Lin Qi's rising, albeit accidental, fame had placed the Whispering Willow Sect onto the political map. The major powers of the Eastern Continent—The Heaven-Shattering Palace (led by Lianhua's family) and the aggressive Iron Citadel—had called for a secretive Summit of Silent Accord to discuss the growing instability and the alarming rise of the "Unseen Master."
Sect Master Wu was commanded to attend, and he was terrified. He knew Lin Qi's presence was required to maintain the sect's façade, but Lin Qi's presence almost guaranteed disaster.
Lin Qi attended because Wu promised him a rare, extra-large candied haw on a stick.
The Summit was held in a remote, neutral location—a massive, ancient stone chamber designed to block all spiritual surveillance and enforce absolute, dignified silence. The room was tense, filled with high-level Sect Leaders and Elders, including the imposing Iron Citadel Master, Lord Jin, a man whose face was set in a permanent scowl.
The Problem of Diplomacy
The entire meeting hinged on delicate negotiations concerning territory and spirit stone mines. Lord Jin was preparing a fierce, calculated argument to annex a Whispering Willow mine.
Lin Qi sat at the low table, trying to look important. He was bored. He had eaten his candied haw and was now focused on the heavy, silver Ceremonial Peace Cup placed before him—a sacred relic designed to hold the symbolic "Qi of Consensus."
Lin Qi saw that the cup was placed slightly off-center. Being naturally inclined to correct small physical imbalances, he decided to fix it.
He carefully reached out and nudged the heavy silver cup to center it.
The sealed Core of Infinite Density again responded to the external focus. The simple act of touching the ceremonial cup, combined with Lin Qi's latent power, activated the core function of the relic.
The Ceremonial Peace Cup was designed to absorb any hostile, aggressive Qi directed toward it, ensuring the sanctity of the peace talks. When Lin Qi touched it, his sealed Grand-Emperor Void-Smasher Qi—pure, aggressive, and all-dominating—instantly rushed into the cup, completely overwhelming its absorption capacity.
The Spillage of Hostility
The cup couldn't process the cosmic level of Lin Qi's latent aggression. Instead of absorbing hostile Qi, it violently expelled all the years of political, suppressed hostility it had ever absorbed, focusing the concentrated, psychic rage directly onto the meeting's most aggressive player: Lord Jin.
K-R-R-I-I-N-G!
The Ceremonial Peace Cup didn't break, but it vibrated violently. A visible, black cloud of concentrated psychic hostility exploded from the cup and enveloped Lord Jin.
Lord Jin, the Iron Citadel Master, who was preparing his eloquent, aggressive argument, suddenly felt an overwhelming, concentrated spiritual assault—the pure, crushing, psychic weight of every hostile negotiation in the region's history, all focused on him.
He gasped, staggering backward. His perfectly prepared argument vanished from his mind. His Nascent Soul faltered under the psychic shock, and he fell into a state of temporary, debilitating Speechlessness.
Lin Qi, entirely oblivious, finished centering the cup. "There. Much better."
The Terror of the True Message
The entire chamber was silent, save for the pathetic choking sounds coming from Lord Jin.
The other Sect Leaders and Elders stared at Lin Qi. They hadn't seen a mistake; they had seen an execution.
They saw Lin Qi deliberately focus his mind on the Peace Cup and, with a subtle movement, force the sacred relic to expose and silence the room's most dangerous aggressor.
Sect Master Wu, his jaw slack, leaned forward. "He used the legendary 'Dao of Truthful Exposure!' He made the Cup betray the Master's hidden hostility! A profound political technique!"
Princess Lianhua, sitting nearby, shivered with admiration. "He gave a final, silent warning! He showed them that their petty territorial disputes are mere whispers against the true, Cosmic Aggression that he wields! And he used the sacred relic as his medium!"
Wu cleared his throat, seizing the moment of Lin Qi's overwhelming, accidental intimidation.
"The Summit concludes!" Wu declared, his voice ringing with newfound political confidence, which was entirely undeserved. "Disciple Lin Qi has demonstrated the true path to peace: the Destruction of the Will to Fight! The territorial boundaries remain exactly as they were!"
Wu leaned toward the recovering Lord Jin, who could only nod mutely in horrified agreement.
Wu finished with a triumphant, accidental political maxim:
> "When faced with a difficult argument, do not use words. Instead, merely center the sacred artifacts and allow the sheer weight of your untapped, cosmic power to silence your opponent's soul."
>
Lin Qi was immediately hailed as the Grand Negotiator of the Silent Accord. He left the summit victorious, not because he talked, but because he straightened a cup and accidentally inflicted spiritual trauma on a major political rival.