Elder Chen Yong's wine bottle slipped from his fingers, clattering against the stone floor as his spiritual sense locked onto something that made his blood run cold.

That blue energy radiating from the copy of Ke Yin... he knew that signature intimately.

His mind raced back to those private sessions in his quarters, when Ke Yin would stand still while Chen Yong carefully extended his spiritual sense to analyze the strange energy his disciple possessed.

In exchange for those analysis sessions, Chen Yong had taught the young man formation techniques far beyond what any outer disciple should have access to. It had seemed like a fair trade at the time, Chen Yong gained insights into an energy type that bore striking similarities to Life Realm power, while Ke Yin received advanced instruction that would serve him well in the cultivation world.

But now, watching that familiar blue radiance pulse through the screen, Chen Yong realized just how catastrophically he'd miscalculated.

"What in the heavens..." Elder Wan breathed, leaning forward in his chair. "That energy signature... it feels like Life Realm power, but how is that possible from a Qi Condensation cultivator?"

Elder Zhang nodded grimly, his features creased with confusion. "The intensity is unmistakable. I've felt that quality of energy before, but only from cultivators who've successfully birthed life in their inner worlds."

"Impossible," Elder Meng protested, though his voice carried uncertainty. "No Qi Condensation cultivator could possibly channel Life Realm energy. The spiritual pathways required simply don't exist at that level."

"Could it be some kind of inheritance? An artifact perhaps?" Elder Lui suggested. "Though I've never heard of any treasure that could channel Life Realm power through a mortal cultivator without killing them."

Chen Yong felt sweat beading on his forehead as the other elders continued their speculation. He knew he should speak up, should explain what he'd discovered during his analysis sessions with Ke Yin, but his throat felt uncharacteristically dry.

"That isn't Life Realm energy," Sect Master Yuan said quietly. His eyes flicked to Chen Yong for just a moment, barely a heartbeat, before returning to the screen.

That single glance hit Chen Yong like a physical blow.

The message was crystal clear: "You've been keeping secrets, Chen Yong. You've been investigating this boy's abilities without reporting to me. And you've failed in the task the sect gave you."

Chen Yong's hands trembled slightly as he reached for his fallen wine bottle, though he no longer had any desire to drink. When the Sect Master had originally asked him to keep an eye on Ke Yin, it had seemed like a simple enough assignment. Monitor the boy's progress, note any unusual developments, report anything significant.

But somewhere along the way, Chen Yong had gotten... attached. He'd started to see Ke Yin as a genuine disciple rather than just a subject for observation. The young man's earnest dedication to formation work, his respectful manner, his obvious care for his teammates, all of it had gradually shifted Chen Yong's perspective from clinical observer to protective teacher.

And now that sentiment was about to cost him dearly.

"Sect Master," Elder Liu ventured carefully, "if it's not Life Realm energy, then what could it be? The spiritual signature is unlike anything I've encountered in five hundred years of cultivation."

Sect Master Yuan was silent for a long moment, his expression unreadable as he studied the Dao of Envy complete its transform into Ke Yin on the screen. The other elders waited with barely concealed anticipation, their sect master was a Civilization Realm cultivator whose knowledge spanned millennia. If anyone could identify this mysterious energy, it would be him.

"I…I don't know," Yuan finally admitted.

The words fell into the observation chamber like stones into still water, sending ripples of shock through the assembled elders. Chen Yong watched as faces went pale, as centuries-old cultivators struggled to process what they'd just heard.

Their Civilization Realm sect master, a being who had transcended the limitations of mortal understanding, who had fostered entire civilizations within his inner world, had encountered something beyond his knowledge.

"But... Sect Master," Elder Feng stammered, "you've reached the pinnacle of cultivation in our region. You've studied energy types from across the five continents. How could a mere Qi Condensation disciple possess something that even you—"

"The cultivation world is vast, Elder Feng," Yuan interrupted, though his tone remained calm. "And it's far older than any of us. There are powers and techniques that predate our current understanding, fragments of ancient knowledge that surface in the most unexpected places."

Chen Yong felt his stomach churning as he realized where this conversation was heading. He could see it in the way the other elders' eyes had begun to glitter with academic hunger, the way they leaned forward like predators scenting prey.

Life Realm cultivators spent centuries perfecting their inner worlds, nurturing the delicate balance required to sustain complex ecosystems and intelligent life. But the process was fraught with difficulties: species would go extinct, environmental disasters would devastate carefully crafted biomes, and many cultivators would face cultivation deviation when their inner worlds collapsed.

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Chen Yong knew this intimately because he'd nearly died from exactly such a collapse just a few months ago. His breakthrough to Life Realm had been unexpected and... turbulent. The basic life forms in his inner world had begun dying en masse, creating a cascade failure that threatened to shatter his cultivation base entirely.

He'd been forced into emergency closed-door cultivation, desperately trying to stabilize his inner world before the damage became irreversible. It was during that crisis the insights he'd gained from analysing the blue energy had quite literally saved his life.

The energy seemed to carry inherent principles of vitality and renewal that had helped Chen Yong understand how to properly nurture life in his inner world. His dying ecosystems had stabilized, his cultivation base had solidified, and he'd even managed to introduce new species that thrived in ways he'd never thought possible.

If a few sessions of casual analysis had provided such dramatic benefits, what could be achieved through intensive, systematic study?

And that was exactly what Chen Yong saw reflected in his fellow elders' expressions, the desperate hunger of cultivators who'd spent centuries struggling with the fundamental challenges of their realm.

"Wait," Elder Zhao suddenly straightened, his spiritual sense evidently picking up something new. "There's another energy signature hidden beneath the blue radiance. Something... darker."

Chen Yong's blood turned to ice as he extended his own spiritual sense and confirmed what Elder Zhao had detected. Red energy, pulsing with a quality that felt almost demonic, though not quite matching any demonic cultivation method he'd encountered.

This was something Ke Yin had never mentioned during their sessions.

In fact, Chen Yong wouldn't be surprised if the boy didn't even know he possessed this second energy type, it was so thoroughly masked by the blue energy's overwhelming presence that it would take a Life Realm cultivator's refined senses to detect it.

"Demonic qi?" Elder Meng asked, though his tone suggested uncertainty.

The elders' reactions split predictably along factional lines.

The more pragmatic ones, those who'd lived long enough to understand that power was power regardless of its source, seemed largely unconcerned. After all, the cultivation world had long since accepted that all paths ultimately led to the Heavenly Dao, whether through righteous methods, demonic practices, or something in between.

But Elder Liu and a few others visibly recoiled, their faces twisting with distaste. These were the traditionalists, the ones who still believed in clean distinctions between righteous and evil cultivation methods.

"I don't care what energy type it is," Elder Liu declared, his voice tight with disapproval. "No disciple of our sect should be trafficking with demonic powers. The very presence of such energy could corrupt—"

"That isn't demonic qi either," Sect Master Yuan interrupted, his tone carrying a note of genuine interest for the second time since the tournament had begun. "How... fascinating."

Chen Yong closed his eyes and released a long, shuddering breath.

Two unknown energy types. Two mysterious power sources that even a Civilization Realm cultivator couldn't identify. And his disciple, his naive, earnest, cultivation-obsessed disciple, was somehow carrying both of them in his ninth-stage Qi Condensation body.

There was no escaping it now.

No amount of political maneuvering or carefully crafted explanations would deflect the sect master's attention. Ke Yin had just painted an enormous target on his back, and Chen Yong was powerless to remove it.

The elder understood more about high-level cultivation than most people realized. While the specifics of Civilization Realm and beyond remained mysteries to him, he knew enough to understand why these energy types would be so valuable to someone like Sect Master Yuan.

At the highest levels of cultivation, cultivators spent enormous effort designing completely new cultivation systems for the unique beings within their inner worlds, systems that often required entirely new forms of energy to function properly.

Creating such energy types from scratch was considered one of the most challenging aspects of advanced cultivation. The most talented Civilization Realm cultivators might manage to develop one novel lesser energy form over the course of millennia, and these innovations were often what determined whether they could advance to even higher realms.

And here was an outer disciple casually wielding two energy types that defied classification.

Chen Yong knew his sect was considered righteous by the standards of the cultivation world. Had they been affiliated with one of the demonic sects, Ke Yin would already be strapped to a research table while "scholars" systematically dissected every aspect of his cultivation. The Azure Peak Sect maintained higher ethical standards than that.

But Chen Yong also knew that ethical standards became remarkably flexible when faced with truly exceptional opportunities for advancement. And for a Civilization Realm cultivator seeking to break through to even higher realms, access to unknown energy types represented exactly such an opportunity.

The cultivation world's history was littered with stories of "voluntary research subjects" who'd found themselves unable to refuse the requests of their superiors. After all, what was a little temporary discomfort when weighed against the potential benefits to the entire sect?

"Elder Chen Yong," Sect Master Yuan's voice cut through his increasingly desperate thoughts, and Chen Yong's eyes snapped open to find the sect master looking directly at him. "As Ke Yin's supervising elder, surely you have some insights into these unusual energies?"

The question was politely phrased, but Chen Yong could hear the steel beneath the silk. This wasn't a request for information, it was a command to explain himself.

"I..." Chen Yong's throat felt dry as sand. "Sect Master, I confess that my knowledge of the boy's abilities has been... limited. These energy signatures are as much a surprise to me as they are to the rest of the council."

It wasn't technically a lie, he truly had no knowledge of the red energy, and his understanding of the blue energy was fragmentary at best. But the admission felt like ash in his mouth, and he could see that Sect Master Yuan wasn't entirely convinced.

"I see," Yuan said quietly. "How unfortunate. I had hoped that your closer relationship with the boy might have provided some additional context."

The words were mild, but Chen Yong felt them like a blade between his ribs.

Chen Yong had lived for over eight hundred years. He'd seen the rise and fall of dynasties, witnessed the birth and death of cultivation techniques, and observed the endless cycle of ambition and betrayal that defined the cultivation world. But in all those centuries, he'd rarely felt as helpless as he did at this moment.

Even if he wanted to protect Ke Yin, and he desperately did, what could a Life Realm elder do against a Civilization Realm sect master? The gap between their cultivation levels wasn't just a matter of degree; it was a fundamental difference in the nature of their existence.

Yuan could crush Chen Yong without even exerting effort, and they both knew it.

As he watched the standoff between his disciple and the Dao of Envy on the viewing screen, Chen Yong found himself silently apologizing to the young man who'd become more than just a sect mission.

"I'm sorry, boy," he thought, his hands clenched so tightly around his wine bottle that the ceramic began to crack. "I wanted to protect you, but I'm just not strong enough. I pray that whatever trouble you've stumbled into, the heavens will watch over you, because even if I wanted to help, I don't have the power to stand between you and the forces you've attracted.

May the Dao have mercy on us both."