By IMERPUS RELUR
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The sky darkened as Liang Chen wandered deeper into the mountains.
The rejection hadn't shaken him—not truly.
He had never expected doors to open.
He planned to tear them off their hinges.
But now he had no food, no stones, no shelter—only a Mortal-Grade sword, a nameless technique carved into his bones, and a path that faded into wild lands untouched by sects.
It was on the second night that he stumbled across it.
A broken staircase leading up a jagged hill.
The stone was cracked, overgrown with vines, yet faint traces of spiritual carvings remained.
He climbed without knowing why—drawn by something deeper than reason.
At the top, buried beneath trees and silence, was a ruin.
A gate with no wall.
A courtyard filled with shattered tiles.
And a broken stele, half-buried in earth.
> [Detected: Forgotten Sect Structure]
Status: Inactive. Recognition Failed.
Residual Qi Detected: Fragmented. Fading.
Investigate? [Y/N]
The golden text burned faintly in his vision. He pressed his hand against the stele.
> Yes.
The mark on his forearm pulsed once.
And then something opened.
Stone cracked.
Earth shook.
A gust of faint qi rose from the shattered courtyard like a dying breath of a god long buried.
> [System Interface Unlocked – Subfunction: Structure Integration]
Target: Broken Sect Core
Upgrade Path Available: Reignite Formation Node – Cost: 1 Spirit Stone
He froze.
There was no spirit stone left. He had used the last one to rewrite his father's technique.
And yet… the system remained open.
Waiting.
Longing.
This place wanted to live again.
He knelt in the courtyard, silent, as wind passed through the broken halls.
It was not much. Just a ruin, forgotten even by the wild beasts. But to Liang Chen, it felt like something more.
> "You were rejected too, weren't you?"
He ran a hand across the cracked floor.
> "Then let's rise together."
That night, he slept beside the broken stele under cold stars.
The ghost of a sect watched him breathe.
And somewhere, deep beneath the ruin, something stirred.