🌫️ Descent Into Memory
The mist tightened around Lin Fei like a curtain of unformed thought, whispering remnants of memories that did not belong to him. Faces flickered through the haze—some in anguish, others in fury, but all unfamiliar. They weren't his past. They were the past of the Veinfield.
As he stepped deeper, the spiral grew narrower, more fractured. The terrain looked as if a thousand realities had collided here, each leaving behind a scar.
[Warning: Entering Instability Zone – Domain Projection Compromised by 18%]
[Subdomain "Reclamation Spiral" fluctuating]
[Internal Echo Stability: 47% and declining]
A chill danced up his spine. His own domain was weakening here. That shouldn't be possible—not unless something older, deeper was embedded in this place.
Then he saw it.
A tear in space.
Not a rift, not a spatial gate—no. This was more primal. A wound. Like reality itself had been punctured and failed to heal.
And at its center, hunched over and bound in root-chains of golden light, was a massive figure. Ten feet tall, with skin made of fractured obsidian and veins pulsing with violet memory-light.
The Deep Echo.
Lin Fei's breath caught.
It wasn't just an Echo.
This thing was sentient. Dormant—but alive.
[Target Identified: DEEP ECHO ANOMALY]
[Designation: "Rootwound Guardian" – Echo-Class: Hybrid Entity]
[Warning: Echo Fragmentation and Host Memory Fusion Detected]
[Status: Suppressed, Unstable, Contained by System Seal]
[System Contract Update: Investigation Phase Complete]
[Engagement Phase: Optional – HIGH RISK]
He stepped closer.
And the Deep Echo opened its eyes.
🌀 The Dream of Rootwound
Lin Fei wasn't pulled into combat.
He was pulled into a memory.
Suddenly, he stood in a world not made of dirt or qi—but emotion.
Screaming skies above. A shattered continent below. Mountains burning with violet flame. Countless cultivators locked in war, all with domain fragments blazing behind them like wings of authority.
At the center, standing atop a throne of broken systems, was the same figure from the spiral.
Only this time, he was whole.
"You… are not one of mine," the guardian's voice echoed, ethereal and calm. "And yet… I remember you."
Lin Fei frowned. "You remember wrong."
"Perhaps. Or perhaps the system has begun to recycle bloodlines. Or fates."
The figure stepped closer. His eyes were clear now—one silver, one gold.
"Tell me, little root. Do you want power?"
"I want freedom."
"A lie. No cultivator ever grows without seeking control. Over others. Over death. Over the world."
Lin Fei clenched his fists. "Then maybe I'll rewrite what 'cultivation' means."
The Deep Echo laughed—and the dream shattered.
⛓️ The Chains Break
Lin Fei returned to the spiral—just in time to see the golden chains around the guardian fracture.
System runes lit up around him.
[Warning: System Seal Failure Detected]
[Temporal Anchor Failing – Host Memory Overlap Exceeding Limits]
[Decision Required – Attempt Purge / Attempt Fusion / Retreat]
He had a split second to decide.
Purge it—and risk destroying what might be the oldest Echo in the Veinfield.
Retreat—and leave it to rot… or become someone else's problem.
Or…
"Fusion," he whispered.
[Commencing Fusion Protocol – Subdomain Host: Lin Fei]
[Rootwound Echo: Consent Unknown]
[Initiating Shared Memory Synchronization…]
[Warning: Memory Sync Exceeds Safe Threshold – Proceeding Regardless]
The light was blinding.
And then… pain.
Not the pain of flesh, but the pain of inheritance. Like being forced to live through someone else's entire life in seconds.
He saw it all:
—The Rootwound Guardian rising in an ancient cycle of war, building a domain that spanned entire skies
—His betrayal by his disciples
—His choice to anchor himself as a system failsafe, sacrificing body and freedom to prevent collapse
—And his final scream: "Let my failure become a warning, not a chain."
🌱 Echo Integration: Rootwound Guardian (Partial)
[Memory Core Acquired: "Domain Pulse Technique"]
[Domain Trait Gained: "Fracture Regrowth" – Domain recovers 25% faster when damaged]
[New Subdomain Unlocked: Rootwound Bastion – Locked Until Stabilized]
[System Note: Subject remains semi-conscious within Echo Nexus. Engage with caution.]
Lin Fei collapsed to his knees.
He wasn't alone in his body anymore.