Night in the Crimson Serpent Sect wasn't silent—it breathed.
Wind howled softly through bamboo corridors. The spirit lamps flickered. Somewhere, a beast howled in the outer forest, far past the disciple walls. And deep underground, beneath layers of earth and sealed formations, something pulsed with slow, ancient power.
But Su Chen wasn't concerned with mysteries—yet.
He sat cross-legged in the herb shed behind Mistvale Garden, cloaked in shadows, meditating as moonlight spilled through a broken window.
The herb girl, Lin Yao, had silently offered him the space earlier that evening. "No one comes here after dark," she'd said. "Too many spiders."
Su Chen didn't mind spiders. He'd once meditated on the corpse of a demon snake for three months. This was luxury by comparison.
> [Qi Channeling Time Remaining: 35 Hours, 52 Minutes]
[Current Progress: 12.1% → 13.6%]
Qi flowed through his meridians like a river through cracked stone. His foundation was slowly taking shape. He was already past what most outer disciples managed in their first month—and he still had a day and a half of System-boosted gathering left.
But his thoughts weren't on the numbers.
They were on the name Yan Xiang had spoken: Elder Miao.
In Su Chen's past life, Elder Miao had been the architect behind one of the greatest betrayals in sect history. She had used disciples like chess pieces—grooming them, favoring them, only to sacrifice them later to advance her own cultivation.
He had been one of those sacrifices once.
Not this time.
The next morning, Su Chen descended the cliff path that led toward the Crimson Vault—a lesser-known area where outer disciples could trade merit points for cultivation resources.
Officially, the Vault was for elite initiates.
Unofficially, it was also a den of bribes, secrets, and internal politics.
He passed under the blood-red arch and into the underground chamber. Elder Duan's personal disciples stood at the entrance, watching newcomers with eyes like razors.
Su Chen handed over a wooden token—freshly marked with a minor merit seal granted after his victory against Lu Shan.
The guard raised an eyebrow. "Outer disciple with no Qi cultivation, and already earning merit?"
Su Chen smiled faintly. "I've always been ahead of the curve."
The man grunted and let him pass.
The Crimson Vault was not what it sounded like. There were no gold piles or divine swords on display. Just rows of glowing shelves with sealed jade slips, faded manuals, and spirit bottles locked behind formation screens.
Each item had a price in contribution points, reputation tags, or worse—loyalty pledges.
Su Chen's eyes scanned quickly. He wasn't here for treasure.
He was here for information.
> [System Ping Detected]
[Hidden Item Nearby – "Broken Dao Mirror Fragment"]
His pulse quickened. That name… it wasn't from this sect. It was a relic from the Void Temple—his own sacred domain from ten thousand years ago.
So it had survived.
So… someone here had found it.
He followed the System's faint guidance toward the back of the vault, near the dustiest corners where even the warding formations were weak.
And then—
He stopped.
A boy was already standing there.
Tall. Dressed in robes that were clearly custom-stitched. A jade talisman hung from his belt—a sign of direct inheritance.
But it was his aura that made Su Chen freeze.
Not the power. But the feeling behind it.
Arrogance. Cruelty. And a buried madness.
This was no random disciple. This was a future nightmare.
Su Chen remembered him from his past life—though in that one, the boy had already ascended to the inner sect and left a trail of corpses behind.
His name was Ji Liang.
A direct descendant of one of the Twelve Founding Families.
Ji Liang turned. He had already noticed Su Chen.
"Looking for something?" he asked, voice cold but curious.
Su Chen bowed slightly. "Just browsing."
"Careful where you browse." Ji Liang smiled, but it never reached his eyes. "Some shelves are sharp. And they bite."
Su Chen's gaze flicked once to the jade slip in Ji Liang's hand. It glowed faintly with a golden edge. Ancient. Cracked. But unmistakable.
The Dao Mirror Fragment.
So this was where Ji Liang had found it.
In the last timeline, he had used it to create a secret technique—one that allowed him to copy opponents' moves mid-battle. He became a slaughterer on the battlefield because of it.
But Su Chen had seen it first.
> [Optional Objective Added: Steal or Copy Dao Mirror Fragment]
[Reward: Partial Memory Restoration – Void Arts Archive Lv. 1]
Su Chen bowed again. "I'll be careful."
He turned and walked away.
For now.
That night, back in the herb shed, Su Chen sat again in silence.
But this time, he wasn't just meditating.
He was planning.
Ji Liang was a monster in the making.
And Su Chen would either neutralize him—or steal what made him strong.
> [Checkpoint Suggestion: After Dao Mirror Acquisition]
"Yes," Su Chen whispered. "We reset only after we take."