Rain stung like needles as they climbed the ridge above Witherwood. Lin Feng's world had narrowed to three things: the burning ache in his side, Xia Ling's hand pulling him upward, and the System's persistent glow in his mind's eye.
[BOND FORMATION: 28%]
[TIME TO PURSUIT: 12 MINUTES]
[PHYSICAL STATUS: CRITICAL - COLLAPSE IMMINENT WITHOUT REST]
"Almost there," Xia Ling whispered, her breath fogging in the cold air. She moved with surprising agility over the slick rocks, her thin frame seemingly immune to exhaustion. The dormant phoenix blood, perhaps? Even sealed, it might grant her enhanced stamina.
Lin Feng stumbled, his boot slipping on moss. Xia Ling caught him, her grip firm.
"You're getting worse," she said, gold-flecked eyes scanning his face in the gloom.
"I'll manage." He forced the words through clenched teeth. "The feather. Where do we break it?"
She pointed to a rocky outcrop overlooking the valley below. "There. The sound will echo down the canyon. They'll think we went into the marshes."
Smart girl. She understood terrain.
They reached the outcrop. The wind here was stronger, whipping the rain horizontally. Below, Lin Feng could just make out the dark smear of Witherwood and, beyond it, the treacherous Silverleaf Marshes—a maze of sinkholes and venomous spirit snakes. A perfect diversion.
Xia Ling pulled the crimson feather from her tunic. In the pre-dawn darkness, it glowed with a soft, pulsing light. Like a heartbeat made of fire.
"It's warm," she murmured, holding it between them. "It feels... alive."
"Your mother's bloodline," Lin Feng said. "Even a single feather holds power."
She looked at him. "Do you think she was really a phoenix descendant? Not just... cursed?"
"I know she was." He touched the jade pendant at his chest. It was practically vibrating now, reacting to the feather's proximity. "My heirloom doesn't lie about these things."
[SYSTEM ANALYSIS: VERMILION PHOENIX PRIMARY FEATHER]
[PURITY: 12% (DILUTED BY GENERATIONS BUT STILL POTENT)]
[RECOMMENDATION: DO NOT BREAK. ABSORB FOR 50 LINEAGE POINTS.]
[WARNING: ABSORPTION WILL ALERT PHOENIX KIN WITHIN 1000 MILES]
Lin Feng's eyes widened. Absorb it? But that would alert even more dangerous entities. And they needed the distraction.
"Xia Ling," he said urgently. "The System—my heirloom—says breaking the feather will work. But there's another option. I could... absorb its energy. It would make me stronger, help me protect you better. But it might draw different kinds of attention."
She didn't hesitate. "Break it. We need the hunters away from Grandmother. Whatever other attention comes, we'll face it together."
Together. The word hung between them in the rain.
[BOND FORMATION: 29%]
[SHARED DECISION-MAKING: +1%]
Lin Feng nodded. "On my count. Three... two..."
"Wait." She grabbed his arm. "Before we do this... thank you. For helping us. For not running when you could have."
Her eyes were wide, earnest. In that moment, Lin Feng saw not just a potential wife for his bloodline, but a person. A girl who'd been told she was cursed her whole life, now being asked to believe she was special.
"You're welcome," he said softly. "Now. One."
Xia Ling snapped the feather.
The sound wasn't loud. It was a clean, crisp crack, like breaking a piece of crystal.
For a heartbeat, nothing happened.
Then the world erupted.
Light—crimson, gold, blinding—exploded from the broken feather. A wave of heat washed over them, instantly vaporizing the rain in a ten-foot radius. And then came the sound.
It started as a low hum that vibrated in Lin Feng's bones. Then it rose, becoming a clear, piercing cry that seemed to tear the fabric of reality. A phoenix cry. Ancient. Majestic. Full of grief and defiance.
The sound echoed down the valley, bouncing off canyon walls, multiplying. It sounded like a hundred phoenixes crying at once. It would be heard for miles.
But that wasn't the only effect.
Where the feather's light touched, the rain stopped. The clouds above them parted in a perfect circle, revealing the first hints of dawn. And on Xia Ling's neck, the feather-like birthmarks began to glow.
[EMERGENCY ALERT: BLOODLINE SEAL WEAKENING]
[XIA LING'S PHOENIX PURITY: 0.1% → 0.5%]
[SIDE EFFECT: THERMAL RADIATION DETECTABLE]
"Xia Ling, your neck—"
She touched the glowing marks. "They're warm. And I feel... strange. Like something's waking up."
The phoenix cry finally faded, leaving ringing silence in its wake. Then, from the direction of Witherwood, they heard shouts. Torches flared to life. The hunters had taken the bait.
"Time to go," Lin Feng said.
But as they turned to leave the outcrop, a voice cut through the darkness.
"Leaving so soon?"
A figure emerged from the rocks below them. The Zhang hunter from the hut—the one with the nasal voice. He held a curved sword that gleamed wetly in the fading feather-light. And he wasn't alone. Two more hunters flanked him, moving to cut off their retreat.
"Clever trick," the hunter said, climbing toward them. "The phoenix cry. I'll admit, it almost worked. But you made one mistake."
Lin Feng pushed Xia Ling behind him. "What mistake?"
"You left a blood trail even a child could follow." The hunter smiled, revealing crooked teeth. "And now you're trapped. The ridge dead-ends here. It's a fifty-foot drop behind you."
Lin Feng glanced back. The hunter was right. They were on a promontory with only one way down—the way currently blocked by three armed cultivators.
Xia Ling's hand found his. "What do we do?"
He had no weapons except the rusted dagger. He was injured. She was untrained. The System offered no solutions, just cold data.
[COMBAT ANALYSIS: SURVIVAL PROBABILITY 3%]
[RECOMMENDATION: SURRENDER]
[ALTERNATIVE: JUMP (SURVIVAL PROBABILITY 1%)]
Surrender wasn't an option. The Zhang Clan didn't take prisoners from exterminated bloodlines.
"Lin Feng," Xia Ling whispered. "My marks... they're getting hotter."
He looked. The birthmarks weren't just glowing now—they were pulsing. And the air around her was shimmering, like heat rising from desert sands.
The lead hunter noticed too. His eyes widened. "What in the—"
Xia Ling screamed.
Not in fear. In pain.
Fire erupted from her skin.
Not normal fire. Crimson-gold flames that danced without consuming her clothing. They wreathed her body, forming the vague outline of giant wings. The temperature around them spiked. The remaining rainwater on the rocks sizzled into steam.
[CRITICAL ALERT: BLOODLINE SEAL BREACH!]
[XIA LING'S PHOENIX PURITY: 0.5% → 2%]
[MANIFESTATION: PHOENIX EMBRACE (PROTECTIVE AURA)]
[WARNING: UNCONTROLLED. WILL CONSUME HER LIFEFORCE IN 60 SECONDS.]
"Xia Ling! Control it!" Lin Feng shouted.
"I can't!" she cried, the flames growing higher. "It's burning me from the inside!"
The hunters hesitated, fear on their faces. Phoenix fire could purify anything—including cultivators' spiritual foundations.
Lin Feng acted on instinct. He grabbed Xia Ling, pulling her against him despite the flames. They didn't burn him. Instead, they felt... welcoming. Warm. The jade pendant between them grew so hot he thought it would brand his skin.
"Listen to me," he said into her ear, his voice cutting through her panic. "This is your bloodline. Your heritage. It's part of you. Don't fight it. Welcome it."
"But it hurts—"
"Pain is just power you don't understand yet. Breathe. Feel the fire. It's not your enemy. It's your birthright."
She trembled in his arms. The flames flickered, then began to recede, drawing back into her skin. The birthmarks glowed fiercely, but the uncontrolled inferno subsided.
[BOND FORMATION: 31%]
[CRISIS OVERCOME TOGETHER: +2%]
[THRESHOLD REACHED: MARRIAGE PROPOSAL NOW VIABLE]
The lead hunter regained his courage. "Pretty lights. But you're still outnumbered."
He lunged, sword aiming for Lin Feng's throat.
Lin Feng didn't think. He pushed Xia Ling aside and met the charge with his rusted dagger.
Metal clashed. The hunter's sword was spirit-forged, sharp enough to cut stone. Lin Feng's dagger was ordinary iron, notched and brittle.
The dagger shattered.
But in that moment of contact, something happened. The jade pendant flared. A wisp of silver wind—the last ghost of the Lin bloodline—wrapped around the broken blade. And when the fragments flew, one embedded itself in the hunter's eye.
He screamed, stumbling back.
"Brother Kai!" one of the other hunters shouted.
Lin Feng didn't wait. He grabbed Xia Ling's hand. "Jump!"
"What?"
"Trust me!"
They leaped off the promontory into the darkness below.
Fifty feet. Rocks at the bottom. Almost certain death.
But as they fell, Lin Feng focused everything on the jade pendant. On the memory of his father showing him the hidden valley. On the wind affinity that was his birthright, however diluted.
Please, he thought. Just this once.
The pendant answered.
Silver light enveloped them. The falling slowed. Not flight—Lin Feng wasn't that powerful—but a gentle descent, like leaves on an autumn breeze. The Lin Clan's wind affinity, awakened in desperation.
They landed hard but alive in a thicket of spirit ferns fifty feet below.
[NEW ABILITY UNLOCKED: DESCENDING BREEZE]
[BLOODLINE POWER AWAKENING: WIND AFFINITY (0.01% → 0.1%)]
[COST: SPIRITUAL EXHAUSTION. CANNOT USE AGAIN FOR 7 DAYS.]
Above them, the hunters shouted, but none jumped. They'd have to find a way down.
"Lin Feng," Xia Ling whispered, helping him up. "Your eyes... they're silver."
He blinked. The world looked different—sharper, with faint currents of spiritual energy visible like heat haze. "Temporary. Come on. We need to move."
They stumbled into the forest, heading north now, away from the marshes, toward the hidden valley. Lin Feng's body screamed with every step, but he pushed through. The System kept him going with notifications.
[DISTANCE TO HUNTERS: 300 FEET AND INCREASING]
[BOND FORMATION: 32%]
[NEW QUEST AVAILABLE: REACH THE HIDDEN VALLEY]
They ran as dawn broke, painting the sky in shades of rose and gold. The rain stopped completely. The forest came alive with birdsong—except the birds were singing in a strange, agitated pattern. As if responding to the phoenix cry.
After an hour of brutal travel, Lin Feng slowed. "We're close. The valley entrance is... there."
He pointed to what looked like a solid rock face covered in vines. But when he pushed through, the vines parted to reveal a narrow crack in the stone—just wide enough for a person to squeeze through.
"A hidden path," Xia Ling breathed.
"My father showed me when I was eight. Said it was our clan's emergency sanctuary. No one else knows about it."
They slipped through the crack. It tunneled through the rock for twenty feet, then opened into...
Paradise.
The hidden valley was a bowl about a mile across, surrounded by sheer cliffs on all sides. A small waterfall fed a crystal-clear pond at the center. Spirit herbs grew in wild profusion—moonblossoms, starroot, even a few rare cloud-vein orchids. The air was thick with spiritual energy, far richer than outside.
And at the far end stood a single, simple wooden cabin. The Lin Clan's emergency shelter.
"We made it," Lin Feng whispered, collapsing to his knees.
Xia Ling knelt beside him. "Is this... yours?"
"Ours," he corrected, looking at her. "If you'll have it."
She stared at the valley, at the cabin, then back at him. Tears welled in her gold-flecked eyes. "You're offering me a home?"
"I'm offering you a beginning." He took a deep breath. The System's notification pulsed in his vision. Marriage proposal viable. But he wouldn't ask yet. Not like this. Not when they were both exhausted, traumatized. The bond needed to be real, not a System requirement.
Instead, he said, "Stay with me. Help me build something here. Something that will make your grandmother proud. Something that will make the clans who called you cursed regret their words."
She was silent for a long moment. Then she placed her hand over his. "Yes."
[BOND FORMATION: 35%]
[MUTUAL COMMITMENT TO FUTURE: +3%]
[QUEST COMPLETE: REACH THE HIDDEN VALLEY]
[REWARD: 50 LINEAGE POINTS]
[NEW STATUS: TERRITORY CLAIMED - LIN ANCESTRAL SANCTUARY]
Lin Feng felt the points flow into him. Fifty Lineage Points. His first real resource. The System menu unfolded in his mind, showing options:
[BLOODLINE PURIFICATION (XIA LING): 100 POINTS]
[CLAN FOUNDATION RITUAL: 200 POINTS]
[BASIC DEFENSIVE FORMATION: 80 POINTS]
[HEALING (SELF): 30 POINTS]
He chose healing first. His body knit together, the pain receding to a dull ache. The cracked ribs mended. The cuts closed. He still needed rest, but he wouldn't die.
"Come on," he said, standing. "Let's see the cabin."
They walked through the valley. It was more beautiful up close. The pond had fish with iridescent scales. The spirit herbs were mature, valuable. This place could sustain them.
The cabin was simple but solid. One room with a hearth, a table, two chairs, and a sleeping platform. Basic supplies in sealed jars: rice, salt, dried meat. And on the table, a single scroll.
Lin Feng unrolled it. His father's handwriting.
"Feng, if you're reading this, then the worst has happened. The sanctuary is yours now. The valley is protected by natural formations that confuse scrying and deter spirit beasts. You should be safe here.
"But safety is not a Lin's destiny. Our bloodline was never meant to hide. We were meant to soar.
"In the floor beneath the hearth, you'll find our clan's true legacy. Use it wisely. Build something greater than what we lost.
"I believe in you, my son.
- Father"
Lin Feng's throat tightened. He moved to the hearth, found the loose stone, and pried it up.
Beneath lay two things: a small, ornate jade box, and a book bound in what looked like dragonhide.
He opened the box first.
Inside, on a bed of crimson silk, lay three rings. Wedding rings. Simple silver bands engraved with intertwining wind and cloud patterns. His father had prepared for this. Had hoped he would rebuild.
The book was titled: "The Patriarch's Code: On Bloodlines, Bonds, and Building Dynasties."
Xia Ling looked from the rings to Lin Feng's face. "Your father... he expected you to come here. To rebuild."
"He hoped," Lin Feng corrected softly. "There's a difference."
He took one of the rings. Held it out to her. Not as a proposal. Not yet. But as a promise.
"Wear this," he said. "For protection. The engraving has minor defensive formations. And... as a symbol. That we're in this together."
She hesitated, then took the ring. Slipped it onto her finger. It fit perfectly.
[BOND FORMATION: 38%]
[SYMBOLIC COMMITMENT: +3%]
[ITEM BOUND: PHOENIX-FIRE RING (DEFENSE +5, FIRE AFFINITY +10)]
Outside, the sun fully cleared the cliffs, flooding the valley with golden light.
They were safe. For now.
But far to the south, in the marshes where the phoenix cry had echoed, something ancient stirred in the depths. Something that had slept for a thousand years. Something that recognized the cry of its kin.
And to the north, Grandmother Lan walked steadily toward the mountains, a smile on her face. The first part of the prophecy was complete. The wind had met the flame.
Now the real work would begin.
[SYSTEM STATUS UPDATE]
[LINEAGE POINTS: 20 (50 - 30 FOR HEALING)]
[WIVES: 0]
[CHILDREN: 0]
[BONDS: XIA LING (38%) - RING BOUND]
[CLAN TRAITS: COMPASSIONATE PATRIARCH]
[TERRITORY: LIN ANCESTRAL SANCTUARY (SECURE)]
[NEW ABILITIES: DESCENDING BREEZE (COOLDOWN: 7 DAYS)]
[BLOODLINE AWAKENINGS: WIND AFFINITY (0.1%), XIA LING'S PHOENIX (2%)]
[IMMEDIATE THREATS: ZHANG HUNTERS (STILL SEARCHING), UNKNOWN ENTITY AROUSED BY PHOENIX CRY]
[DYNASTY STATUS: FIRST ROOTS IN SACRED SOIL]