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The mist clung low to the roots of Cloud-Ridge as the disciples gathered beneath the dawn sky. The air shimmered faintly, filled with the hum of countless cultivators preparing for their morning practice. But for Ria, Ren, and six outer disciples, today's rhythm was different. Their packs were light, their hearts restless. They stood before the mission board, where a single jade slip glowed with words of challenge: Azure Vale Reconnaissance—a mission said to involve a beast whose power rivaled the sect master himself.
When Instructor Kao handed them the mission seal, her tone was even, but her gaze sharp. "Do not seek victory. Seek understanding. The mountain rewards patience, not pride."
They bowed in unison. Ria could feel the weight of expectation settling on her shoulders, but also the steady hum of her Boundless Universe System pulsing quietly within. It whispered like wind through leaves—guidance that wasn't voice but feeling.
By midday, they were deep in the lower valleys, the world soft and green. Ria led the way through winding trails, her steps sure, her senses open. Behind her, Ren's chatter filled the silence.
"First mission outside the mountain," he said. "You think the beast will sign autographs?"
"Only on your bones," Ria said without looking back.
"That's… encouraging."
The group's laughter broke the tension. Even the youngest disciple, timid little Mei, smiled. In that moment, they weren't warriors or cultivators—just travelers bound by curiosity.
By dusk, they reached a clearing beside a river that glowed faintly from within. The water shimmered with silver light, reflecting an unseen moon. Ria motioned for them to rest. "We'll camp here. Cultivation first, then food."
They formed a circle as night fell. The air thickened with qi as Ria activated her Ignis Resonance Field. Warmth spread outward, the light around them deepening into gold. Each disciple felt it immediately—their breathing steadied, their spiritual flow accelerating, their senses sharpening until even the whisper of grass seemed alive.
The Boundless System resonated quietly within her.
> Collective Cultivation Bonus ×4.
Martial Arts Comprehension +4 % per chapter.
Ria exhaled slowly. The others followed, their breaths syncing to hers. The air rippled faintly, glowing threads weaving between them as their individual auras merged into one. Ren opened one eye, grinning. "I could get used to this. Warm fire, stable qi, terrifying mission ahead."
"Cultivate," she reminded.
"Yes, ma'am."
For hours they meditated. Their pulse became the mountain's pulse. When they opened their eyes, the forest felt closer—like a living thing listening to their breath.
Then the sound came: a soft pad of paws, faint but distinct. The laughter died instantly. Mist thickened along the riverbank, curling in tendrils that gleamed faintly blue. Ria's fingers tightened at her side.
"They're watching," she said.
From the fog emerged eyes—twelve pairs of them—silver and cold. The wolves appeared one by one, their fur pale as moonlight, their bodies shifting between solid and vapor. Each step they took left pawprints that shimmered briefly before fading.
Jin, the spear bearer, raised his weapon. "Formation?"
"Circle," Ria said calmly. "Flow, not force."
The disciples obeyed. Suna, their healer, extended threads of water qi to bind the edges of their formation. Ren took the rear, blades drawn. Ria centered herself, twin cores spinning in unison. Her Harmonic Motion Catalyst field expanded, encasing them in a protective pulse.
> Group Efficiency ×4 stabilized.
The wolves moved like wind. The first lunged, a blur of light and shadow. Jin's spear met it midair with a shockwave of golden sparks, but the creature dissolved into mist, reforming behind him. Ren was already there—his blades flashed, redirecting the attack into the river with the grace of the Flow of Hands. Water exploded upward, freezing midair before falling back as steam.
The disciples moved instinctively, guided by rhythm rather than command. They had trained too long under Ria's aura not to hear its pulse. Even their panic aligned, each breath feeding the next.
Ria's movements were slower, deliberate. Her palms carved arcs through the air, her strikes creating ripples of heat that distorted the mist but never burned. Every attack from the wolves met her counter not as resistance but as dance. She could feel them testing her strength, her patience, her balance.
"They're measuring us," she murmured.
Ren ducked another swipe, panting. "Good to know! Maybe tell them we're friendly!"
"They already know. They just don't believe it yet."
She let the next wolf's strike graze her sleeve. Pain flared, sharp and hot. But through that contact, she felt it—an emotion buried beneath their fury. Fear. Guardians protecting something deeper within the Vale.
Ria stopped fighting. She let her fire qi soften, drawing water from the river with her other hand. Steam spiraled around her, rising in delicate coils. The air shimmered. Her dual cores turned faster, merging fire and water into a single, pulsing rhythm. The mist obeyed her breath, swirling tighter until her form seemed half-transparent.
The wolves froze. Their eyes glowed brighter, reflecting the same pattern that burned in her own—gold and silver entwined.
> New Skill Manifested — Vapor Flow Form.
Title Advanced — Elemental Duality Conductor.
Effect: Personal Progression ×2; Group ×4; +4 % comprehension per chapter.
She stepped forward slowly, her hands open. The nearest wolf growled but didn't move. Another lowered its head. The forest seemed to hold its breath. When she reached the lead wolf, she bowed slightly, matching its gaze. Her voice was barely more than a whisper.
"We're not here to take. Only to understand."
The mist shifted. The wolf blinked, and its body dissolved into vapor that drifted around them like silver fog. One by one, the others followed. The glow faded, leaving behind a single object at Ria's feet: a shard of crystal shaped like a crescent moon, faintly pulsing with light.
Ren approached cautiously. "You think it's safe?"
"It's a gift," she said. "Or a warning. Maybe both."
The Boundless System confirmed her intuition.
> Mission Phase One Complete — Path to Azure Beast Revealed.
Martial-Skill Progress — 128 %.
The group exhaled as one. Jin leaned on his spear, Suna collapsed into a seated position, sweat glistening on her brow. Ren fell backward onto the grass, staring up at the faintly glowing sky. "Next time," he said between breaths, "can we take a mission that involves fewer teeth?"
Ria smiled faintly. "Wolves taught us something the sect never could."
"Yeah? What's that?"
"That harmony isn't obedience. It's trust."
He glanced at her, thoughtful. "You always make near-death experiences sound poetic."
"Then I'm learning."
They made camp again beside the river. The crescent shard rested between them, its light casting long, soft shadows. The air smelled faintly of rain and burned mist. The disciples ate in silence, exhaustion melting into quiet pride. Above them, the stars shimmered faintly through the thinning fog.
As the night deepened, Ria sat awake while the others slept. She watched the crystal glow fade slowly, until only its heartbeat remained. Somewhere far ahead, deeper in the Vale, she could feel the real power stirring—the presence they had come to find. Its pulse was enormous, steady, alive. Even from miles away, it made her twin cores tremble.
Ren stirred beside her, half-asleep. "You're still awake," he murmured.
"Listening."
"To what?"
"The next step."
He yawned. "Tell it to wait until morning."
Ria smiled, eyes still on the horizon. "It won't."
A faint rumble rolled through the ground beneath them—distant, patient thunder. The Azure Beast was waking.
She whispered into the night, "Tomorrow, we see its heart."
The mist glowed once more, as if answering her, and then faded into stillness.
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