Coldwind City, Eastern Ravine:
The usual serenity of the Eastern Ravine was shattered.
Where moments before had hung the profound quietude of deep cultivation, punctuated only by the faint, resonant hum of active qi wells, now echoed with the clamor of confusion and discontent.
The sound, sharp and discordant against the mountain's stillness, seeped into Cave #7, disturbing Elder Joshua Fang from his meditative trance.
He opened his eyes as he felt the rhythmic pulse of energy he'd been attuned to, the very lifeblood of the cultivation caves, felt… thin and distant.
With a fluid motion, he rose as his simple grey robes whispering against the rock floor, and stepped out into the ravine's central path.
The scene before him was one of burgeoning chaos.
Disciples, their faces etched with frustration and disbelief, clustered near cave entrances, their voices overlapping in a rising tide of complaint.
