The storm was gone.
The skies above Miscellaneous Peak were clear, scrubbed clean by lightning and fire, yet the air still vibrated faintly, as though unwilling to forget the wrath that had just passed.
Li An slowly lowered his gaze.
The courtyard where he had sat moments ago was gone, reduced to a smoking crater, but that wasn't what drew his attention. What waited for him now was far more dangerous than the tribulation.
Figures. Dozens of them. Elders of the Evergreen Sect, their robes fluttering against the wind, their presences heavy enough to distort the air. Some stood aloof in the clouds, others floated openly above his ruined peak, but all of them had their gazes fixed directly on him.
Not one elder was smiling.
Li An's stomach tightened. 'Too many eyes. Too many questions.'
Without the faintest change in his expression, he triggered his system with a thought.
"System," he commanded inwardly, his voice cold and sharp, "put one of my roots back into the multiply slot."
[Affirmative.]
A faint ripple stirred inside his body, his meridians shifting ever so slightly. The second Heavenly Grade Spirit Root he had fused moments ago disappeared into the system's depths, leaving only one behind. Immediately, his aura adjusted—still brilliant, still monstrous for someone who had once been crippled, but far less shocking than before.
Li An exhaled slowly, the tiniest flicker of relief passing through him. Better one miracle than two. I'll give them a mystery, not an excuse to dissect me alive.
Straightening his back, he drew in a deep breath, then stepped forward into the scorched courtyard. His robes still hung loose from his altered frame, his hair was wild from lightning, yet his every movement carried a calm poise—as though he had prepared for this very moment.
Then, with a fluid motion, he clasped his hands and bowed low to the heavens where the elders watched.
"Li An greets the elders."
His voice was steady, respectful, neither servile nor arrogant. The words echoed faintly across the ruined peak.
For a moment, silence reigned. The crowd of elders measured him with eyes sharp enough to flay skin from bone. Some narrowed their gazes, others let out quiet hums of thought. None spoke.
Li An remained bowed, his expression smooth, but inside his mind raced like a cornered beast.
'They all saw the tribulation. They all saw the dragon. They know I should've been crippled… Now I need a story they'll believe.'
A voice cut sharply through Li An's thoughts, slicing the silence like a blade.
"Li An…"
Elder Mei Lian's voice was calm, but it carried the weight of authority that made even other elders shift ever so slightly in the air. Her eyes narrowed, elegant and cold, locking onto him like a predator sizing up prey.
"From what I recall, you lost both your cultivation and your spirit roots a year ago." Her gaze sharpened, almost gleaming with frost. "And yet, what I sense from you now… is the cultivation of a Peak Core Condensation cultivator. Explain."
The gazes of the elders closed in on him like a tightening noose.
Li An lowered his head respectfully, his voice measured, smooth, and just a touch self-deprecating.
"It is true, Elder. I was crippled," Li An admitted, bowing his head slightly. "But life atop Miscellaneous Peak is… slow. Quiet. I had nothing left but time, so I turned to the peak's old storerooms. Most of what I found were scraps—broken manuals, half-legible scrolls, things no one else would bother with."
He let a small, self-deprecating smile tug at his lips. "I didn't even cultivate them properly. I simply read, compared, and tried to understand the patterns. But one day… while meditating on those fragments, something clicked. A resonance I had never felt before. It was like my crippled roots… remembered what they had been."
His voice grew quieter, tinged with false humility. "From there… I can't explain it. My meridians stirred, my roots began to mend. I thought it was a mistake, or that I'd die halfway through the process. But somehow… I survived. Perhaps it was fate's pity. Or perhaps Miscellaneous Peak held more value than any of us knew."
The words were calm, well-spoken, even believable.
But not to them.
Every elder present could see the truth in a heartbeat. They were beings who had lived centuries, some millennia, their eyes sharpened beyond mortal comprehension. To them, Li An's every micro-expression—his heartbeat, the slight tremor in his throat, the hesitation before he answered—was laid bare like ink on a scroll.
They knew he was lying. Every last one of them.
A low hum echoed from behind him, thick with pressure.
"Is that so?"
Li An stiffened. He turned, and Elder Tie Shan emerged from the rear, his bronze skin gleaming in the light, his heat distorting the very air. Unlike Mei Lian's refined elegance, Tie Shan radiated raw, unrestrained dominance.
He stepped forward slowly, each stride cracking the flagstones beneath his bare feet. Then, without asking, he seized Li An's hands. His palms were calloused, like hot iron clamping down.
"That means," Tie Shan rumbled, his tone deceptively casual, "we'll have to check for ourselves… to make sure you aren't dabbling in demonic techniques."
Before Li An could react, Tie Shan's spiritual sense surged into him, sweeping through his meridians, dantian, and roots.
The elder's expression froze.
Li An's qi—pure. Too pure. Far beyond the normal clarity of someone at Core Condensation. It was like refined crystal, untouched by even the faintest trace of corruption. But that wasn't what shook him.
It was the roots.
One Heavenly Grade Spirit Root—dense, vibrant, almost alive. And not just that. Its qi density, its structure… it was pushing against the very boundaries of its grade. Half a step more, and it would evolve into something few had ever seen.
A Sacred Grade Spirit Root.
Tie Shan's usual lazy smirk vanished. His jaw tightened, his expression hardening with an intensity that made even other elders frown. He released Li An's hands slowly, staring at him with an unreadable gaze.
"Li An…" Tie Shan's voice was heavy now, his heat flaring unconsciously until the air rippled around them. "What was your spirit root grade before you were crippled?"
Li An's throat tightened. For the first time since the tribulation ended, he felt sweat bead at the back of his neck. He swallowed, forcing his voice steady.
"…High grade."
Silence.
The words hung in the air like lead. Tie Shan's eyes narrowed dangerously. He didn't speak. Instead, he reached into his robes and drew out a small jade token, its surface etched with radiant lines.
With a sharp motion, he snapped it between his fingers.
Crack.
The token shattered, dissolving into light. At once, space itself trembled. A vertical tear ripped open in the air, forming a swirling passage of white light.
Every elder present stiffened as the rift stabilized. This was no ordinary summoning.
From the spatial passage stepped an old man, his figure straight and severe. He wore flowing robes of pure white, immaculate, untouched even by the storm that had ravaged the skies. His presence was not suffocating like Tie Shan's, nor elegant like Mei Lian's, nor oppressive like Jiang Zu's. It was worse.
It was absolute.
He landed without sound, his hands clasped behind his back. His gaze swept once across the gathered elders before finally settling on Tie Shan.
"I hope," the old man said, his voice calm, but carrying a depth that made the very air resonate, "you did not call me here to waste my time.