The forest grew denser as the group pressed forward, the sky above fading into a lattice of tangled branches and mist. Qinghe's villagers rarely ventured this deep—too far, too wild, and too many old tales of vanishing hunters and cursed glades.
Chen Yu could feel it now.
> [Warning: Spiritual Residue Detected]
Category: Ancient | Inert but unstable.
Origin: Unknown.
"What's that smell?" muttered one of the younger villagers, holding his nose. "Like wet stone and copper."
"Blood," Wei said, his voice sharp. "Stay alert."
They crossed into a clearing littered with broken branches and claw marks etched into the dirt—far larger than the Shadowfang wolf's. In the center lay something out of place: a black stone monolith, half-buried and cracked down the middle. Faint runes flickered across its surface like dying embers.
Chen Yu's steps slowed.
It wasn't the monolith's appearance that disturbed him. It was the energy. A presence—ancient, familiar, like breathing in air from a past life.
> [Legacy Resonance Detected]
Triggering Memory Fragment…
He staggered.
—A battlefield of shattered heavens. A hundred monoliths humming like war drums. He, the Dragon Sovereign, stood at their heart, wielding power that could silence armies.
Then the memory snapped away, like a book slamming shut.
"Chen Yu?" Lin Yue grabbed his arm. "You alright?"
He blinked. "That stone... I've seen it before."
Wei frowned. "Impossible. This thing's older than the empire. Cultivators call it a 'spirit grave.' Marks a place where something ancient died—and maybe still lingers."
One of the villagers stepped too close.
"Don't—" Wei warned, but too late.
The moment the boy's fingers touched the stone, a pulse of black mist erupted from the crack. A cold screech tore through the clearing, freezing blood and bone alike. The boy dropped, unconscious.
> [System Alert: Spiritual Contamination Neutralized]
Legacy Path Accelerated: +3%
Artifact Fragment Detected: "Dragon's Scale – Dormant"
Chen Yu stepped forward. "This wasn't chance. This was meant for me."
Wei looked at him long and hard. "What exactly are you?"
Chen Yu didn't answer.
Because the truth would sound like madness—
He wasn't just someone who'd lost a past life.
He was someone that past life feared losing.
And now… the world was waking up to him again.