The hall was silent.
Elder Biyu — the slender, sharp-faced woman — spoke first. Her voice was precise, clipped, carrying the aristocratic refinement of a woman who had spent her life in the halls of power.
"Physical intimacy," she repeated. "You are telling us that this individual — this 'ancestor' — engages in carnal relations with mortal women, and through this act, elevates their cultivation to Core Formation?"
"That is what the reports say, Elder Biyu," the informant said. "The evidence is visible. Pillars of golden light have appeared across the eastern sky for the past three days. Each pillar carries the energy signature of a Core Formation breakthrough. I have counted seventeen. My colleagues in the field have counted more."
