The hall buzzed like a hive poked with a stick.
Inside the Sect's Medicine Pavilion, disciples gathered around a collapsed figure—Yuan Hao. His robe was torn, face pale, and one arm hung limp at an odd angle. Blood trickled from his lip as he gasped for air.
Shen Li stood quietly in the back, face blank.
No one suspected him.
Because technically, he hadn't laid a finger on Yuan Hao.
Hours earlier, he had found Yuan Hao alone in the woods, practicing sword forms with clenched fury.
The perfect moment.
He didn't threaten him.He didn't lie.He simply asked: "Still think it was your own fault you failed the inner sect exam?"
Yuan Hao froze.
Shen Li stepped closer. "I heard something strange… They say Lin Feng's trial results were forged. That he bribed Elder Qu back then."
"I—I don't believe that—" Yuan Hao stammered.
"But… what if it's true?" Shen Li whispered. "Would you still think he deserved everything?"
Then he walked away.
He didn't stay to see the storm form behind Yuan Hao's eyes.
By evening, Yuan Hao stood before the crowd during the medicine distribution ceremony and did the unthinkable:
He accused Lin Feng.
Out loud.
Directly.
"Senior Lin Feng—!" he shouted, pointing with his injured arm. "I challenge your entry to the inner sect! You… you cheated!"
Gasps rippled like thunder. Su Qingxue, standing nearby, turned in shock. Even the elders paused mid-step.
Lin Feng's expression didn't change.
But Shen Li saw it.
The faint twitch at the corner of his eye.
The slight tightening of his jaw.
Lin Feng stepped forward. "You accuse me based on what? Your failure? Your resentment?"
Yuan Hao's voice cracked. "Because… someone told me the truth!"
"Who?"
Silence.
Yuan Hao looked around—sweating, trembling.
But Shen Li was nowhere near him.
What followed was quick and brutal.
Yuan Hao, unable to name a source or offer evidence, was labeled unstable.The elders declared him mentally shaken.He was escorted out of the courtyard.
Case closed.
Or so they thought.
But not everyone bought it.
Not the disciples who remembered how confident Yuan Hao had looked moments before.Not the few who noticed how fast the elders shut him down.Not Su Qingxue, who stared at Lin Feng's expression just a bit too long.
And definitely not Shen Li.
Because while Lin Feng had won the confrontation…
He hadn't denied it.
Not once.
That night, rain fell over the sect.
Shen Li stood at the base of the lantern tower, looking up at the storm.
His system hummed.
Quest Complete: "Tip the Scale"Result: Public confidence in Lin Feng reduced.
Target: Lin Feng – Emotional Instability: 24.6%Public Suspicion: 31.9% (Suppressed)New Status Effect: "Fractured Persona" – Susceptible to exposure-based emotional triggers.
Su Qingxue – Inner Conflict detected. Influence: 22.3%Unlocked Trait: "Silent Doubt" – Target now questions righteousness without vocalizing.
System Suggestion: Proceed to Phase II – Break the Savior.
Shen Li exhaled.
Yuan Hao had been a pawn.
Not a sacrifice—because pawns could still be used again.
A few days later, Su Qingxue approached Shen Li beneath the moonlit bamboo path.
"Did you… speak to Yuan Hao before the ceremony?" she asked, hesitant.
Shen Li didn't lie.
"I did."
"Why?" Her tone was soft, but her eyes were searching.
He looked up, gaze tired. "Because someone needed to tell him it wasn't his fault."
"And the things he said… were they from you?"
"No." Shen Li tilted his head. "But maybe he believed they were true."
Su Qingxue fell silent.
"Sometimes," Shen Li added quietly, "truth doesn't matter. Only the weight of belief."
She didn't respond.
But that night, she sat alone for a long time—watching the stars.
Elsewhere, Lin Feng trained alone.
But the wind felt colder.The light didn't feel as warm.And when he looked into the mirror… for a second, he didn't recognize his own eyes.
In a dark room far from the main halls, Shen Li carved something into the wooden floor.
A symbol made of jagged lines and circles.
A formation.
Not for battle.
But for ruin.
System Whisper:"What breaks the fastest is not the body… but certainty."
Shen Li smiled.
The hero had taken the first crack.
Now, it was time to drive in the wedge.