Chapter 593: When a Trump Card Becomes an Obstacle

Somewhere inside Zinnia’s martial arts school.

Aksai sat in the middle of his quiet meditation room.

The entire space was dimly lit, with only a faint blue glow coming from the spectral screens hovering before him.

Each screen displayed different sets of information—some showed charts and graphs filled with moving lines of energy, while others displayed the written structures of body cultivation methods and their internal flow patterns.

One screen showed a human figure without a face, rendered in semi-transparent light. Glowing lines ran through its body like rivers of fire, marking the flow of Qi through the Martial Gates, meridians, and Qi Points. The virtual model pulsed faintly, reacting to the sandbox simulations Aksai had been running for the last few hours.

He had been at it for a long time, analyzing one screen after another with a sharp gaze. His expression was calm but focused. Each time he looked at a chart, his mind worked in silence, cross-referencing data, recalling old experiments, and noting subtle irregularities in the patterns of Qi flow.

Finally, Aksai’s attention fell on the last spectral screen. It displayed Zinnia’s breakthrough into the Aurous Body Realm.

The screen replayed the event from different perspectives—Zinnia’s energy surge, the pulse of her meridians, the synchronization of her Qi flow patterns, and the manifestation of the Celestial Unity Technique. Every movement of her body was recorded in vivid detail, as if the scene itself were alive.

Aksai watched quietly. His eyes followed the glowing lines on the screen as they formed and shifted in rhythm with Zinnia’s breath. The Qi flow patterns were beautiful—graceful yet powerful, like the beating heart of a living art.

He reached forward and began to adjust a few parameters on the screen. Several diagrams shifted in response as he modified the Qi flow lines, making them smoother, more stable, and more efficient.

“Run a simulation on Celestial Unity v15.5,” he said in a calm voice. “Use the settings imported from Zinnia’s breakthrough, but include the modified Qi Flow Patterns and the altered Martial Intent Diagrams we obtained last time. Calculate the success percentage.”

In his mind, the Neural Link Fabric responded immediately.

[Understood, master.]

The spectral screens flickered. New streams of data began to pour in, and the glowing faceless body on the main screen shifted to take Aksai’s form—his virtual body projection.

Inside this virtual model, the Martial Gates and Qi Points lit up one after another, following the modified Qi Flow Patterns. The simulation showed the Qi surging through his body, forming loops and circuits that pulsed with vibrant light.

The Neural Link Fabric narrated the process in his head.

[Qi circulation initiated. Celestial Unity sequence in progress. Martial Intent Diagram engaged. Energy response stabilizing. Initiating breakthrough simulation.]

Aksai leaned back slightly, his eyes fixed on the simulation as the Qi inside the virtual body condensed into a single point at the core before expanding outward in a wave of light.

For several minutes, the simulation continued. Then, the spectral screen dimmed slightly, and the Neural Link Fabric gave its report.

[Master, based on the parameters, the modified Celestial Unity Technique has a 65 percent chance of allowing you to achieve a breakthrough into the Aurous Body Realm.]

Aksai frowned. His hand rested on his chin as he thought.

“Still only sixty-five percent,” he murmured to himself. “Even after all those changes to the Qi Flow Patterns and Martial Intent Diagram, the chance hasn’t crossed ninety.”

He sighed quietly, rubbing his temple as if trying to ease the weight of his thoughts.

“This is going to be a problem.”

He stayed silent for a few seconds before asking again, “Is it the same issue as before?”

The Neural Link Fabric responded without hesitation.

[Yes, master. The Qi Shell within your body increases the required burst of Qi during the breakthrough process. Without an external stimulant, the Qi Shell absorbs and redirects the agitated Qi at the crucial moment, thereby lowering the success rate.]

Aksai closed his eyes and pressed his fingers to his forehead. He looked tired—mentally exhausted from running countless simulations that all led to the same frustrating result.

The problem wasn’t in the Celestial Unity itself. It was in him. Something only he had. As such, using Zinnia’s parameters wouldn’t help him completely.

His Qi Shell, the legacy of the Verdant Elder, had merged too deeply into his body. And inside his soul rested the Aether Wisp of a powerful beast—a double-edged gift that strengthened him but also interfered with his cultivation progress.

His back tingled slightly, as if in response to his thoughts. The faint mark of the Qi Shell tattoo—the stylized pattern of a giant tortoise shell—seemed to burn under his skin.

The Qi Shell was one of his most effective trump cards as well as his greatest defense. But now, it was also the wall that stopped him from breaking through.

Aksai rubbed his temples and let out a deep breath.

“Alright. Fine. Let’s move on,” he said, his voice steady but tired, “what kind of stimulant is needed for this breakthrough?”

The Neural Link Fabric responded immediately, its calm and emotionless voice echoing in his head.

[Master, as per my estimation, a stimulant of Aurous-level Qi-rich resource is needed for you to achieve a breakthrough into the Aurous Body Realm. The resource can be taken at the time of the breakthrough while practising the Celestial Unity, which would then provide additional burst for you as well as the Qi Shell of the Verdant Elder to cross the threshold of the Aurous Body Realm at the same time.]

[The stimulant can be in a form of Qi-based potion, Qi Gathering Array Formation that runs on various Qi-rich items found in Sharang, or simply raw ingredients found in Sharang that are overwhelmingly rich in Golden Qi.]

Aksai tapped his fingers on his knee as he thought about it.

“Alright,” he finally said after a moment of silence. “Let’s assume a modified Spirit Qi Bifecta Potion—something several times more effective than the standard one. Use it as the external stimulant and run the sandboxing once again.”