The copper tub shivered as the first vortex of emerald Qi tore across the surface of the water.
In the floor troughs surrounding the bath, two thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones began to hum. A pale green light flared from their crystalline facets, rising toward the cedar rafters in shimmering ribbons.
Kaelen uncorked a small porcelain vial and tipped two Cloud-Veined Supreme Marrow-Warming Pills onto his tongue.
The pills dissolved on contact. A surge of liquid amber heat slid down his throat, pooling instantly in his dantian before branching into the nine diamond-tempered pulses.
Five minutes, Kaelen thought, feeling the warm pulse settle against his ribs. A normal Iron Bone cultivator needs three years of bitter meditation to digest two thousand spirit stones. I have three hundred seconds before the water cools.
He closed his eyes and let the Fallow Slate’s multiplier seize the room.
[BURST MULTIPLIER ACTIVE: 211x] [TIME ELAPSED: 00m 45s / 05m 00s] [QI INGESTION RATE: 666 UNITS PER SECOND]
A whistling sound filled the sealed stone room.
