The night before departure was clear.
Stars stretched endlessly above Dawnmist Peak, each one a silent witness to the shifting fate of those who stood below.
Luo Feng gathered his disciples in the meditation hall. The air was heavy with anticipation—no laughter tonight, no gentle teasing. Just the steady pulse of breath and the faint hum of spiritual power.
He stood in the center, the broken music box resting on a low stone pedestal before him.
"You've all seen pieces of this journey," he said quietly. "But tonight, I'll tell you the whole of what I know—because when we leave tomorrow, there will be no turning back."
A-Yan sat cross-legged, chin in her hands. Bai knelt with her blade laid across her lap, the edge catching the firelight. Wushen's hands rested on his flute, his gaze steady. Yiran and Tianya flanked them, each one a quiet pillar of strength.
Luo Feng began.
"The Ashen Gate is not a place of power," he said softly. "It is a place of failure."
They listened in silence.
"Three hundred years ago, long before the Mentor System existed, there was a teacher. A man known only as the First Mentor. He was a cultivator without equal—wise, patient, endlessly curious. And he believed that every disciple carried a song the world needed to hear."
He paused.
"But he also believed there was a song that should never be played—a truth too large, too deep for any mortal to contain."
Ding! System Echo: "Origin Fragment – Mentor's Requiem" recognized.Host insight threshold exceeded. Accessing partial memory…
"I saw it once," Luo Feng murmured. "Not with my eyes, but through the system's whispers. The First Mentor tried to teach that song—to draw out its shape in the minds of his disciples. He thought if he could make them echo his understanding, he could remake the world."
Wushen swallowed. "And he failed?"
Luo Feng nodded.
"He didn't just fail. He broke. His mind… his soul… even the spiritual foundation of the land itself. That's what the Ashen Gate is—it's the echo of that failure. A place where the world's music was twisted into silence."
A hush settled over the hall.
Bai's eyes narrowed. "Then why are we going there?"
"Because," Luo Feng said, his voice low but clear, "the Gate didn't just bury his song. It buried every teacher who came after. The Mentor System itself was born from that wound—part salvation, part shackle."
He looked around at them.
"I won't lie to you. The Ashen Gate tests not just your strength, but your will. It will show you everything you've buried. Every doubt. Every fear. And if you can't stand within that echo… it will break you, too."
A-Yan shivered. "Sounds fun."
Her laugh was thin, but brave.
Bai placed a steady hand on her shoulder.
Yiran asked, "What do we do when we reach it?"
Luo Feng met her gaze.
"You listen," he said. "You listen to the echo and decide what you're willing to carry. Because this journey—it's not just about finding the third verse. It's about deciding if you're strong enough to shape your own melody… even if it's one the world doesn't want to hear."
Silence again.
Then Tianya spoke.
"What about you, Master?" she said quietly. "Will you stand in the Gate with us?"
Luo Feng's expression softened.
"I will stand at the threshold," he said. "But the Gate itself… is yours to cross."
The fire burned low.
One by one, they rose and bowed—no words, no promises. Just quiet resolve.
They left the hall in pairs, drifting back to their chambers to sleep—if sleep would come.
Wushen lingered.
He stood before the broken music box, his hand hovering above it.
"Do you think… he regrets it?" he asked.
"Who?" Luo Feng said.
"The First Mentor."
Luo Feng was silent for a moment.
Then:
"I think he believed that even failure could teach. And maybe… that's the only lesson that matters."
Ding! System Insight Gained: +1 "Legacy Awareness."Current Progress Toward Mentor's Requiem: 32%.
Outside, the mountain breathed around them.
Yiran stood at the edge of the ridge, her eyes on the stars.
Bai joined her.
"You're worried," Bai said.
Yiran didn't deny it. "I can feel it, Bai. The Gate… it's like the world holding its breath. Waiting to see who breaks first."
Bai's lips curved faintly. "Then we won't break."
Dawn came slowly.
The morning mist was thicker than usual, hugging the Peak like a memory it couldn't release.
Luo Feng watched the sun rise over the valley, Kaelen at his side.
"You're sure they're ready?" she asked.
He didn't answer immediately.
Then:
"No one's ever truly ready," he said. "But they're willing. And that's enough."
Ding! Quest Updated: "The Path of Ashen Echoes."Objective: Reach the Ashen Gate. Unlock Verse III of the Forbidden Melody.Host Role: Guide. Mentor. Witness.
Warning: Event Horizon reached. Path deviation no longer possible.
They gathered in the courtyard.
Each wore travel robes marked with Dawnmist's pale blue crest. Not the Sect's symbol—theirs. A mark of unity, of family.
Kaelen handed out ration packs, her face calm.
A-Yan teased her. "Are you sure you're not coming to babysit us?"
Kaelen gave her a look so flat it was almost comical. "You'll be fine. Or you won't. Either way, I'm not cleaning up your mistakes."
A-Yan grinned.
Wushen adjusted the flute strapped across his back. Yiran checked her formation kit one last time. Bai tied her blade with a fresh strip of cloth, the knots deliberate and sure.
Luo Feng walked before them.
"The Ashen Gate isn't just a place," he said. "It's a choice. One every cultivator faces—whether to accept the world as it is, or to risk breaking it to find something truer."
He paused.
"You won't walk it alone. Even if my steps end at the threshold… my echo will be with you."
He placed his palm to his chest.
Then bowed.
"Go."
And so they went.
Down the mountain path that wound into the forest, past the last traces of the Sect's watchful gaze.
Toward a place where even the world's music had once faltered.
Toward the Ashen Gate.