I looked down at the blood on my palm, then at the Wave-Breaker Blade lying on the ground. The water-ripple patterns along its body had gone dim and lifeless, and hairline fractures had even appeared along the cutting edge — clear evidence that the blade-anvil fusion had taken a tremendous toll on the knife blank forged from deep-sea black iron. The meteorite iron anvil hadn't fared any better; its dark-gold runes looked as though they'd been dusted with ash, the originally crisp sword-shaped engravings nearly swallowed whole by shadow.

I bent down to retrieve the Wave-Breaker Blade. The moment my fingertips brushed the hilt, the system chime rang out without warning:

"Ding! Host detected undergoing extreme-intensity combat, latent potential activated, cultivation realm elevated! Current realm: Qi Refinement, Ninth Layer — Mid Stage."

Qi Refinement Ninth Layer, Mid Stage? I stood there for a moment, then let out a rueful laugh. What was that worth? A realm advancement purchased with a trip through death's door? Last night's life-and-death struggle against Scarlet — every collision of spiritual energy had felt like gambling with my life. Even now, remembering it sent a cold shiver down my spine.

"Don't get smug," the old man sneered. "The threshold for Foundation Establishment is higher than you think. With a foundation like yours, even if you swallowed a Foundation Pill right now, your success rate would be under thirty percent. Get it wrong and you'll risk Qi Deviation — just another fresh vengeful ghost haunting a construction site."

He was telling the truth. I reached into my robe and felt the jade bottle there, inside which a Foundation Establishment Pill lay at rest. Faint violet light rippled across it like a living thing, seemingly brimming with boundless spiritual energy — one look and you knew it was no ordinary item.

"I know," I murmured. "Steady accumulation, patient culmination — that's the proper path."

Just then, faint footsteps drifted in from the distance, threaded through with spiritual energy fluctuations so subtle they were almost nothing at all. I snapped to alertness instantly, tightening my grip on the meteorite iron anvil — but when I sensed the green bamboo aura woven through that spiritual energy, I exhaled. Everett Li of the Azure Dragon Hall.

He still wore that same green robe, looking for all the world like a scholar out for a morning stroll rather than a Core Formation powerhouse of the Xuanmen. But when his gaze swept across the battle-scarred ground at the centre of the worksite — a patch several zhang across in every direction — something grave flickered through those smiling eyes, there and gone in an instant.

"Brother Ethan, impressive work." Everett Li stopped before me, his gaze settling on the wounds on my body that hadn't fully closed. "You actually drove off Scarlet, who's already at Early Foundation Establishment — it seems the Azure Dragon Hall's token was given to the right person after all."

I tugged at the corner of my mouth, trying to manage a smile, but the movement pulled at the internal injuries and the pain made me hiss sharply through my teeth. "Senior Li flatters me. It was nothing but a stroke of luck."

"Luck?" Everett Li crouched and picked up a chunk of concrete. His fingertips turned it gently, and the fragment crumbled to a wisp of green smoke that dissolved into the air. "There isn't a second Qi Refinement cultivator in all of Huaguo who could force Scarlet to burn his own blood essence to flee. That kind of 'luck' doesn't exist."

His tone was mild, yet it carried an undeniable weight of pressure. I knew he was probing — testing the secrets behind last night's technique, Skybreak at Dawn, and the traces of Dao Ancestor sword intent still lingering on the meteorite iron anvil.

The system elder's voice rose in my mind, carrying a note of warning: "Careful! This old fox is fishing for information. He's probably guessed that anvil of yours is something extraordinary."

I shifted the meteorite iron anvil casually behind my back without letting it show, and deliberately angled the fractured edge of the Wave-Breaker Blade into view. "Senior overpraised me. I was desperate, nothing more — a cornered man swinging wild and getting lucky. But speaking of which, Senior — what brings you to a place like this?"

Everett Li straightened and turned his gaze to the distance, where several tendrils of dark Qi were swiftly dissipating — the direction in which Scarlet had fled. He was silent for a long moment before he spoke. "Baizhenlou will not let this go. Scarlet is the personal disciple of Golden Third Armour. Wounding Scarlet is the same as slapping Golden Third Armour across the face."

"I know." I nodded. "Which is why I intend to make a trip to the Eastern Sea."

"The Eastern Sea?" Everett Li raised an eyebrow. "To find Elder Kai?"

"Senior knows Elder Kai?" I was genuinely surprised.

"Know him?" A complicated smile curved Everett Li's lips. "In the days when the Demon Demon Suppression Bureau still had its glory, Elder Kai was capable of trading blows with Peak Late Foundation Establishment cultivators. A pity that..." He let the thought trail off unfinished, and instead drew a jade slip from his sleeve — pale green, like a section of bamboo. "This is a map of the Azure Dragon Hall's network of outposts along the Eastern Sea. Take it. If you run into trouble, seek out a Hall outpost and the cultivators there can offer assistance."

I took the jade slip. It felt warm and smooth in the hand, a current of pure wood-attribute spiritual energy flowing within it — unmistakably Everett Li's personal token. The system chime sounded:

"Ding! Acquired Azure Dragon Hall High-Rank Token 'Green Bamboo Seal.' May invoke Azure Dragon Hall resources within the Eastern Sea region. Valid for three months."

"Thank you, Senior." I gave a sincere bow with clasped hands. Whatever Everett Li's motives, this help was unquestionably a fire brought to someone freezing in the snow.

"Thank yourself, not me." Everett Li gave me a long, measured look. "Remember — the Xuanmen runs deep, and nowhere more so than the Eastern Sea. Baizhenlou's power there is deeply entrenched and tangled at the roots. The White Tiger Hall has stretched its reach just as far."

He paused, then lowered his voice abruptly. "And as for Elder Kai's side of things... there are certain old matters. It would be best if you didn't ask."

Something stirred in my chest. I thought of Elder Kai's weathered face, and the words he had swallowed before they could reach his lips. I gave a slow nod. "This junior understands."

Everett Li said no more. He turned to leave — then stopped after two steps, and spoke without looking back.

"Brother Ethan. Pills are well and good, but nothing is as solid as work done drop by drop, stone by stone. Your foundation is unique, and you carry great fortune. Don't chase progress so hard you lose what you're building toward."

End of Chapter 45: The Weight of Progress