The wind howled across Dawnmist Peak as evening fell, but the silence was heavier than the storm.
A-Yan sat on the steps outside the training hut, hugging her knees, staring at the fading clouds. Her eyes were still wide from earlier—when her master had moved like a phantom and made a Sect envoy back down without lifting a finger.
She had never seen anyone do that.
She had never imagined anyone like that.
She glanced at the scroll in her lap—the Flickering Shadow Step—and then back toward the courtyard, where Luo Feng now stood alone, slowly moving through forms with calm precision.
He looked ordinary. Quiet. Tired, even.
But she had seen what he'd become when someone threatened her.
She smiled quietly to herself.
Inside the main halls of the Celestial Dawn Sect, however, the atmosphere was anything but calm.
"I don't care what excuses Jiang Wei had—he should've brought the girl back!"
Elder Mo slammed his fist on the jade table, cracking it slightly. His beard trembled with anger as other elders looked on, either silent or pretending to ponder.
Elder Qing, a frail woman with sharp eyes and a sharper tongue, crossed her arms. "You're the one who wanted him monitored, not killed. Can't be surprised he pushed back. He was an elder once, even if he's a disgrace now."
"Was," Elder Mo spat. "He's a threat now. He's regained strength, and he's training disciples again. If we don't cut him off now, that peak becomes a problem."
A younger elder at the edge of the room cleared his throat. "Forgive my ignorance, but why do we fear him? He lost his cultivation. He's barely alive—"
"You don't understand." Elder Mo's voice dropped, but the heat in it didn't. "Luo Feng was different. Before the incident, he had potential even the Sect Leader feared. He didn't advance like others. He didn't rely on pills or bloodlines. He understood things. He moved like a man who saw the world five steps ahead."
"And now," Elder Qing added, "he has a disciple. The start of a lineage."
The room fell silent.
None of them wanted to admit the truth out loud:
In this world, lineages were more dangerous than armies.
Back on Dawnmist Peak, Luo Feng finished his forms and walked to where A-Yan waited. She stood quickly, brushing dust off her robe.
"Did I do something wrong?" she asked.
He raised an eyebrow. "No. Why?"
"You didn't say anything after Jiang left. I thought maybe… maybe I embarrassed you."
Luo Feng blinked, then chuckled softly. "A-Yan, you stood behind me like a mountain. You didn't run. You didn't cry. You did exactly what a disciple should."
She looked down, cheeks flushing red. "Oh."
He sat beside her on the stone steps and looked out at the dusk settling over the world.
"When I first came here," he said, "I thought I'd be alone forever. That this place would be a prison. But then you showed up. And the moment you accepted me as your teacher… I wasn't alone anymore."
A-Yan's eyes shimmered in the fading light.
"You won't always be weak," he said. "There's something sleeping inside you. The system told me."
"System?"
"Don't worry about it." He waved it off. "What matters is that you trust me, and I'll help you wake it up. One day, you'll walk across the sky, and those people who call us trash will drop to their knees."
She smiled. "I think I already believe that."
(Ding! Disciple bond strengthened: Loyalty increased to 85%.Hidden affinity unlocked: "Voidwalker Constitution – Stage 1 awakening possible.")
Luo Feng raised an eyebrow as the system prompt faded. Stage 1?
That meant it was time.
"Tomorrow," he said. "We start working on your inner energy. If we can awaken the first stage of your body's power… things will change."
A-Yan straightened. "Yes, Master!"
Far beyond the Sect—across mountains and rivers, deep within the ruins of a forgotten fortress—another man sat in stillness.
His robes were black and gray, tattered at the hem but lined with ancient runes. Around him, shadowy figures kneeled in silence, their faces empty, eyes glazed.
Before him floated a screen of light—an artifact forged of twisted metal and dark jade, pulsing with red sigils.
He watched the scene play out: Luo Feng on his peak, training his disciple. Jiang Wei retreating. The girl holding a scroll.
He smiled. It was a small smile. Cold. Knowing.
"So… you've begun."
The artifact glowed brighter.
System Node 002 detected active: Celestial Mentor variant located.Primary Node Holder: Luo Feng.Status: Growth accelerating. Risk Level: High.
He tapped a ring on his finger.
Override Path ready. Engage Shadow Protocol?
"No," the man said. "Let him build his little empire. Let him think he's winning."
He stood.
"I'll take everything from him once it's ripe."
He turned, his own disciples rising silently behind him—eyes hollow, breath shallow, puppets crafted through blood and deception.
"You were given your system," he said to the dark, "but I stole mine."
"And I will end you with it."