echoes beneath the sect
The mountain mist coiled thick around Li Tian's shoulders as he descended from the Inner Court.
The confrontation with Feng Lian hadn't ended in blood—but the air between them had crackled with a promise.
A storm was coming.
And only one of them would be left standing when it broke.
As soon as Li Tian returned to the outer courtyard, the difference in atmosphere was palpable.
Disciples who once ignored him now moved aside.
Some nodded with wary respect.
Others whispered behind cupped hands.
The story had already spread: Li Tian, the outer disciple who entered the Inner Court. Alone. Uninvited.
Most didn't know who he met.
But rumors bred power.
And Li Tian needed every ounce of it.
He returned to his chamber and sat cross-legged on the cultivation mat. The system interface hovered before him, flickering with new data.
[Core Reconstruction: 52%]
[Realm: Body Tempering – Stage 4]
[Devour Path Unlocked: Blood Echoes]
[Description: Trace residual bloodlines from corpses/devoured entities. Potential skill unlocks.]
[Next Milestone Reward: Unlock First System Trait – "Sovereign Core" at 60%]
Blood Echoes.
That was new.
The system was evolving—just as he was.
Li Tian opened his palm and summoned a thin thread of spirit flame. It danced above his skin, flickering with faint lightning.
He could still feel Feng Lian's aura—so refined, so cold, so… wrong.
"He remembers everything," Li Tian murmured. "But he didn't look surprised to see me."
[System Notification: Hypothesis confirmed – Feng Lian may have returned earlier.]
[Memory Sync Level: 100%]
[System Objective Updated – Identify Timeline Divergence.]
[Side Quest Available: Investigate Forbidden Tombs beneath the Crimson Sky Sect.]
Tombs.
There were ancient ruins hidden beneath the sect? He'd heard whispers in his first life—legends of ruins sealed below the mountain, remnants of a sect that predated the Crimson Sky itself.
But no one had ever found them.
No one… except possibly Feng Lian.
That night, Li Tian slipped through the silent paths behind the alchemy halls, where the scent of burning herbs masked footsteps. His destination was a forgotten corner of the mountain—an abandoned shrine overgrown with moss, its dragon carvings cracked and fading.
He had visited it once before in his past life.
Only once.
But the memory had stuck.
There, behind the shrine's cracked altar, he knelt and pressed his palm against a specific tile.
It shifted.
And beneath it, a narrow stairway revealed itself—spiraling into blackness.
[Quest Activated: Into the Echoes]
[Objective: Discover the origin of the Rebirth Systems.]
[Warning: This path is locked to Rebirth Entities only.]
[Access Granted.]
The air in the hidden passage was ancient.
Dust clung to every breath. The walls were smooth obsidian, engraved with symbols Li Tian didn't recognize—though they felt familiar. Faintly… wrong.
He lit his spirit flame to guide his way.
The deeper he went, the colder it grew.
And the darker his thoughts became.
After nearly half an hour, the tunnel opened into a vast underground chamber.
What he saw stopped him cold.
The chamber was circular, its walls embedded with countless glass sarcophagi—each holding a figure.
Some wore armor.
Others robes.
Some had glowing tattoos. Others were wrapped in chains.
But all of them shared a terrifying similarity.
Each had a mark branded into their chest.
The same sigil that glowed on Li Tian's system interface.
[System Integration Mark Detected.]
[Warning: Multiple Deceased Rebirth Candidates Identified.]
[Probability of Success: 3.1%]
[Host Status: Active Anomaly.]
[You were never meant to survive.]
His breath caught.
These were the others.
The failures.
Every person in this room had been granted a system like his—and yet every one of them lay dead.
Why?
What had gone wrong?
Li Tian stepped deeper into the chamber.
Then he saw it.
At the center of the room, floating in a circle of shattered stone—a pulsing crimson orb, suspended in a matrix of light.
It pulsed with an unnatural heartbeat.
[World Breaker Core Detected.]
[Do you wish to synchronize with the Echo Shard? Y/N]
"What is it?" Li Tian whispered.
[Fragment of an incomplete world.]
[A piece of something that once tried to destroy the heavens… and failed.]
[This system was born from its remnants.]
That's when he understood.
His system wasn't just a tool.
It was a weapon. A fragment of a will older than the sect—older than the continent. It had tried to break the world once.
And now, through him, it would try again.
[Warning: Syncing may awaken residual consciousness.]
[Proceed with caution.]
Li Tian grit his teeth.
"Do it."
The world exploded.
His mind was flung into a maelstrom of images—cities falling, skies burning, gods bleeding. A sword made of thunder splitting the heavens. A woman with silver wings screaming as stars collapsed.
And then darkness.
And a voice.
Low. Broken. Yet infinite.
"Why… did you survive?"
Li Tian didn't answer.
Because he wasn't sure.
[Synchronization Complete: 12%]
[New Ability Unlocked – Echo Pulse]
[Description: Release a shockwave that disrupts enemy Qi circulation and reveals hidden systems.]
[Echo Pulse can only be used once per day.]
He collapsed to his knees as the vision ended.
His breath came in ragged gasps.
The orb dimmed.
But the room was no longer silent.
Footsteps echoed behind him.
Slow. Deliberate. Unafraid.
Li Tian turned—
And found himself face-to-face with a third presence.
A boy.
Younger than Feng Lian.
Maybe fifteen.
He wore simple robes. His black hair hung to his shoulders. His eyes were violet, glowing faintly in the darkness.
And above his head—
A mark pulsed in gold.
[Rebirth Entity Detected: Subject Codename – "The Third Flame"]
[System Origin: Unknown.]
[Warning: Power Level Unmeasurable.]
"You're late," the boy said.
Li Tian narrowed his eyes. "Who are you?"
The boy smiled softly. Not cruel. Not mocking. Just… resigned.
"Another survivor," he said. "But I didn't come here to fight you."
He stepped forward, stopping just short of the orb.
"I came to warn you."
Li Tian tensed. "About what?"
The boy's eyes flicked upward.
"To survive in this world… you'll have to do more than devour your enemies."
He raised a hand.
"To survive, you'll have to devour fate itself."
Then, in a blink—he vanished.
No sound. No light.
Just gone.
Li Tian stared at the empty space for a long time.
Devour fate?
What the hell did that mean?
And more importantly…
How many more of them were there?
Above ground, in the core of the Inner Court, Feng Lian stood before a burning sigil etched into stone.
He touched it gently.
And it pulsed with golden light.
"The Third Flame has awakened," he murmured.
He turned his gaze toward the west, toward the horizon.
"So the game begins."
He drew his sword.
"No more waiting."