The mountain breathed at night.
Rat could hear it now, Qi sliding through the stone like water through veins. Every gust of wind carried a faint hum. He stood barefoot on the terrace above Heaven's Loom Peak, the stars dull compared to the faint glow bleeding from the ground.
[Warning: Energy Concentration beneath this coordinate exceeds stable threshold.]
The Codex's letters shimmered across his vision like dew.
"Yeah," Rat whispered. "I hear it too."
He glanced around. The Inner Peaks slept behind layers of formation light, but the air here was wrong, too alive, too rhythmic. Every few breaths, he felt the same pulse that once shook the Old Temple. The Bell's echo.
He crouched and pressed a hand to the marble. The hum crawled up his arm, familiar and heavy. "You're hiding something," he muttered.
[Analysis: Subterranean Resonance Pattern consistent with artifact-class structure.]
[Probability of Bell Correlation: 93%.]
Rat smirked. "Then let's go sightseeing."
He slipped into the formation tunnels beneath the terrace. The path wound narrow, half-lit by faint Qi threads. Each shimmered differently, gold for ley lines, green for water veins, silver for fate threads. The Fate Interface painted the air around him like a living map.
Most threads stretched cleanly through the walls. Others didn't end at all, they looped, spiraling in endless circuits. He frowned. "That's not normal."
[Correction: Not for mortals.]
"Right. Thanks for the comforting distinction."
The deeper he went, the thicker the loops became, tangling like hair around a drain. The Qi here hummed at two pitches at once, high and low, an off-key duet that made his teeth ache.
He reached a sealed archway of blue crystal carved directly from the mountain. Runes pulsed faintly over its surface. Beyond, the air throbbed with heat and sound.
[Barrier Integrity: Fragile.]
[Advisory: Breaking seal may cause sect-wide fluctuation.]
"Then let's be gentle."
He touched the arch and fed it a thin thread of Qi, just enough to mimic the sect's formation rhythm. The rune pattern rippled, recognized him, and softened like water. The air beyond opened with a sigh.
The cavern was enormous.
Blue crystal walls curved like ribs around a heart of light. The air vibrated with slow, thunderous rhythm. In the center floated an orb of gold and azure flame, a sphere half-visible, half-heard, pulsing to an ancient tempo.
"The Azure Pulse Bell," Rat breathed.
It wasn't a bell in any mortal sense, no metal, no rim. Just sound given shape. Every pulse made the ground quiver and the Qi in his lungs twist.
The Codex froze.
[Connection recognized.]
[Artifact Classification: Divine Conduit, Designation - "Bell VII."]
Rat blinked. "Seven? As in… there's more?"
No answer came. Only the hum deepening until his chest hurt.
Then the air above the Bell shimmered.
A translucent figure sat cross-legged, suspended in meditation. The Sect Leader, Open Sky's Patriarch. His robes fluttered though there was no wind, his body flickering between spirit and shadow. Qi from the Bell coiled up his spine like vines around a pillar.
Rat stared, throat dry. "He's… plugged into it."
[Affirmative. The sect's formation draws directly from this node. The Patriarch's cultivation relies on its output.]
"Then the whole sect's Qi is…"
[Correct. Distributed resonance network. Your recent synchronization increased amplitude by 7%.]
He rubbed his forehead. "Great. I broke the power grid."
The Bell pulsed again. His own mark burned against his spine, answering it like a heartbeat.
"Stop that," he hissed under his breath.
[Impossible. Resonance link established during Basin alignment.]
"So you're saying it's me and the mountain now?"
[Statement: ….accurate.]
"Perfect. Exactly what I wanted, marriage to geology."
He forced a breath, tried to back away, but the hum climbed, pulling his senses inward. For a moment he wasn't in the cavern. He was standing inside the Bell's light, and in that light flowed rivers of memory. A forest of pillars. A hand of stone reaching down to strike the ground.
A whisper followed.
"The third heart still beats."
Emera's voice, soft, almost dreaming.
"Third heart?" he murmured. "Then the Old Temple's Bell was-"
Her voice faded before answering.
He blinked, reality snapping back. The light dimmed. The Sect Leader remained frozen in meditation, oblivious.
Rat turned to leave and froze.
A shadow leaned against the far wall, watching him.
Elder Ren Jinhai's pale eyes gleamed faintly blue in the dark. He looked perfectly calm, hands clasped behind his back.
"You walk boldly for someone not invited," Ren said softly.
Rat straightened, forcing a grin. "Sorry. Got lost. Happens in mazes that hum like drunk bees."
Ren smiled, a polite curve of lips. "The mountain hums when Heaven listens. Do you know why that is?"
Rat shrugged. "Because Heaven's nosy?"
Ren chuckled quietly. The sound echoed oddly, too hollow, too measured.
"Perhaps. But some bells ring backward, little one. They don't call Heaven down, they call something else up."
Rat's smile thinned. "You practice your metaphors often, or is this just a special sermon?"
Elder Ren tilted his head. "A warning. Curiosity is a virtue that eats its owners." His gaze flicked briefly toward the glowing orb. "Still… it approves of you. Interesting."
Before Rat could reply, the elder turned and vanished into the shadows, leaving only the faint scent of sandalwood and something faintly metallic, like blood that had forgotten how to die.
The Codex's voice returned, tense for once.
[Alert: Inverted Qi Signature confirmed. Entity Analysis: Demonic Variant. Classification - Suppressed.]
Rat exhaled slowly. "Of course he's a demon. Why wouldn't he be?"
[Secondary warning: Sect-wide Qi network tethered to your resonance. Disruption may trace back to you.]
"Fantastic." He rubbed the bridge of his nose. "So if this place hiccups, I'm the guy holding the spoon."
He backed out of the cavern, careful not to touch the walls. The seal closed behind him with a whisper. The hum faded to a dull ache in his bones.
Halfway up the tunnel, Emera's voice drifted again, softer now.
"You've touched a heart meant to sleep."
Rat sighed. "Yeah. Add that to my list of bad habits."
When he finally emerged onto the terrace, dawn had just begun bleeding into the sky. The first light painted the peaks gold. Mist curled around the sect's towers, beautiful and silent, as if nothing below stirred at all.
He didn't trust it.
The Codex flickered quietly beside his vision, its tone almost human now.
[Observation: Administrator Synchronization stable. Emotional output… elevated.]
Rat smirked. "Call it nerves. Or indigestion."
[Note recorded.]
A soft bell-tone rang through the morning air. He turned. Elder Yue stood across the terrace, robe sleeves bright with reflected sunrise. Her expression was calm, but her eyes were sharp as drawn wire.
"You were near the heart," she said simply.
Rat scratched his neck. "If I say no, does that make it better?"
"No," Yue said. "It makes it inevitable."
He groaned. "That's becoming a theme."
Yue studied him for a long moment. "Come to the Loom Hall when the sun rises fully. The Sect will need to… discuss what has awakened."
"Discuss," Rat repeated dryly. "That's your polite word for interrogation, right?"
She didn't answer. Only turned and left, her presence fading like mist.
Rat stared after her, then slumped against the terrace rail. The Basin's horizon gleamed faintly blue, as if answering the Bell beneath the mountain.
"Great," he muttered. "The mountain's got a heartbeat, the demon's got hobbies, and I've got a meeting."
[Correction: You have consequences.]
"Same thing."
He looked toward the rising sun, the air trembling faintly with sound only he could hear, a pulse that wasn't quite his own.
[Codex of Strands of Fate - Status Update]
Vitality: 7
Qi Sense: 8
Comprehension: 6
Fate Entanglement: 35
Realm: Peak Foundation
New Title: Heart-Seeker of Heaven's Loom
Effect: Partial synchronization with sect formation network; limited access to Azure Pulse Bell resonance.
Warning: Prolonged proximity risks identity bleed with divine infrastructure.