Dawnmist Peak slept uneasily.
The fire had long since died in the hearth. A-Yan curled into her bedroll, a blanket pulled high over her ears. Bai Xueyin sat cross-legged by the window, her breath misting faintly in the air as she regulated her qi.
Outside, the wind changed.
Luo Feng stood at the cliff's edge, staring out into the dark.
He felt it the moment they arrived.
Not by sound. Not by sight. But by absence.
The insects stopped chirping. The owls went silent. Even the clouds above seemed to draw back.
They were here.
The Silent Needle Hall.
He turned from the cliff and walked toward the training yard.
A moonbeam cut through the clouds, casting silver light across the grass.
And then a whisper answered it.
A figure appeared at the edge of the peak—black robes, no emblem, no aura. Not even a ripple in the air. Just a man-shaped void, holding a pair of needle-thin blades that shimmered with a dull green sheen.
Luo Feng didn't raise a weapon.
He simply stood in the middle of the yard and waited.
A second figure emerged to the left. A third to the right. And a fourth directly behind him.
Four total.
Ding! Assassination threat detected.Silent Needle Hall protocol confirmed: Non-lethal incapacitation preferred unless combat is initiated by the Host.Secondary condition: If the Host displays threatening advancement potential, "Total Removal Clause" activates.
Luo Feng smiled grimly.
So that was the game.
They weren't here to kill—yet.
They were here to see if he was worth killing.
And if he fought back, they would take that as confirmation.
He couldn't win this by brute force.
But he didn't need to.
He had something better.
"Luo Feng," said the first assassin.
The voice was soft, emotionless. Genderless. "You are considered a rising anomaly. We are here to correct that."
"Your correction is noted," Luo Feng said, cracking his neck. "But denied."
No reply.
The assassins moved.
Not fast—instantaneous.
Their formations were perfect. Two went low, one aimed for his neck, the fourth vanished into the blind spot behind him.
Luo Feng didn't dodge.
He stepped.
Void Trace – Ascending Lotus Step.
His body blurred as he moved half a pace into the fold between realities. The assassins passed through his former position, blades slicing empty air.
He reappeared a meter away, completely calm.
The lead assassin narrowed their eyes.
"A dimensional displacement. Interesting."
They attacked again.
This time with more speed.
Luo Feng counted heartbeats.
One… two… three.
He dropped low, letting the nearest strike skim his shoulder. Not a deep cut—just enough to stain his robe red.
Four.
He reached toward the pouch on his waist and flicked three spirit stones into the grass.
Ding! Detonation sequence recognized. Spiritual anchor points marked.Do you wish to activate "Silent Ward – Reverse Pulse Array"?
"Yes."
Confirmed.
The stones pulsed.
A wave of compressed sound exploded outward—not a blast, but a vacuum. Sound and energy were pulled inward, momentarily distorting space and snapping the footwork of all four assassins.
They stumbled.
Just for a moment.
But a moment was all he needed.
He didn't strike.
He spoke.
"You're watching for killing intent," Luo Feng said aloud. "Trying to provoke it. Measure me by my wrath. But you made one mistake."
He stepped between two of them, slipping under a scissoring blade and pivoting to the center of their circle.
"You assumed I only know how to fight."
He raised his voice slightly—not shouting, but commanding.
"I'm a mentor."
He stomped.
The spiritual anchors in the dirt flared—not to detonate, but to project.
A wave of memory surged outward—recorded forms, techniques, voice-echoes.
System Activation: "Echo Doctrine – Demonstration Pulse."Effect: Temporarily projects Host's recorded techniques as if being taught in real time.Observers may experience mental disruption, comprehension feedback, or spiritual recoil.
The air around him shimmered.
And suddenly—
He was teaching.
To the assassins.
His voice echoed with authority.
"Flicker first. Anchor second. Never commit to a step you haven't already abandoned."
His palm sliced through the air—not to strike, but to show a principle.
The assassins felt it.
One staggered, clutching his temple. Another dropped to a knee, breath hitching. The demonstration had invaded their technique—teaching them mid-attack.
Their minds recoiled.
"You're not killers," Luo Feng said, walking between them. "You're just students who never got the right instructor."
He reached up and caught one of the needles between two fingers.
"Drop the act," he said. "And leave."
The leader hesitated.
"You've created something dangerous," they said.
"No," Luo Feng replied. "I've created something necessary."
The assassins withdrew.
One by one, they vanished into the night.
Luo Feng stood alone once more—bleeding slightly, heart pounding—but unbowed.
Ding! Host has resisted Silent Needle Hall assassination attempt without lethal retaliation.Bonus acquired: "Instructor's Aura" — intimidation and presence boosted when facing uncertain enemies.Disciples' morale increased.Hidden reward unlocked: Technique scroll "Thread of No Return" acquired.Note: Your demonstration was recorded by three external observers. Expect consequences.
At sunrise, Bai stood at the edge of the peak, watching the horizon.
"You let them go," she said.
"They weren't here to kill me," Luo Feng replied. "Just to confirm I'm worth killing."
"Did you prove you're not?"
He smiled faintly.
"I proved that killing me would make things worse."
Inside, A-Yan was scribbling in a fresh scroll, copying down what she remembered of Luo Feng's footwork from the night before.
"You moved like… you weren't even resisting," she muttered to herself. "Like you were… redirecting?"
Her hand paused.
Her pupils shimmered faintly.
Ding! Disciple A-Yan has initiated passive learning of Master's "Instructor Echo Doctrine."New potential technique detected: "Redirected Flow – Beginner."
That evening, as Luo Feng cleaned his blade, a new message flickered in the system.
Legacy Wellspring calling: A new fragment has been unlocked.Do you wish to view the second Celestial Mentor memory?
Luo Feng didn't hesitate.
"Show me."
The world spun.
And he was elsewhere again.
Standing on a battlefield of ash and ruin. Thousands lay dead around him—many bearing the crest of a once-great Sect.
At the center stood a man cloaked in torn mentor's robes, his back to a mountain of burning scrolls.
He turned slowly.
His face was worn, eyes ancient.
"You're not the first," the man said.
And Luo Feng recognized him.
Not from memory.
But from instinct.
"You taught monsters," the man said.
"I taught disciples," Luo Feng answered.
The man smiled, sad and slow.
"Then let's see if you learn from my failure."