The silence in the Grand Elder council chamber was so profound that Lux could hear the faint hum of the formation barriers surrounding the room. One week had passed since his breakthrough to the Qi Nurturing Realm, and now he stood in the circular chamber , surrounded by the five most powerful cultivators in the Burning Sky Sect.
"Relax, Lux," Elder Liam's voice echoed in his mind through a private communication talisman. "Remember, you are not on trial. This is merely an assessment."
But the atmosphere suggested otherwise. Sect Master Klahan sat at the head of the obsidian table, his presence both calm and overwhelming. To his right sat Grand Elder Lina, her sharp eyes already scanning Lux with academic curiosity. To his left, Grand Elder Bram's massive frame seemed to radiate skepticism, while Grand Elder Kalman watched with the cautious expression of an accountant evaluating a risky investment. Grand Elder Shen, known for his neutrality, simply observed with detached interest.
"Lux Noctis," Klahan began, his voice resonating with spiritual power. "Your breakthrough has caused... unusual phenomena. The gray qi that manifests from your dantian is unprecedented in our sect's records. We require understanding."
Grand Elder Lina leaned forward, her fingers steepled. "The Phoenix Harmonic Sutra is a pure fire-affinity technique of Earth Grade. For it to produce gray, non-elemental qi defies established cultivation principles. How did you achieve this?"
Lux took a steadying breath, calling upon his engineering mindset from his past life. "Honored Elders, the transformation was not my intention. As I guided the environmental qi through my meridians according to the sutra, the energy naturally shifted toward this gray state. It felt... more compatible with my constitution."
"Compatible?" Bram's voice boomed through the chamber. "Or corrupted? We've all seen cultivators deviate from their paths. The results are never pleasant."
"Let us not jump to conclusions," Lina countered. "The boy's foundation remains stable. His Bone Forging Stage 9 perfection is intact. This may represent evolution, not corruption."
Klahan raised a hand, silencing the debate before it could escalate. "Theory must yield to evidence. Lux, you will permit a deep spiritual scan. Do not resist."
The moment the words left his mouth, five immense spiritual pressures descended upon Lux. It felt like being submerged in five different oceans simultaneously. Klahan's presence was vast and commanding, Lina's precise and analytical, Bram's heavy and intrusive, Kalman's meticulous and probing, Shen's gentle but equally thorough.
Coefficient of Reality fluctuating between 0.99983 and 0.99987, Mobius reported calmly. The gray qi is maintaining stability under extreme spiritual pressure. Interesting.
Lux focused on maintaining his breathing, allowing the examination without resistance. He felt the gray qi in his dantian swirl in response to the probes, neither resisting nor welcoming the intrusion.
"Remarkable," Lina murmured, her eyes glowing with spiritual light. "His qi doesn't interact with elemental forces at all. It simply... exists alongside them."
"It lacks the vibrant yang nature of Phoenix Harmonic qi," Kalman noted with concern. "The energy signature is neutral to the point of being inert."
"Not inert," Bram countered, his brow furrowed. "There's a... hunger to it. As if it consumes the spiritual signatures around it without reaction."
Shen spoke for the first time, his voice calm and measured. "The boy's spiritual roots show no signs of damage or deviation. His meridians are pristine, his dantian stable. Whatever this energy is, it hasn't harmed his foundation."
After what felt like an eternity, the spiritual pressures receded. Lux remained standing, though he felt drained from the intense examination.
"Theoretical discussion can only take us so far," Klahan declared. "We require practical demonstration. Lux, you will undergo three tests."
The first test was elemental resistance. Elder Liam, who had been standing by the chamber entrance, stepped forward and summoned orbs of pure elemental energy - fire, water, earth, and wind.
"Defend yourself using only your gray qi," Klahan instructed.
Lux nodded, circulating the strange energy through his body. As the fire orb approached, he extended a hand and channeled gray qi to meet it. Instead of the expected clash of elements, the fire orb simply... faded as it passed through the gray energy, its intensity diminishing by nearly half before harmlessly dissipating against Lux's spiritual defense.
The water orb met a similar fate, its flow disrupted and scattered. The earth projectile crumbled at the edges when touched by the gray qi, and the wind blade lost cohesion.
Elemental suppression efficiency: 47-53%, Mobius reported. The gray qi creates localized reality zones where elemental interactions are weakened.
Grand Elder Lina's eyes widened. "He's not countering the elements. He's making them... less effective."
The second test was destructive power. A training dummy made of reinforced spirit wood was brought forth. Lux channeled gray qi into his palm and struck. The impact wasn't spectacular no explosive force or elemental display. But where his hand struck, the wood didn't just break it seemed to crumble into dust at the molecular level.
"Minimal external damage but complete internal destruction," Kalman observed, examining the dummy. "The force bypassed the surface integrity entirely."
The third test proved most surprising. A junior formation master set up a basic defensive formation - a shimmering barrier of interlocking spiritual patterns. Lux was instructed to break through.
Remembering his disastrous attempt with the city's formation years ago, Lux approached cautiously. He extended a thread of gray qi, not to overpower the formation, but to gently probe its structure. To his astonishment, where the gray qi touched the formation patterns, they simply... unraveled. Not through force, but as if the spiritual connections holding them together had never existed in the first place.
The formation collapsed in a shower of harmless sparks.
Silence filled the chamber once more, this time for different reasons.
Grand Elder Bram was the first to break it. "This... ability to neutralize formations... Do you understand the implications?"
"All too well," Klahan said gravely. "This could revolutionize formation breaking. Or destabilize every defensive system in the sect."
Lina looked positively giddy. "The academic implications are staggering! A completely new energy type that exists outside elemental paradigms!"
Kalman remained practical. "The risks are equally significant. If this energy can unravel formations, what prevents it from unraveling the boy's own cultivation? Or affecting the spiritual environment around him?"
Shen finally offered his assessment. "The potential benefits and risks are too significant to ignore. We cannot treat this as a typical cultivation anomaly."
After a moment of contemplation, Klahan delivered his verdict. "Lux Noctis, your unique nature represents both opportunity and danger. For the next week, you will train under Elder Liam's supervision. Then, you will spar against an inner disciple at Qi Nurturing Realm Stage 3."
Lux's eyes widened. A three-stage gap was significant at this level.
"This is not punishment," Klahan continued, seeing his expression. "This is assessment. We must understand how your abilities function in combat against conventional cultivation. Your performance will determine your future path within the sect."
As Lux bowed and was escorted from the chamber by Elder Liam, the Grand Elders remained, the weight of their discussion hanging heavily in the air.
"The gray meteor's legacy indeed," Klahan murmured once they were alone. "What have we unleashed upon our world?" klahan inner think.
The seven days following the Grand Elder inquisition passed in a blur of intense training and discovery. Under Elder Liam's watchful eye, Lux worked to fully stabilize his cultivation in the Qi Nurturing Realm while exploring the capabilities of his gray qi.
"Your foundation in Body Forging was solid and perfect," Liam noted during their morning session. "But Qi Nurturing requires different disciplines. You're no longer just strengthening your body - you're learning to interface with the world through spiritual energy."
As Lux meditated, Mobius provided continuous analysis of his new abilities.
"Worm..The transition to Qi Nurturing Realm has enhanced your distortion capabilities significantly," mobius said. "Let me categorize the developments
Body Forging Enhancements, Bone Distortion You can now subtly alter the direction of force impacting your skeletal structure with 34% greater efficiency, A punch that should shatter your forearm can be redirected to glance harmlessly aside, Meridian Stability The chaotic qi flows that sometimes occur during risky meridian expansion can be temporarily distorted, preventing Qi Deviation with 87% success probability, Skin Deflection The angle of sharp attacks against your skin can be minutely altered, turning potentially lethal strikes into glancing blows.
Qi Nurturing Capabilities ,Distort Ingestion When consuming spiritual resources, you can distort the absorption efficiency, extracting 20-30% more benefit from pills, herbs, and environmental qi, Distort Emission You can alter the trajectory and shape of basic qi attacks from opponents, making them veer off course or disperse prematurely, Lux tested each ability methodically. During combat drills with training dummies, he found he could indeed make strikes that should have broken his arms instead slide past with minimal impact. When Elder Liam provided a basic energy pill, Lux used Distort Ingestion and felt the spiritual energy release more completely into his system.
Coefficient of Reality remains stable at 0.99985 during normal operation, Mobius confirmed. The gray qi acts as a reality lubricant, reducing the energy cost of distortions by approximately 40%.
"But there's a cost," Lux murmured during a break, examining his hands. "I can feel it."
"Correct worm, Excessive use risks reality detachment a permanent state where parts of your existence become partially unanchored from conventional reality. The current safe operating threshold is three major distortions per day, or continuous minor distortion for no more than four hours." mobius explanations.
The warning gave Lux pause. His engineering mind recognized the classic risk-reward balance - incredible power at the cost of permanent consequences.