They reached the relay point at dusk.
It was not a town.
Not even a village.
Just a cluster of stone buildings pressed against a low ridge, half-hidden by trees and mist. A narrow watchtower stood at the edge, its top broken long ago, leaving it shorter than it should have been.
This was the edge.
Not of land.
Of authority.
The moment Li Chen stepped into the area, he felt it clearly.
The faint pressure that always hovered within Qingyun Sect's territory was gone. No guiding formations. No invisible correction when qi drifted the wrong way.
Here, qi behaved freely.
And freely meant dangerously.
[System Notice]
[Regional Authority: Minimal]
[Environmental Variability: High]
The escort group slowed instinctively.
Even those who had never been here before sensed it.
Qiao dismounted first, inspecting the surroundings. "We'll hand over the cart here," he said. "The receiving party should arrive before full dark."
"Who's receiving it?" one of the outer disciples asked.
Qiao shook his head. "Not our concern."
That answer did not ease anyone.
Li Chen walked a slow circle around the clearing, eyes lowered, senses extended just enough.
The land here felt… scraped.
Not wounded like Yunhe Village.
More like something had passed through repeatedly, leaving shallow impressions that never fully faded.
Trade.
Movement.
Conflict.
All layered thinly over each other.
The group set up a loose perimeter.
Talismans were placed, but without sect formations to anchor them, their effect felt weaker. The air resisted structure.
Li Chen chose a spot near a fallen stone pillar and sat down.
He did not cultivate.
He observed.
As the sky darkened, the mist thickened, rolling down from the ridge in slow waves. Visibility dropped. Sounds carried oddly, some too far, others swallowed completely.
[System Alert]
[Perception Interference: Active]
[Cause: Natural and Artificial Overlap]
Artificial.
So something had been done here.
Footsteps approached from the road.
Three figures emerged from the mist.
Not hiding.
Not cautious.
Confident.
Two men and one woman, all wearing dark travel robes without sect insignia. Their auras were restrained but dense, pressing outward despite suppression.
Foundation Establishment.
At least.
Qiao stepped forward. "State your purpose."
The woman smiled. "We're here for the cart."
Qiao studied them. "Identification."
One of the men tossed a token.
Qiao caught it, examined it briefly, then nodded. "Matches the seal."
He gestured.
The beast pulling the cart snorted nervously as it was led forward.
Li Chen watched the exchange closely.
Not the people.
The space between them.
The mist shifted unnaturally as the receiving party approached the cart, curling inward as if drawn by something beneath the talismans.
Whatever was inside mattered.
A lot.
The woman's gaze flicked toward Li Chen briefly.
Just once.
Then away.
[System Notice]
[External Scan Detected]
[Target: Host]
[Result: Inconclusive]
Inconclusive was good.
The handover proceeded without incident.
The receiving party secured the cart, replacing Qingyun talismans with their own. The patterns were different. More aggressive. Less stable.
As the final seal locked into place, Li Chen felt it.
A pulse.
Not qi.
Intent.
Something inside the cart responded.
The woman paused, fingers tightening slightly.
Then she laughed softly. "It's eager."
Qiao's expression hardened. "That wasn't mentioned."
She met his gaze calmly. "Neither were your losses upriver."
Silence fell.
The two men shifted subtly, positioning themselves.
Li Chen did not move.
But his weight shifted forward.
[System Prompt]
[Conflict Probability: Rising]
[Recommendation: Do Not Escalate]
Qiao exhaled slowly. "The escort is complete."
The woman inclined her head. "Then we'll be leaving."
They turned and walked into the mist, the cart rolling behind them.
The pressure eased.
But not completely.
Only when the sound of wheels faded did everyone breathe again.
One of the outer disciples wiped sweat from his brow. "That felt worse than fighting."
Qiao nodded grimly. "Because it was."
They did not linger.
The return journey began immediately.
No one wanted to remain in a place where no one held clear authority.
As they walked back along the road, the mist thinning slightly, Qiao slowed his pace until he walked beside Li Chen.
"You noticed it too," he said quietly.
Li Chen did not ask what.
"Yes," he replied.
Qiao studied him from the corner of his eye. "You don't act like an outer disciple."
Li Chen said nothing.
"I won't ask questions I don't want answers to," Qiao continued. "But listen carefully."
Li Chen listened.
"Things are moving," Qiao said. "Not loudly. Not openly. But across regions. Across sect boundaries."
Li Chen's gaze remained forward.
"People like you," Qiao said, "end up in the middle. Whether you want to or not."
Li Chen spoke softly. "Middle is better than front."
Qiao laughed quietly. "Sometimes."
They walked in silence after that.
By the time Qingyun's outer patrols came into view, night had fully fallen. Lanterns glowed faintly along the distant path, marking the return of structure.
The moment they crossed back into sect influence, Li Chen felt it again.
That gentle pressure.
Correction.
Containment.
[System Notice]
[Regional Authority: Restored]
[Personal Autonomy: Reduced]
Li Chen exhaled.
The escort ended officially at dawn.
Reports were brief. No mention of the corrupted entity. No mention of the tension at the relay point.
Only confirmation of delivery.
Li Chen returned to the outer disciple quarters as if nothing had happened.
Zhang Wei was asleep when he arrived.
Li Chen sat on his mat and closed his eyes.
He did not cultivate.
He replayed the pulse from the cart.
The way the woman had said it was eager.
Not sealed.
Contained.
Whatever was moving across regions was not finished.
It was beginning.
[Host :- Li Chen]
[Qi Stability: 39%]
[Exposure: Increasing]
Li Chen opened his eyes.
So this was the world beyond the mountain.
Not chaos.
Competition.
Not war.
Preparation.
Qingyun Sect was no longer the center.
It was a starting point.
Li Chen lay down and let sleep take him.
Tomorrow, he would return to routine.
But now, he understood something clearly.
Authority did not vanish at the edges.
It thinned.
And in those thin places, those who could stand without support would decide what came next.