The change was not subtle. When Li Yao walked out of his cavern and back towards the Soaring Cloud Sect, he did not suppress his aura. He let it radiate naturally, the steady, solar warmth of his newly formed Core a stark contrast to the flickering candle-flames of the Essence Gathering disciples and the contained bonfires of the older Core Formation members.
Heads turned. Whispers died in throats. Disciples he had passed unnoticed for weeks now stared with a mixture of awe and fear. A Core Formation expert, even at the Early Stage, was a power. They were the backbone of the sect, the sergeants to the Nascent Soul elders' generals. To break through so quickly, and with such a stable, profound aura, marked him as a prodigy.
He went straight to the mission hall and formally updated his disciple token. The attendant, a bored Inner Disciple, nearly dropped the jade slate when he felt Li Yao's spiritual signature.
"Core... Core Formation? Disciple Li Yao? But your record shows..."
"Circumstances change," Li Yao said mildly, his voice carrying a new, resonant depth.
The update was processed in stunned silence. The news would spread through the sect's administrative channels like wildfire.
His next stop was the disciple resource office. As a Core Formation disciple, his monthly stipend jumped from three Low-Grade Spirit Stones to ten Mid-Grade Spirit Stones and access to the middle-tier cultivation grounds. It was a significant upgrade, though still a pittance compared to the fortune Wang Zhong had provided.
He accepted the new token and the small pouch of stones with a nod. He was playing the part of the rising disciple, using the sect's system even as he operated far outside it.
It was on his way to inspect the new cultivation grounds that he felt it—a familiar, but now vastly intensified, aura of venomous rage. Wang Jin stood blocking the path, his chest heaving. He had felt Li Yao's breakthrough. The chasm between them, which he had believed was closing, had just become a canyon.
"You..." Wang Jin's voice was a strangled whisper. "You used them. You used my resources to form your Core before me!"
Li Yao stopped, looking at him with a calm that was more insulting than any gloating. "The resources were for the Stellar Core Method. I am following the method. My success validates the path. Your progress is slow because your foundation was flawed. Mine was perfect."
The logic was irrefutable and utterly maddening. Li Yao's success was proof that the method worked, a taunting beacon of what Wang Jin could achieve, while simultaneously highlighting his own inadequacy.
"I will kill you," Wang Jin hissed, his own aura flaring. He was at the very peak of Essence Gathering Perfection now, pushed there by desperation and the Stellar Core Method's initial stages. But against a solidified Core, he was a child waving a stick at a mountain.
Li Yao didn't even bother to respond to the threat. He simply looked past Wang Jin, towards the cluster of senior disciples watching the confrontation. "Your energy is turbulent, Junior Brother Wang," he said, using the formal address for a lower-realm disciple. "The Stellar Core Method requires a calm spirit. This emotional volatility will lead to a backlash during your own attempt. I suggest you meditate."
He then walked forward. He didn't push Wang Jin aside. He didn't flare his aura. He simply walked, and the sheer, implicit pressure of his Core Formation presence created an invisible field that forced Wang Jin to stumble back a step, his own aura guttering out like a candle in a strong wind.
The humiliation was absolute. Wang Jin stood, trembling, as Li Yao walked past him without a second glance. The message was clearer than any duel: they were no longer in the same world.
But the most significant reaction came not from the disciples, but from the heavens, or rather, from the sect's representation of them.
A message arrived via a floating paper crane that alighted on his windowsill that evening. The script was elegant, the spiritual imprint profound.
Disciple Li Yao,
Your rapid advancement has been noted. Your presence is requested at the Cloud-Summit Peak at dawn.
- Elder Guo, Hall of Inner Discipline.
Elder Guo was the head of the Inner Sect, a powerful figure in the Late Core Formation Realm, rumored to be half a step into Nascent Soul. This was not a summons from a scheming Elder like Wei, but from the heart of the sect's power structure.
He had attracted the attention of the true powers.
At dawn, Li Yao stood on the designated peak, the wind whipping his robes. The view of the sect below was breathtaking, but his attention was on the old man sitting on a stone bench, sipping tea as if it were any other morning. Elder Guo had a kind face, but his eyes held the weight of centuries.
"Disciple Li Yao," Elder Guo said, his voice warm. "Please, sit. Share some tea with an old man."
Li Yao bowed and sat, accepting the proffered cup. The tea was infused with spiritual energy, a grade far above anything he'd ever tasted.
"Core Formation at your age, and with such stability... it is remarkable," Elder Guo began. "The 'Soaring Cloud Art' is a good, solid foundation, but the energy I feel from you is... different. More profound. More... stellar, if you will."
He knew. Or at least, he suspected.
Li Yao sipped his tea, buying a moment. "This disciple has always been... curious. I find orthodox methods sometimes lack certain... nuances."
Elder Guo chuckled. "Nuances. A delicate word for heresy." He held up a hand to forestall any response. "Do not be alarmed. The Soaring Cloud Sect is orthodox, but not blind. True talent often walks its own path. We are not so foolish as to break a promising sword because it was sharpened on an unusual stone."
He looked out over the clouds. "The Inner Sect Disciple examination is in three months. I expect you to be there. Pass, and you will have access to the true resources of the sect: the Spirit-Siphon Pagoda, the Grand Scripture Repository, the guidance of Nascent Soul elders. Your... unorthodox methods will be overlooked, so long as your loyalty remains with the Soaring Cloud Sect."
It was an offer, and a warning. A promotion and a leash. They wanted to bring him into the fold, to make his strange talent their asset.
Li Yao bowed his head. "This disciple is honored by Elder's attention. I will strive to prove my worth."
"See that you do," Elder Guo said, his smile not quite reaching his eyes. "The path of cultivation is long. It is always better to walk it with the support of a great sect behind you. Alone, even the most brilliant star can be extinguished by the void."
As Li Yao descended the peak, he processed the encounter. He had been recognized, co-opted. The sect was now his patron and his warden. The freedom of the outer sect was gone. He was in the big leagues now, and the game was far more complex.
He had his Core. He had the sect's tentative blessing. And he had a ticking clock: three months to prepare for the Inner Sect exam, where he would face the true geniuses of the Soaring Cloud Sect.
But his greatest advantage remained hidden. Wang Jin was still out there, struggling towards his own Core, a living testament to Li Yao's methods and a powder keg of resentment. And in a hidden cavern, another set of Sky-Iron and Python's Blood waited, along with the System's vast knowledge of the laws that governed the universe.
The Energy Path's second realm, Core Formation, had just begun. The journey to refine this newborn sun inside him, to temper his soul, and to perceive the laws of the universe, stretched out before him, more daunting and more glorious than ever. The slow burn was over. The true fire of ascension had been lit.