The blazing silk curtain wrapped around the lead guard's head like a vengeful, flaming jellyfish.

  "Arghhhh---!!"

  He dropped his sword instantly, shrieking as he clawed at his face and stumbled backward into the stone lanterns lining the courtyard path.

  The second guard, rushing forward to help, tripped spectacularly over the unconscious assassin Lin Jue had kicked through the paper doors just a second prior. He went down in a tangle of limbs and curses.

  Lin Jue stepped out onto the wooden porch, the stolen dagger resting easily in his grip. He quickly swept his gaze across the courtyard.

  Three hostiles.

  He could see a faint, luminous mist clinging to their weapons and limbs—Qi. It was similar to the mana auras back on Earth, but heavier.

  More grounded. Despite the mystical energy, their tactical execution was absolute garbage.

  'Three armed combatants breaching a hostile perimeter, and they stack up in a single file line right in front of the door,' Lin Jue analyzed critically. 'If this were a Federal Defense drill back home, they'd fail for lacking basic spatial awareness. Lucky for me, ancient goons don't study modern tactical breaching.'

  The third guard, who had been lagging, finally processed the chaos. He bypassed his flailing comrades and leveled a silver-tipped spear directly at Lin Jue's chest.

  "You... you're supposed to be dead!" the spearman stammered, his eyes darting from Lin Jue's healthy complexion to the blood-stained robes. "The Young Master said your meridians were crippled!"

  'ARIA,' Lin Jue thought. 'Current balance?'

  [Current Balance: 550 Distress Points. The 'Iron-Ox Body Tempering Art' costs 600.]

  'Got it. Time to mine some local resources.'

  Lin Jue didn't raise his dagger into a defensive guard. He didn't tense his muscles for a desperate dodge.

  He simply leaned his shoulder against the splintered doorframe and let out a long, disappointed sigh.

  "Crippled? No, just resting," Lin Jue said, his tone sounding sour like tasting a bad food. "But honestly, let's talk about your performance tonight. You have zero stealth, you're yelling in an open courtyard, and you let a chronically ill guy in a bathrobe ambush your squad with interior decor. It's embarrassing. I'm taking a star off your Yelp review."

  The guard holding the spear blinked. His jaw went slack.

  A Yelp review? What ancient Daoist scripture was that? Why was the dying trash of the Lu family standing there acting like a disappointed martial arts grandmaster?

  [System: Severe Confusion +30 Points from Wang Guard.]

  [System: Anger +40 Points from Wang Guard.]

  [Total Balance: 620 Points.]

  'Perfect. Purchase the manual. Express delivery.'

  [Transaction Complete. Deducting 600 Points. Initiating Instant Comprehension and Physical Forging.]

  Lin Jue expected a headache.

  What he got was the sensation of swallowing a miniature sun.

  The System didn't just dump theoretical knowledge into his brain; it forcefully slammed pure, unadulterated Qi into his biological framework.

  It bypassed the need for years of meditation. The ambient energy in the courtyard rushed into his pores, aggressively expanding his previously shriveled meridians.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  His muscles compressed, growing instantly denser.

  His bones vibrated, hardening from brittle chalk into something resembling reinforced titanium.

  For a microsecond, his skin flushed a deep, metallic bronze before settling back to its normal pale hue.

  He didn't grow taller or bulkier. The change was entirely internal. He just felt... heavy. Unbreakable.

  The spearman, recovering from his confusion and seeing Lin Jue close his eyes, let out a furious battle cry.

  "Die, trash!"

  He thrust the spear forward, a spiral of sharp Qi wrapping around the silver tip. It was a lethal strike aimed straight at Lin Jue's heart.

  Time seemed to slow down as Lin Jue watched the blade approach.

  The spear tip was now inches from his chest.

  'I don't have mana. Or stars. But I have an Iron Ox.'

  Lin Jue didn't dodge. He simply raised his bare left forearm and swatted at the incoming spearhead like he was swatting a mildly annoying mosquito.

  CLANG!

  The sound that echoed through the courtyard wasn't the wet thud of tearing flesh. It was the ear-splitting ring of metal striking a solid anvil.

  The Qi-infused silver spear tip sparked as it scraped against Lin Jue's bare skin, failing to leave even a white scratch. The kinetic rebound was so violent that the thick wooden shaft of the spear bent into a terrifying arc before splintering into dozens of jagged pieces.

  The guard's hands were thrown backward by the recoil, his fingers bleeding from the sudden shockwave.

  "What...?" The guard's eyes dilated in absolute, primal horror. "Body... Body Cultivation?! Impossible!"

  'Heo rule number two,' Lin Jue thought, his eyes locking onto the defenceless guard. 'When the enemy is shocked, hit them harder.'

  Lin Jue didn't let the guard recover. He reached out with his left hand, grabbing the splintered remains of the spear shaft, and brutally yanked the off-balance guard forward.

  Closing the distance in a fraction of a second, Lin Jue planted his right foot, rotated his hips, and delivered a textbook, entirely un-magical right hook directly into the center of the guard's sternum.

  CRACK.

  The sound of shattering ribs was sickeningly loud.

  The kinetic force generated by the Foundation level of the Iron-Ox Art was terrifying. The guard didn't just fall down.

  He was launched backward as if hit by a speeding hover-truck, his feet leaving the ground entirely. He flew ten feet through the air and crashed head-first into a stone decorative pillar.

  The pillar cracked. The guard slumped to the ground, out cold before he even landed.

  The courtyard plunged into a dead silence, save for the crackling of the burning silk curtain on the grass.

  The second guard, who had just managed to untangle himself from the unconscious assassin, witnessed the entire sequence. He looked at the shattered spear. He looked at the cracked stone pillar. He looked at the sickly Young Master who hadn't even broken a sweat.

  [System: Extreme Fear +100 Points from Wang Guard.]

  The guard didn't hesitate. He dropped his sword, spun on his heel, and sprinted toward the estate walls as fast as his Qi-enhanced legs could carry him.

  "Monster!" the guard screamed into the night sky, his voice cracking in terror. "He's a monster!"

  Lin Jue didn't bother chasing him. He stood perfectly still in the cool night air, looking down at his own hands. He slowly flexed his fingers.

  He crushed the heavy brass handle of his stolen dagger. The metal groaned and warped under his grip, folding into a shapeless lump of scrap as easily as if it were made of warm clay.

  He had zero Mana. He had zero Star Constellations.

  According to the Federal Bureau of Awakening Standards back home, he was a genetic dead end.

  But right now, under his skin, he could feel a roaring ocean of biological power.

  'If a Kaiju bites me right now, it's going to break its teeth,' Lin Jue realized, a genuinely dangerous smile spreading across his face.

  [Reminder, Host,] ARIA's voice cut through his internal celebration.

  [Main Quest 'The Groom's Revenge' is currently incomplete. Your biological wife is celebrating her premature widowhood at the Wang Family compound three streets over.]

  [Upon incompletion of main quest, you will be fined by system for points!]

  Lin Jue glanced at the translucent timer hovering in the corner of his vision.

  "Shut up, you stingy system! Let this young master think of a moment!"

  ["…"]

  [Time Remaining: 48:12]

  [Your role playing ability is pathetic.]

  Forty-eight minutes until he was violently yanked back to Earth to face the school disciplinary committee.

  He needed to finish this, and he needed to make it profitable.

  Lin Jue tossed the ruined brass dagger aside. He walked over to the unconscious guard lying by the cracked pillar and picked up the man's discarded, Qi-infused straight sword.

  It felt light in his hands—too light, like a toy—but it would do.

  He stripped a clean, grey cloak off the assassin he had kicked through the door, throwing it over his blood-stained wedding robes to hide the crimson silk.

  'ARIA,' Lin Jue thought, testing the balance of the sword. 'Plot a route to the Wang Family compound.'

  [Route calculated. Please note that the Wang Family compound contains roughly fifty-armed cultivators. Frontal assault is statistically inadvisable.]

  'Who said anything about an assault?' Lin Jue smirked, pulling the hood of the grey cloak over his head. 'I'm just a devoted husband going to pick up his runaway bride. Let's go crash a wedding party.'