Han Yu rolled the jade pill between his fingers, flashing Li i a lopsided grin.
"You know," he said, "if you keep feeding pills every ti I make trouble, I might get addicted to both."
Li i narrowed her eyes. "Addicted to pills?"
"No," Han Yu replied smugly. "To you."
She imdiately looked away, ears turning red. "Y-you should go see the sect physician. You might have hit your head harder than I thought."
Han Yu cackled and popped the pill into his mouth, chewing with exaggerated enthusiasm. "Mm! Tastes like dicinal regret and roasted lotus."
"That’s a high-grade pill, Han Yu!" Li i said, exasperated. "You’re not supposed to chew it!"
"I absorb things faster with my superior jaw technique."
"...I’m leaving."
She turned to go, but Han Yu quickly reached out and grabbed her sleeve. "Hey, wait."
Li i paused, glancing back.
"You really made these for ?" Han Yu asked, more serious now. "Even when everyone thought I was dead?"
Her eyes darted away again. "W-well... I didn’t believe you were really gone. And even if you were—at least I’d have sothing to put on your grave."
Han Yu blinked.
Then smiled, softer this ti. "Thanks. Really."
She fidgeted for a mont. "Just... don’t go dying again, okay? That’s twice now. The next ti you vanish, I’m not making pills—I’m making a coffin out of spirit bamboo and stuffing you in it myself."
Han Yu grinned. "Stuff away. I’ll just cultivate inside the coffin. Spirit bamboo is great for insulation."
"Argh!" Li i stord off. "Hopeless!"
As she vanished around the corner, Han Yu watched the air shimr slightly.
SHUA
A golden wisp of Joy, followed by a gentle pink thread of... sothing warr.
He squinted at it. "That’s new," he muttered.
The Eight Emotions Energy swirled within him, slow and dense. It was more stable now than before, but still required deliberate emotion harvesting.
He could feel it—the accumulation was working. But it was far from enough.
And it wasn’t free.
Using Soul Skills drained him like crazy. He rembered the tickle technique he used on Jian Yao—it had consud a huge chunk of Soul Qi. That had been none other than his Soul Needle Skill.
It could affect ntal state so Han Yu reckoned he could also use it to trigger a bit of laughter. His hunch had been correct and it did end up working in Jiao Yan. The thod was also simple and Han Yu rely needing to think of what he wished to target.
Tickling soone might be easy, or scaring away a bird even easier, but more complex things like making soone act dumb or making them furious still needed more control as well as more energy.
Had he used more than one skill during that fight, he might’ve passed out on the spot from the overload. Using skills normally when he wasn’t in combat was differnt from using them in a fight.
Not only was the drain higher he also needed proper focus for it. If he made a mistake there was a chance he could end up causing a backlash for himself.
Han Yu already knew about the dangers of Qi deviation that was caused due to the failure of skills, he didn’t wish to experience what would happen from a backlash of Soul Skill.
He could simply pass out or turn into a ntally ill child.
he didn’t wish any of it, especially the latter which he had already been called many tis before. he didn’t want the rumors to turn into a fact after all.
"I can’t afford to be reckless," he murmured, leaning back against the wall. "Until I build up a bigger Soul Qi pool... each use has to count."
Still, the battle, the laughter, the emotions—they’d all filled him with more energy than two days of quiet cultivation. It was a lot more than the passive absorption of Eight Emotions energy he had done which only made him even more determined to make trouble and spread chaos.
Even if Han Yu had a cost to pay, he was willing to take it on even if it ca with a bit of interest.
"Which ans..." He smirked. "It’s ti to bring back the classics."
He stood up, stretching dramatically. "Operation: Chaos Rebirth begins now."
The next day...
A commotion stirred near the Alchemy Hall. Disciples were gathered in a crowd, confused and alard.
"What happened to Senior Brother Lin’s cauldron!?"
"It’s growing flowers!"
Indeed, the high-grade cauldron had inexplicably sprouted glowing lotus blooms. So swore they could hear it humming. Others claid it was moaning softly.
Senior Brother Lin stord out, red in the face. "WHO PLANTED MYSTIC BLOOMING MOSS IN MY FURNACE!?"
Atop a nearby roof, Han Yu munched a peach.
SHUA
Grey Surprise.
Red Rage.
A touch of Blue as Lin despaired at the spiritual contamination of his pill stock.
Han Yu grinned. "Success."
Two hours later...
A group of senior disciples were screaming as they dashed across the sect square—chased by a swarm of colorful butterflies.
"Why do they sll like chili oil!?" one cried, slapping at the burning insects.
From behind a tree, Han Yu whispered to himself, "Turns out Fire Pepper Nectar has many uses."
SHUA
Joy, Surprise, Disgust, and even a trace of Fear.
He scribbled notes in a small, battered book labeled:
"Emotional Reactions: Harvesting Techniques Vol. 1"
Later that evening...
As dusk fell, Han Yu sat in his courtyard, sipping spirit tea like an innocent scholar.
Inside him, the Eight Emotions Energy rotated slowly, the wisps drawn throughout the day condensed into thicker, more vibrant Soul Qi.
"Steady progress," he mused.
"Han Yu!"
He looked up to see three disciples marching toward his gate, expressions dark and murderous.
Han Yu set his cup down calmly.
"And... now cos dessert."
SHUA
A promising glow of Anger, Surprise, and the faintest glimr of Admiration from a passing junior disciple muttering, "That guy really doesn’t fear death."
Han Yu smiled to himself.
Cultivation through combat?
Too mainstream.
Cultivation through chaos?
Now that was his path.
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