By the time Feng Xieyun approached twelve years of age, the Pavilion's annual Recognition Ceremony loomed. It was a rite where Outer Disciples displayed progress before the elders. Those chosen would be granted inner sect tutelage, resources, and prestige.
Failure meant obscurity—or dismissal.
For Xieyun, the ceremony was both danger and opportunity. He needed recognition to complete the System's quest. But too much strength would draw the Lin Clan's gaze.
The balance was a razor's edge.
---
The day of the ceremony dawned bright, banners rippling across the training square. Parents of noble disciples arrived in silks, their retinues whispering wagers about which child would shine.
Xieyun stood among them in plain Pavilion robes, his small figure overlooked, ignored. Xu Liang's absence had long been forgotten, blamed on weakness. None connected it to him.
One by one, disciples demonstrated their arts. Blades danced, Qi flared, techniques roared. Cheers rose for each dazzling display.
When Xieyun's name was called, snickers spread.
"The useless one?"
"Why waste time?"
He stepped forward calmly. His wooden sword trembled slightly in his grip—deliberately. He bowed to the elders.
"My form is poor, but I will try my best."
He began the standard sword kata. Slow, hesitant, his steps seemed awkward. The crowd chuckled. But then—at a single turn—his blade flicked with unnatural precision, splitting a falling leaf in half midair.
Gasps.
He stumbled immediately after, nearly dropping the sword, his cheeks flushing. Laughter returned.
But Elder Mo's eyes sharpened. He had seen the precision, the timing. That single stroke was not luck.
Xieyun finished clumsily and bowed. "Forgive my shortcomings."
Most elders dismissed him with disinterest. But Elder Mo raised a hand.
"This boy," he said softly, "is not without merit. I nominate him for provisional recognition."
Whispers surged. Some objected. But Pavilion law gave each elder one nomination, no matter the disciple's apparent worth.
Thus, Feng Xieyun was accepted.
The System chimed:
> [Quest Complete: Pavilion Recognition Achieved.]
[Reward Unlocked: Heavenly Demon Scripture, Third Seal Activated.]
That night, pain and revelation surged again. The Third Seal granted him Mask of Thousand Faces—a technique allowing him to project false auras, even imitating other bloodlines.
With this, concealment was no longer just passive. It was weaponized.
---
But as he meditated on the new power, a shadow lingered in his thoughts. Elder Mo. The old man's eyes had seen too much.
And in the Pavilion's deepest archives, Elder Mo stood alone before a sealed jade tablet, tracing its runes with trembling fingers.
"The bone has returned," he whispered. "Just as foretold… but in the wrong hands."
The jade tablet pulsed faintly, revealing an inscription older than the Pavilion itself—words that tied the Heavenly Demon Dao Bone not to the Lin Clan, but to something far older.