The rain fell like needles, soaking the dead forest that crowned Heiyin Peak. Branches twisted unnaturally, groaning in the howling wind. Li Sheng trudged upward, each step sinking into the black mud. His thin robes clung to his body, and his breath steamed in the icy air.Behind him, the world he once knew — the petty villagers, the mocking cultivators, the blind aristocrats — grew distant. Before him stretched a different world, one hidden from ordinary eyes: a place where spirits lingered, where the earth itself pulsed with unholy life.Heiyin Peak was alive.And it was hungry.
A sharp chime echoed in his mind.
[Ding]
> [Quest Activated: Slay 1 Wraith of the Old Sect.]
>[Reward:Resonance core]
Li Sheng narrowed his eyes. "Come, then," he whispered. His voice, once filled with fear, now carried a curious calm.The first shadow moved at the edge of his vision. A figure in rotting sect robes, its face twisted beyond recognition, floated towards him with jerky, unnatural movements.
The Wraith.
It shrieked — a sound that rattled bones and twisted the mind. Most mortals would have fallen paralyzed. Even seasoned cultivators would have been struck dumb with horror.But Li Sheng… smiled.He raised his hand. A black mark glowed on the back of his palm — the imprint of the System of Resonance.
> [Skill Unlocked: Soul-Shear Blade (Level 1)]
A weapon, intangible yet razor-sharp, materialized in his hand — a sword of black mist and raw spirit energy.The Wraith lunged.Li Sheng struck.One blow.
The Wraith exploded into a mist of shrieking souls.
> [Wraith Slain.
Resonance Core Awakened.] >Ability:Helps host to activate the resonance core
Pain tore through Li Sheng's body as something deep within him cracked open. The world shifted. He felt it all — the pulsations of life and death, the whispers of lost souls, the tremors of power lying dormant beneath the mountain.He had taken his first step.