Morning came quietly to the Clear Sky Sect. Yet the stillness that once filled the mountain felt different now, heavy as if the air itself carried a secret. Mist curled between the pine trees, and the sound of distant bells seemed duller than usual. Jian Wu stood alone in the training field, the grass damp with dew, his breath pale in the cold air.
Whispers floated behind him. Since the duel with Lin Chen, rumors about the strange light from Jian Wu's body had spread through every corner of the sect.
"They say he broke Lin Chen's sword without Qi."
"That can't be true. He has no core. It must be a trick."
"I heard the elders sealed the arena after he left. The energy lingered for hours."
He pretended not to hear. Explaining would only make them more suspicious. Silence was his only ally. Inside his chest, that faint pulse remained, steady as ever, a beat that did not belong to a heart.
As he stood beneath the morning sun, the voice came again, quiet and deep, echoing through his thoughts.
"You are beginning to hear me… at last."
Jian Wu froze. His eyes darted around the empty courtyard.
"Who are you?" he whispered.
No answer came, only a faint chill that brushed against his neck like a breath from another world. The presence was there, unseen, but alive.
Before he could question further, a firm voice called from across the yard.
"Jian Wu. Come with me."
It was Master Liang. His tone was calm, but his gaze held the weight of something unspoken.
The sect hall was colder than usual. Beams of light fell through the cracks of the wooden roof, drawing pale lines across the stone floor. Jian Wu knelt in the center while three elders stood before him. One of them, an old man in a silver-blue robe, studied him in silence.
Master Liang broke the quiet first. "Jian Wu, the power you displayed during your duel was not of ordinary nature. The spiritual barrier in the mountain behind us trembled last night."
Jian Wu's eyes widened. "That was because of me?"
The elder in blue nodded slowly. "Most likely. The mountain wards respond only to foreign energy. Whatever awakened within you has disrupted their balance."
"I didn't mean for it to happen," Jian Wu said softly. "I don't even understand what this power is."
"That is what concerns us," the elder replied. "You will stay under observation. From tonight onward, you are to reside at the lakeside pavilion. No disciple may approach without permission."
Jian Wu lowered his head. "Understood."
The lakeside pavilion stood apart from the main sect, half hidden by tall reeds and willows. At night, the moon cast silver ripples across the water, and the wind carried the soft rustle of leaves. Jian Wu sat by the window, staring at his reflection on the lake's surface. His face looked calm, but his eyes were tired, haunted by something he could not name.
"If you're real," he murmured, "then speak to me."
Silence stretched thin. Then, like a sigh within his bones, the voice returned.
"I am not outside of you, Jian Wu. I am what was lost."
He blinked. "What do you mean?"
"The world believes you are hollow, that your body holds no core. But the core is only a vessel, a cage for borrowed Qi. You carry something older, something this world has forgotten."
Jian Wu clenched his fists. "You're saying this power isn't Qi?"
The voice laughed softly, a sound that felt ancient and cold.
"Once, before mortals divided spirit from flesh, there existed a current that moved through everything, the Breath of Origin. I am its echo. You are its host."
He stared at the water, disbelief etched in his eyes. "If that's true, why me?"
"Because the world has chosen to forget. And someone must remember."
The words faded, leaving behind only the sound of the lake lapping gently against the shore. Yet even after the silence returned, the water began to tremble, as if something deep beneath its surface had stirred.
The next morning, the sect was restless. Disciples whispered of strange lights over the mountain and the faint sound of singing near the lake at night. Patrols reported seeing shadows moving beneath the water. The elders ordered the barrier reinforced, but each time they tried to stabilize the flow of Qi, the stones engraved with the sect's formation cracked.
Master Liang frowned as he studied the formation map. "Something is disrupting the natural balance of the mountain. It started the same night Jian Wu moved to the pavilion."
Another elder spoke cautiously. "Could he be the source?"
"We cannot be certain," Master Liang replied. "But if he is, then we are already too late."
At the pavilion, Jian Wu sat cross-legged in meditation. The world outside buzzed with fear and suspicion, but inside his mind there was only stillness, and that pulse. He followed it deeper, past his breath, past thought itself. Slowly, the darkness within him opened.
He saw nothing but endless mist. A boundless space of pale light and shadow, quiet yet alive.
And in the distance, a figure stood waiting.
It was shaped like a man, but its body was made of flowing silver light. Jian Wu felt both awe and unease as he stepped closer.
"Who are you?" he asked.
The figure lifted its head. Its eyes glowed softly, mirroring Jian Wu's own reflection in the water.
"I am the echo of a power this world abandoned. You… are my vessel."
Before Jian Wu could speak, the figure reached out. Its touch was cold but gentle, and in that instant, a flood of memories surged into Jian Wu's mind. Images flashed before his eyes, ancient battles beneath a crimson sky, cities floating in the clouds, beings of silver light falling into darkness.
He gasped and stumbled backward. "What is this?"
"The end of an age," the voice whispered. "And the beginning of yours."
The light faded, and Jian Wu's consciousness snapped back to his body. His eyes flew open. Sweat clung to his skin, and the air around him shimmered faintly with silver mist. Outside, dawn painted the sky with streaks of red and gold.
Beneath the calm surface of the lake, something moved.
Deep within the mountain, in a hidden chamber beneath the sect, the elders gathered around a glowing crystal. Waves of faint light rippled across its surface, forming a trembling circle that pulsed in rhythm with Jian Wu's heart.
One of the elders spoke in a low voice. "This energy… it does not belong to this realm."
Master Liang's expression was grave. "Whatever has awakened within that boy, it is not by chance. The balance of this world may already be shifting."
He turned toward the crystal again. Its light flared suddenly, flooding the room with silver brilliance.
Far above them, the wind swept across the peaks. The clouds gathered, twisting into spirals.
And on the quiet lake outside the pavilion, a single ripple spread outward, slow, steady, endless, as if something vast beneath the water had just opened its eyes.