The glass-and-steel lobby of the Imperial Corporation headquarters smelled of synthetic lilies and expensive carpet cleaner. This sterile fragrance did nothing to mask the underlying odor of predatory Qi.
Lin Wei walked through the security turnstiles, his footsteps light on the polished marble. He was still adapting to the strange physics of this world. There were no Spirit-Veins in the earth here; instead, the city's spiritual energy was funneled through underground copper cables and high-frequency fiber-optic arrays. It was an artificial, jagged ecosystem, but to his newly integrated Warden Protocol, the grid was entirely transparent.
[World Type: Tier-4 Tech-Cultivation Matrix]
[Current Realm: Mortally Bound (No active core)]
[System Note: Your physical body is weak, but your soul retains 'Sovereign Density'. Treat your points as venture capital.]
"He actually showed up," a voice tittered from the lounge area.
Two young men in tailored Italian suits stood near the indoor fountain, their wrists sporting smartwatches that pulsed with a faint, green light—Qi-Trackers. Lin Wei's memory-meld identified them immediately: Lin Feng and Lin Chen, his cousins from the branch family. In this world, the Lin Clan wasn't a mountain sect; they were a disgraced real estate dynasty on the brink of a hostile takeover by the rival Solar Conglomerate.
"Look at him," Lin Chen mocked, tapping his watch. "Not even a flicker of circuit-resonance. Still a 1-Star civilian. If he doesn't sign the transfer deeds today, the Solar Conglomerate will freeze our family's bank accounts by midnight."
Lin Wei didn't stop to acknowledge them. He kept his gaze fixed on the private elevator at the end of the hall. The lack of physical sensation from his previous world had left a psychological scar; he found himself adjusting his cuffs just to feel the friction of the fabric against his skin. It was a novelty to be flesh again, even if the flesh was weak.
"System," he thought as the elevator doors closed, cutting off the whispers of the lobby. "The eastern real estate shares they want me to sign over—what are they actually holding?"
[Analyzing Target Asset: The Eastern Industrial Park...]
[Discovery: The property sits atop a dead 'Node' of the city's old spiritual grid. The Solar Conglomerate wants it because they have developed a 'Corporate Siphon'—a generator that can artificially start the node and drain the lifespans of the local workers to produce high-grade Liquid Qi.]
Lin Wei's eyes narrowed, a cold, violet spark dancing deep within his pupils. "A Siphon. Different world, same parasites."
The elevator chimed, opening directly into the penthouse boardroom.
The room was a theater of corporate power. A massive mahogany table was surrounded by the Lin Clan Elders, all of them looking old, frail, and desperate. At the head of the table sat Lin Wei's eldest brother, Lin Hao—a sleek, sharp-eyed executive whose smartwatch glowed with a dense, silver light. He was a 3-Star "Data-Cultivator," a man who had traded his family's ancient martial heritage for algorithmic efficiency.
Beside Lin Hao sat a stranger—a man in a pristine white suit, radiating a hot, arrogant energy that made the air in the boardroom shimmer.
[Target Identified: Director Vahl (Solar Conglomerate Representative).]
[Combat Rating: 4-Star 'Silicon Core' (Equivalent to Early Foundation Establishment).]
"You're late, Wei," Lin Hao said, his voice dropping like an iron ledger onto the table. He slid a tablet across the polished wood. "Sign the digital biometric deed. Director Vahl has agreed to absorb our clan's debt in exchange for the Eastern Park. If you refuse, the Board will evict the main family from the ancestral estate before the market opens tomorrow."
Lin Wei walked to the table, but he didn't look at the tablet. He looked directly at Director Vahl. The man's "Silicon Core" was pulsing, drawing minor streams of Qi from the building's smart grid to maintain his youthful appearance.
"The Eastern Park employs three thousand clan vassals," Lin Wei said, his voice carrying a strange, resonant density that made the water glasses on the table vibrate. "If the Solar Conglomerate installs its new generator, those three thousand people will have their lifespans reduced to thirty years. Is that the price of your debt relief, brother?"
Lin Hao's face darkened. "Silence! You're a 1-Star trash who understands nothing of market liquidity. The clan cannot survive on sentiment."
Director Vahl let out a soft, clicking laugh, leaning back in his leather chair. "Young Master Lin Wei, the market is a natural filter. Those who cannot cultivate data are simply data to be consumed. Sign the paper. Don't make this messy."
Lin Wei looked down at his soft hands. He missed his shadow-arm. He missed the weight of the stone. But as he felt the 1,000,200 points humming in his soul, he realized that a Warden didn't need a mountain to build a prison.
"System," Lin Wei thought. "Open the Sovereign Forge. Tier 1: Infrastructure. Can I build an Obsidian Pylon through a digital network?"
[Analyzing Local Architecture...]
[Option Found: 'The Logic-Lock' (Cost: 5,000 Points).]
[Effect: Overwrites the building's local smart-grid with the 'Warden Protocol', turning every connected device into a node of your personal domain.]
"Do it," Lin Wei commanded. "Let's show the Director what a real market correction looks like."
[Points Deducted: 5,000.]
[Initializing 'The Logic-Lock'...]
Suddenly, every screen in the penthouse boardroom flickered from corporate stock charts to a deep, absolute violet. The lights dimmed, the mechanical hum of the air conditioning dying instantly as the smart grid was violently decoupled from the city's main server.
The temperature in the room plummeted. The sleek, artificial warmth Vahl had been drawing from the walls vanished, replaced by a raw, biting frost that left a thin layer of ice on the mahogany table.
"What is this?" Lin Hao gasped, his smartwatch flashing a frantic red warning.
[Error: Connection Lost. Local Server Overridden.]
Director Vahl snapped to his feet, his 4-Star Silicon Core flaring with hot, green sparks as he tried to force the building's network back under his control. "A cyber-attack? Who is doing this?"
Lin Wei stepped to the head of the table. He didn't use a mantra or a spell. He simply tapped his finger against the digital tablet.
The screen didn't display the deed. It displayed a single, flashing line of text that mirrored the ancient language of the North:
[DOMAIN ACCESS: GRANTED. STATUS: INMATES.]
"Director Vahl," Lin Wei said, his violet eyes locking onto the corporate cultivator as the frost began to creep up the man's white trousers. "Your Siphon is offline. In fact, every asset your company owns in this district now belongs to the Warden's ledger. Welcome to the North."