuyet, you should return to the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion first.”

She turned toward him.

“You don’t need me to stay longer?”

“At first, I intended to ask you to find a way to resolve the problem with my meridians.”

“But after what I just observed, I think I need more time to determine where the real problem lies.”

Hao Nhien’s expression became more serious.

“I don’t want to use some powerful method in a hurry while I still don’t understand the changes happening inside my own body.”

“If what I noticed today has any foundation, recovery may not be as simple as removing all the remaining Yin energy.”

Lang Tuyet remained silent for a moment.

“You plan to stay here?”

“Mm.”

“I want to observe the changes in my meridians.”

“Test things a little at a time.”

“And wait until the transformation after Golden Core becomes clearer.”

“It may take a while.”

“But at least now I have a few things worth verifying.”

Lang Tuyet nodded.

“Then I’ll return first.”

“The Heavenly Treasure Pavilion also has several matters I need to prepare.”

“If you need time here, that gives me time to arrange what I need on my side as well.”

Hao Nhien looked at her.

“The matter you mentioned before?”

“Mm.”

“I already have a plan.”

“But there are several things that need to be properly prepared before it will be convenient to proceed.”

She did not explain further.

She only smiled.

“When you’re truly ready, come find me at the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion.”

“I’ll wait.”

Hao Nhien nodded.

“Good.”

“When my meridians are more stable, I’ll come.”

Lang Tuyet looked at him for another moment.

“Make sure they are actually stable.”

“Not ‘I managed to circulate one strand of True Qi, so clearly I can go fight someone again.’”

Hao Nhien laughed.

“You’re starting to sound like Lieu Thien Van.”

“Then apparently I’m not the only person who thinks you have a problem.”

She smiled and took out her flying sword.

Before leaving, Lang Tuyet turned back toward the mountains behind them.

“And those medicinal herbs…”

“Try leaving them alone for a while.”

“Don’t add spirit stones today and change the soil tomorrow.”

“If they truly aren’t suited to this place, at least you’ll understand the reason more clearly.”

Hao Nhien nodded.

“I understand.”

Lang Tuyet stepped onto her flying sword and quickly disappeared into the distance.

Hao Nhien remained where he was until her figure vanished beyond the mountains.

Then he returned to the small patch where he had planted the medicinal herbs.

He checked the moisture around the roots.

Carefully filled back the soil he had disturbed too many times.

Then sat on a nearby rock.

Inside his body, the Golden Core continued rotating slowly.

A small thread of True Qi emerged.

It entered the meridian route near his dantian.

Then gradually weakened when it reached the obstructed region.

This time, Hao Nhien did not push it with his intent.

He simply watched the direction it tried to take.

Observed how the surrounding meridian branches responded.

The strand of True Qi ultimately dispersed.

But just before it vanished, Hao Nhien sensed an extremely faint fluctuation in the neighboring branch.

The connection between the two pathways seemed slightly different from the last time he had examined it.

Hao Nhien opened his eyes.

He took out a recording jade and carefully marked the location.

He still did not know whether the change was truly significant.

But if he continued comparing what happened over the coming days, perhaps a pattern would gradually emerge.

The evening wind passed across the mountainside.

Young blades of grass bent gently between cracks in the stone.

Hao Nhien stored the recording jade and rose.

Then he began walking back toward the small hamlet.

Tomorrow, he would return and examine it again.