Ghosts of the Ancestors. (A Cultivation Riot Quest).

Yeah, lets fix that qi defecit .
Omake ahoy!.

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Guang Li sat cross-legged in his modest cultivation chamber, face scrunched in concentration. Today was supposed to be the day he made a breakthrough. He could feel it in his bones—or maybe that was just the strain of trying to circulate his Qi with the subtlety of a rampaging ox.

The problem wasn't entirely his fault. His ghostly ancestors, bound to him through a ritual he'd performed years ago, were very invested in his progress. Too invested, in fact.

"Redirect the Qi to his lower meridian!" barked General Hao, the old war hero of the family. "He needs to stabilize his base!"

"No, no! Refine the blood first!" countered Scholar Yun the wrathful ghost, a bespectacled spirit stroking his transparent beard. "What good is a strong base without precision?"

"Enough squabbling," huffed Matron Li. "I've already routed half his Qi into his core. The rest of you can make yourselves useful by—oh no, it's gone!"

Guang's eyes snapped open. "Wait…what's gone?"

"All the Qi," Matron Li said with a tinge of embarrassment. "It appears we've…used it all."

"What?!" Guang yelped, nearly falling over. "You used up all my Qi?! What were you even doing?!"

"Helping you cultivate," Scholar Yun said matter-of-factly. "You've been stagnant for weeks."

"Yes, and our methods are flawless," General Hao added, crossing his arms. "You should be thanking us."

"Thanking you?! I can't even feel my dantian right now!" Guang groaned.

A soft giggle broke the tension. Guang turned to see Little Bao, the tiniest and youngest ghost among those that haunted Li, floating nearby. Barely more than a toddler, Bao had always been more interested in playing with Guang's Qi than offering useful advice.

"Guang! Guang!" Bao squealed, clapping their chubby hands. "Pretty lights are all gone!"

"Yes, Bao," Guang muttered. "The 'pretty lights' are gone because these three—" he gestured angrily at the other ghosts, "—decided to hijack my Qi like it's their personal plaything!"

Bao tilted their head, processing this information with all the seriousness a toddler could muster. After a moment, their face lit up with excitement. "I'll help!"

Guang's stomach dropped. "Wait. No, Bao, what do you mean by—"

But Bao had already zipped off, their tiny ghostly hands reaching out to the wisps of ambient Qi floating in the air.

"Pretty lights!" Bao giggled as they snatched the wisps one by one. "Pretty lights for Guang!"

"Wait, stop! Bao, that's not how this works!" Guang shouted, scrambling to his feet.

But the little ghost paid him no mind. They darted around the room with the single-minded determination of a toddler on a mission, grabbing every speck of Qi they could find and gleefully shoving it into Guang's dantian like they were stuffing a jar with candy.

Guang gasped as his dantian swelled. The sudden influx of chaotic energy was overwhelming. It was like trying to drink from a waterfall. "Bao! Too much! TOO MUCH!"

"More pretty lights!" Bao cheered, scooping up even more Qi.

"BAO, STOP!" Guang cried, clutching his stomach as his body began to glow faintly.

The other ghosts watched in stunned silence.

"Is…is he supposed to look like that?" Scholar Yun asked, adjusting his ghostly glasses.

"No," Matron Li said flatly. "He's overloading."

"By the heavens," General Hao muttered, shielding his eyes from Guang's growing luminescence. "The boy's about to pop like an overripe melon!"

But just as Guang thought he might actually explode, something incredible happened. The chaotic Qi swirling in his dantian began to stabilize. Slowly, his meridians adjusted to the flood of energy. The blockages in his pathways dissolved, and his once sluggish Qi began flowing far more smoothly, As the dried out Wells that was his dantian went full once more.

Guang blinked in astonishment. "I… I feel amazing."

"You're welcome!" Bao chirped, clapping their hands proudly.

The other ghosts exchanged awkward glances.

"Well," Scholar Yun said after a pause, "I suppose the little one's method…worked."

"Worked?! That was reckless!" Matron Li snapped. "If Guang's meridians weren't so durable, The sect would have been fishing pieces of him out of the nearby rivers.

"Results speak for themselves," General Hao said, shrugging. "Maybe the kid's onto something."

Guang, still glowing faintly, looked at Bao, who was now chasing a butterfly-shaped wisp of Qi around the room. Despite the chaos they'd caused, he couldn't help but smile.

"Thanks, Bao," he said, ruffling the little ghost's translucent hair. "Just…maybe give me a warning next time, okay?"

"Okay!" Bao chirped, giving him a big thumbs-up. "More pretty lights tomorrow!"
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