The wind picked up after the tribunal, dry and fast, sweeping across the outer sect like it had somewhere better to be. Dust rattled against the stone paths. Roof tiles groaned in protest. Even the spirit chickens refused to leave their pens.
Lin Tian didn't return directly to his hut. Instead, he took the long route—down past the meditation springs, through the broken pillar garden, and behind the abandoned resource hall. No one followed.
Not yet.
Chen Mu floated silently for a while before speaking.
"Do you feel it?"
"The pressure?"
"No. The shift."
Lin Tian paused. "What shift?"
"You're not a background actor anymore. You're a character now. A named one. Someone they can't ignore."
[+2 BP for meta-prophetic bluster.]
They reached the far wall of the sect, a cracked embankment where grass grew in clumps and no formations were maintained. Lin Tian sat against the stone, let his breathing slow.
Chen Mu hovered low.
"I've been watching your cycle," he said. "You're holding the flow for longer now. The compression near your heart meridian is almost smooth. You're maybe a few days away from stabilizing Mid-stage."
"That soon?"
"Assuming no one poisons your tea or pushes you off a cliff, yeah."
"Comforting."
They sat in companionable silence. For once, the world wasn't crashing.
Which meant, of course, that something was about to go wrong.
It started later that night, after Lin Tian returned to his hut. He'd just begun circulating his Qi when a knock came. Not pounding. But firm.
Chen Mu dimmed his presence. "We're not home."
Lin Tian opened the door anyway.
A boy stood outside—fourteen, maybe fifteen, robes two sizes too big, with ink stains on his sleeves and tired eyes.
He bowed deeply.
"Outer Disciple Lin Tian, my name is Yan Su. I—I'm with the formation archives."
Lin Tian blinked. "You're a scribe?"
"Yes, honored disciple." The kid held out a scroll. "You were mentioned in a cross-reference chart from one of our older logs. This... was flagged."
Chen Mu whispered, "This smells like bait."
Lin Tian took the scroll.
Unsealed. Thin. Plain paper.
But inside was a list. A ledger of item recovery reports from three years ago. And in the center: a single entry.
"Recovered jade ring (cracked), outer gardens, no spiritual signature detected. Transferred to alchemy waste."
Below it, a faint note.
Previous record match: Ring recorded in loss report – Year 1172, Hidden Flame Sect archives.
Lin Tian frowned.
Chen Mu was silent.
Then: "No."
"What is it?"
"That name."
"What name?"
"Hidden Flame Sect."
Lin Tian narrowed his eyes. "You recognize it?"
"I don't want to."
[+3 BP for ominous memory shudder.]
The boy bowed again. "That's all I have. No one sent me. I just thought... you should know."
He left quickly, footsteps scuffing against the path as he ran.
Inside the hut, Lin Tian sat down slowly.
"The Hidden Flame Sect?" he asked.
Chen Mu didn't answer right away.
Then: "I don't know if it's where I came from... or where I ended."
"That ring was catalogued as garbage."
"And yet it's me."
[+2 BP for cryptic reincarnation one-liner.]
Chen Mu suddenly went quiet. The ring pulsed faintly with a strange heat.
[System Alert: Partial Legacy Fragment Detected.
[Optional Prompt: Do you wish to investigate possible link to Lost Sect Origin?]
Lin Tian glanced down. "Did something happen?"
"Not sure yet," Chen Mu said. "Just... something familiar. Like a ghost in the fog."
"Do you want to know?"
"Not yet."
[+1 BP for withholding destiny.]
The next day, Lin Tian was approached by someone else—Wei Yulan, the sharp-eyed woman from the unofficial alliance of outer disciples. She waited outside the ration hall, arms crossed, hair tied back in a loose loop.
"You were called in," she said.
"Yes."
"You survived."
"Barely."
"I heard your ring shouted at the elders."
"It happens."
She smirked. "That's new."
Chen Mu piped up. "Tell her I also give excellent cooking advice."
Lin Tian ignored him.
Wei Yulan leaned closer. "I've got something. A scroll. Sealed, unmarked. It was in the archives under alchemical misfires. Doesn't belong there."
"Why give it to me?"
"Because if it kills you, at least I'll know it's cursed. And if it doesn't... maybe it's worth something."
[+2 BP for casual spiritual trust.]
He took it. Heavy. Cold. Slightly sticky.
Chen Mu grunted. "That's my brand."
That night, they didn't open the scroll.
They placed it on the floor and sat in silence.
Chen Mu eventually opened his panel without a word.
[System Status Panel – Chen Mu (Ring State)]
Bluff Points: 116
Soul Strength: 8
Current Vessel: Jade Ring (Damaged, Dusty, Slightly Sticky)
Abilities: Voice of Authority Lv.1, Soul Tap (1/day)
Manual Access: Beginner Cultivation Manual (Simulated)
Current Objective: Guide disciple through Qi Initiation Realm
Disciple Status: Qi Initiation – Early Stage (Nearing Mid)
Legacy Flag: Dormant – Hidden Flame Echo (Unconfirmed)