BTTH: The Virus That Eats Dou Qi (5)

 Chapter 5 - Yanran flow

He needed a proper technique. His own low-grade manual was literally ruining his body. The System had explicitly told him it needed a "Comparative Reference: Other Cultivation Technique Detected" to rewrite his flow. But how was he supposed to get that? He couldn't steal a manual from the Yun Lan Sect; they would guard those with their lives.

The hours passed. The moon was up, long, sharp shadows.

He shifted slightly, turning his head so that his eyes were only just cracked open, peering out from beneath the low-lying shadow of his arm.

This part of the narrative is just perfect to create tension and show Zui Zian's ruthlessness and calculation of risk. I'll smoothen the language, integrate the visual description naturally, then continue with tense internal monologue and the execution of the secret scan, making sure that this is a high-stakes action.

The last watch had begun. It was Nalan Yanran's turn.

The air had grown intensely cold and smelled of damp earth and river water. Nalan Yanran sat on a smooth river stone twenty meters away, illuminated by the pale, cold moonlight; she was the picture of serene concentration.

She wore Yun Lan Sect robes of a soft, sky-blue hue; its fabric almost seemed to be woven from light itself, with faint, stylized white cloud symbols embroidered along the sleeves and along the collar. They had been specifically tailored for more than mere aesthetical purposes, which included freedom of movement and the subtle channeling of wind-attribute Dou Qi. The whole set perfectly framed her composed face and refined posture. Even when seated, she showed the ease of someone who was born for people's attention.

Zui Zian watched her through his half-closed lids. He couldn't deny she was striking. In this world of rough cultivators and dusty roads, she shone like a flawless piece of jade. Her features were classically beautiful, and the faint cold glow of the moon seemed to etch her silhouette in silver.

Beautiful, powerful, completely out of his league.

He gave a small, silent shake of his head against the hard ground, forcing his focus back from the aesthetic to the brutally practical.

"Focus, Zian," he admonished himself silently. "This isn't a soap opera. She's a Dou Shi. I am a three-star Dou Zhi Qi who almost got his brain fried by an initial system scan. Daydreaming about the protagonist's love interest is the fastest way to get myself killed."

He had been a ghost following giants. Every second he spent near them, he borrowed time. The main plot, Xiao Yan's meteoric rise, was three years away, yet he felt the clock ticking with urgent, visceral dread.

If he didn't find a legitimate Cultivation Technique to use soon, the constant agony of damage being done to his meridians would continue to outstrip the system's ability to restore them, and he'd be dead: a bottom-feeder death, just like the body's original owner.

He had to risk it. Staying weak was a death sentence.

He breathed slowly, noiselessly, and, in a silent prayer to a god in whom he did not even believe, he whispered the command in his mind:

"System. Run Targeted Passive Scan on nearby High-Level Dou Qi Signature. Data point: Basic Circulation Flow only. Duration: 0.5 seconds. Prioritize stealth over data integrity. Engage System Breach Protocol at lowest necessary output."

The faint, internal hum echoed in his skull. He felt a minute, sickening drain as his already low mental energy was pulled away to power the system's microscopic, digital probe. Like stretching a single, fine silk thread from his mind to hers, he tasted the cold, vast power of her Dou Qi without daring to tug.

Half a second.

The pressure was immense. His brain felt a dull, agonizing throb, the same precursor to neural collapse he'd felt near Elder Ge Ye, only this time it was concentrated. He instantly detected the structure—complex, flowing, perfectly efficient—a world away from his damaged, stunted pathways.

Got it!

He immediately cut the connection, the system drawing the thread back in like a burnt wire. Zui Zian lay still, heart hammering against his ribs, his body rigid. The throbbing in his head slowly receded.

He risked a subtle glance at Nalan Yanran. She didn't move. Her posture was perfect. His gamble had paid off.

A new line of text flashed into his sight, bright blue and absolutely critical:

[Comparative Reference Technique Acquired: High-Efficiency Circulation (Wind Type Techinque)

[Data Integrity: 12% (Sufficient for Flow Mapping)

Zui Zian allowed himself a silent, triumphant breath; he had the key.

"Eternal Blue," he commanded mentally, now feeling the name less like a foreign weapon and more like a lifeline. "Rewrite the flow of my current technique, using the new Comparative Reference. Execute Self-Optimization."



A sudden chill, far deeper than the cold night air, ran down his spine. It was that absolute unmistakable feeling of a gaze locked onto him. Not from Nalan Yanran, who sat twenty meters away, unmoving in meditation. Not from Elder Ge Ye, snoring lightly beside him. Zui Zian couldn't move. He couldn't breathe. He was a 3-star Dou Zhi Qi, but gaze felt like-an existence of legend-had just centered every ounce of its attention upon his insignificant dot on the riverbank.