By the fifth day of seclusion, the white liquid in the lotus basin had fallen to Pei Jing’s chest. After five days of periodic immersion and evaporation, it was thick enough to cling to him like liquid jade.
He sat upright in the middle of the pool and watched the last minute tick away on the Ledger.
00:00:45.
00:00:30.
The Five-Elemental Chaos Martial Root spun twenty-four times a second. Its five currents had joined into a bright whirl between his lungs. Steady absorption during his sessions had made the earth current glow amber. It fed a steady stream of heavy qi into the twelve largest of his spirit veins.
His bones began to hum. The sound rang through the white stone basin, and rings crossed the surface of the pool.
00:00:05.
00:00:00.
