**Chapter 56: Foundations of Stone and Will**
The first frost of winter coated the ruins of the village in a brittle, silver glaze. Li Tian stood at the edge of the scorched fields, his breath visible in the frigid air, the Aeternum Core's scar a dull ache beneath his layers of patched robes. Behind him, the villagers moved like ghosts through the rubble—hauling charred timber, stacking salvaged stones, their faces hollow but determined.
Meiying approached, her breath ragged from labor, a rusted shovel slung over her shoulder. "The east well's collapsed. We'll need to dig a new one before the ground freezes solid."
Li Tian nodded, his gaze fixed on the horizon where the Flame Emperor's scouts had vanished days prior. "Use the star-iron to reinforce the shaft. It'll hold against the ice."
She hesitated. "That ore's the last of Wen's legacy. You sure?"
"He'd want it used to protect Lin." Li Tian's voice softened. "And the rest of you."
Meiying studied him, then grunted. "You're starting to sound like a leader. Don't let it go to your head."
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**The First Stone**
They began with the forge.
Lin insisted, his small hands trembling as he brushed soot from the cracked anvil. "Grandpa said the forge was the village's heart. If it beats again, so do we."
Li Tian agreed. He gathered the survivors at dawn, their breath mingling in the cold as he laid out his plan.
"We rebuild—not as it was, but stronger. The north wall will be stone, not timber. The granary goes underground, insulated against fire. And here—" He drove his spatial staff into the forge's foundation, channeling the faintest trickle of the Core's energy. "—we raise a beacon."
The villagers murmured, their skepticism palpable. A grizzled farmer spat into the ash. "Pretty words. Who'll do the work? You?"
Li Tian removed his outer robe, revealing the lattice of scars beneath. "Yes."
He hefted a stone slab onto his shoulders, the muscles in his back screaming. One by one, the villagers followed.
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**The Weight of Trust**
Progress was slow. The frost-bit ground resisted their shovels, and supplies were scarce. Yet, as days turned to weeks, patterns emerged.
- **Meiying** organized hunting parties, her archers bagging hares and winter fowl.
- **Lin** scavenged the ruins, unearthing fragments of star-iron and salvaged tools.
- **Old Yuna**, the village's sole surviving elder, brewed medicinal broths to ward off frostbite.
Li Tian worked alongside them, his spatial staff repurposed as a lever for stone or a plow for frozen earth. When a teenage boy trapped his leg beneath a collapsed wall, Li Tian channeled the Core's waning energy to shift the debris, collapsing himself in the process.
"Why?" the boy asked later, guilt staining his voice. "You could've left me."
Li Tian flexed his bandaged hand, the Core's scar pulsing. "A village isn't stones. It's people."
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**The Flame Emperor's Shadow**
The scouts returned on a moonless night.
Li Tian spotted their fire first—a pinprick of orange in the northern hills. He roused Meiying, his voice low. "Take the children to the root cellar. Now."
She hesitated. "You can't face them alone."
"I won't have to."
He woke Lin, pressing the star-iron into his hands. "Guard the cellar door. If anything happens, run east to the river."
The boy's eyes widened. "But—"
"*Run.*"
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**The Defense of Ashes**
Three scouts descended, their Flame Emperor insignias glowing faintly. They moved with the arrogance of men who'd burned a hundred villages, their leader a hulking brute with a serrated dao.
"Look at this," he sneered, kicking over a half-built wall. "Rats rebuilding their nest."
Li Tian stepped from the shadows, spatial staff in hand. "Leave."
The leader laughed. "Or what? You'll poke us with that stick?"
The other scouts fanned out, igniting torches. Li Tian's grip tightened. The Core's energy was a flicker, but he'd make it count.
The leader lunged, dao aimed at Li Tian's throat.
A stone struck his temple.
Lin stood atop the cellar hatch, star-iron in hand. "Get away from him!"
The distraction cost Li Tian. The dao grazed his ribs, but he twisted, driving the staff into the leader's gut. Spatial energy flared, hurling the man into his comrades. Torches scattered, igniting dry grass.
"Lin! The well!"
The boy darted to the new well, heaving a bucket of water. Li Tian redirected the spray with a gravity well, dousing the flames. The scouts fled, their leader's curses fading into the night.
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**The Covenant**
At dawn, the villagers gathered around the forge's nascent walls. Lin stood at the front, star-iron gleaming in his grip.
Li Tian addressed them, his voice raw but steady. "This village will rise. Not because of me, but because of you. The Flame Emperor will return. Bandits will come. But so long as one stone stands upon another, so do we."
Old Yuna stepped forward, her gnarled hands placing a carved stone at Li Tian's feet—a guardian totem, its grooves filled with ash from the granary. "For the beacon."
One by one, the villagers added their stones.
Meiying smirked, hefting her bow. "Don't get sentimental. We've still got a wall to build."
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