The inner sect training ground was a paradise carved from the mountain.
Where the female disciples stood on bare stone in the outer sect, the male disciples trained on a platform of polished jade, surrounded by spirit-wood trees that filtered the mountain air through their golden leaves.
The spirit pond sat at the center — a crystalline pool of condensed qi so dense that the surface shimmered like liquid gold.
Formation arrays etched into the jade platform circulated spiritual energy in visible ribbons, wrapping around the meditating disciples in coils of light.
