the ghost mark
The journey back to the Crimson Sky Sect was silent.
No one spoke.
Not Li Tian.
Not Yun Mei.
Not the Third Flame.
The forest behind them still burned—not with fire, but with memory. With the residue of power that should not exist. The kind that didn't just scorch the trees but branded the world.
Li Tian walked ahead, Ashdrinker strapped across his back. Its blade had cooled, but the ember inside pulsed faintly.
The memory of the dead lingered in the steel.
[Ember Memory: 2/10]
Passive Buffs Active – Heat Immunity +10%, Blade Speed +8%
Next Threshold: 5/10 – "Ashdrinker Echo Skill Unlock."
He turned slightly, glancing at the boy behind him.
The Third Flame walked barefoot, unbothered by the ground, hair wind-tossed, expression distant. His name was still unknown.
And something about him felt wrong.
Not evil.
Not hostile.
Just... incomplete.
Like a page ripped from a larger book.
By the time they reached the outer sect gates, dusk had fallen, and the outer court disciples were returning from cultivation drills. A few paused, whispering as they spotted Li Tian.
They saw his charred robes. The streaks of blood. The new stranger at his side.
No one dared speak to him directly.
He wasn't just another outer disciple anymore.
He was becoming something else.
Yun Mei left first, vanishing into the mist that lined her clan's territory within the sect. She didn't say goodbye. She didn't need to.
The Third Flame, however, remained at Li Tian's side.
"We'll be hunted again," he said casually. "You know that."
"I know."
"Then why bring me here?"
Li Tian stopped, turning to face him at the edge of his courtyard.
"Because if we run, we play by their rules. If we stand, we build our own."
The boy tilted his head. "That's exactly what Subject One said… before he disappeared."
[System Alert – Host Sanctuary Updated]
New Guest Registered: Echo Entity 05 – "Third Flame"
Hostile Detection Shield: Active
Secret Realm Permissions: Limited Access Granted
Warning: Shared presence may increase divergence probability.
Tip: Echo Entities influence the system core over time. Coexistence is unstable without anchor.
The words "coexistence is unstable" haunted Li Tian that night.
He meditated beneath the hanging crystal lamps in his courtyard, body still bruised but spirit flame stronger than ever.
Power pulsed through his meridians with more clarity than before—crackling with faint thunder each time he breathed.
[Core Reconstruction: 70%]
Estimated Time to Full Sync: Unknown
Path: Devour Fate
Passive Traits: Fatebreaker, Echo Memory Link
Active Skills: Thunderclaw Burst (Level 2), Flame Chain Sever (Locked)
He opened his palm.
A flicker of thunder coiled around his fingers.
"I wasn't this strong before," he murmured.
And it was true.
The power didn't just come from battles. It came from proximity to others like him. Like Subject 05.
Echo fed echo.
Rebirth sharpened rebirth.
But the system didn't say what happened when too many of them gathered.
Would they grow stronger together?
Or begin to fracture?
The next morning, a commotion erupted outside the outer court barracks.
Li Tian heard it before he saw it: shouting, steel ringing, disciples gasping.
He emerged onto the high terrace and looked down.
A body had been nailed to the entrance gate.
Still breathing.
Still conscious.
Barely.
One of the senior outer disciples—Gao Ren, ranked #7—hung suspended by black metal spikes, his eyes wide with terror.
A brand burned across his chest, still glowing faintly.
A mark shaped like a serpent devouring its own tail.
And beneath him, carved into the stone with blood:
"The Ghost Mark sees the breakers."
[System Alert – Host Threat Level Raised]
External Entity Identified: "Ghost Mark Sect"
Origin: Unaffiliated Cult-Hunting Guild (Black-Ranked)
Objective: Terminate Rebirth Entities
Status: Unknown allegiance
Danger Level: Severe
Li Tian moved quickly, cutting the man down as others stood frozen.
Gao Ren was barely alive. He gasped when he saw Li Tian.
"...they came in the night…"
"Who?" Li Tian asked.
"Wearing shadows. Moving like ghosts. Said… you brought the curse."
Blood pooled beneath him.
"They said… this sect is infected."
He passed out before he could say more.
In the inner court, the elders convened. A meeting was called under the Bell Court's authority.
Li Tian was summoned.
So was Yun Mei.
And standing beside the white-masked overseer was someone new—a man in silver armor, long black hair braided over one shoulder, and a red dragon insignia stitched onto his chestplate.
"Li Tian," he said in a voice like gravel on metal. "I am High Commander Qian Yu of the Empire's Outer Seal Division."
Li Tian narrowed his eyes.
Another one.
"We intercepted a message left by the Ghost Mark Sect," the commander continued. "They consider your presence a breach of their sacred balance."
"You mean they hunt Rebirth Entities."
"Yes."
"Then why aren't you stopping them?"
The commander smirked. "Because they were founded by Subject Two."
[System Alert – New Entity Identified: Subject 02 – "The Balance Seeker"]
Status: Unknown
System Path: Null Cycle
Objective: Eliminate unstable echoes to prevent system corruption.
Threat Level: Variable
Li Tian felt a chill crawl down his spine.
Subject Two.
Another rebirth.
But unlike the Third Flame or himself… this one wasn't here to reclaim fate.
He was here to preserve it.
By killing anyone who disrupted the cycle.
Commander Qian Yu leaned forward.
"There is war coming, Li Tian. The Rebirth System is unraveling the foundation of Qi cultivation itself. You and your kind are anomalies."
"And yet you're standing here," Li Tian said, "offering words instead of chains."
"Because I believe we need you," Qian Yu replied.
Then he gestured.
A scroll floated into the air and unrolled.
On it were names.
Seven names.
Each marked with the same sigil: ∞
"The Seven Echoes of Heaven," Qian Yu said. "Subjects One through Seven. Each of you were reborn with a different system shard."
He pointed to the list.
Four names were grayed out.
Three remained unmarked.
Subject 01 – "The Architect" – Status: Vanished
Subject 02 – "The Balance Seeker" – Active
Subject 03 – Unknown
Subject 04 – "The Thunder Child" – Active ✅
Subject 05 – "The Third Flame" – Active ✅
Subject 06 – Unknown
Subject 07 – Unknown
"You're not the first," Qian Yu said. "You won't be the last."
"But you might be the deciding one."
[System Update: Echo Index Established]
Host Designation: Subject 04 – "The Thunder Child"
Convergence Status: 3/7 Known
Major Arc Unlocked: "Echo War"
Victory Condition: Survive until Final Convergence
Alternate Paths: Rewrite | Break | Consume | Reset
Back in his quarters that night, Li Tian lit a lantern.
The Third Flame watched from the shadows, arms crossed.
"So. The Ghost Mark Sect is hunting us."
"Yes."
"And the empire wants to use us."
"Yes."
"And the others? Subject One? Subject Two?"
Li Tian gripped Ashdrinker and stepped into the light.
"We find them."
"And if they don't want to be found?"
Li Tian smiled faintly.
"Then we remind them what it means to burn."