Contrary to expectation, the native spirits did not strike again. They drifted into the fog, watching from a distance like sentinels wary of a stranger's campfire. Though Li Wei's presence had quelled them, he knew such tolerance was fleeting.

In every realm, balance demanded dominion. Which meant that only one species could claim it for long.

For now, the Liu clan breathed. Fires crackled, breath steamed in the frigid air, and the wounded murmured faint prayers. Yet the stillness that followed was the kind that often precedes a storm, not peace.

Li Wei stood at the river's edge, his reflection bending in the current like a ghost that refused alignment. His voice was low when he spoke, but it carried across the camp. "Do not mistake silence for defeat. Even the wind bows before the mountain, but never for long."

Ning Xue stepped forward, the hem of her cloak trailing frost. "Then we prepare while our fortunes are still aligning with the will of the heavens." He turned to her with a faint smile, the kind that bore both exhaustion and focus.

"Indeed. We cannot linger as frightened guests beneath another's roof. A clan without roots is already half-dead." At dawn's first shimmer, Li Wei gathered the prominent leaders. The mist was beginning to thin, revealing distant peaks veined with pale silver.

He unfurled three maps across a slab of stone, their parchment weighted by spirit stones. Each bore intricate inkwork that was hiding behind the mist, including leyline currents, shaded ridges, and cryptic runes marking dangerous zones.

"The native qi flows from three sources," he said, tracing with his gloved finger. "The northern ridge, the mountain basin, and the hollow beneath the river. These are the veins that feed this world's pulse. To live here, we must adapt to the conditions, not resist them."

The clan leaders bowed in understanding, none present had the gall to disagree with him.

Li Wei turned first to Ning Xue. "Take this map," he said, offering the marked parchment. "You and Leng Yue will lead two-thirds of the clan to the mountain I've circled in red. The qi there is thin but stable. Establish the main settlement quickly. Time is an enemy that does not bargain."

Ning Xue accepted the parchment with both hands, her gaze unwavering. "Understood. Madam Yue, gather the vanguard." Leng Yue, stoic as ever, inclined her head. "As the young master commands. My blade will overcome anything opposing us, even if the mountain falls to stop me."

Li Wei's mouth curved faintly. "Then make sure it doesn't."

He then turned to Mei Yu, whose robes were still dusted with the remnants of healing powder. "You will take the remaining scribes to this observation point." He tapped a small cross marked high above the valley.

"The cliff overlooks the leyline's flow. I want a new archive constructed there. Preserve every record, every scripture. The future depends on the past not being forgotten." Mei Yu accepted the scroll, her brows knitting in quiet contemplation. "It will be done, Master Li. Even if I must write with blood."

"Let us hope ink will suffice," he replied lightly. Yet beneath the jest was solemnity. He had seen too much blood already.

As Mei Yu gathered the scribes, each burdened with scroll satchels and old memory, Li Wei faced Jia Lin last. She had stood silent until now, her swords crossed at her back, eyes like embers under shadow.

"Jia Lin," he said, "take this map and lead our combatants to this hollow." his finger landed upon a dark-inked valley where trees grew unnaturally dense, "There you will establish the barracks. Build quietly. Let the steel of the people echo beneath the roots, not above them."

The woman's lips twitched in a half-grin. "A hidden edge cuts deeper. I understand."

He regarded her a moment longer. "Courage is a torch, Captain, but even fire must be shielded from the storm. If you meet opposition, do not seek glory—seek survival."

Jia Lin chuckled softly, bowing with her fist across her chest. "As the young master wills. The Liu clan will endure."

Li Wei nodded, then exhaled, the frost leaving his breath like an unspoken burden. "Good. Go swiftly, all of you. The line will not wait."

By midday, the valley stirred with motion.

The Liu clan divided according to his command as columns of cultivators, scholars, and warriors threading through the veiled forest like veins of living light. The once-chaotic camp dissolved into disciplined silence. Even the children, eyes wide and solemn, clung to the rhythm of their elders' footsteps.

Li Wei remained last at the riverbank, his senses extended through the ground. He could feel the ancient pulse beneath, it was like the thrum of countless spirits dormant yet restless. "This world breathes differently," he murmured.

He drew from his sleeve a jade slip etched with shifting sigils. It contained the records of the subspace, this was everything he had mapped and gleaned. Yet as he watched, one of the sigils flickered, deforming into a new symbol. His brow furrowed. "So… the domain is changing already."

A rustle came from the trees behind him. Leng Yue emerged briefly, her expression unreadable. "Scouts report no sign of pursuit. Whatever those phantoms were, they linger only near the river."

Li Wei gave a single nod. "Good. That gives us a night's reprieve." He gazed westward where the peaks rose like jagged teeth. "But reprieve is not the same as safety. Go, I have the feeling Ning Xue will need your eyes."

Before she could leave, she asked quietly, "Do you trust this place to let us live, young master?"

He smiled faintly. "The heavens favor neither the cautious nor the reckless, only the patient. We will learn its rules before we break them."

Leng Yue bowed and vanished into the mist.

As twilight deepened, Mei Yu's small band of scribes reached the observation cliff. From there, the world stretched in a strange, ethereal panorama.

Mists rolled like oceans and the sky shimmered with unfamiliar constellations. She pressed a palm to her chest, feeling both wonder and unease. "To think that I don't recognize any of the stars here," she whispered.

An older scribe beside her murmured, "Then we shall learn about them anew."

Below, at the mountain's base, Ning Xue and her contingent began erecting their shelters. The air was thinner here, threaded with faint motes of golden dust. When she inhaled, it sang faintly in her lungs.

"This qi…" she said to Leng Yue, who was inspecting the ground, "it's alive, almost watchful."

Leng Yue's blade tapped a stone. "The mountain remembers. Step softly, lest it recalls war."

Ning Xue allowed herself a small smile. "You speak as though the earth holds grudges."

"It does," Leng Yue replied. "It just lacks a tongue."

Elsewhere, deep within the woods, Jia Lin's warriors worked tirelessly. They carved out a hollow beneath a great cedar whose roots spanned like coiled serpents. Sparks danced as metal clashed; wards were erected, banners unfurled.

A young disciple approached nervously. "Captain, do you think Lord Li Wei knows what he's doing? This place does not feel right."

Jia Lin looked up from her work, her expression fierce yet not unkind. "Child, when a river floods, the fish do not question the moon. They swim, or they drown. Li Wei may be mad, but he's the kind of madman that survives numerous calamities."

Her words drew a few grim chuckles, easing the unease..

Night fell fully, and the valley transformed.

Phantom lights glimmered between the trees. The air vibrated faintly with echoes of long-forgotten hymns. Each settlement glowed with a fragile warmth, lanterns warding away the unseen.

Li Wei stood alone upon a high ridge overlooking them all. His robes fluttered in the wind, hair silvered by moonlight. He spoke softly, as though to the valley itself.

"Once, the Liu were architects of empires. Now we are architects of survival. But perhaps… from survival may rise something purer." He extended his hand and cast a single talisman into the air. It unfolded into a spectral sigil that hovered above the valley, weaving itself into the leylines below.

The ground thrummed in response, accepting his will for the time being.

A voice whispered faintly behind him. "You meddle with what was buried for a reason." He turned sharply. From the shadows stepped an old man, robed in dark green, eyes aglow with faint blue fire. His presence was neither living nor dead.

Li Wei did not draw his weapon. "A remnant of the river, I presume."

The spirit inclined its head. "You speak as one who has resided here since time immemorial. This land is not yours to claim." Li Wei's gaze was steady. "Neither is it yours to hoard. I seek no dominion, only a foothold where the hunted may rest."

The old apparition studied him long before sighing like wind through reeds. "Then prove it, wanderer. The valley accepts only those who can pay the penance."

As the spirit dissolved, Li Wei murmured, "Penance, is it? Then let the reparations begin."

The mist swirled, and thunder rolled somewhere far away, For the first time in what felt like ages, Li Wei allowed himself a chance to breath out and take in the beauty of the world around him

"The Liu will endure," he whispered to the night. "Even if the heavens forget their name."

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