Chapter 5: The Anchor

Ao Yetian stood on a shadowed rooftop, overlooking the expansive, high-walled compound of the Heavenly Marks Family. 


He wasn't thinking about romance or heroism; he was thinking about fuel—the cold, efficient logic of a cultivator.


The CEO card was a cold, demanding parasite. 


It needed a stable, pure energy that was external to his own Profound Core to stop its persistent, subtle drain. Ao Yetian remembered the plot: Xiao Ning'er possessed the rare Dragon Bloodline and cultivated a secret, specialized technique. 


Her energy was pure, unique, and most importantly, unaffiliated with his own ATG power system. 


It might be the perfect, high-purity anchor to temporarily siphon the card's drain away from his core.


The problem? Ao Yetian was an orphan, and she was the young lady of a great noble family. 


He couldn't simply walk up and ask.

He waited for dusk. The twilight draped the compound in deep violet shadows, masking his movements. 


Using his refined Profound Energy—which made him faster, stronger, and more silent than any Shadow Devil Demon Spirit—he slipped over the walls. 


Every movement was a whisper against the air.


He found her in the secluded courtyard she used for her private cultivation, practicing a graceful, flowing technique. 


The faint spiritual energy shimmered around her like moonlight. 


She was alone, dedicated, and beautiful—the tragedy of a genius stifled by her family's outdated traditions.


Ao Yetian descended, landing with a soundless flex of his powerful new muscles just feet behind her.


"Your cultivation technique is flawed," 


He stated, his voice a low, steady rumble that sliced through the courtyard's quiet.


Xiao Ning'er gasped, whirling around instantly, her movement sharp and defensive. 


Her eyes widened in shock and fear, tracking the sudden appearance of the shabbily dressed intruder. 


She immediately drew upon her meager Soul Force, ready for a fight she knew she couldn't win.


"Who are you? How did you get in here?"


She demanded, her stance betraying her inner panic, yet her voice was surprisingly steady.


"I am Ao Yetian," 


He replied, taking a slow step toward her. He focused on radiating absolute calm, ensuring his Profound Energy did not spill out and terrify her completely. 


"And your technique is trapping the Dragon Bloodline energy within your meridians, slowly damaging you. That Soul Force you just summoned is a weapon against yourself."


Ning'er frowned, her anger mixing with acute confusion. No one outside her immediate family knew of her underlying illness, let alone the hidden flaw in her technique.


"You lie! My family Elder taught me this!"


"They are ignorant," 


Ao Yetian countered, his tone dismissive. 


"I don't. You need to change your circulation rhythm immediately, or your path will be crippled."


He then spoke a single, cryptic line of advanced Soul Force theory, referencing the specific rotational gate in the Qi Sea and the consequence of an unbalanced Nine-Star Cycle.


How could he know? 


The knowledge just popped up after he got the crystal. It must have contained this world law knowledge as well as the ATG system.


Her eyes went wide again, this time with dawning comprehension and terror. 


The line he spoke addressed the core, hidden flaw of her entire cultivation path—a secret she sometimes felt herself, but couldn't articulate. 


It was knowledge that only a Legend Rank expert, or someone with Nie Li's past life mastery, would possess.


"I didn't come here to hurt you, but to make a trade," 


Ao Yetian continued, his words brisk and transactional. 


"I will show you the perfect, flawless technique to stabilize and advance your Dragon Bloodline. In exchange, I need to borrow a small portion of your pure energy—a very specific kind of energy—for a few days."


He pulled out the CEO card. It pulsed softly in the gloom, a tiny, deep violet flicker that seemed to drink the courtyard's dim light.


"This artifact needs a pure, spiritual energy that is not my own to stay dormant. I need an anchor," 


He explained, simplifying the complex mechanics of the drain. 


"Allow me to anchor this artifact to your energy—a painless, temporary siphon—and I will guarantee you become the most powerful genius in Glory City."


He extended the card toward her. 


The proposal was insane: trade her sacred energy for a sudden, astronomical leap in power.


Xiao Ning'er stared at the sleek, black card, then into Ao Yetian's unnervingly calm eyes. 


He was clearly dangerous, a master cultivator who could easily overwhelm her, yet he was offering salvation for her trapped potential. 


She was there when he showed the power that could tear the air itself.


"And if I refuse?" 


She whispered, her voice tight with a desperate, last grasp at control.

Ao Yetian lowered his hand, his expression unchanged, his eyes utterly cold.


"Then I leave. And your stagnation will continue until the Demon Beast horde arrives in a few short months. When it does, you, trapped by your own flawed technique and mediocre strength, will be killed alongside everyone you know."


He had played his final, terrifying card: the knowledge of the future. The crushing silence that followed was broken only by the night breeze rustling the leaves.