ARC 1: THE UNREMARKABLE STONE
Chapter 1: The Sect's Sleeping Nuisance
Panel Sequence & Prose Narrative
Scene 1: Dawn at the Verdant Sword Sect
(Wide Establishing Shot)
The Verdant Sword Sect clings to the mist-wreathered peaks of the Azure Howl Mountains. A river of white-robed disciples flows across training grounds, their synchronized sword forms cutting the dawn air with a sound like a hive of bees. Qi visibly shimmers—a sign of a prosperous, orthodox sect.
(Narrative Prose)
The Third Bell of Diligence had just faded. For the hundreds of disciples of the Verdant Sword Sect, this marked the third hour of the morning's foundational drills. For Disciple Li Fan, it was a rude reminder that his preferred sleeping spot near the warm kitchens would soon be in the sun. With a sigh lost to the chorus of shouts and clashing wood, he shuffled toward the shaded, overlooked western cliffside.
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Scene 2: The Bully and the Stone
(Close-up on Two Disciples)
Zhang Wei, a bulky Outer Sect disciple with a permanent sneer, kicks a pebble. It pings off the back of a grey-robed figure sitting perfectly still by the cliff edge, gazing into the void.
ZHANG WEI: "Look! The sect's mascot. The human weed. Does your inaction count as cultivating the Dao of Uselessness, Shixiong?"
(Side Profile of Li Fan)
Li Fan, 18, features caught between youth and weariness. His eyes are half-lidded, his breathing so slow it seems to match the drifting clouds. He does not turn.
LI FAN (Internal Monologue): The air here is 12% more humid than by the kitchens. The sparring sounds are 30 decibels softer. Acceptable trade-off. If I ignore him for 137 breaths, he usually leaves.
(Action Panel)
Zhang Wei, irritated by the lack of reaction, strides over. "The Elders say to help our weaker brothers!" He swings a calloused palm in a "friendly" but firm pat toward Li Fan's back—a "Qi Disruption Tap," meant to send a painful jolt through a non-cultivator's meridians.
(Impact Panel - No Flashy Effect)
The moment Zhang Wei's palm touches the grey robe, his expression shifts from malice to sudden, profound confusion. His own Qi, instead of projecting outward, recoils violently up his arm. A loud POP echoes from his own shoulder joint. Zhang Wei stumbles back with a yelp, clutching a dislocated shoulder.
ZHANG WEI: "Aiyah! What treacherous Qi-deflecting talisman are you hiding, you cheat?!"
Li Fan finally blinks, slowly turning his head as if noticing a fly.
LI FAN: "You... seem unbalanced. You should see the Medicine Hall."
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Scene 3: The Hall of Assignments - The "Jobless" Mandate
(Scene Shift - Interior)
The Hall of Assignments is bustling. Disciples take missions: gather herbs, subdue low-level beasts, escort merchants. Elder Guo, a thin man with a scroll perpetually in hand, looks upon Li Fan with tired resignation.
ELDER GUO: "Li Fan. Your quarterly contribution points are zero. Again. The Sect cannot feed a branch that bears no fruit."
LI FAN: "I watered the Spiritual Herb Garden last Tuesday."
ELDER GUO: "You fell asleep in it and drowned three Frostbloom Sprouts! No. You will take a practical assignment, or you will be tending the latrines until you are old and grey."
(The Mission Scroll)
Elder Guo unfurls a scroll with a minor, flickering glow.
ELDER GUO: "A simple logistics run. The Jade Moon Trading Guild has a shipment of low-grade spirit stones and forged iron arriving at Azure Dragon Port. They've hired low-level muscle, but our Sect's presence ensures no banditry. You will accompany Head Disciple Luo and her team as a porter. You will carry. You will not fight. You will stay out of the way. Can your profound Dao of Sloth manage this?"
(Li Fan's Reaction - Subtle Eye Movement)
A flicker in Li Fan's eyes. Azure Dragon Port. A three-day journey. New sleeping spots. Different birdsong. An acceptable change.
LI FAN: "When do we leave?"
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Scene 4: The Catalyst - An "Ordinary" Escort Mission
(The Departure)
Head Disciple Luo Yan, sharp-eyed and serious, leads four competent outer disciples. Li Fan follows ten paces behind, a large (but mostly empty) pack on his back.
DISCIPLE 1 (Whispering): "Why is the sleeping deadweight with us?"
LUO YAN (Coolly): "Elder Guo's test. Consider him part of the cargo. A living, breathing test of our patience."
(The Ambush - Dynamic Panel Layout)
The forest path. The trading cart. Suddenly, arrows whistle from the treeline! Not ordinary arrows—Ghost-Toothed Arrows, shimmering with sickly green Qi. They pierce the cart's defensive talismans instantly.
BANDIT LEADER (Off-panel): "Leave the stones and your lives, Verdant Sword pups!"
Six bandits drop from the trees. Their Qi is wild, bloody—cultivators who have turned to demonic shortcuts. Their leader wears a necklace of finger bones. His aura is at the peak of Foundation Establishment, equal to Luo Yan.
(Chaos Panel)
A fierce battle erupts. Luo Yan's sword clashes with the bandit leader's serrated blade in flashes of blue and red light. The other disciples pair off. The air fills with the scent of ozone and blood. One disciple is grazed by a ghost-arrow; his arm immediately turns necrotic.
(The Static Center Panel)
Amidst the swirling chaos, Li Fan stands perfectly still next to the cart. He has not moved. A bandit, seeing an easy target, breaks from his fight and charges him, axe raised high.
BANDIT: "Die, you gawking fool!"
The axe swings down in a vicious arc aimed at Li Fan's skull.
(The "Error" - Sequential Close-ups)
1. Bandit's Face: Triumph turns to confusion mid-swing.
2. The Axe Head: It doesn't deflect. It vibrates violently as if hitting an immovable anvil, a high-pitched WRRRNG sound emanating from the metal.
3. Bandit's Body: The kinetic energy, refusing to be transferred into Li Fan, reverses completely through the axe's haft. The bandit's wrists shatter with audible cracks. The axe flies backward, the pommel striking his own forehead with the force of his full swing. He crumples, unconscious.
All sound and motion in the immediate area seem to dampen for a split second.
(Reaction Shots)
· Luo Yan: Wide-eyed glance mid-parry. What...?
· Bandit Leader: A flicker of shock, then intense scrutiny on Li Fan. A hidden expert? No... no Qi movement at all. An anomaly.
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Scene 5: The Ripple - First Attention
(The Aftermath)
The bandits, spooked by the unexplained event and Luo Yan's prowess, retreat with their wounded. The Verdant Sword disciples are bloodied but alive. They tend to the poisoned comrade, shooting wary, bewildered looks at Li Fan, who is now sitting on the cart, checking a small tear in his sleeve.
DISCIPLE 2: "Did... did you see that? He just stood there!"
LI FAN (Muttering): "The grain of this wood is poor. No wonder it splintered."
(Luo Yan's Interrogation)
Luo Yan approaches, her gaze analytical.
LUO YAN: "What was that, Disciple Li?"
LI FAN (Looks up, genuinely perplexed): "The axe was of poor quality. It broke."
LUO YAN: "His wrists broke. His own force broke them."
Li Fan meets her eyes, his own a pool of utter, tranquil emptiness.
LI FAN: "A feedback loop in the inferior metal's Qi conductivity, perhaps. A known flaw in Black Iron from the Southern Forges. I read it once." He delivers this absurd, technically-worded lie with the calm of someone discussing the weather.
(Final Panel - The Unseen Observer)
High in the canopy, hidden by a leaf-shaped talisman, a figure cloaked in shadows lowers a small, crystalline recorder. The figure's eyes gleam with avaricious interest. They are not a bandit. Their robe bears a tiny, intricate emblem: a needle weaving a tangled thread. A "Script Weaver."
The figure whispers, voice like rustling parchment:
OBSERVER (V.O.): "Subject 'Static Pebble.' Confirmed. Passive negation of directed kinetic force. No active Qi signature. Anomaly Grade: Epsilon. The ledger must be balanced. Report to the Shepherd."
They vanish without a sound.
(Chapter End Text)
Li Fan, blissfully unaware, watches a lone leaf spiral down from the disturbed trees. It doesn't land on him. It drifts to the side, as if repelled by an inch of still air, and settles on the poisoned disciple's fevered brow.
The stillness had begun to assert its rules.
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End of Chapter 1.
Chapter 2: The Script Weaver's Ledger, where Mo Yan's faction makes its first move to "balance" the anomaly Li Fan represents?