The scream echoed down the mountain like a bolt of lightning, sharp enough to slice through the morning silence. Lu Haoran paused at the courtyard steps. The System, unhelpfully calm, chimed in his mind.
[A disciple candidate has appeared. Try not to ruin the introduction.]
"Introduction?" Haoran muttered. "Who screams during introductions?"
[Host, in your case, this is already above average.]
Haoran ignored it and ran down the mountain path. The stone steps were cracked, weeds tugging at his ankles. As he reached the treeline, the sound of splintering wood crashed through the forest like thunder.
He arrived just in time to witness a massive boar demon—easily three meters tall—charging straight at a lone girl.
Not a woman.
A girl barely in her teens.
She stood trembling, fists clenched, tears streaking down her cheeks. Her body shook not with fear, but with the effort of holding herself back.
The boar roared and lunged.
The girl squeezed her eyes shut and punched forward.
The world broke.
A shockwave blasted through the forest. Trees bent backward, leaves scattered like a storm of green. The boar demon flew ten meters before hitting a boulder, cracking it clean in half.
Silence fell.
The girl stared at her fist, horrified.
"No… not again…"
Lu Haoran stepped out from behind a tree before she could flee.
"That," he said carefully, "was impressive."
She turned toward him as if expecting condemnation. Instead of answering, she lowered her head, shoulders curling inward.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I didn't mean to break things."
Haoran blinked.
Break things?
She nearly erased half the mountain.
But the fear in her eyes wasn't of the demon she had killed.
It was of herself.
The System chimed.
[Candidate identified: Bai Ruolan. Heaven-Tier Strength Physique. Severe emotional suppression. Mental trauma detected.]
Haoran swallowed. Heaven-tier? Here? In this backwater realm?
Ruolan stepped backward. "If you're from a sect, I'll leave. I don't want trouble. People… people get hurt when I don't control myself."
Her voice cracked at the end.
Haoran raised a hand gently. "Easy. I'm not here to punish you."
She looked up, startled.
He continued, "You saved your own life. There's nothing wrong with that."
"But I broke so much," she whispered.
"That boulder? It had it coming," Haoran replied.
Her lips twitched—just barely.
The System snorted.
[Host, your humor is questionable.]
Haoran ignored it.
He stepped closer, slowly, letting Ruolan see every move he made.
"I'm Lu Haoran," he said. "Sect Master of Heavenly Peak."
She blinked. "I've… never heard of it."
"That's because nobody has. It's terrible."
The System made a sound like choking.
[Host, you do not have to advertise your failures.]
Ruolan stared at him, confused and unsure.
Haoran met her eyes.
"If you don't have a place to go… if you're tired of being afraid of yourself… then come with me."
Her breath hitched.
"No one else wanted me," she murmured.
"That's because they're blind."
Ruolan looked at him for a long moment.
Her fists clenched at her sides.
Then, silently, she nodded.
"I… I'll follow you, Sect Master."
The System chimed.
[Mission complete. First disciple recruited. Spirit well repair initiated.]
A soft pulse of energy rippled up the mountain.
Haoran let out a slow breath.
His ruined sect had gained its first ember of life.
And it was a stronger ember than fate itself could have predicted.