The pressure of being observed by Elder Xuan—who now possessed the exact metric of Jiang Yi's power consumption—was a thousand times heavier than any physical burden. The Elder's command was clear: Advance to the Sixth Stage. Jiang Yi was no longer scavenging for survival; he was cultivating under a strict, unforgiving deadline set by a Foundation Establishment master.
Jiang Yi returned to the Outer Court, his inner core dangerously close to the peak of the Fifth Stage but completely empty of fuel. He couldn't risk the Lesser Spirit Meridian Peak again; the Elder would certainly notice a third major dip in the local Qi flow.
He needed a sanctioned, public source of energy that he could "repair" over time.
His prayers were answered the next morning. Elder Xuan, fulfilling his role as the master puppet-master, assigned Jiang Yi a long-term, prestigious project: the restoration of the Dormant Mountain Array.
The Dormant Mountain Array was a vast, failed formation covering the entire western face of the Outer Mountain. It was designed centuries ago to filter the chaotic energies from the mountain's core, but it had fallen into disrepair. It currently leaked high-grade spiritual pressure in a chaotic, unusable manner.
"Artificer Jiang Yi," Elder Xuan announced in front of the entire Outer Court, his voice booming with forced praise. "Your skill is needed for this great endeavor. You are authorized to establish a temporary worksite near the central core of the array. You will spend one hour every day working on the array's stabilization. Your task is to slowly, methodically, categorize and filter the chaotic leakage until the array can be safely reactivated."
The assignment was perfect: it provided Jiang Yi with an endless, public supply of chaotic energy and required him to use his unique "filter" ability (the Azure Stabilization Method). It gave him sanctuary in the form of a continuous worksite.
Jiang Yi set up his worksite near the Array's core. The atmosphere was thick with uncontrolled, high-grade Qi leakage—a treasure trove of spiritual fuel.
He started his work the same day, putting on a grand, exhausting performance for the few disciples who came to watch the "miracle Artificer."
He knelt before the massive, crumbling array node, hands outstretched, wearing the mask of intense concentration and feigned weakness. He initiated the Restoration Loop, but modified it further.
The Dormant Mountain Array Filter Loop was his most sophisticated application yet.
Public Display (The Façade): He publicly channeled a small amount of low-grade, clean energy back into the Array to slowly seal the surface cracks. This was visible proof of "restoration."
Internal Siphon (The Sixth Stage Prep): He simultaneously used the Azure Stabilization Method to violently siphon and filter the chaotic, high-grade leakage from the array's core. This chaotic energy was instantly purified into the dense, rich azure liquid required for the Sixth Stage breakthrough.
He spent one hour a day at the worksite. One hour of siphoning this massive, continuous energy flow provided the equivalent of weeks of standard cultivation.
Over the next five days, Jiang Yi's core swelled with the purity and density of the stolen Sixth Stage fuel. The difference between his public, exhausted aura and his private, powerful core was immense, requiring nearly continuous application of the Dust Cloak Method.
During this time, he had another unexpected encounter: Meng Li, his arm now out of the splint but still heavily bruised and weak, approached the worksite.
Meng Li no longer shouted. He simply watched, cold and silent, like a statue carved from bitterness.
"You are a thief, Artificer," Meng Li stated one afternoon, leaning against a tree, his eyes narrowed. "I watched you for five years. You were weak. Now, you are a hero, and you are fixing formations with the power of a Foundation Master. You steal the Qi."
Jiang Yi merely sighed, rubbing his tired eyes. He kept his hands on the Array node, his posture slumped. "Senior Brother Li, you are recovering from a severe spiritual trauma. You must rest. I am simply using my innate affinity to categorize the chaos. It is a slow, tedious process, and it leaves me exhausted."
Meng Li stepped closer, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "I know the energy you consume. I felt it during the Spiritual Array collapse. The moment you cross the threshold of the Sixth Stage, I will report the anomaly to Elder Qing. Elder Xuan may protect you, but I will expose the unique energy signature of your core to the entire sect."
This was a chilling threat. Meng Li knew he couldn't beat Jiang Yi, but he could ruin him. He could force the sect to interrogate the nature of the azure Qi, which would inevitably lead to the discovery of the Sphere and the stolen blueprint.
Jiang Yi paused his work, his face showing genuine fear—the only time he truly let the facade drop. He had to act.
That night, instead of resting, Jiang Yi refined a sliver of the highly volatile, chaotic Qi leaking from the Dormant Array that he had not filtered. This raw, chaotic energy was incredibly unstable, virtually impossible to control for a normal cultivator.
He then, with utmost stealth, sneaked into Meng Li's empty dormitory cubicle and placed the tiny, volatile sliver of chaotic Qi—invisible and undetectable to all but the most sensitive spiritual sense—into the seams of Meng Li's mattress.
The plan was simple: Meng Li would continue his angry cultivation on the mattress, and the volatile Qi, instead of aiding him, would slowly, subtly disrupt his own already fractured core, causing micro-deviations in his practice. He would become erratic, easily provoked, and eventually, spiritually unstable. The Serpent would destroy himself.
The price of silence must be paid, and the price of betrayal was spiritual ruin.