The Chaos Seed planted in Meng Li's mattress worked with devastating efficiency.
Within two days, Meng Li's spiritual control became erratic. During a routine Qi demonstration, his palm technique—usually flawless—sputtered, sending a minor energy wave into the ground instead of the target pillar. He began snapping at other disciples for no reason. His eyes were constantly bloodshot, and he complained of phantom itching under his skin.
The other disciples noticed. The consensus was clear: the shame of being outclassed by the "Artificer of Restoration" and the spiritual trauma from the exploding Jade Altar had finally broken Meng Li's mind. His credibility was collapsing internally, just as Jiang Yi had planned.
Meanwhile, Jiang Yi was finishing his preparatory work. He spent his sanctioned hour at the Dormant Array worksite, draining the final, pure reserves of chaotic energy.
He reached the threshold of the Sixth Stage Body Tempering.
The Sixth Stage required a fundamental shift: the spiritual energy must cease to be mere liquid Qi and condense into a dense, solid Spiritual Seed—the embryo of the Foundation Establishment Core. This required absolute stillness, silence, and uninterrupted focus. He could not perform the breakthrough at the worksite, where he was constantly observed.
He realized he had one perfect, sacred place left: the Outer Court Meditation Chamber.
This massive, circular stone room was protected by a powerful Silence Array, designed to dampen sound and external spiritual interference. It was the only place in the Outer Court where the inevitable spiritual shockwave of a major breakthrough might be muted.
Jiang Yi entered the Meditation Chamber just after the night watch changed. He sat down in the center, wrapped himself in the thickest Dust Cloak he could manage, and began the process.
He channeled the vast reservoir of azure liquid Qi into his dantian. The energy compressed rapidly. The sensation was crushing, as if a mountain were resting on his abdomen.
Condense!
The azure liquid began to boil, shrinking inward. The spiritual static of the Dust Cloak began to flicker under the intense internal pressure, threatening to expose the entire process.
Suddenly, a spiritual presence entered the chamber. Not Elder Xuan, but someone else—a young, calm spiritual aura, powerful and refined.
Jiang Yi's eyes snapped open. Standing in the entrance was a beautiful woman in white robes—a figure of the Inner Court. This was Disciple Lin Yue, rumored to be the Inner Court's most promising talent, a peerless beauty already at the Peak of the Eighth Stage Body Tempering, preparing for her Foundation Establishment ascent.
She looked at Jiang Yi, kneeling and shaking in the center of the Silence Array. She saw the struggling Artificer, his face pale, his entire body radiating immense spiritual strain under the pressure of his own breakthrough attempt.
He is struggling to maintain his form, she thought, assessing his aura. A fragile little thing. He's trying to condense his core, but his foundation is weak.
She didn't speak. She simply walked past him, sat down on the far side of the chamber, and began her own, vastly superior meditation. She did not perceive him as a threat, only as a faint, struggling life-form.
Jiang Yi realized his opportunity. Lin Yue's presence, with her immense Eighth Stage aura, was a perfect shield. Her spiritual signature was so dominant that his own meager breakthrough would be an undetectable whisper beneath her thunderous presence.
He closed his eyes and poured the remaining azure fuel into the compression. The pressure intensified.
CRACK!
The azure liquid violently imploded, condensing into a small, impossibly dense Spiritual Seed. The pain was excruciating, but the breakthrough was achieved.
The spiritual shockwave was contained by the Silence Array and completely drowned out by the passive, humming aura of the Eighth Stage Disciple sitting ten feet away.
Jiang Yi, now solidified into the Sixth Stage Body Tempering, opened his eyes. He had the power of an Inner Court prodigy, gained right under the nose of one. He instantly re-engaged the Dust Cloak Method, masking the new power.
Disciple Lin Yue opened her eyes and looked over at him. Jiang Yi was slumped, his chest heaving, his face still contorted in the mask of exhausting failure.
"Disciple Jiang Yi," she said, her voice clear and gentle. "You push yourself too hard. Restoration work is spiritually taxing. Go, rest."
Jiang Yi bowed low, feigning immense weakness, and shuffled out of the chamber. He had used the Inner Court's greatest prodigy as his personal, spiritual sound-dampener.
The rules had changed again: Jiang Yi was now playing in the major leagues, and the next challenge—the Seventh Stage—required something beyond mere Qi: it required Spirit Ores found deep in the Earth.