The kitchen courtyard of the Cloud-Mist Sect had never been this silent. Usually, it was a place of clattering pans, barking orders, and the rhythmic sound of laundry being beaten against stone. Now, even the mountain birds seemed to have hushed their song.
Long Chen stood at the center of the cracked pavement, his breath steady and slow. Opposite him, Elder Gao was no longer the picture of calm authority. The purple silk of his sleeves ruffled as his Qi flared in agitation. A Level 4 practitioner—someone who could crush boulders with a thought—was being stared down by a boy who smelled of lye soap and laundry steam.
"You stand under my pressure because I have been testing your resilience, boy," Gao lied, his voice vibrating with a dangerous, metallic edge. He couldn't admit that a servant had resisted his full aura. "But cultivation is not a game of standing still. It is the art of absolute force."
Gao gestured with a sharp, skeletal finger toward the corner of the courtyard. There sat a monolith of Deep-Sea Ironwood, a material as dense as lead and as hard as diamond. This was the Spirit-Testing Stone, used by Inner Disciples to measure the "penetration" and "weight" of their elemental strikes.
"Break it," Gao commanded, his eyes flashing with a predatory light. "If you can leave a mark, I will accept that your strength is natural. But if you fail... it proves you used a forbidden artifact to trick my senses earlier. And the punishment for tricking an Elder is to have your Dantian shattered and your tongue removed."
The disciples gathered on the balconies above began to jeer. Liu, his arm still bandaged from the previous day, leaned over the railing with a sneer. "Give it up, Dust! That stone has stood for a hundred years! Even Senior Brother Han only left a dent the size of a thumb!"
Long Chen didn't look at Liu. He didn't even look at the Elder. He walked toward the monolith, his bare feet feeling the subtle vibrations of the earth. He reached into the coarse rope belt tied around his waist and pulled out the Stone-Breaker's Gavel.
A roar of laughter erupted from the disciples.
"A mason's hammer?" one cried. "He's going to fix the stone instead of breaking it!"
"He's lost his mind from the cold!" another mocked.
Long Chen ignored the noise. To his Origin Sight, the world was no longer a collection of solid objects. The Ironwood monolith looked like a complex weave of dark energy fibers, all tied to a single "Anchor Point" near the base where the grain of the wood twisted.
He closed his eyes for a heartbeat, tuning his Pulse to the rhythm of the mountain. He didn't pull the hammer back for a massive swing. He didn't scream or flare any visible Qi.
He simply stepped into the stone's shadow and delivered a short, sharp tap to the Anchor Point at a precise 45-degree angle.
Tink.
The sound was tiny. It was the sound of a needle hitting a glass floor.
The laughter of the disciples cut off abruptly, replaced by a confused murmuring. For three long seconds, the stone stood unchanged. Elder Gao began to step forward, a cruel smile forming on his lips. "It seems your 'trick' has reached its—"
Crr-ack.
A hairline fracture appeared at the base of the monolith. Then, a sound like a thousand mirrors shattering at once filled the courtyard. The fracture raced upward, branching out like a bolt of lightning. The massive, five-ton block of Deep-Sea Ironwood didn't just break; it disintegrated.
The wood fibers, stripped of their structural logic by the Gavel's vibration, turned into a fine, grey powder that billowed out in a massive cloud, coating the front of Elder Gao's expensive purple robes in dust.
Long Chen stood in the center of the cloud, his hammer already tucked back into his belt. He looked through the haze at the stunned Elder.
"The stone was hollow," Long Chen said, his voice carrying a weight that made the ground beneath Gao's feet tremble. "Just like the logic of this Sect."
"You... you dare!" Gao sputtered, coughing on the dust of the monolith. His face turned a deep, bruised purple. He raised his hand, his Level 4 Qi forming a glowing blade of wind. "You have destroyed a Sect treasure! I will—"
"Enough."
A voice, cold and vast as the sky itself, descended from the highest peak. A white crane circled overhead, and a man with hair like flowing silver descended slowly, standing on a sword made of pure light.
It was the Sect Master, Yun Che.
The disciples immediately fell to their knees, their foreheads hitting the stone. Even Elder Gao lowered his hand, his body trembling.
Yun Che looked at the pile of dust that used to be the Testing Stone, then he looked at Long Chen. "A servant who understands the 'Grain of the World' before he even forms a Dantian," the Sect Master mused, his eyes piercing through Long Chen's rags.
"Elder Gao, the boy has passed your trial. But a talent that destroys our treasures cannot remain a servant. He will be entered into the New Moon Tournament in three days. If he survives the first round against the Outer Disciples, he stays. If he loses... the mountain will claim him."
Long Chen looked up at the Sect Master. He knew this wasn't a reward; it was a trap. They wanted to see his secrets in the light of day.
"I accept," Long Chen said, his hand subconsciously touching the rusted key in his pocket.
Author's Note: The "Smart" Breakdown
1. The Technique: Structural Resonance (Gavel Ability)
Area: Tactical Destruction.
Logic: Long Chen didn't use "Power" to break the stone. He used the Stone-Breaker's Gavel to send a vibration frequency that matched the "natural frequency" of the Ironwood. When those two frequencies met, the internal bonds of the object shattered instantly.
The Power Gap: Level 0 vs Level 4
Analysis: Long Chen is still physically at Bone Tempering (Mortal Stage 3). He won the "Aura Battle" because his bones are denser than the Elder's energy pressure. However, in a real fight, the Elder's speed would still be a problem. Long Chen needs to use the next three days to master his Origin Sight to compensate for his lack of speed.