Jiang Yi did not return to the Outer Court immediately.
Instead, he sealed himself inside a forgotten side chamber halfway up the lower peaks—an abandoned meditation cell once used by array technicians decades ago. Dust lay thick on the stone floor, and the spirit lamps embedded in the walls had long since gone dark.
Perfect.
The Seventh Stage breakthrough could not be rushed. Especially not after what he had just done.
He sat cross-legged and exhaled slowly. The moment he relaxed his spiritual restraint, the change inside him became obvious.
Heavy.
His Spiritual Seed no longer floated lightly within his dantian. It rested there, dense and stable, like a forged ingot anchored deep within his core. The Shadow Steel essence had fundamentally altered its nature. Where once his Qi circulated smoothly and quickly, now it moved with deliberate weight—slower, but far more authoritative.
This was the true threshold of Body Tempering.
Jiang Yi extended his spiritual senses inward.
The Mineral Core responded instantly.
Threads of Earth Qi from the surrounding mountain were faintly drawn toward him, not violently, not greedily—but naturally. As if his body had finally earned the right to claim them.
So this is the Seventh Stage.
The Mineral Weave was not about brute strength. It was about integration. Flesh, bone, Qi, and earth aligned into a single system.
And he had crossed the gate without a single elder noticing.
The Azure Sphere pulsed once in quiet approval.
Not praise.
Confirmation.
Jiang Yi began circulating the Azure Stabilization Method again, this time allowing the Earth Qi to flow freely into his meridians. The process was smoother than expected. His bones drank in the energy, his muscles tightening and refining at a microscopic level. Each breath made him heavier, more grounded—less like a cultivator borrowing power, and more like a being rooted in the world.
An hour passed.
Then two.
When he finally opened his eyes, the stone floor beneath him was webbed with faint cracks radiating outward from where he sat.
He stood.
The air shifted.
Jiang Yi lightly pressed his palm against the chamber wall and pushed.
The stone didn't shatter.
It gave.
The rock bent inward under his hand, compressed rather than broken, leaving a clean palm-shaped depression in solid mountain stone.
He withdrew his hand, expression unchanged.
This level of control… even among Inner Court disciples, it would be rare.
And that was the problem.
Power always left ripples.
He immediately suppressed his aura, folding his presence inward with the same precision he used when siphoning Formation Qi. The Mineral Core responded obediently, sealing its pressure behind layers of refined restraint.
Only then did he move.
Jiang Yi erased his traces carefully—brushing away footprints, smoothing cracked stone, dispersing residual Qi with a neutralizing loop from the Azure Sphere. When he finally exited the chamber, it was as if no one had been there at all.
But the mountain remembered.
---
By the time Jiang Yi returned to the Outer Court, dawn was already breaking.
The sect was restless.
Disciples whispered in clusters. Array technicians moved with unusual urgency. Several elders stood near the central Formation Pillar, their expressions tight as they examined fluctuating light patterns along the runic veins.
Jiang Yi kept his head down and picked up his broom.
No one looked at him.
Good.
As he swept the stone path leading toward the Dormant Array sector, fragments of conversation drifted past him.
"…pressure imbalance detected near the lower peaks…"
"…Formation feedback increased by three percent overnight…"
"…no signs of intrusion, but the readings don't lie…"
Jiang Yi adjusted his sweeping rhythm without missing a beat.
The Mineral Core pulsed faintly.
The Black Rock Mine.
They were already feeling it.
He filed the information away calmly. Elder Qiu would notice too—eventually. A Foundation Master did not lose a sealed reserve without sensing the absence. When that happened, questions would follow.
But not yet.
For now, the disturbance was too subtle, too technical. It would be blamed on aging formations, unstable Qi veins, or apprentice error.
He swept. He listened. He learned.
By midday, an unexpected summons arrived.
"Cleaner Jiang Yi," an Outer Court guard said stiffly. "Elder Mingshu requests your presence."
Several nearby disciples glanced over, surprise flickering across their faces.
Jiang Yi lowered his broom and bowed slightly. "This one understands."
Inside, his thoughts sharpened.
Elder Mingshu was not careless. He oversaw Outer Court logistics, arrays, and infrastructure repairs. If anyone noticed anomalies tied to the mountain's internal Qi…
This could be inconvenient.
He followed the guard through winding stone corridors until they reached a modest hall lined with formation diagrams and mineral charts. Elder Mingshu sat behind a low desk, thin fingers steepled, eyes sharp despite his age.
"Jiang Yi," the elder said without looking up. "You've been assigned to the Dormant Array sector for some time now."
"Yes, Elder."
"You're quiet. Efficient. You notice things."
Jiang Yi remained silent.
Elder Mingshu finally looked at him. "Last night, several deep-structure readings shifted. Nothing catastrophic. But unusual."
Jiang Yi's posture did not change.
The elder studied him for a long moment, then waved a hand dismissively. "Relax. I'm not accusing you of anything."
A pause.
"I want you to assist the Array Hall for the next few days. Observation only. You're good at seeing what others miss."
So that's it.
Not suspicion.
Opportunity.
Jiang Yi bowed deeply. "This one will do his best."
As he turned to leave, Elder Mingshu added quietly, "The mountain is old. When something stirs beneath it… even ants feel the tremor."
Jiang Yi did not respond.
But as he stepped back into the sunlight, the Azure Sphere pulsed once—slow, deliberate.
The ripples were spreading.
And somewhere deep beneath the sect, a sealed account lay empty, its owner unaware that the interest had already begun to compound.
The game was no longer quiet.
It was just patient.