The faint blue-white orb drifted before Lin Feng like a quiet star trapped in the mist. Its glow pulsed slowly, rhythmically, as though breathing. The air around it felt heavier than before — dense with old memories, lingering despair, and something colder… older.
Lin Feng steadied his heartbeat.
Even without touching it, he sensed it clearly:
The Marsh Origin Pearl.
The last remnant of the Marsh Warden.
Xuanyu Ye floated beside him, his ethereal form shimmering like a half-forgotten echo from the past. His voice lowered into a rare tone of solemnity.
"Absorb the pearl, Lin Feng."
Lin Feng stared at the orb again, throat tightening.
"Will it… change me?"
Xuanyu folded his arms.
"Every inheritance changes you. Every spirit you merge, every battle you survive, every death you witness — they all carve you into something new."
The orb pulsed once more, and the fog thickened as if listening.
Lin Feng felt a prickle along his spine.
"Why did the marsh watch me?" he whispered. "Why me?"
Xuanyu looked at him steadily — ancient wisdom glowing in his ghostly eyes.
"The marsh only watches those who carry potential threats… or potential salvation."
Lin Feng stiffened.
"That doesn't make me feel better."
Xuanyu smirked.
"Then you're finally learning."
The orb drifted toward Lin Feng — gently, like a feather drawn to his soul.
He parted his hands, and the pearl floated between them.
A chilling energy brushed his skin.
It wasn't hostile.
It wasn't gentle either.
It was… curious.
Lin Feng swallowed once, then closed his eyes.
"Alright. Show me."
He pulled the orb toward his chest.
The moment it touched him—
—the swamp screamed.
Fog cracked like breaking glass.
Swamp qi surged like a tidal wave.
Lin Feng's spirit sea roared open.
And the Marsh Origin Pearl
shattered into light.
The world dissolved.
Darkness.
Mud.
Cold endless marsh waters.
Lin Feng blinked — but he wasn't controlling his own eyes anymore. He was inside the Warden's vision, drifting above the rotting wetlands as though he were a ghost bound to its body.
Whispers rose from the water.
Echoes of an ancient voice.
Shadows shifted beneath the black surface.
Then he saw it —
A colossal shape moving under the marsh.
A mountain-sized silhouette.
A body coiled like a primordial serpent.
Eyes glowing faint emerald… staring upward.
Lin Feng's breath hitched.
"W–what is that—?"
The memory dragged him deeper.
The Warden was patrolling, watching.
Watching the fog.
Watching the waters.
Watching the marsh…
But then—
The Warden stopped.
Its vision turned.
It stared into the distance.
Toward a lone young man wandering the swamp with an old gourd at his waist and a battered sword on his back.
Lin Feng froze.
"Me…"
The Warden's thoughts echoed like thunder:
—He carries the scent.
—The three spirits move within him.
—He is tied to the ancient one.
—The swamp must watch him.
Lin Feng's heart pounded painfully.
"Ancient one…? What ancient one?"
The memory blurred violently — as if something forbade him from seeing more.
A roar shook his mind.
A pressure crushed him.
Green eyes opened once more beneath the marsh…
Staring directly at him.
Lin Feng jolted.
"That thing… can see through the Warden's memories?!"
The vision collapsed.
Everything shattered.
Lin Feng gasped and staggered backward, dropping to one knee as the cavern swirled around him.
Sweat streamed down his face.
His breathing came uneven.
His heart felt ready to crack open.
Xuanyu Ye raised a brow.
"Finished screaming?"
Lin Feng glared weakly.
"I wasn't— screaming—"
"You were absolutely screaming."
Lin Feng sucked in air.
"The marsh… the Warden… they didn't watch me out of suspicion. They watched me because of something inside me."
Xuanyu's expression turned serious again.
"Not something. Some spirit. One of the three inside you carries a signature the marsh recognizes… and fears."
Lin Feng felt a cold chill spread through his veins.
"Which one…?"
Xuanyu did not answer immediately.
He gazed into the dim fog, as if sensing something far beyond Lin Feng's comprehension.
"That," he said slowly, "is something even I do not know. Not yet."
He turned to Lin Feng.
"But whatever it is… the marsh didn't only watch you."
His tone lowered.
"It warned something far more ancient that you exist."
Lin Feng's stomach dropped.
"That… giant… serpent? That thing with the green eyes?"
Xuanyu nodded once.
"That was not a beast.
Not a demon.
Not a spirit."
His voice thinned, like even naming it was dangerous.
"That was a Primordial Swamp Remnant — a creature as old as forgotten eras."
Lin Feng stared at him, stunned silent.
"And it knows your name now."
The fog around them darkened.
A ripple spread across the swamp's surface.
The marsh was no longer still.
No longer quiet.
Something had awakened.
And it was now aware
that Lin Feng was alive.