The Inner Sect Judgment Hall had not been opened this early in years.
Cold stone pillars lined the vast chamber, each engraved with ancient Azure River sigils that faintly pulsed under spiritual illumination. A low mist of condensed Qi drifted across the floor, disturbed only when the sect elders arrived one by one.
This was not a gathering.
It was a response.
At the center of the hall lay three reports sealed in black lacquered scroll cases.
And beneath them—
A fractured record of what had occurred in the outer sect.
The hall master stood at the front, hands behind his back.
"Report again," he said.
A kneeling disciple swallowed.
"Three enforcement disciples were deployed. All three lost cultivation. Not killed. Not injured. Their Qi structures were completely removed."
A murmur spread through the room.
An elder narrowed his eyes. "Removed how?"
The disciple hesitated.
"…We don't know."
Silence sharpened instantly.
Another elder leaned forward. "That is not an answer."
The disciple lowered his head further. "There are no known residual techniques. No elemental traces. No formation signatures consistent with extraction arts."
The hall grew heavier.
One elder scoffed. "Impossible. Even forbidden arts leave residue."
Another voice cut in.
"Unless the residue itself is consumed."
The room shifted.
All eyes turned toward Elder Shen.
He was older than most present, his robes slightly faded, his expression unreadable. His gaze remained on the scrolls.
"Continue," he said calmly.
The disciple nodded quickly.
"Inner Sect Hunter Unit was deployed. Rank Six suppression class. Upon contact, the target demonstrated partial disruption of suppression formation and induced instability in the Hunter's Qi structure."
A ripple of unease spread.
"The Hunter retreated voluntarily," the disciple added.
That statement landed harder than anything before it.
A retreating Inner Sect Hunter was not normal.
It was classification-level behavior.
The hall master finally spoke.
"What is the identity of the target?"
The disciple hesitated.
"…Li Feng. Outer disciple."
For a brief moment, no one responded.
Then laughter broke out from one of the younger elders.
"An outer disciple? This entire situation is caused by an outer disciple?"
Another elder shook his head slowly. "That is either incompetence or fabrication."
But Elder Shen did not react.
He simply asked, "What was the effect on the Hunter?"
The disciple answered carefully.
"Partial Qi destabilization. Temporary structural fragmentation of cultivation flow."
The laughter stopped immediately.
Now the hall was quiet again.
Elder Shen finally looked up.
"…Structural fragmentation," he repeated softly.
That phrase changed the atmosphere.
Because it was not a term used lightly.
It implied something fundamental.
Not injury.
Not depletion.
Alteration.
The hall master turned slightly. "Explain what you mean."
The disciple swallowed. "The Hunter reported that the target does not absorb Qi in a normal sense. He dismantles it at structural level during contact."
A pause.
Then:
"…Like breaking the foundation of cultivation itself."
A heavy silence followed.
One elder spoke slowly. "That is not a technique."
Another responded immediately. "Then what is it?"
No one answered.
Because there was no category for it.
Elder Shen finally stood.
His presence immediately suppressed the murmuring.
"There are three possibilities," he said calmly.
He raised one finger.
"First: an unknown forbidden art has emerged."
A second finger.
"Second: an ancient inheritance resurfaced."
A third.
"Third…"
He paused.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"…It is not cultivation at all."
That statement caused a ripple of tension.
The hall master frowned. "Explain."
Elder Shen looked at the scrolls again.
"If it truly dismantles Qi structure rather than absorbing it, then it does not interact with spiritual energy as we understand it. It interacts with the underlying rules that define it."
A silence stretched.
One elder muttered, "That's impossible…"
But his voice lacked conviction.
Another spoke more sharply. "If that were true, then any cultivator it touches—"
"—would cease to be cultivators," Elder Shen finished.
The hall grew colder.
The hall master exhaled slowly.
"Then we treat it as what it is."
Everyone looked at him.
"A threat."
He turned slightly.
"Prepare suppression orders."
One elder immediately spoke. "We should eliminate it before it spreads."
Another responded sharply. "No. We study it. If this is an inheritance—"
"If it is studied and escapes containment," the first elder cut in, "then the sect collapses."
The hall began to divide.
Voices overlapped.
"Kill it immediately."
"Capture it for research."
"Report it to the regional authority."
"Do not escalate this beyond sect boundaries yet."
Elder Shen listened quietly.
Then he spoke.
"All of you are assuming it is stable."
The hall quieted again.
He continued.
"Based on Hunter report, the target's ability is inconsistent under pressure. That means it may evolve."
A pause.
"If it evolves uncontrollably, containment becomes impossible."
The hall master's expression hardened.
"Your suggestion?"
Elder Shen looked at the sealed scroll.
"Do not engage further with mid-tier units."
That sentence alone shifted the entire room.
"No enforcement teams?"
Elder Shen shook his head slightly.
"Higher losses will only accelerate unknown adaptation."
A heavier silence followed.
Then one elder asked quietly.
"Then who do we send?"
Elder Shen finally answered.
A single line.
"Someone who understands anomalies."
No one responded immediately.
Because everyone understood what that implied.
Inner Sect Hunters were already elite suppression units.
Anything beyond them meant one thing:
The sect was preparing to escalate beyond normal structure.
The hall master closed his eyes briefly.
"…Prepare the decision for the sect leader."
The room went still.
That was the final stage before external notification or execution-level classification.
The meeting ended without celebration, without resolution.
Only uncertainty.
And somewhere in the distance—
Beyond the sect walls—
Li Feng remained unaware of how quickly
the world had begun to reshape around him.