Path of the Forgotten.

The Xiayun Continent was vast, but in that moment, Lin Feng felt its weight pressing only on him.

After escaping the silent forest—he had returned to the outer fringes of the sect, but something had changed. Not just in the eyes of those around him, but within the world itself.

> "It's too quiet lately," Lin Feng muttered under his breath.

Even the whispers behind his back had grown fewer, not out of respect, but uncertainty. Some feared him. Some watched him. And others… waited.

---

Beyond the Walls – A Shadow in the Mist

In a cliffside pavilion deep in the mountains behind the sect, a cloaked figure stirred an ancient jade basin. Within its still water, a faint ripple showed Lin Feng's face.

> "It begins again," the figure said, voice old but not weak. "The Remnant awakens before time." The basin flickered.

Another voice replied—distant, feminine, and cold as moonlight. > "He has not yet claimed the egg, has he?"

> "No," the old one replied. "But the beasts have started moving."

---

That night, Han Yu sat atop a quiet hill, eyes closed, hands locked in a strange mudra. The stars above swirled unnaturally as if aligning just for him.

He opened his eyes. > "He's being watched," he said to no one. "By more than one force now."

Lan Xueyin stood a short distance away, arms folded, gaze fixed on the moon. > "Then it's time," she said softly. "I'll move first."

Han Yu turned to her, a flicker of wariness in his gaze. > "You'll risk exposure?"

> "I'll risk everything," she answered, her tone like frost. "If he becomes a threat… or if he's the answer."

---

Inner Chambers – Lin Feng

He sat cross-legged again. Breathing. Listening. He'd started noticing things. The way his body absorbed energy not like Qi… but like hunger. The way his broken sword pulsed with memory.

And the dreams, Always the dreams. Faint whispers in a language he didn't know, yet understood. A place filled with endless mist and a mountain made of bones.

And an egg. He saw it again.

Not in a nest… but in a field of corpses. Still pulsing. Still waiting.

---