(Outer Court Training Ground, Jade Whisper Sect – Morning mist clings to the stones like cold sweat. The air smells of damp earth and burning incense from the distant halls)
Dozens of outer disciples stand in perfect rows. Their hands trace the same qi circulation forms they've repeated for months. Faces are tight with strain. At the very back, Qiu Yan moves like the exercise is beneath him. His patched gray robes hang loose on a thin frame. His steps are slow, almost lazy.
Elder Bi (pacing sharply, voice slicing the air) "AGAIN! Circulate properly or admit you're wasting my time and the sect's resources! Some of you have roots so rotten even the street dogs would turn away in disgust!"
Laughter ripples through the ranks. Huo Lie steps half a pace forward. His crimson outer robe is spotless. His sneer is wide and practiced.
Huo Lie (voice loud and mocking, carrying to every corner) "Some? Elder, you're far too generous today. Look at the walking corpse in the back row. Faded ember root. Two full years and his qi still looks like a dying fart in the wind. I swear if we tossed him in a ditch he'd thank us for the upgrade in living conditions!"
The laughter turns sharp and mean. Several disciples mimic weak orange sparks with their fingers and pretend to choke on smoke. Qiu Yan keeps his eyes on the ground. His hands continue the form without pause.
Su Qinglan (three rows ahead, voice cold and precise, not bothering to turn) "Senior Huo, if your mouth worked half as hard as your so-called cultivation you'd already be in the inner sect. Instead you're flapping like a headless chicken in a storm. Fix your stance. It's embarrassing the sect far more than he ever could."
Huo Lie's face flushes deep purple. Veins stand out at his temples. He opens his mouth to retort but Elder Bi raises one hand. The elder stops directly in front of Qiu Yan.
Elder Bi (eyes narrowing to thin slits, tone low and venomous) "You. Step forward."
Qiu Yan walks out slowly. No hurry. No visible fear. The entire field watches in hungry silence.
Elder Bi "One finger. Manifest your qi. Right now."
Qiu Yan raises his right index finger. A tiny pale orange wisp appears. It flickers weakly for half a heartbeat. Then it gutters out like someone pinched the flame.
The field detonates.
Disciple 1 (snickering loudly) "Did you see that pathetic spark? It died faster than my grandfather's bedtime stories!"
Disciple 2 (even louder, laughing) "Even the sect lanterns burn brighter than that garbage! What a joke!"
Elder Bi (cold, mocking laugh that echoes off the training stones) "That... is not qi. That is the last wheezing breath of a dying insect. We've fed this parasite rice, shelter, and the honor of wearing our robes for twenty-four useless months. For WHAT? A spark so weak it couldn't warm a beggar's hands on the coldest night?!"
Huo Lie (stepping forward aggressively, voice rising to a shout) "Elder! Expel him TODAY! Let the trash crawl back to whatever filthy gutter spawned him. We don't need his stink poisoning our reputation. Look at him standing there like he deserves to breathe the same mountain air as real cultivators! He's an insult to every blade of grass, every drop of dew on this peak!"
Shouts rise in waves. "Expel him!" "Trash!" "Waste of robes!" "Get rid of the embarrassment!"
Elder Bi (nodding slowly, cruel smile stretching wide) "The sect has rules... but rules were never written for vermin like you. Qiu Yan, you are expelled. Leave by sunset. If your filthy shadow lingers one second longer we will crush you like the bug you are and feed your corpse to the beasts in the Whispering Mist Valley. Do you understand, or do I need to repeat it slower for your dim mind?"
Qiu Yan meets the elder's gaze. Long, unbroken silence.
Qiu Yan (quiet, almost tired) "So no hearing? No chance to defend myself? Just... throw me out like rotten meat left too long in the sun?"
Elder Bi (laughing outright, voice booming across the field) "Hearing? For YOU? You'd need a face worth defending first! You'd need dignity worth protecting! Now scram before I change my mind and have you beaten half to death as a parting gift to the sect dogs!"
The laughter swells again, louder than before. Huo Lie cups his hands around his mouth like a trumpet.
Huo Lie (yelling after him, full of glee) "Run along, faded ember! Die somewhere scenic! Maybe the Whispering Mist Valley will finally have something worth whispering about: the glorious day Jade Whisper Sect scraped its biggest, most pathetic embarrassment off its shoe forever!"
Qiu Yan keeps walking. Back straight. Shoulders level. No glance behind.
(Inner voice – low, cold, simmering) They think this is the height of humiliation. They think this ends here with their laughter ringing in my ears. How adorable.
(Whispering Mist Valley – late afternoon, sun bleeding red across the jagged peaks)
Qiu Yan sits on a flat black rock at the valley's edge. Thick white mist rolls in slow, heavy waves. Strange whispers drift through it – old voices, fragments of screams, arrogant laughter from long-dead mouths, steel clashing in forgotten battles. Normal disciples avoid this place like poison. Legends say anyone who lingers too long hears their own death whispered first.
He pulls a small cloth bundle from his sleeve: one cracked jade slip, seven tarnished copper coins, half a stale steamed bun already turning hard.
Qiu Yan (dry, speaking to the mist) "Two years of daily public shaming... two years of being the sect's favorite joke... all for pocket lint and moldy bread. What a bargain."
He takes a bite. Chews slowly. Tastes like dust and nothing.
Suddenly –
System voice (cold, mechanical, booming inside his skull like thunder trapped in bone)
DING!!!
[ System Infinite Echo Sign-in System has locked onto a suitable vessel. ]
[ Host: Qiu Yan ]
[ Location:Whispering Mist Valley – Extreme ancient echo density detected Sign in? ]
[ Y / N ]
Qiu Yan freezes. Bun halfway to his mouth. Eyes widen just a fraction.
Qiu Yan (muttering low, suspicious) "If this is Huo Lie's idea of a final prank... if this is some illusion array meant to make me look even more foolish... I swear I'll carve his name into every tree in this valley with my bare hands and make him read it while he bleeds."
Silence. Only the whispers grow louder, clearer.
He exhales sharply through his nose.
Qiu Yan "Y."
[ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ]
Sign-in complete!
[ Location jackpot:Ancient massacre echo overload ]
[ Reward: Ember Sovereign Flame Scripture (Fragment 1/9) – Initial scroll fragment unlocked in sea of consciousness ]
[ Reward: 12 years pure refined qi – forcibly integrated ]
[ Reward: Minor Echo Resonance(Passive) – All echoes within 30 meters now whisper directly to host ]
[ Cultivation Status:Echo Whisper Layer 4 → Peak Layer 9Dao of Echoes – Initial grasp achieved ]
Heat detonates in his lower abdomen like someone lit a forge inside his guts. Orange-red light leaks from every pore in his skin. His faded ember root – the very thing they've mocked for years – pulses once... twice... then ignites into a steady, roaring flame deep in his core. The flame spreads through his meridians like wildfire through dry grass.
The mist recoils violently, as if burned. Whispers sharpen into clear, vicious voices that echo directly in his mind.
Ancient echo (overlapping, savage and angry) "...arrogant fool dared challenge the heavens... paid in blood..." "...face lost forever... never forgive the humiliation..." "...blade soaked red... never forget..."
Qiu Yan stands up slowly. Fist clenches. A sharp sonic ripple blasts outward from his body – mist shreds apart like wet paper torn by storm winds.
Qiu Yan (wide feral grin splitting his face, voice low and hungry) "Now THAT'S more like it. Finally... something worth listening to."
He turns toward the distant sect buildings glowing faintly under the dying red sun.
Qiu Yan (voice dropping to a venomous whisper) "Sunset deadline? Perfect timing. Gives me just enough time to return the favor... with interest. And I have plenty of interest to pay."
He starts walking back toward the sect gate. Mist flees before him like frightened dogs.
(Inner voice – final line, cold and burning) They wanted the trash gone quietly. They wanted the embarrassment buried and forgotten. Too bad. This trash just found its voice... and the first words it speaks will be theirs, echoed back until they choke on the sound.