The vibration deepened.
It wasn't stronger. It was clearer—like something massive had shifted its attention fully onto them.
Dust slid from cracks in the stone walls, drifting slowly through the air. The wind stopped completely. Even breathing felt louder than it should have.
The plateau felt smaller.
Not because it had shrunk—but because something else had become very aware of it.
Several people instinctively crouched.
"Bro…" StoneBit whispered. "My ears are ringing."
"This isn't background ambience," DustLine muttered. "This is pressure."
Unbroken didn't take his eyes off the cliff face.
"It's awake," he said quietly. "Not moving. Just watching."
The stone shifted again.
Not outward. Inward.
Thin cracks spread along the cliff wall opposite them, slow and deliberate, following curved patterns that made no sense for natural erosion. Dust fell in lazy curtains, and the rock itself seemed to adjust, like a massive body settling into a more comfortable position.
Ironroot stared, breath shallow.
"…That's not terrain," he said. "That's anatomy."
The cracks curved. Coiled. Layered.
High above them, an indentation formed in the stone—subtle, but unmistakable. Light caught it differently.
An eye.
Not fully open.
Just enough.
Ironroot swallowed. "The mountain isn't its territory," he whispered. "The mountain is its body."
Someone laughed nervously.
"Okay," LagPoke said too loudly. "This is insane. Like, top-tier boss design. You don't just casually drop—"
"Don't," Unbroken snapped.
Too late.
A player—HammerLOL—stepped forward, heart pounding but eyes bright.
"Relax," he said, forcing a grin. "This is clearly scripted. You don't spawn a boss without—"
He picked up a loose stone.
Ironroot's eyes widened. "DON'T—"
HammerLOL threw it.
The stone bounced once.
Twice.
Then shattered harmlessly against the cliff face.
Nothing happened.
For half a second, the silence felt awkward.
Then the Ancient Stone Serpent exhaled.
There was no roar.
No Qi flare.
No light.
Just air.
A wall of pressure slammed into the plateau like a moving mountain.
Players were lifted off their feet instantly.
Someone screamed.
Someone swore.
Gachagami was airborne before he could finish thinking.
"NOPE NOPE NOPE—"
Bodies flew.
They tumbled end over end, slammed into stone, rolled across the ground, crashed into each other like ragdolls. Dust exploded outward. Loose tools scattered.
Then it stopped.
No pain alerts.
No damage indicators.
No deaths.
HammerLOL lay flat on his back, staring at the sky.
"…Okay," he said weakly. "That's not aggro."
No one laughed.
The mountain spoke.
The voice came from everywhere at once—deep, slow, and impossibly heavy. Each word felt like it pressed directly against their bones.
"Why do insects strike the mountain that shelters them?"
The air thickened.
Several players swallowed hard.
"Bro…" someone whispered. "It just roasted us… without roasting us."
Footsteps echoed across the stone.
Lin Yuan stepped forward.
He had followed the group up the mountain normally—no teleportation, no system shortcut. Just steady movement, arriving to find scattered disciples and a half-open stone eye watching them all.
He didn't rush.
He didn't panic.
He looked at the fallen players, then at the mountain.
"I am Lin Yuan," he said clearly.
His voice wasn't loud. It didn't need to be.
"I lead those you see before you."
The mountain did not interrupt.
"We did not know this mountain was claimed," Lin Yuan continued. "If offense was given, I take responsibility."
He did not kneel.
He did not bow deeply.
He stood straight.
The stone eye brightened faintly.
"I am Shan Gu," the voice replied.
"The Stone Coil Beneath Broken Cloud."
"The one who sleeps and does not wander."
Several players exchanged looks.
"Bro has a name," StoneBit whispered.
"And a title," DustLine added. "That's never good."
Lin Yuan inclined his head slightly—respectful, not submissive.
"We seek permission," Lin Yuan said, "to establish a sect upon this mountain."
The pressure increased—not threatening, but testing.
"You are small," Shan Gu said.
"You are noisy."
"You strike without thought."
Gachagami raised a trembling hand. "In our defense, that one guy does that to everything."
HammerLOL stayed very quiet.
"We will not despoil this land," Lin Yuan said before the mountain could respond. "We will accept your judgment."
The stone creaked softly.
"Words are light," Shan Gu said.
"Stone accepts weight."
The pressure eased slightly.
"Slay five hundred Rank One beasts that dwell within Broken Cloud Mountain," Shan Gu continued.
"No more."
"No less."
The number hit like a hammer.
"Five hundred…?" someone whispered.
"That's not a quest," DustLine muttered. "That's unpaid overtime."
"Only Rank One," Shan Gu said.
"Only those born of this mountain."
"Damage the mountain's veins, and you will be erased."
The eye dimmed.
"Prove you can exist here," the serpent finished. "Then speak of building."
Silence followed.
Then—
"Wait," LagPoke blurted. "So respawns still work, right?"
The mountain did not answer.
Unbroken exhaled slowly. "That wasn't permission," he said. "That was a test."
Gachagami hugged himself. "I hate mountains. I hate quests. I hate everything."
Lin Yuan inclined his head once more.
"We will not disappoint," he said.
The pressure withdrew.
The stone settled.
Shan Gu slept once more.
The mountain remained.
The system interface appeared.