The private helicopter landed on the helipad of the Vane Tower at exactly nine o'clock in the evening. The wind from the rotors pushed against Elena's long silk coat as she stepped onto the concrete. Alexander followed her. He did not look like a patient who had just left a hospital bed. He stood upright, his movements precise and controlled. The golden light in his eyes had dimmed to a faint metallic sheen, but his presence remained heavy and intense.
"The top three floors have been cleared of all regular staff," Leo said, shouting over the noise of the fading rotors. "The representatives of the four major medical sects are already inside the Obsidian Hall. Elder Wei is leading the council."
Elena nodded. She reached into her inner pocket to ensure her roll of silver needles was secure. "Alexander, remember what I told you. If the energy in your chest starts to move toward your head, you must press the point on your left wrist. I cannot help you if you lose consciousness in front of these people."
"I will not lose consciousness," Alexander said. His voice was calm and lacked its previous raspy quality. He adjusted the cuffs of his dark suit. "Let us go."
They entered the elevator. The doors closed, and the digital display climbed rapidly toward the 100th floor. When the doors opened again, the atmosphere had changed. The modern office aesthetic of the Vane Tower had been replaced by traditional decorations. Large silk banners hung from the ceiling, each bearing the symbols of ancient medical families.
The Obsidian Hall was a large circular room with floor-to-ceiling windows. In the center of the room stood a long table made of dark wood. Three elderly men and one woman sat behind it. They wore robes of different colors: saffron, deep green, charcoal, and white. Elder Wei sat in the center in his saffron robes.
As Elena and Alexander walked toward the table, the conversations in the room stopped. Dozens of people in traditional attire stood along the walls. These were the disciples and masters of the hidden medical world.
"Elena Lin," the woman in the white robes spoke first. She was Elder He, the leader of the Snowy Mountain Sect. "You were told to come alone to answer for the misuse of the Phoenix Needle. Why have you brought a secular outsider into the hall of the sovereigns?"
"He is not an outsider," Elena said. She stood in front of the table, her feet planted firmly on the floor. "He is my husband. He is also the patient whose life was saved by the techniques you claim to protect. According to the ancient rules of the Lin family, a healer has the right to bring a witness to a trial."
Elder Wei leaned forward. He looked at Alexander. "He is more than a witness, Elena. We felt the vibration of the Sun Qi from the hospital. He has absorbed the energy of the Nine Heavens. A mortal body cannot hold that power. It belongs to the Valley."
"It belongs to no one," Alexander said. He did not bow. He looked directly at Elder Wei. "The energy is in my blood now. It has merged with my own condition. If you want it, you will have to explain the legal and medical basis for your claim."
The man in the green robes, Elder Chen, slammed his hand on the table. "Legal basis? We are the law of the medical world. For two thousand years, we have kept the balance of the elements. You are a walking contradiction, Alexander Blackwood. You are a mix of Cold-Yin and Supreme-Yang. You are an unstable entity that could explode and destroy this city."
Elena stepped forward, her voice loud and clear. "That is a false diagnosis, Elder Chen. I have mapped his pulse for the last six hours. His system is not unstable; it is harmonized. I used the Thirteen Ghost Needles to create a bridge between the two energies. He is the first successful case of dual-energy integration in the history of our records."
The elders exchanged looks of surprise. Elder He narrowed her eyes. "Integration? That is impossible without the final volume of the Lin family manuscripts. The volume that Victoria Lin claimed she had, but failed to produce."
"Victoria is a thief who did not understand what she stole," Elena said. "I have the knowledge in my memory. My father taught me the Harmonizing Cycle when I was ten years old. Alexander is the proof that my father's theories were correct. He did not want to hide these arts; he wanted to evolve them."
Elder Wei stood up. He walked around the table and stopped three feet away from Alexander. He held up his hand, and a faint golden glow appeared at his fingertips. "If he is harmonized, then he should be able to withstand a direct probe of his Sea of Qi. If he survives, we will consider your words. If he fails, we will extract the energy and return him to the hospital as a regular man."
"No," Elena said, moving to block Wei. "A probe at this stage will cause a rebound."
"I accept," Alexander said. He put a hand on Elena's shoulder and moved her gently to the side. "If this is what it takes to end this discussion, do it."
Elder Wei did not wait. He thrust his hand forward, his palm landing on the center of Alexander's chest, exactly over the golden star.
A sharp sound, like a piece of metal being struck by a hammer, rang out through the hall. A wave of air pushed outward, causing the silk banners to flap violently. Elder Wei's saffron robes billowed. Alexander did not move an inch. His feet remained fixed to the floor.
A second later, a visible layer of white frost climbed up Elder Wei's arm, starting from the point of contact. Simultaneously, a golden light surged from Alexander's chest, illuminating the frost until it looked like glowing crystals.
Elder Wei gasped and pulled his hand back. He stumbled two steps, looking at his shaking fingers. They were covered in a thin layer of ice that was steaming with heat.
"It is true," Wei whispered. "The ice and the fire are working together. They are not fighting. They are protecting him."
The hall became silent again. The disciples along the walls looked at each other with expressions of fear.
"This is a sacrilege," Elder Chen shouted. "We cannot allow a secular businessman to possess the power of the sovereigns! Elena Lin, you have committed a crime against the sect. You have given our secrets to a man who controls markets and armies."
"I gave them to a man who was dying," Elena countered. "Is that not the first rule of the physician? To preserve life above all else?"
"Enough," Elder He said, her voice cutting through the shouting. She looked at Alexander with a new interest. "Since he has survived the probe, he has the right to speak. Mr. Blackwood, what is your intention? Do you plan to use this power to expand your corporate empire?"
Alexander looked around the room. "My empire is already large enough. I do not need your energy to buy more companies. However, I now understand that there are threats to my family that money cannot stop. I will keep this power to protect my wife and her mother. In return, I will provide the funding and the technology to modernize your clinics. We can work together, or we can be enemies. I am comfortable with either path."
Elder Wei rubbed his cold, burnt hand. "You speak with great confidence for a man who is being watched by the Four Heavens."
"I speak as a man who owns the building you are currently standing in," Alexander replied. "This summit is over. Elena, we are leaving."
As they turned to walk toward the elevator, a voice came from the back of the hall. It was a young man in a dark green robe, carrying a long wooden box. "Wait! The trial is not finished! The Vane Group still has a standing challenge!"
Elena stopped. She knew that voice. It was Dr. Julian Vane's nephew, Silas Vane, a man known for his expertise in lethal acupuncture.
"The challenge of the Black Needle," Silas said, stepping forward. He opened the box to reveal a set of needles made of black obsidian. "If Elena Lin is a true Master, she must face a duel of diagnosis. If she wins, we will drop all claims against the Lin family name. If she loses, she must hand over the Phoenix Needle and her father's research."
Elena looked at the black needles. They were used for "Negative Pulse" testing, a dangerous method that could cause internal bleeding in the competitor.
"Don't do it, Elena," Alexander said, his voice dropping to a low, protective tone. "We can just leave. They cannot stop us."
"If I don't do this, they will hunt us forever," Elena said. She took off her silk coat and handed it to him. She stood in the center of the hall and looked at Silas. "I accept the challenge. But we will not use the obsidian needles. We will use the traditional silver. I will not have you claiming I lost because of the quality of the tools."
Silas laughed. "Fine. Prepare yourself, Elena. You have been away from the practice for too long. Your hands are soft."
"My hands have saved lives while yours were busy signing profit reports," Elena said.
She walked toward the designated dueling area in the center of the hall. The elders sat back, their faces neutral. This was the ancient way of settling disputes—a test of skill that would prove who held the true mandate of the Phoenix.
Alexander stood by the windows, his golden eyes focused on his wife. The air in the room began to drop in temperature again, a sign that his internal energy was reacting to the tension. Elena ignored the cold. she took out her silver needles and laid them on a silk cloth.
"Begin," Elder Wei commanded.
Silas moved first. He was fast, his hand reaching for a pressure point on Elena's shoulder. Elena twisted her body, her own needle glinting in the light.
The duel was not about strength. It was about the knowledge of the human map. Every strike was aimed at a meridian point that could temporarily paralyze or disrupt the opponent's Qi.
For ten minutes, they moved in a circle, the sound of metal clinking against metal filling the room. Silas was aggressive, but Elena was patient. She watched his breathing. She noticed a slight hesitation in his right lung—a sign of a hidden respiratory weakness.
There, she thought.
She feinted a strike to his throat. Silas raised his hand to block, leaving his chest exposed for a fraction of a second. Elena's needle moved like a blur. She struck the Zhongfu point on his chest.
Silas froze. His eyes widened, and his arm dropped to his side. He tried to speak, but only a wheezing sound came out. He staggered and fell to one knee.
"The lungs are the prime minister of the body," Elena said, standing over him. She did not look tired. "You forgot to protect the source of your breath, Silas. You were too focused on the attack."
The hall was silent. The elders looked at Silas, then at Elena.
"The duel is decided," Elder Wei said. "The Lin family name is cleared of all past debts to the sects."
But as Silas gasped for air, he reached into his robe and pulled out a small, red whistle. He blew into it. The sound was a high-frequency vibration that made Elena's ears ring.
Suddenly, the windows of the 100th floor shattered inward.
A group of men in black tactical gear with gas masks swung into the room on ropes. They did not carry needles. They carried automatic weapons.
"The Valley does not accept defeat!" Silas shouted, finally regaining his breath as the tactical team surrounded the elders and the masters. "If we cannot have the power, no one will!"
Alexander moved before the first soldier could pull a trigger. A blast of frozen gold energy erupted from his body, slamming into the nearest two men and throwing them back through the broken windows.
"Elena, get behind me!" Alexander roared.
The summit had turned into a massacre. The hidden world of medicine was now facing the modern world of violence, and only the man of golden ice stood in the way.