Qi Condensation — Late Stage! Seeing through the shadows!

Su Xiaobai sat cross-legged, his entire focus inward, the energy surging within him like a storm about to break.

Elder Bai's touch had ignited a powerful reaction inside his dantian, flooding his body with refined True Qi.

His Elemental Seed had long sprouted multiple branches, each representing his control over various elements. These branches allowed him to harness the power of the elements, but there was always a catch—a limitation that had held him back for too long.

As the energy swirled in his dantian, the Flame branch ignited first, flaring with fiery intensity. Another branch crackled with Lightning, while a third pulsed with the sharp currents of Wind Qi. Other branches hummed with different elemental forces—Water, Earth, and more.

There was no fixed number, no specific place for each element. Each branch could channel whatever element he desired.

But the problem was that the closer these branches were to one another, the more unstable his control became.

As he tried to activate both Flame and Wind at once, the two elements clashed violently within him. Fire roared as wind whipped around it, intensifying the flames until they threatened to spiral out of control.

The Lightning branch surged next, sending sparks through the chaos, but instead of enhancing his power, it collided with the wind, causing an instant backlash.

"Argh!" Su Xiaobai grunted as the elements inside him fought for dominance, his body trembling under the strain. 'This is the curse of the Elemental Branching Stage,' he thought bitterly. 'Whenever I try to use multiple elements at once, they crash into each other like raging beasts!'

The power within him was vast, but it lacked harmony. Each element was too close to the others, and when activated simultaneously, they would inevitably collide, leading to painful backlash. He could control one element at a time with ease, maybe two but to wield several?

That was another story.

But today, that would change.

As the energy continued to surge within him, Su Xiaobai pushed past the chaos. His mind sharpened, focusing not on the clashing elements but on the potential for growth.

His branches strained under the pressure, the elemental Qi swirling violently, but instead of letting the energy tear him apart, he guided it.

Slowly, the branches began to extend. The distance between them grew, the Flame Qi no longer brushing up against the Wind, and the Lightning Qi moving further away from the others.

The once-chaotic storm within his dantian started to calm, the branches stretching outward, forming more space between each element.

And then, something shifted.

The branches weren't just growing—they were evolving. Each branch, once limited by its proximity to the others, began to spread even further, forming intricate patterns.

The elements started to stabilize, no longer clashing as they had before. They were still there—Fire, Lightning, Wind, and the others—but now they existed in perfect isolation, spaced apart like stars in the night sky.

The Elemental Seed had transformed. The branches were no longer cramped together, constantly threatening to clash. Instead, they formed 'constellations', networks of energy that allowed the elements to flow without colliding.

The Flame Qi blazed bright on one side, while the Wind Qi flowed freely on the other, no longer feeding the fire in chaotic bursts. The Lightning Qi, once unstable and erratic, now sparked calmly, its energy confined to its own constellation, completely isolated from the others.

The once-turbulent Qi within him had settled into a balanced harmony. Each element still pulsed with raw power, but now, they no longer fought each other for control.

Su Xiaobai's dantian had become a vast sky of constellations, each element a star in its own space, perfectly isolated yet ready to be called upon.

Su Xiaobai's eyes snapped open, a smirk playing on his lips. He could feel it—the Qi Condensation Late Stage.

The chaotic storm of elements that had once threatened to rip him apart was now a controlled symphony, each element in perfect balance.

He raised a hand, testing the power now at his disposal. A gust of wind swirled around his fingertips, but this time, it wasn't met with resistance.

Crackle! Crackle!

He flicked his wrist, and Lightning crackled alongside the wind, the two elements coexisting without a single hint of backlash.

His control had never been this precise, this effortless.

'So this is the Elemental Constellation Stage,' he thought, flexing his fingers as the power flowed through him. The once-unstable branches had grown into constellations, giving each element the space it needed to function independently.

A grin spread across Su Xiaobai's face as he turned slightly and nodded towards Elder Bai, who had been observing him from a distance.

Her face remained indifferent, as though she hadn't even noticed his acknowledgment.

Clearly, she wasn't interested in offering him any praise.

To her, it seemed, helping him was merely a way of maintaining the dignity of the Xiantian Sect—not an act of goodwill.

Her cool attitude made Su Xiaobai's eye twitch.

'Tch, so high and mighty,' he thought, but in truth, he didn't mind it. In fact, he appreciated righteous people like her—people bound by principles, shackled by their so-called morals.

They're predictable.

With someone like Elder Bai watching over them, even if the Xiantian Sect disciples harbored ill intentions, they wouldn't dare show it in front of her.

That much he could count on.

The moment they slipped up in her presence, it would be their doom. And Su Xiaobai liked knowing his enemies were too restrained to act.

As he observed the scene before him, his attention shifted to Xiao Yu, the short-haired guy with a cold expression.

Xiao Yu's shadow copy was mirroring his every move, mimicking his technique perfectly, but Su Xiaobai noticed something strange.

"To conserve energy, he's switched to physical combat..." Su Xiaobai muttered, understanding Xiao Yu's approach. Everyone had stopped using profound techniques by now, choosing to rely on their bodies alone.

Hand-to-hand combat was less taxing on their Qi reserves, and it seemed the shadows mirrored their tactics, only matching the energy output their opponents used.

But still, wouldn't they tire eventually? Even if it took days, physical combat would wear them down just the same.

'They can't keep this up forever.' Su Xiaobai narrowed his eyes. 'This whole place is a trial—there has to be a way to outlast these shadows. Whoever created this challenge didn't make it impossible.'

He studied the shadows carefully. 'What are they drawing energy from? They couldn't have limitless strength, could they? Even if they mirrored the cultivators, they had to have some kind of limit, right? If ten immortal kings like Ning Gufan stepped in, there's no way these shadows could mimic their full power.'

Then something caught his eye.

After each exchange, not all the shadows performed with the same intensity.

There was a subtle shift—almost imperceptible, but there. It was as if the shadows were transferring energy between each other.

When five of them fought at full strength, sixth shadow would move slightly slower. The pattern wasn't obvious, but it repeated, like a hidden rhythm in the chaos.

"They're circulating energy among themselves..." Su Xiaobai murmured, "They're not fighting at full strength all the time. The energy flow shifts between them, keeping the balance but giving each shadow a moment of rest."

The shadows were playing a game of endurance. By constantly shifting the burden of energy from one to another, they maintained the illusion of infinite strength.

It was like a chain—when one shadow slacked off, another picked up the slack, making it almost impossible for the cultivators to spot the weakness.

But from his position as an observer, Su Xiaobai could see the pattern clearly.

He smirked. "So that's how they're keeping it up. Clever, but now that I see it..." His gaze flicked between the disciples, none of whom had noticed the shadows' subtle trickery.

They were too busy focusing on their individual fights, too caught up in the struggle to notice the energy fluctuations.

"They're fighting the wrong way..." Su Xiaobai muttered under his breath, amused by the situation.

If they continued like this, they'd tire out, never realizing the shadows were conserving their strength in plain sight.