"Healer Brian! Are you saying cultivation caused this?" Elder Foreson asked incredulously.

"It might be possible. We need to know more." The man replied. Turning back to the bedridden youth he asked again. "Just how and what were you cultivating?"

Valerian thought back and answered truthfully. To be honest he was a bit hesitant to tell them as they would then know about his difficulties cultivating but he knew he must. Evidently, something went wrong and it was best to figure out what. Besides he couldn't hide this secret forever. So he began to tell them all about the trouble he faced when he tried to cultivate his qi and how it refused to respond to the cultivation method no matter what he did.

It was here that the strange middle-aged woman finally spoke up. She was dressed just like the elders only with a special maroon cloak. It completely set her apart as someone with authority and when she spoke everyone went silent and focused on her.

"That is impossible! What you are describing is a rejection and there is no way that any metal-attributed clan member would suffer a rejection from the Great Monolithic art. Especially not one who has been confirmed to have the blood legacy", she said.

"It is an art that originates with our earliest ancestor and one we have practised for as long we have existed. It not only trains our qi it enhances our strengths and bloodline and awakens our legacy. There has never been a rejection when practised by a metal-attributed clan member".

Valerian digested what she said. Then slowly and firmly he said to her, "It still happened".

Seeing that the woman was about to erupt Healer Brian quickly interjected. "That still doesn't explain your injuries, young man. Don't beat around the bush. Go straight to the point!"

Valerian shifted, ill at ease under the stern, fixated gazes of so many people. Nevertheless, he continued. "I'm coming to that sir. You see after nearly two weeks of trying with no success I was getting desperate. Since channelling the Great Monolithic art did nothing to budge my qi I memorised the path it was to take and then forcefully dragged my qi along that path".

Loud gasps filled the room at his proclamation. It was easy for them to see how his internal organs got mangled now. A dark look even covered his grandfather's face and he went completely silent. However, in the midst of the stunned silence came a question asked in a curious tone.

"How far did you get?" Healer Brian asked tentatively.

Valerian thought back, a pensive look on his face. It was hard for him to recollect those final moments before the blackness. In fact, a normal person would probably have blocked those memories. But fortunately or unfortunately, Valerian was no ordinary person.

"The last thing I remember is completing the first circuit before I lost control over my qi and then nothing but blackness until waking up here".

This time even the maroon-cloaked woman appeared stunned. Her lower jaw hung loose and she looked at him as if he was a monster of some kind. The others might not know what it meant but she and the healer knew full well what it would take to circulate qi that way. Especially according to a method his body was actively rejecting.

Before the meridian opening stage, qi remained a wild force in the body. This was why there were particular methods required to circulate it. The meridians weren't open yet so there was no proper channel for it. The most a person could do was push it into the bones or flesh to refine them. If one wanted to circulate it then a method was needed. For a child to be capable of forcefully circulating his qi thus was definitely some she had never heard of.

She exchanged a glance with the healer. It was remarkable and something that will be discussed in the meeting of the elders. Despite this, it was not something that should be encouraged.

"Never, ever do that again! You are lucky that you only managed one circuit and that the clan had the healers and resources on hand to cure the results of your foolishness. Even so you can clearly see what happened to your body. Any successive attempt would be several times worse and at that time even if the clan wanted to help we would be unable to. At best you will be left a cripple or a dullard, unable to cultivate, move your limbs or think correctly ever again. That is if you do not die".

Valerian nearly panicked as he listened to the healer. Had he really been that close to death? The very thought sent ghostly fingers running up and down his spine. There and then Valerian made a resolution to be more careful with his cultivation. He hadn't realised that just sitting down and channelling energy carried such a high risk.

"I'm curious though. We might have answered the question about how he got injured but there is still no explanation for why his body rejected the Great Monolithic Art" the maroon-cloaked woman pointed out.

"You are right!" Healer Brian conceded. "There is no reason it should. Young Valerian is a true Steelborn. He carries our blood and the Steel Monolith legacy and possesses an innate metal attribute. I can attest to that. He should have no problems channelling the method".

It was at this point that the magistrate finally spoke up. He had said nothing thus far and had merely wallowed in the suspicion that he was the reason that Valerian was lying in the infirmary. If he hadn't gone on and on about how important cultivation was and how terrible it was to not do so maybe Valerian would not have been pressured to do something so risky.

He too knew the full ramifications of what his grandson had done and what it meant that he had even been able to do it. He was an acclaimed scholar after all. But he said nothing of the matter. The only reason he was speaking up now was to help find a solution to Valerian's problem.

"Perhaps his mother's legacy is not as compatible with ours as we originally thought", he suggested.

Healer Brian and the woman in maroon mulled this over. It was possible that both legacies were clashing somehow in Valerian's body suppressing each other and preventing him from accessing either. It would explain why the steel monolithic transformation had not awakened despite all the signs that he had it. If so he would require some special methods that didn't favour one side, catering to both and did not provoke any adverse reaction.

The problem was that no one knew what his mother's legacy was. How would they find a suitable method if they had no clue what they should be searching for? The maroon-cloaked woman was just about to voice this out when someone said something.

"Yeah right! The problem is from his mother's legacy", one of the elders said with a sarcastic sneer. Valerian's eyes shot to him identifying him as the elder that had called his grandfather a wastrel the other time.

"What are you trying to imply?" his grandfather questioned angrily.

The man didn't hesitate to make his disdain plain to see. "Isn't it obvious? The grandfather's body cannot hold arcane energy and the grandson's rejects qi training. The connection is clear. What mother's legacy? That's just an excuse! I just can't believe you actually passed your filthy blood down and ruined a peerless talent for the clan".

"Y-yo-YOU!" Valan spluttered.

"You think because you're the patriarch's son I wouldn't dare. Just look at the boy and what's happened. It is obvious he carries your taint. The only question now is if his children would be similarly crippled or if it would skip a generation like it did with your son".

A chair screeched as his grandmother shot to her feet with a face so furious it looked like she would spit lightning. Richard pushed off the wall, an immense tower shield and a spear appearing in his hands out of thin air. The crystal at the top of Jonas' staff lit up casting red light everywhere.

Seeing that a fight was going to break out the maroon-cloaked lady quickly intervened.

"ENOUGH!" she yelled.

Waves of power accompanied her voice and suppressed everyone in the room. It was as if they were standing right next to a ringing church bell. The word rang in their ears and shook their very souls. It took several seconds before anyone could shake off the disorientation. Luckily thanks to her control everyone experienced the same degree of effect regardless of cultivation level. So the weaker ones among them did not have their brains dribbling out of their ears.

"Elder Grant, you are out of line! Richard, Jonas stand down. Now!" she barked.

The elder looked affronted and the two brothers still looked murderous. The former because he didn't understand why he was being chastised for saying what was obviously the truth and the latter two because they, like everyone else from the magistrate's household knew just how hard the elder had poked the magistrate's weak spots.

"Grant you will report yourself to the listless cavern for one month's punishment effective immediately! Valan you will come outside with me!"

"But..." Elder Grant tried to get out. He was nailed with a dark look from the maroon-cloaked woman and ended up saying. "Yes, Great Elder!"

Grant looked like he was about to protest, Valan looked gloomy, the members of the magistrate's household still looked furious, Foreson, the other elder and the healer were decidedly uneasy and the great elder merely strode out the door expecting to be obeyed. All of them forgot about the young boy in their midst. A boy who looked at the door his grandfather and the elder had just gone through with a fierce light and an unnoticed spark of comprehension in his eyes.