Shattered Thresholds

The training courtyard was quiet, save for the faint chirp of nocturnal insects. Under the glow of moonlight, two exhausted figures lay sprawled out on the worn stone platform, Alex and Jay, both heaving from their final round of practice.

Jay wiped the sweat from his brow, chuckling softly between gasps. "I can't believe I let you land that last hit."

Alex, just as breathless, managed a grin. "I think I tripped more than struck."

Jay rolled onto his side, resting his arm under his head. "Still counts."

There was a short pause, filled only by the soft rustling of plum petals falling from the tree nearby. Then, Jay spoke again, more quietly.

"I've been here thirteen years now. Came to the sect when I was eight." His voice carried a thoughtful weight. "A wandering cultivator saved my village during a beast tide. I still remember the way his sword cut through the air, like it was light itself. He didn't even give his name. Just said… 'Stay strong. The path is hard, but worth it.'" Jay's eyes searched the sky, the stars reflecting faintly in their tired glint. "That's why I came. Thought I'd become someone like him."

Alex listened silently, absorbing the story. He thought back to his old life. The suburbs. Hot showers. Takeout and late-night gaming. Hospitals. Police. Peace. The kind of safety you didn't realize was rare until it was stripped away.

'I didn't even get to say goodbye,' he thought, a pang of loss tightening his chest.

Jay sat up with a grunt. "Anyway… I'm beat. If I don't collapse first, I'll catch some sleep in the barracks. You coming?"

Alex shook his head. "Nah, I think I'll stay out a bit longer."

Jay didn't press. He just nodded, standing and stretching. "Don't let the bugs eat you alive."

As Jay walked off into the dark, Alex leaned back against the tree and exhaled. The night was still, stars blinking overhead in quiet observation.

'It's been nonstop since I got here… but if I want to survive here, I can't afford to rest. Not yet, at least.'

He dug into his robes and pulled out the two scrolls he had borrowed from the library just before it closed.

One read: Qi Refinement for the Hapless Cultivator.

The other: Stone Body, Stone Will.

"Let's see what kind of help you two can give me so I can survive in this world," Alex muttered.

He unrolled the first and began to follow the simple breathing patterns and Qi cycling described within. It was rudimentary, but clear. As he focused, a warmth rose in his core. Then, just like before, golden script scrawled across his mind's eye:

Immortal's Qi Refinement Technique

'Again?' Alex blinked. Immediately, his Qi surged, not with violent force like before, but a steady tide, flowing faster and deeper with every breath. He could feel it pressing against a barrier, the cusp of advancement to the Sixth Layer of Qi Condensation.

Alex stopped short. 'A basic scroll shouldn't be this powerful. These techniques… They're not from this sect. They're from him. The one who brought me here. These must be… his teachings.'

He stared at his hands, now faintly glowing with inner Qi. The energy had calmed, but his mind raced constantly, asking why this so-called immortal brought him to this world in particular.

Curious, Alex set aside the first scroll and opened the second, Stone Body, Stone Will. It described using Qi to sense and nourish the body from tendons to bones and even organs. It emphasized resilience, purification, and impact training.

'This is… kind of sadistic,' he mused. 'Who wrote this, a masochist?'

Still, he pressed on, sitting cross-legged beneath the tree. Closing his eyes, he cycled his Qi inward, not to his dantian this time, but throughout his body. He scanned muscle fibers, traced the flow through veins, and followed the Qi to the deepest recesses of his being, trying to coat every internal system.

As he focused, the world behind his eyelids dissolved. In the void of his mind, shimmering golden script began to scrawl itself into existence, character by character, forming a new, profound title:

Immortal's Body Refinement Technique

The moment the final character was completed, the technique activated. The Qi within him detonated, not with sound, but with pure, agonizing force. It was an avalanche of molten glass, a brand of searing light that shattered into countless points of white-hot energy, each one a nail of pure torment drilling into his very essence.

An all-consuming agony started in his marrow and burned its way out. He felt his consciousness begin to fray, threatening to dissolve under the onslaught. It was a holy torment, a cleansing fire that burned away a lifetime of mortal dross while simultaneously threatening to incinerate his soul. His vision whited out, his hearing replaced by roaring static. He bit down so hard he tasted blood, his entire being focused on a single, defiant thought: Endure. He refused to be broken by this.

Then. Crack.

The sound was not physical, but it echoed inside him like shattering glass. His vision went dark. The Qi surged one last time, and everything went still.

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Within Alex's Sea of Consciousness

Two profound shifts occurred.

First, a small black book with golden script appeared, suspended in midair, radiating a silent pulse of authority.

Second, a massive stone wheel materialized, towering over the dreamlike landscape. It looked like two wheels stacked, split by a glowing seam. Its presence exuded pressure like it held the weight of mountains, and its aura was dense, ancient, and unshakable.

Both relics floated silently within his consciousness, locked in a stillness, waiting.

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"Hey, Elara!" Lily's voice cut sharply through the cool night air.

Elara turned her head, still crouched beside the body near the training ground's edge. The stench had grown worse, an almost nauseating rot clinging to the fog. Elara had been using water Qi to pull moisture from the air, pouring bucketfuls of condensed streams over the collapsed figure.

As Lily got closer, she recoiled, eyes widening at the putrid sludge surrounding the body. "Ugh, by the heavens, what is that smell? What are you doing?"

Elara stood, breathing heavily, her robes damp and stained. "I found him like this, unconscious in a pool of black sludge. It's Alex."

Lily's expression changed instantly. "That's Alex?" She stepped closer, nostrils flaring as she tried not to gag. "How in the world…?"

"No idea," Elara answered, glancing down. "I managed to wash most of it off with water Qi, but it's crusted over. He's breathing, though. Weak, but steady."

"Let's get him to the infirmary," Lily said, already positioning herself on the other side of Alex. "Questions can wait."

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The sect infirmary sat on the west side of the Azure Plum Blossom Sect, just past the dining hall, nestled behind a small herb garden and a quiet pond. It was rarely crowded, a testament to the disciples' endurance or their stubborn refusal to admit injury.

Alex awoke to the sterile scent of medicine and the soft rustle of sheets. The room was quiet, save for the occasional creak of wood or distant footsteps. Groggy and disoriented, he sat up, rubbing his eyes.

'Where… am I?' he thought, blinking at the soft lamplight. Glass jars and bundles of herbs lined the walls clearly; this wasn't his quarters. That's when he saw three figures nearby: Elara, Jay, and Lily.

"Elara…? What's going on?" he croaked, voice dry.

Elara stepped forward, but before she could speak, a tired, disheveled man with scruffy facial hair and a permanent scowl on his face pushed the door open with his elbow, balancing a clipboard in one hand.

"Finally awake, huh?" the man grunted. "Figured it wouldn't take much longer. You stirred half the infirmary last night with whatever stunt you pulled."

"Who are you?" Alex asked groggily.

"I'm Healer Yan," the man replied curtly, scratching his beard. "And I'm guessing this is your first time purging every impurity in your body all at once, eh?"

Alex blinked. "I… what?"

"Yeah," Yan grunted, flipping a page on his clipboard. "Normally, body refinement expels impurities over a few days, painfully, but gradually. You did it in one go. Like popping every cork in a barrel and hoping it won't explode." He eyed Alex. "You're lucky you didn't rupture anything."

Elara finally chimed in, explaining how she had found Alex lying in the black sludge and rushed him to the infirmary with Lily's help.

Alex turned to her, expression softening. "Thank you. Really."

Elara flushed, waving it off. "No need to thank friends."

Alex took a cautious sniff and nearly retched. "But maybe I should thank you again after a bath. I smell like death."

Yan jerked his thumb at a door in the back. "Prepared one for you already. Herbal soak. Don't stay in too long or you'll come out wrinkled and stupid."

"Noted," Alex muttered, standing shakily and heading to the bath.

Inside, he was immediately enveloped by warm, floral steam. The large basin was filled with a rich, herb-laced brew that shimmered faintly in the lamplight. As he lowered himself into the water, crusted filth flaked off instantly, melting away like oil on a hot pan.

'That's better,' he thought, leaning back. 'No more sludge baths, please.'

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Meanwhile, in the dining hall, the rest of the group had gathered food for themselves and Alex. Jay frowned over a bowl of rice. "That was… concerning. What kind of technique causes that amount of impurities to purge all at once?"

"Or what's he been eating?" Lily added, wrinkling her nose. "I swear, I almost passed out."

Elara didn't speak. She stared at her tea, fingers wrapped tightly around the cup.

Lily noticed. "You alright?"

"…He's not from here," Elara said softly. "Not from this world at all."

Jay raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

Elara nodded. "I didn't say anything before because I wasn't sure how it would go. But now… I don't want to see him die because he wasn't born to survive here."

Jay exhaled slowly. "Well, I guess that explains a lot. Still… I'm glad he's okay."

Lily leaned back in her seat, resting her hands behind her head. "We can ask questions later. If he wants to tell us more, he will. What matters is that he's here, and he's one of us." She continued, "And we're here to help him so he can survive here."

Elara smiled slightly. "Thanks, Lily."

Jay stood, stretching. "Alright, let's bring him his food. I bet he's starving."

Elara grabbed five packed meals from the counter. "Let's hurry. He'll need the energy after all that."

Elara balanced the neatly bundled leaf-wrapped lunches in her arms as she stepped out of the dining hall, Jay and Lily flanking her on either side.

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In the infirmary's private bath chamber. The room was warm and misty, the herbal steam still rising in swirls from the wide stone basin. All was quiet until, with a sudden splash, Alex burst up from beneath the surface of the water, gasping for air.

"Alright," he said between breaths, slicking his hair back with both hands. "I think I got all of it. I at least don't smell like death anymore."

He climbed out of the bath, dripping wet, but he was more energized than before. As he dried himself, he felt a strange sense of... density. His body felt different, not just cleaner, but more solid, more connected. Every movement seemed more efficient, imbued with a coiled energy he'd never known. Curious, he turned to the polished brass mirror hanging on the wall.

His eyes widened. It wasn't just that he looked more toned; the lines of his muscles seemed more defined, harder, as if carved from stone rather than grown. He took a quick, assessing glance down his new physique.

"And hello, am I imagining things or is it also a little bigger?" he thought with a brief, private smirk.

Shaking his head, he focused on his arm and flexed. The motion was not just a visual change, but a tangible feeling of contained power that resonated from his shoulder to his fingertips. "Whoa..." he breathed. "Okay, that's... new."

Just then, Doctor Yan's gravelly voice rang out from the hallway, laced with mild irritation. "Don't make me come in there. We already had to drag you in here once today; I'd rather not have to drag you out."

Alex's eyes widened. "Right! Coming!" He scrambled to throw the rest of his robes on.

Moments later, he stepped out of the bath chamber, steam curling from his shoulders, to find Elara, Jay, and Lily waiting near the infirmary's entrance, each holding a small leaf-wrapped bundle.

"What's up, guys. What's this?"

Elara smiled. "We figured you'd be hungry, so we brought you lunch."

Right on cue, Alex's stomach growled loud enough for everyone to hear. He gave a sheepish chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck. "Thanks… let's eat then."

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The group relocated to a serene patch near the edge of the Spirit Pond. It shimmered under the sun, its surface like polished jade, fed by the bed of water-aligned spirit stones hidden beneath. Mist drifted lazily above it, giving the entire area an almost dreamlike atmosphere.

Alex leaned back against a tree trunk, all five of his leaf bundles long emptied. He sighed with satisfaction, rubbing his stomach. "Wow… this place is beautiful. You guys call this a pond? It seems more fitting to call it a lake."

Elara, seated nearby, smiled knowingly. "It's called the Spirit Pond. The sect cultivated it generations ago by laying down a massive reservoir of water-aligned spirit stones. The water here enhances spiritual absorption; it's especially useful for water cultivators like me. I use it all the time to stabilize my qi flow."

At that, Jay and Lily gave Elara a subtle look.

Elara caught it and straightened up, clearing her throat. "Alex… we actually need to talk about something."

Jay shifted where he sat, his usual relaxed demeanor sharpening slightly. "What's up?"

Elara turned her full gaze on Alex, her voice calm but serious. "Jay and Lily were really worried about you after what happened… so I told them the truth, that you're not from our world."

A beat of silence passed.

Alex's heart skipped, then began to hammer against his ribs. They know. What now? Are they going to turn me in? Do they think I'm a threat? His eyes flicked between the three of them, searching their faces for any sign of betrayal or fear. His hands clenched slightly in the grass. Did they bring me here to off me because I don't belong? What if they report me to the Elders?

Sensing his rising panic, Jay reached out and clapped a firm hand on his shoulder. "Doesn't matter where you're from," he said simply, his voice filled with a loyalty that cut through Alex's fear. "You helped me loosen a bottleneck I've been stuck at for three years. That makes you a brother in my book."

Lily leaned back, crossing her arms with a smirk that was both sharp and reassuring. "Please. You think being from another world is the weirdest thing about you? You attract trouble like a magnet, you can't hold a sword to save your life, and you passed out in a pile of your filth. Being an alien is probably the most normal thing you've done all week."

Elara watched the tension finally start to leave Alex's shoulders and offered a soft, relieved smile. "What they're trying to say, Alex, is that you're one of us now. And we protect our own. I'm sorry if I scared you, I just... I didn't want to see you die because of some rule you couldn't have possibly known."

Alex looked at the three of them, Jay's unwavering loyalty, Lily's sharp-edged affection, and Elara's steady warmth, and felt a wave of relief so powerful it almost buckled his knees. He let out a long, shaky breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. "So… you're not... kicking me out?"

Jay chuckled, his hand still on Alex's shoulder. "And let you miss your turn cleaning the latrines? Not a chance."

At that, the last of the tension shattered, and for the first time, all four of them laughed together, the sound echoing across the serene surface of the Spirit Pond.

He drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly.

'Okay… so what now?'