7 — The Northern Boundary
The departure from Azure Wind Sect was not dramatic. There were no war drums or ceremonial speeches. At dawn, twenty-eight outer disciples gathered at the lower terrace, each carrying basic provisions and standard-issue blades. Mist rolled slowly down the mountain slope, thick enough to blur distance but thin enough to reveal silhouettes. The Northern Boundary lay beyond a narrow stone path that curved along the outer cliff before descending into woodland.
Lin Xun, the inner disciple assigned as overseer, stood slightly ahead of the group. His presence was calm but undeniable. No one spoke casually in his proximity. Chen Hao naturally moved to the forward position among the outer disciples, Zhang Wei positioned his own group to the right flank, and Xu Ren drifted toward the center where the unaffiliated gathered.
Li Yuan remained near the middle of the formation.
He did not seek prominence.
He did not seek concealment.
Balance remained his safest position.
As they descended the mountain path, the air changed gradually. The disciplined clarity of sect territory faded into the raw scent of pine and damp earth. The forest canopy thickened, swallowing light in layered shadows. Bird calls were sparse. The silence carried weight.
Li Yuan felt it immediately.
The fragments drifting in the forest were different.
Not in quantity — there were fewer than inside the sect — but in density. Each one shimmered with a slightly darker hue, more condensed than the pale blue remnants of training grounds.
He focused subtly.
A faint shard drifted near a broken tree trunk.
⟡ Claw Force Residue ⟡
Another lingered near disturbed soil.
⟡ Beast Instinct (Minor) ⟡
The system responded without dramatic flare.
[ External Fragment Classification Expanded ]
[ Organic Combat Residue Detected ]
These were not human remnants.
They were animal.
Or something close to it.
The group halted when Lin Xun raised a hand. His voice was calm, controlled.
"Tier One territory begins here. Move in teams of four. Maintain line of sight. Do not pursue deeper without signal."
Orders were simple.
Chen Hao quickly organized his followers. Zhang Wei did the same. Xu Ren gestured subtly toward Li Yuan and two other unaffiliated disciples — a lean spear user named Gao Lin and a quiet archer named Mei Yan.
Temporary alignment had begun.
They moved into the tree line.
The forest swallowed sound.
Footsteps softened on layered leaves. Shafts of light pierced between branches like broken blades. The scent of moss grew stronger the deeper they went.
For the first half hour, nothing happened.
Then Gao Lin stiffened.
"Left."
The underbrush shifted.
A low, guttural growl followed.
A forest wolf emerged slowly from the ferns. Its body was lean but muscular, fur darkened along the spine, eyes reflecting pale green.
Tier One beast.
Dangerous to civilians.
Manageable for trained outer disciples.
But not harmless.
The wolf circled cautiously.
Mei Yan raised her bow.
Chen Hao's group engaged a similar beast several dozen meters away, sounds of combat echoing faintly through the trees.
Li Yuan did not rush forward.
He observed.
The wolf's movement shed faint fragments into the air.
⟡ Muscle Tension +0.03 ⟡⟡ Predatory Focus ⟡
He did not absorb yet.
Xu Ren lunged first, blade slicing across the wolf's flank. The beast retaliated instantly, claws raking toward his thigh.
Li Yuan stepped in at that precise moment.
Not dramatically.
Not heroically.
He struck the wolf's shoulder joint with controlled force, redirecting momentum rather than overpowering it.
The impact revealed something important.
The wolf's bones felt dense.
Denser than normal muscle-based beasts.
The Origin Trace inside him pulsed faintly.
The wolf staggered as Mei Yan's arrow pierced its neck. Gao Lin finished it with a thrust through the ribcage.
Silence returned quickly.
Breathing steadied.
No injuries.
Efficient.
From the wolf's corpse, fragments began rising.
Unlike human shards, these carried a faint earthy tint.
⟡ Vital Force +0.2 ⟡⟡ Instinctive Reaction ⟡⟡ Bone Density Trace ⟡
Li Yuan felt temptation.
But he remembered the gray malice fragment near the pavilion days earlier.
He did not immediately absorb.
Instead, he focused inward.
[ Fragment Purity Scan Initiated ]
[ Vital Force — Acceptable ]
[ Instinctive Reaction — Partial Contamination Risk ]
[ Bone Density Trace — Compatible ]
He selectively absorbed.
Vital Force dissolved into warmth, strengthening his internal circulation. Bone Density Trace merged more slowly, spreading like subtle pressure through his limbs.
[ Integration Stability: 83% ]
He avoided Instinctive Reaction.
Predatory impulses without refinement were dangerous.
Xu Ren noticed the slight shift in his breathing.
"You're integrating."
Li Yuan glanced at him briefly.
"Carefully."
Xu Ren did not comment further.
Across the forest, other teams engaged beasts as well. The sounds were scattered but controlled. No screams yet. No chaos.
But something bothered Li Yuan.
The fragments drifting through the forest were too consistent.
Too uniform.
As if the beasts were… cultivated.
He looked down at the wolf's corpse again.
The bone structure felt reinforced beyond natural growth.
The Origin Trace pulsed again.
And for the first time since entering the forest, the golden resonance stirred faintly.
Deep beneath the soil.
He felt it.
Not through qi.
Through density.
The ground here was layered.
Older than sect territory.
He stood slowly.
"There's something beneath this forest," he murmured.
Gao Lin frowned. "What?"
"Nothing confirmed."
But his instincts sharpened.
They advanced deeper.
Tier Two territory began subtly. Trees grew taller. Light dimmed. The air cooled slightly.
Then it happened.
A scream echoed from the left flank.
Short.
Cut off quickly.
The group froze.
Lin Xun's voice cut through the forest from somewhere ahead.
"Hold formation!"
Chen Hao's group was closer to the sound.
Moments later, two disciples dragged another into view.
His shoulder was shredded.
Claw marks — but deeper than expected from Tier Two beasts.
Chen Hao's jaw tightened.
"This is not standard wolf territory."
Li Yuan's eyes scanned the air.
Fragments were rising from the injured disciple.
⟡ Fear Residue ⟡⟡ Panic Surge ⟡
He ignored them.
Then he saw it.
A faint gray shard drifting near the wound.
The same tone as the malice fragment near the pavilion days ago.
⟡ External Infusion Trace ⟡
His pulse slowed.
The beast had been altered.
Not demonic.
Not spiritual.
Injected.
He did not speak immediately.
Because speaking without certainty invited scrutiny.
But tension had shifted.
This was no longer routine evaluation.
Lin Xun appeared moments later, expression controlled but sharper now.
"Something is driving them," he said calmly.
Chen Hao nodded.
Zhang Wei's group looked unsettled.
Li Yuan finally spoke, voice measured.
"The bone density of the first wolf was abnormal."
Several heads turned.
Chen Hao studied him carefully.
"Explain."
"They're reinforced," Li Yuan replied. "Structurally."
Lin Xun's gaze lingered on him longer this time.
"You noticed through impact?"
"Yes."
A lie.
But believable.
Lin Xun nodded slowly.
"We proceed cautiously."
The forest felt heavier now.
Less natural.
More intentional.
Li Yuan could feel it beneath his feet.
The golden resonance deep below.
And faint gray contamination drifting through wounded fragments.
Inside his consciousness, the sealed module flickered again.
[ External Catalyst Confirmed ]
[ Origin Recovery Protocol Progress: 6% ]
He did not consciously see the message.
But the pressure in his bones increased slightly.
Something beneath the Northern Boundary was reacting.
Not to the sect.
Not to the beasts.
To him.
And somewhere, beyond the visible canopy, the sky felt thinner than before.
The forest was not testing strength.
It was testing awareness.
And long-term tension had just shifted from politics—
To buried history.