The plateau was quiet when Elder Xu arrived.
The wind moved freely across the stone, but the five figures standing in formation did not stir. Wu Chi had already briefed them. They knew what this morning meant. No questions were asked when Elder Xu stepped onto the platform. No hesitation showed in their eyes.
They were ready.
Wu Chi stood a few paces behind them, hands clasped behind his back, his presence no longer that of a mere outer disciple. The Fear-aspected Qi within him lay dormant but unmistakable, a silent warning etched into the air.
Elder Xu's gaze passed over the five.
Mei Qiao met it with a slow, dangerous smile.
Lin Shuyu remained motionless, eyes calm and calculating.
Xu Ren's breathing was shallow but steady.
Zhou Kai stood unnaturally straight, hands trembling only slightly.
And Gao Han, at the end of the line, watched everything with narrowed focus, his peak Qi Gathering aura already dense and heavy.
"You were given one week to prove you could understand what strength requires,"
Elder Xu said calmly.
"To see if you deserve it."
No one spoke.
"You have passed," he continued. "This power will not be trained into you. It will be placed within you."
He raised one hand.
"If any of you wish to step away, now is the final moment to do so."
Silence.
Then Mei Qiao took a single step forward and knelt.
"I accept," she said without hesitation.
Lin Shuyu followed immediately.
Xu Ren hesitated only long enough to swallow once.
Zhou Kai dropped to his knees with surprising seriousness.
Gao Han was last, kneeling with deliberate control.
All five accepted.
Good.
Elder Xu moved first to Mei Qiao.
His fingers hovered over her dantian, close enough that she could feel the pressure before contact was ever made. Her breath hitched once, not in fear, but in anticipation.
"Do not resist," he said.
"I wouldn't dare," she replied softly.
The thread of Fear Qi pierced inward.
Her back arched sharply as the foreign energy flooded her core. The infusion was not violent, but it was absolute. Dark intent merged with her circulation, weaving through her meridians like ink poured into water.
[1 500 Fear Points transferred.]
Her Qi surged wildly, then stabilized.
Late Qi Gathering collapsed upward into Foundation Establishment as if its ceiling had been torn away. Her breath broke sharply as the pressure settled.
When it was over, Mei Qiao remained kneeling, chest rising and falling as her new foundation solidified.
Her aura changed.
Elder Xu did not pause.
Lin Shuyu was next.
She did not react outwardly when the infusion began. Only a slight tightening of her jaw betrayed the internal storm as the Fear Qi restructured her cultivation with ruthless efficiency.
Mid Qi Gathering shattered cleanly.
Foundation Establishment took shape without turbulence.
Her control was immediate.
Xu Ren was third.
His infusion was the messiest.
When the Fear Qi entered his dantian, his meridians buckled violently under the sudden expansion. Blood leaked from the corner of his mouth as his unstable circulation struggled to adapt.
He did not cry out.
He clung to the sensation as if drowning and refused to let go.
Mid Qi Gathering collapsed in staggered waves before finally stabilizing into a trembling Foundation core.
He nearly collapsed when it finished.
But he was still conscious.
Zhou Kai was fourth.
The moment the Fear Qi entered his early Qi Gathering dantian, his reaction was immediate and violent. His body convulsed sharply as the unfamiliar pressure overwhelmed his shallow foundation.
His breath left his lungs in a hoarse gasp.
Yet he did not resist.
He accepted everything without instinctive rejection, without mental collapse.
Early Qi Gathering shattered into Foundation Establishment only partially. His base was simply too thin to climb further.
When it ended, he remained in Early Foundation.
Sweat drenched his clothes.
Yet he was smiling.
Gao Han was last.
Peak Qi Gathering met the infusion like dry earth meeting rain. The Fear Qi merged aggressively, his already-dense cultivation compressing into Foundation with crushing force.
The transition was smooth.
Powerful.
Mid Foundation took hold immediately.
His presence thickened into something oppressive and predatory.
When Elder Xu withdrew his hand, silence claimed the mountain.
[Infusion complete.]
All five were now Foundation Establishment cultivators.
Unstable, but real foundation cultivators.
Wu Chi felt it immediately. The faint pressure in the air multiplied, no longer singular. Five new presences, all tainted with the same underlying dread.
"Stand," Elder Xu commanded.
They did.
Mei Qiao was the first to test her new power. Phantom Silk Steps rippled beneath her feet as her figure blurred and reappeared several strides away in a heartbeat.
Lin Shuyu cycled once, eyes narrowing faintly as her Qi responded with unnatural obedience.
Xu Ren clenched his fists, trembling as power he had never dared to imagine surged within him.
Zhou Kai looked down at his hands in disbelief, then laughed under his breath.
"I can feel it… I really can feel it."
Gao Han released a thin thread of Qi outward, carving a shallow scar into the stone without touching it.
Elder Xu watched without expression.
"Do not rely on this power yet," he said. "You are strong only in theory, you lack experience."
His gaze shifted to Wu Chi.
"Take them. Have them test each other. No killing. No crippling."
Wu Chi nodded once.
"Understood."
The sparring began immediately.
Mei Qiao vanished and reappeared around Zhou Kai in streaks of distorted motion, deliberately harassing him with near-misses and mocking laughter.
Lin Shuyu engaged Xu Ren in brief, precise exchanges that exposed every flaw in his unstable foundation.
Gao Han confronted Wu Chi directly for several measured passes before being ruthlessly suppressed.
Their foundations trembled as they adapted in real time to the new flow of power inside them.
After half an hour, Elder Xu turned away.
"Wu Chi."
"Yes, Master."
"You will go to Frostfall Village. Purchase five plain masks. No ornamentation. No markings. Nothing recognizable."
Wu Chi bowed.
"They will not operate as disciples when they leave the mountain."
Understanding flashed in his eyes.
"They will operate as shadows."
Wu Chi departed immediately.
The sparring continued under the open sky, five unstable Foundations learning restraint through pain and collision.
Elder Xu watched only long enough to confirm survival.
Then he left them to it.
Their real training would begin after the masks returned.
And after their new power stopped feeling like a dream.
.
.
.
[STATUS]
[Name: Han Ye]
[Age: 18]
[Cultivation: Dread Core Realm – Early Stage ▸ Qi Condensation - Late Stage]
[Fear Points: 5 338]
[Trauma: +795/day]
[Infamy: +27/day]
[Fear Points needed for the next stage: 12 000]
[Techniques: Shadowless Step, Thousand Faces Arts (incomplete), Silent Pulse Breathing, Crow Shroud Technique]