The night settled over Heavenly Peak with a slow, creeping calm. Stars blinked above the broken rooftops, scattered like grains of white sand across a dark sheet. Haoran sat on the steps of the main hall, elbows on his knees, staring at the egg tucked safely in its makeshift alcove.
He wasn't sure why he was watching it so closely. Maybe because it glowed a little brighter every time the wind shifted. Maybe because the System's cryptic warnings had done absolutely nothing for his nerves. Or maybe because, deep down, some instinct he didn't fully understand told him this egg mattered a lot more than the System was saying.
Zhang Iron-Eater lay on his back in the courtyard, hands folded over his stomach. "Master, if it hatches into something big, do we get to name it?"
Ruolan swept leaves a few paces away. "Should we be naming things before they hatch?"
"It's motivational," Zhang argued.
Haoran rubbed his temples. "Zhang, you tried to eat it earlier. You're not allowed to name it."
"That was just curiosity," Zhang protested. "Besides, I only eat things I respect."
"That's not how respect works."
Ruolan paused her sweeping to look at the egg. "It really is changing. The glow feels… stronger."
The System chimed suddenly.
[Correction: The egg is reacting to the improved state of the sect. Even your slight progress counts for something, Host. Slightly.]
Haoran sighed. "You have a very strange way of encouraging people."
[If I encouraged you too well, you'd get complacent.]
"That's not how encouragement works either."
The System ignored him.
[Host. Observe carefully. The egg is nearing its first awakening phase.]
Ruolan stepped closer. "What happens during the first phase?"
[Usually movement. Sometimes sound. Occasionally an explosion.]
Haoran snapped upright. "Explosion? What kind of guardian beast explodes?"
[All guardian beasts are unique. Yours may simply be… spirited.]
"That is not comforting."
Zhang sat up abruptly. "It moved again. I swear it did."
Ruolan approached the alcove, kneeling down with cautious grace. Haoran watched the way she held her breath—she almost looked afraid of harming it, despite her strength.
The egg pulsed once.
A faint tremor ran through the stone beneath it.
Haoran stood. "There. That wasn't just imagination."
Ruolan nodded, eyes narrowing slightly. "It's… alive."
The System corrected her.
[Everything in that egg has been alive since before the Lower Dust Realm formed.]
Haoran froze. "What does that mean?"
[It means stop asking questions you're not ready for.]
Haoran stared at the sky for a long moment, resigned. "One day," he muttered, "I will figure you out."
[Unlikely.]
Before he could respond, the egg gave a stronger pulse—so sudden Ruolan rocked back on her heels. Zhang scrambled to his feet, metal bits clattering out of his pockets.
Haoran felt the air shift.
A small ripple.
Not of qi, but of something finer. Older.
He stepped toward the egg slowly.
Ruolan whispered, "Master… should we prepare for anything?"
"Yes," Haoran said, "but I have no idea what."
The egg pulsed again, brighter, then settled.
Silence.
Then—
A clear, sharp crack echoed through the courtyard.
Ruolan gasped. "It's starting."
Zhang crouched behind Haoran. "Master, if something jumps out, you go first."
"Why would I go first?"
"You're the sect master."
Haoran pinched the bridge of his nose. "That is not how hierarchy works."
The System chimed.
[Host. Remain calm. The hatching will take time—several days, most likely.]
Haoran let out a slow breath. "Good. That gives us time to prepare."
A second crack split across the eggshell.
The glow brightened.
Zhang swallowed hard. "Master, that's not several days."
[Correction: My estimate may have been slightly optimistic.]
"Slightly?" Haoran said.
[Several hours.]
Ruolan stood, eyes fixed on the egg. "Then we need to be ready. Whatever it is… it's part of our sect now."
Haoran nodded.
Heavenly Peak may have been a ruin yesterday, but now it was a ruin with a heartbeat.
And soon, with a guardian.
They didn't know what would emerge.
But none of them stepped back.