The first rays of dawn barely brushed the jagged peaks of Canglei Mountain when Jiang Xuan returned to the outer sect quarters, his silhouette cutting through the pale light like a shadow born of night. 

His clothes were damp with cold mist, his face pale and eyes sunken from exhaustion , but his steps never wavered, and his mind had never been sharper.

In the hush before morning duties began, the world around him felt… different .

As he crossed the courtyard, an unfamiliar pressure rippled through the ground beneath his feet , subtle, yet undeniable. 

A resonance, faint but unmistakable, thrummed in the air. 

The fragmented jade talisman hidden in his pouch pulsed once in response, its rhythm aligning with something vast, ancient, and deeply buried beneath the mountain’s roots.

[System Prompt: Relic Echo fluctuation detected.]

[Synchronization: Active.]

A faint outline of invisible threads stretched out before him, delicate as spider silk yet pulsing with unseen energy. 

They pointed once more toward the southeast , Mistveil Grove . But this time… there was something new. 

Another pulse. A tremor so subtle no one else even noticed it.

Jiang Xuan clenched his fist. 

He could feel it now , the mountain itself was stirring, its ancient bones awakening from a slumber that had lasted centuries.

Far above the sect grounds, within the towering Grand Hall of Elders , a different kind of tension filled the air. 

The chamber was thick with the scent of smoldering incense and cold stone, the silence heavy with unspoken dread.

Elder Feng Yuan knelt on the polished floor, his posture low in deference to the figure seated before him , Venerable Shan , the sect master. 

An aged man whose cloudy eyes burned faintly like dying coals buried beneath layers of time.

“Venerable,” Feng Yuan rasped, bowing even lower. “There was… a disturbance last night.”

Shan’s voice emerged like gravel shifting in the dark , deep, weary, and edged with danger.

“The seal beneath Lingyuan Plaza . It shifted.”

“Yes, Senior.” Feng Yuan swallowed hard. “The formation’s residual pulse reached the southern wards. The disciples sensed nothing, but… I fear something ancient has begun to awaken.”

Shan’s gaze narrowed, his expression grim. “Then it’s too soon.”

Before Feng Yuan could reply, the hall dimmed as if the very light had been smothered.

From the shadows emerged a figure , tall, draped in black robes that seemed woven from mist itself. 

His face was obscured by a veil of shimmering darkness, and his presence bled a suffocating cold into the air, pressing down like the weight of forgotten gods.

Shan’s expression tightened.

“You.”

The figure’s voice was barely a whisper, yet it cracked the air like a blade slicing through silence.

“You felt it, old man. The relic stirs. The child… has found it.”

“A mistake we cannot afford.”

“The heavens have already marked him.” The figure’s tone carried no malice, only inevitability. “Interfere… and you will invite ruin upon this sect.”

A long silence hung between them, thick and unmoving.

Then, like smoke caught in the wind, the figure vanished , leaving behind only emptiness and the echo of fate.

Shan let out a slow, heavy breath. “So it begins.”

Back in the outer sect barracks, Jiang Xuan sat cross-legged in a quiet corner of his dilapidated quarters. 

Before him, the jade talisman hovered slightly above his palm, faint tendrils of light bleeding from its shattered edges. 

His system interface flickered with incoming data, glowing softly in the dim room.

[Quest Update: Relic Echo – Trace the Origin]

[New Coordinates: Subterranean Ruins Beneath Mistveil Grove.]

[Estimated Power Level Required: Spirit Condensation (Peak)]

Jiang Xuan sneered, a cold, razor-edged curl of his lips.

Too bad. I’m not waiting that long.

But before he could refocus, a sharp knock echoed through the room.

“Jiang Xuan, ” came a voice dripping with mockery , all too familiar. Liu Tianyi.

Jiang Xuan rose slowly, tucking the jade talisman into his robe. 

His expression remained outwardly calm, but beneath the surface, a storm of killing intent simmered, coiling like a serpent ready to strike.

“I hear you’ve been crawling around the ruins like a rat,” Liu Tianyi sneered as he stepped inside, flanked by two brutish cronies. 

“You’ve wasted enough of our air, cripple. Tonight, I’m ending this joke for good.”

Jiang Xuan’s smile thinned , barely a twitch at the corner of his mouth, yet filled with quiet menace. “Then you’ll regret ever coming here.”

Before either could move, however, a sudden, piercing chime rang within Jiang Xuan’s mind , sharp, urgent, undeniable.

[System Prompt: Relic Pulse Surge Imminent.]

Far in the distance, deep beneath the mountain, an ancient and unseen force stirred , something vast, slumbering, now awakening.

The very earth trembled in response.

Jiang Xuan’s eyes flashed with cold fire.

Let them come.

The relic calls…

and I answer.