The dust settling in the street outside was the only sound in the apothecary.
Izuku stood awkwardly by the splintered doorway, holding a piece of broken wood in his scarred hand. He looked back at Shen Yue, a sheepish, apologetic smile on his face.
"I really can fix the door, Miss Shen," Izuku offered, dropping the wood. "I'm sure I can find some spare planks to patch it up."
Shen Yue did not smile back.
She remained seated at the table, her golden eyes locked onto him with an unblinking, analytical intensity. The gentle, weary apothecary was gone. In her place sat a woman who looked at him not as a patient, but as a deeply dangerous, unsolved puzzle.
Slowly, Shen Yue raised her right hand. She didn't chant a mantra or form a hand seal. She simply flicked two fingers toward the entrance.
A shimmering, translucent barrier of emerald light instantly snapped across the broken doorway, sealing the apothecary off from the outside world. The sounds of the village - the distant barking dogs, the murmurs of terrified onlookers - vanished entirely.
Izuku blinked, taking a step back as the barrier hummed with a deep, resonating power. He recognized that emerald light. It was the same energy as the alchemic fire she had used to boil his medicine.
"Sit down, Izuku," Shen Yue commanded. Her voice was quiet, but it carried a weight that left absolutely no room for argument.
Izuku swallowed hard and walked over to the bamboo mat, sitting cross-legged.
"You told me your memories were a blur," Shen Yue began, her gaze pinning him in place. "You told me you did not know what a Sect was. You did not know the Emperor. You did not know the simplest rules of the Profound Sky Continent."
"That's true," Izuku said earnestly. "I really don't."
"Then explain to me," Shen Yue said, her voice dropping an octave, "why a boy who knows nothing about cultivation just threw a punch with the sheer might of a high-tier Body Refinement Master?"
Izuku gripped his knees. He understood the question, but the answer was complicated.
"My mentor... the one who trained me. He passed his strength on to me," Izuku said carefully, trying to stick to the truth. "I don't know anything about Body Refinement. I just punched him as hard as I could."
Shen Yue stared at him for a long, silent moment. She searched his face for any sign of deception, but found only genuine, utter confusion. He truly had no idea what he was doing.
"You called yourself a hero to that mercenary," she said softly. "You stepped between a cultivator and his prey to protect a woman you barely know. In this world, Izuku, such actions are not brave. They are a death sentence."
"He was going to hurt you," Izuku replied, his green eyes meeting hers without a shred of hesitation. "I couldn't just sit there and watch."
"I did not need your protection," Shen Yue stated flatly.
To prove her point, she stopped suppressing her aura.
For the last two weeks, Shen Yue had deliberately kept her energy cloaked, appearing as a weak, mortal woman. Now, she let exactly one percent of her true cultivation base bleed into the room.
Izuku's breath was instantly forced out of his lungs.
The air in the apothecary turned to lead. It wasn't physical gravity; it was spiritual pressure. It felt as if the entire sky had suddenly collapsed onto his shoulders. The wooden table between them groaned under the sheer weight of her presence. The ceramic cups rattled violently.
Izuku's hands slammed onto the bamboo mat to keep himself from being crushed flat against the floor. He gritted his teeth, his muscles bulging as his newly-knit bones screamed in protest.
This is different from All Might, Izuku's mind raced, sweat beading on his forehead. All Might's presence was pure physical intimidation. This... this is like the air itself is rejecting my existence!
"Do you feel that, Izuku?" Shen Yue asked, her golden eyes glowing faintly in the dim light. She didn't look angry; she looked completely detached, like a goddess observing a mortal insect. "This is the reality of the Profound Sky Continent. The strong do not need a reason to crush the weak. If I wished for it, your soul would shatter before you could even blink."
Izuku was trembling violently. The pressure was immense, trying to force his head down, trying to make him bow.
But Izuku Midoriya did not bow to bullies.
Taking a ragged, agonizing breath, Izuku tapped into the heavy drop of Qi resting in his Dantian. He didn't push it outward to attack. He simply wrapped it around his own bones, reinforcing his vessel.
Slowly, agonizingly, Izuku lifted his head.
He looked directly into Shen Yue's glowing golden eyes. Despite the crushing pressure, despite the sweat pouring down his face, his expression held no fear. Only a stubborn, burning defiance.
"I know... I'm weak right now," Izuku choked out, his voice straining under the weight. "And I know... this world is cruel. But if having power... means you just watch people suffer... then I don't want to be a cultivator. I'll just be a hero."
Shen Yue's breath caught in her throat.
She looked at the boy struggling against her aura. His bones were literally trembling, yet his eyes were as bright and unyielding as a polished emerald. In her centuries of life, she had seen countless young masters boast about their righteousness, only to beg for mercy the moment they faced true overwhelming power.
But this boy... he meant every single word. He was genuinely, terrifyingly pure.
A lunatic, she thought again, but this time, the word lacked its usual sting.
Shen Yue blinked, and the suffocating pressure vanished as quickly as it had appeared. The air returned to normal. Izuku slumped forward, gasping for breath, his hands clutching his chest as his heart hammered wildly.
Shen Yue reached out and poured a fresh cup of warm tea, sliding it across the table toward him. Her golden eyes had returned to their normal, weary state, though a new spark of respect lingered in their depths.
"Drink," she ordered softly.
Izuku took the cup with trembling hands, downing it in one gulp. The warm liquid instantly soothed his strained muscles.
"You are a fool, Izuku," Shen Yue sighed, leaning back in her chair. "A stubborn, suicidal fool with a heroic complex that will undoubtedly get us both killed."
Izuku wiped his mouth, offering a weak smile. "I've been told that before."
"However," she continued, her tone shifting into something sharp and businesslike, "when you actively draw in Qi, you create a vacuum like a bottomless abyss. If you walk into a mortal city and accidentally meditate, any passing Sect Elder will sense that vacuum and dissect you to study your secrets."
Izuku's smile faded. "You mean... my talent... it makes me a target?"
"The biggest target in the region," Shen Yue confirmed. She reached into her robes and pulled out a small, intricately carved wooden token. She tossed it onto the table between them. "Which is why, before you ever attempt to gather Qi again, you are going to learn how to lie."
Izuku looked down at the token. "Lie?"
"We cannot risk what happens when you actively cultivate," Shen Yue explained. "I am going to teach you a high-tier Concealment Art. It will project a fake, mediocre aura around you. To the rest of the world, you will look like a trash-tier cultivator with zero potential. It is the only way you will survive long enough to play hero."
Izuku picked up the wooden token, his thumb tracing the ancient runes carved into its surface. He looked up at Shen Yue, realizing for the first time just how much risk she was taking by helping him.
"Thank you, Miss Shen," Izuku said, bowing his head respectfully.
"Do not thank me yet," Shen Yue warned, a familiar, teasing smirk returning to her lips. "The pain of forging a false aura makes shattering your bones look like a pleasant massage. We begin tonight."