By IMERPUS RELUR
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That night, fog descended.
Not mist. Not morning dew.
Fog—dense, slow, unnatural.
It rolled through the trees and gathered in the broken sect's courtyard, swirling just outside the faintly glowing edge of the Mortal-Tier Defensive Array.
Liang Chen sat cross-legged on cracked steps. He hadn't slept. He hadn't dared.
Something was out there.
His sword—a Mortal-Tier weapon, dull silver with obsidian grooves—rested across his lap. His body still ached from the Iron Flow Fist integration, but his breath was steadier now. His limbs no longer trembled. He could feel faint heat moving through him—not qi, but resonance.
The formation pulsed once.
A growl echoed beyond the mist.
Low. Wet. Hungry.
He rose, one hand gripping the sword. He could not see it—but it was there.
Then—
> [Defensive Formation Integrity: 71%]
The growl turned to a charge.
A flash of eyes.
A black shape.
Fur like oil and smoke.
The beast struck the array and was thrown back—but not far.
It began to pace the edge, snarling in frustration. Liang Chen's gaze sharpened.
It was a spirit beast. Mutated.
The size of a bear, the shape of a feline, its front claws extended too long, as if bone had overgrown flesh. One eye glowed silver—the other, milky white.
> "A corrupted evolution…"
He'd heard stories. Beasts near collapsed sects sometimes absorbed tainted qi, especially when Heaven-Tier Arrays had broken long ago, leaking fragments of old Dao.
Another charge.
> [Integrity: 52%]
The Mortal-Tier array was failing.
Liang Chen stepped past the formation line.
The beast hissed.
Two golden eyes narrowed.
And then it lunged.
He moved.
> "Iron Flow Fist – First Pulse."
His fist struck the beast's left forelimb mid-pounce, twisting its motion.
He pivoted on instinct—his technique responding like liquid steel.
Then came the sword. A single slash, drawn wide with his full weight behind it.
The blade met flesh.
The beast shrieked—half in pain, half in rage—and retreated into the fog, bleeding, limping, and vanishing as quickly as it had appeared.
Liang Chen collapsed to one knee, breathing hard.
> [Formation Status: Stable – Minor Disruption Residue Detected]
He wiped blood from his sword.
The array had held.
He had survived.
And the Ash-Sleeping Sect… had defended itself for the first time in years.