Night fell hard across the Celestial Dawn Sect.
The marble towers shimmered in moonlight, casting long shadows across the walkways. Guards made slow, lazy rounds, believing themselves safe. Scribes lit lanterns. Disciples trained or meditated in silence.
But beneath it all—far beneath, in a sealed catacomb buried under the original foundation stone of the Sect—a sound broke the stillness.
A cry.
Soft. Echoing. Like someone whispering into a void that hadn't heard voices in centuries.
It said only one word.
"...Master...?"
And somewhere, far above, standing under the hawthorn tree on Dawnmist Peak, Luo Feng's breath caught.
Ding! Echo Signature Detected.Legacy Bond Fragment Located: Origin Timestamp – Unknown. Spatial Corruption Present.Audio imprint: "Master."Warning: This voice is addressed to the Host directly. Identity unknown. Anchor status—flickering.System prompt: Trace echo? Y/N
Luo Feng hesitated only a moment.
"Yes."
The world darkened.
Not with pain. Not with magic.
With time.
He found himself standing in a flickering memoryscape—half-formed corridors lined with ancient stone. Dust choked the air, and shattered runes bled silver from the walls. He wasn't really there, but he wasn't quite elsewhere, either.
In front of him stood a door.
Small. Cracked.
Carved into the surface was a symbol he didn't recognize—but the moment he saw it, his heart ached.
Anchor Link Weakly Reconnected.Memory Thread Detected: "Unnamed Disciple 000-A."Bond Status: Corrupted. Loneliness saturation at critical threshold.Opening gateway…
He reached for the door.
And walked through.
He stood now in a stone chamber barely larger than a monk's cell.
Chains hung from the walls—not for torture, but training. Runes glowed along the floor—recording progress, stabilizing unstable qi. On the far wall was a mural, faded by time, showing a robed man standing with five youths.
In the center of the room knelt a girl.
No older than twelve.
Her hair was white—not from age, but from strain. Her robes were tattered, and her skin had the pale, blotched look of someone who had gone too long without natural light.
She was curled forward, arms around herself, whispering one word over and over again.
"Master… master… master…"
Luo Feng's throat tightened.
She couldn't see him.
But somehow—she felt him.
Her head jerked up.
Eyes like void-lit moons snapped toward him.
And she smiled.
Echo connection stabilizing.Identity tag: "Qin Yiran." Status: Lost disciple.Time in isolation: 4,192 years.Cause: Sealing array triggered during collapse of Celestial Mentor System Version Zero.Mental state: Fragmented. Hope anchor: Active (98%).System prompt: Restore full link?
Luo Feng whispered, "Yes."
The world snapped.
And he woke up gasping beneath the hawthorn tree.
The stars overhead looked wrong—brighter. Closer.
Tianya appeared beside him a moment later, sweat on her brow. "What happened? Your qi just vanished for ten seconds."
Bai and A-Yan followed, weapons half-drawn.
"I… I think I heard someone," Luo Feng said. "A disciple. One I don't remember. Someone from… before."
Tianya frowned. "From before what?"
Luo Feng turned to her, eyes distant. "Before this world. Before I was this me."
Ding! Legacy Mission Unlocked: "The Forgotten Flame."Objective: Locate and recover the sealed disciple beneath the foundation of the Celestial Dawn Sect.Note: This disciple is soul-bound to a fragment of the original Mentor System. Full recovery may trigger system evolution.Optional Reward: Access to "Version Zero" techniques and timelines.Warning: Other system fragments may respond.
Back inside, Luo Feng sat cross-legged in meditation, the system's trace still open in his mind.
Behind his closed eyes, he saw the girl again—Qin Yiran.
Trapped in a training chamber beneath a forgotten sector of the Sect. Left behind not by malice, but by collapse. Her soul hadn't moved on. Her training had never stopped. And after over four thousand years, the only word she could still form clearly was "Master."
He opened his eyes.
"She's still alive," he said softly. "Barely. But alive."
Bai knelt beside him. "Then we bring her home."
A-Yan tilted her head. "How are we supposed to find a sealed chamber no one remembers?"
"We don't," Luo Feng said.
He stood slowly.
"The Sect remembers. And I know exactly where to make it talk."
The next morning, Luo Feng and his disciples walked the long, curved path not back toward the main Sect hall—but toward a forgotten cliffside on the east ridge. Overgrown. Fenced off.
Kaelen caught up, arms crossed. "You're heading for the Ancestor's Tomb?"
"No," Luo Feng said. "I'm going to knock on its basement door."
A-Yan looked disturbed. "Wait—there's a basement?"
"There's always a basement," Tianya muttered.
They arrived before noon.
The sealed platform was still guarded by stone lions—spiritual constructs that once awakened during war times to defend the Sect's soul. But now they were mostly decorative.
Or so the Sect believed.
Luo Feng knelt between them.
And placed his hand on the stone.
Ding! Initiating spiritual echo sync.Legacy marker accepted. Access granted to Sub-Tomb Array: Tier Three.Pathway unlocked.
The stone shuddered.
And then cracked.
A spiral staircase descended beneath the cliff, dust billowing upward.
The disciples stared.
"You were serious," Bai whispered.
"Always am," Luo Feng said. "Let's go."
The stairs led down into darkness thick enough to drown in. No torches. No spirit lights. Just one glowing thread of qi extending from Luo Feng's palm, lighting the way.
After what felt like hours—but was only minutes—they reached a door.
A small one.
Cracked.
Familiar.
Luo Feng touched it again.
This time, it opened.
And a voice, soft and hoarse, reached their ears.
"...I knew you'd come... Master."