Chapter 26 - The Vault Under My Campus
The Black Lotus entrance was beneath the oldest lecture hall on campus.
Of course it was.
Eli had failed biology directly above a criminal cultivation treasury.
He, Maya, and Jace entered at 2:00 a.m.
The key opened a door hidden behind a boiler panel.
Beyond it stretched a stone staircase older than the college.
His phone displayed:
[LEGACY ZONE]
[BLACK LOTUS VAULT — OUTER LEVEL]
[RECOMMENDED PARTY POWER: QI GATHERING II]
“Finally,” Eli said. “A recommendation I technically meet.”
The first chamber contained no treasure.
Only tests.
Balance.
Breath control.
Qi efficiency.
Maya passed smoothly.
Jace used strength.
Eli cheated with poverty.
One trial required crossing a floor that drained qi.
Maya slowed.
Jace nearly collapsed.
Eli’s Beggar’s Loop absorbed trace energy from the emergency lights in the ceiling.
He walked through comfortably.
Maya glared.
“That route is ridiculous.”
“Poor people kung fu.”
“I told you not to call it that.”
The final door opened.
Inside sat one wooden box.
Eli frowned.
“That’s it?”
The box contained a black jade token, a handwritten manual, and twenty-seven dollars in old cash.
Jace counted it.
“Twenty-seven.”
Eli nodded. “The Black Lotus understood me.”
The manual title read:
THE TEN THOUSAND USES OF TRASH QI.
Maya laughed for a full minute.
Then Eli touched the jade token.
His system turned red.
[ADMINISTRATOR FRAGMENT DETECTED.]
For the first time, a voice came from his phone.
Not text.
A human voice.
May you like
“Finally,” it said. “You found me.”
