> [Null Protocol: Online] [Host Stealth Status: Optimal] [Fate Index: 0] [Global Detection Risk: 0.002%]
Lin Xian sat beneath a tree in the outer sect courtyard, face tilted slightly toward the sun, expression calm. Birds chirped above him, disciples trained in the distance.
No one paid him any attention.
Exactly as planned.
His puppet, the spirit worm agent, now known in the sect as "Disciple Qiu," had already become a familiar face, exchanging pleasantries, making small trades, whispering gossip.
Meanwhile, Lin Xian remained unseen, unheard, and forgotten.
> null.scan("sect-wide announcements") [New Mission Posted: "Escort to Flame Ridge — Rank: Yellow-High"] [Reward: 500 Spirit Stones + Flame Core + Sect Credit + External Token]
He narrowed his eyes.
Flame Ridge. In his first life, that mission had been a trap — a death mission designed to eliminate talented outer disciples before they could challenge the inner sect hierarchy.
Nine died.
Two survived with ruined foundations.
And one… came back a cripple and vanished into obscurity.
Lin Xian remembered him well.
That cripple was him.
> null.simulate("mission event chain: escort to Flame Ridge", detail=very_high)
The simulation played in his mind like a vivid illusion. Trees. Blood. Screams. Poison formations. A "random" beast tide. Interference from rogue cultivators. All orchestrated by hidden hands.
> [Host Survival Chance: 3.8%] [Suggested Action: Do not accept] [Alternative Option: Manipulate mission structure]
He nodded. The mission wasn't meant for him.
But someone important would take it.
> null.locate("Shen Yu: Sect Rank 3, Lightning Root Genius")
A shimmering web of fate lit up.
Shen Yu: Inner sect candidate. Swift ascension. Bright fate thread. Confident. Charismatic. Arrogant. The kind of genius the heavens favored—and the kind that never questioned traps until the blade was already falling.
Perfect.
> null.modify("mission registration list") null.add("Shen Yu", role="Team Leader") null.inject("Mission Adjustment: Lethality Reduced by 50%") null.create("Recovery Artifact: Flameheart Talisman", drop_location="hidden cave, Flame Ridge") null.place("Anonymous Map Fragment", delivery="Disciple Qiu")
Now it was a test site, not a grave.
If Shen Yu survived, Lin Xian would study him.
If he died, one fewer variable to calculate.
---
Later that Evening…
Disciple Qiu handed a folded scroll to Shen Yu in the training hall.
"What's this?" the lightning genius asked, frowning slightly.
Qiu bowed. "A map fragment, Senior Brother. I overheard that Flame Ridge holds remnants of an ancient inheritance."
Shen Yu laughed.
"Hmph. Always scheming, these low-rank dogs… but interesting."
He took the scroll anyway.
Lin Xian watched from across the courtyard, his gaze hidden under his hood.
Behind his calm expression, calculations were already spinning.
---
Meanwhile…
In the Inner Sanctum of the sect, a divine array pulsed once. Ever so faintly.
An ancient elder stirred in meditation.
"Hmm…"
The fate grid shifted by a hair's breadth. One future faded. Another blossomed. Not significant enough to be alarming — just noise.
The elder went back to sleep.
---
Back in Dorm 73
Lin Xian sat by candlelight, spirit stone in one hand, brush in the other.
He was writing.
Not a letter. Not a journal.
A ledger.
Each page meticulously documented:
Every resource he had gathered.
Every mission outcome.
Who had contact with whom.
Small behavioral changes in disciples.
Rumors circulating via Disciple Qiu.
Anomalies in elder behavior.
> null.save("data node: operation_shadow_nest") null.encrypt("memory nodes", access_key="Xian-13") null.create("contingency plan: silent escape, trigger=presence detected")
Knowledge was power. But hidden knowledge was security.
Only a fool would believe the sect was a safe place.
---
Three Days Later — Flame Ridge
Screams tore through the night as the beast tide erupted earlier than scheduled. Shen Yu's lightning tore three scaled wolves apart, but his team was already decimated.
He clutched the map fragment. His instincts screamed. Something was wrong.
Too coordinated. Too many beasts.
And then he found it.
A narrow cave with fire-lit crystals along the walls. At the center — the Flameheart Talisman.
He grabbed it without hesitation.
> [System Message (to Lin Xian): Shen Yu has retrieved Artifact]
Lin Xian smirked.
Bait successful.
More importantly, Shen Yu would live. And from this day forward, he would owe his survival to a mystery — a map fragment, and a cave that shouldn't have existed.
A seed had been planted.
One day, when Lin Xian needed a weapon, Shen Yu would be aimed like a dagger at someone else's throat.
And he'd never even know who held the hilt.
---
End of Chapter 3