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**Chapter 44: When the Mountains Whisper Back**
The sun had not fully risen, but Zeravon was already awake.
He stood barefoot in the training courtyard, where the wind was quiet, and the sky above wore hues of indigo and gold. The cracked stone beneath him, the same place where he had first felt Qi respond, pulsed faintly with warmth.
He exhaled slowly.
Not to release tension. But to align.
Each breath matched the rhythm of the leaves. The wind. The clouds drifting overhead.
He moved—arms flowing in circles, feet stepping over the Qi lines drawn by nature itself. He wasn't following any manual. No cultivation scripture. No technique.
And yet, the world responded.
Leaves turned in his direction. Dust circled his feet without dispersing. Bamboo shoots around the courtyard swayed in unison, though no breeze stirred them.
Then, a **low hum**.
Faint.
Deep.
It didn't come from the earth.
It came from the **mountain** itself.
Zeravon froze.
He looked up at the towering cliffs surrounding the Cloud Vein Sect.
Were they... answering him?
> *"Breath is memory. Movement is awakening."*
The voice echoed from within him, ancient, layered.
And for a moment, he wasn't in the courtyard.
He was standing under a **shattered sky**.
The stars were broken.
His body glowed with golden lines.
And beneath his feet, a vast abyss opened endlessly.
> *"Your path is not forward... it is downward."*
He gasped.
And the vision vanished.
---
**Elsewhere – Sect Perimeter Forest**
A group of cloaked figures stood at the edge of the Cloud Vein territory, hidden behind illusion arrays.
One of them, wearing a bone mask, tapped a soul mirror.
Zeravon's image appeared faintly on its surface.
> "That's him?" one muttered.
> "No doubt. The fluctuations began with him."
> "He doesn't even know what he is yet... Should we wait?"
The masked one tilted his head.
> "No. We follow when he leaves. The treasure grounds open soon... and the boy will be led there."
They vanished into shadow.
---
**Cloud Vein Pavilion – Later Morning**
Yueyin entered Zeravon's training courtyard quietly, carrying a sealed jade box.
She paused when she saw him standing silently in the center of the circle.
The cracked stones were glowing faintly again.
> "You moved energy through the ley veins without effort," she murmured.
Zeravon opened his eyes.
> "I didn't move it. It... moved me."
Yueyin smiled faintly, placing the box on a nearby bench.
> "Then your attunement is growing faster than expected."
She hesitated, then added:
> "There's a mission forming. Disciples will be sent to retrieve ancient spirit stones and relics from the Mistvale Ravine."
Zeravon said nothing.
> "You should go," Yueyin continued. "There are things hidden in that ravine... waiting for someone like you."
> "Like me?" Zeravon asked.
Yueyin looked directly into his eyes.
> "Someone who forgot why he sealed his past."
Zeravon's breath caught.
But before he could speak, Yueyin turned to leave.
> "Prepare yourself. You may not return the same."
As she left, the wind picked up.
And the mountains...
**hummed again.**
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