CHAPTER 165: CHAPTER 165: PREPARATIONS

Within minutes, servants quietly entered with practiced efficiency, setting up a thick, soft mattress with pale cream sheets; several bowls of healing herbs whose scents filled the air... minty, bitter, and floral; heat lamps and air conditioners to maintain ambient temperature; and a few healers standing ready nearby in case of emergency.

He even made certain modifications in the room.

Lucian oversaw every detail with precise focus.

Once finished, he spoke calmly.

"If you consume the herbs on this mattress, you can absorb the healing herbs more easily afterward. It may lessen the pain slightly. This matter has the power to attract more aether orbs to your body."

Lana nodded and stepped toward the mattress.

But just as she was about to sit... Her phone rang, its vibration loud in the quiet hall.

Axel.

She answered immediately.

From the other side, Axel’s voice came out strained and almost panicked. "Lana... did you start already?"

"No, I haven’t."

Axel let out a long exhale of relief.

Even without speaker mode, Lucian could faintly hear the anxious tone.

"Good. Listen carefully. If you’re consuming the herbs directly, not as a bath or paste, then under no circumstances should any healer interfere. And stay far away from places with strong aether concentration. No interruptions until the pain fades completely."

Lana frowned. "Why are these requirements so harsh?"

Axel answered without hesitation.

"When you break through to Yellow Rank, your body will attract aether orbs. Your meridians will be flooded with aether orbs. If too many orbs enter your body while you’re still filled from the herbs... you could explode from internal pressure. And if a healer tries to channel energy into you, your cultivation might rebound and..."

He stopped himself before the ending.

He didn’t need to say it. The implication was deadly enough.

"I’ve sent you a list of all taboos. Review it before starting."

Lana opened her messaging app, and her eyes widened.

Axel had sent a long message hours ago.

She hadn’t checked her phone at all.

Of course, he noticed that and called Lana when he saw no reply from her.

A small smile tugged at her lips.

Axel was the strictest, most composed teacher she’d ever met, but the way he worried... calling her because she didn’t see the message... made her unexpectedly warm.

"Thank you, Teacher Axel. I’ll look at it immediately."

Axel exhaled again, softer this time. "Good. Don’t be reckless. And Lana... be careful."

Lana lowered the phone from her ear, her heart softening for a brief moment.

’What a cute guy... he panicked so much for me,’ she thought, warmth flickering faintly in her chest.

She hung up. The hall felt quieter.

Lucian waited patiently, watching her with calm focus.

And Lana, talisman tucked safely in her pocket and list in hand, felt the first flutter of fear:

"I’ve seen all the messages," she assured Axe over the messaging app. "I’ll make sure every single rule is followed."

She thanked him, then ended the call.

The moment the line disconnected, she immediately passed the list to Lucian.

His eyes scanned the text, his expression tightening as he understood the severity of the instructions.

He didn’t waste a single second. With firm movements, he shoved the soft mattress aside and ordered the healers to step back.

"None of you is allowed to intervene under any circumstance," he commanded.

His tone was sharp enough to cut glass.

Then he hurried across the hall and pulled out a rune-blocking cloth, a rare fabric with a faint metallic sheen.

When he placed it over the glowing inscriptions etched into the marble floor, the symbols dimmed, their bluish glow turning dull and lifeless.

A faint scent of burnt herbs and metal filled the air as the array’s influence vanished entirely.

Only then did he turn back to her. "Sit here."

Lana nodded. The cloth beneath her felt cool against her skin, almost grounding her. Lucien approached, sunlight from the high windows casting a faint halo around his features.

"We begin whenever you’re ready," he murmured.

Her throat tightened. She nodded again.

The herbs lay in front of her, their scents strange and sharp: earthy moss, bitter roots, the sweetness of frost petals, and the metallic tang of star vine.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out the starvine Monk Anrao had given her. Its surface shimmered faintly like a captured night sky.

She placed all the herbs together, hesitated for only one breath, and began eating them raw.

The textures were unpleasantly fibrous, the taste painfully bitter. The frost petals cooled her tongue while the blood sage made her throat burn. She forced herself to swallow every piece.

At first... nothing.

No heat. No pain. No reaction beyond the lingering bitterness in her mouth.

Minutes passed. Lucian watched, muscles tense. Mr. Crow paced nervously on the side table, wings rustling.

Then the change came. It started as a gentle warmth in Lana’s stomach. But within moments, warmth turned into heat. And heat turned into blistering fire.

Her skin flushed pink, then red.

"H-Hot..."

She raised her hand and tried to fan herself, but the air felt thick and suffocating, like breathing inside a sauna made of molten iron.

Lucian reacted instantly. "Everyone out."

The healers scrambled away. The assistants hurried out the door. Lucian closed it behind them, sealing the room.

As the rush of bodies left, the temperature dropped slightly. Lana exhaled shakily, sweat already forming along her spine.

Lucian didn’t dare turn on the air conditioner... Axel’s list had been clear. No artificial temperature changes. The room had to remain perfectly neutral, or her cultivation could rupture internally.

Her breathing grew ragged. The heat climbed higher.

Lucian’s expression twisted. "I’ll wait outside," he told her gently.

"Ring the bell when the heat fades. No cameras are here. If you need to remove everything to stay conscious... do it."

He stepped out and pulled the heavy door closed.

Silence pressed against her ears.

She trembled. She hesitated.

Then the fire inside her chest spiked violently.

’I can’t take this... I can’t bear this heat any longer...’

She stripped off her jacket. Then her shirt. Then her pants. Piece by piece until she was left only in her thin undergarments.