Part 4: Echo Rootfall
Lin Fei stepped into the Spiral.
There was no sensation of movement, no transition of space. One moment, he was outside—the windless boundary of cracked terrain and soundless whispers—and the next, he stood in a pocket of stillness so profound it crushed his breath before it left his lungs.
The Spiral was not a crater. It was a memory.
An ancient domain event, frozen in metaphysical stasis.
At its center was a tree—or what had once been one. A massive, petrified root structure jutted from the spiral's base like a crown turned upside-down. Each twisted limb reached skyward, frozen mid-scream. Dozens of spectral figures encircled it in kneeling positions, heads bowed, palms raised in offering.
Their bodies were motionless. But their spirits still wept.
[System Alert: Deep Echo Presence – Tier Undetermined]
[Anomaly Status: Incomplete Remembrance Detected]
[Warning: Reality Density Exceeds Normal Veinfield Thresholds]
[Recommendation: Anchor Soulline and Proceed with Caution]
He crouched and pressed his palm to the cracked ground.
The system responded.
[Soulline Anchor Established: 63% Linkage Complete]
[Echo Drift Resistance Boosted]
His mind steadied as the spiritual storm eased around him. But there was something else—something even the system hadn't anticipated.
A voice.
Not a scream. Not a whisper. But a song.
It drifted in and out of his thoughts, like wind brushing the edge of a forgotten melody.
"We bloom in rootfall, we fall in bloom. The First One breathes, the Last One breaks. Carry us, O Root, into the Hollow Moon…"
Lin Fei moved closer to the spiral's center. Each step pressed against invisible resistance, like wading through liquid memory.
And then—
The Echoes moved.
The kneeling figures twitched, lifted their heads, and turned toward him.
Their eyes glowed dim violet. Their mouths opened—but no sound escaped.
Then the system snapped into overdrive.
[WARNING: Deep Echo Convergence]
[Multiple Hostile Entities Detected: 16+ Phantom-Level, 1 Apex-Level]
[Anchor Stability Dropping – 42%]
[Emergency Protocol: Domain Projection Recommended]
He had seconds to decide.
But Lin Fei didn't run. Didn't hesitate.
Instead, he clenched his fist.
"Project domain—now!"
[Domain Projection – Tier I Initiated]
[Veinfield Overlay: Reclamation Spiral: Accepted]
[Stability Compromise: Partial Instantiation – 19% Effectiveness]
The world shuddered.
Crystal roots erupted around him as a fragment of the Reclamation Spiral imprinted over the terrain. Silver mist coiled upward like vines of intent. Phantom wind surged outward as a boundary took shape around his spiritual presence.
The kneeling Echoes screamed—silently.
And then they charged.
⚔️ Rootfall Clash
Six phantoms descended upon him from above, forming jagged weapons from crystallized regret and martial will.
Lin Fei spun low, directing one of his summoned rootlines upward like a whip. The root coiled mid-air, slamming into two of the Echoes and shattering them into glittering fragments.
[Echoes Resisted – Hostility Reactivating]
Another Phantom, shaped like a sword cultivator with half its body flayed by time, unleashed a spiraling slash of mirrored light. Lin Fei dodged left—but it still grazed his shoulder, searing his spirit skin.
"Damn—these aren't memories. They're obsessions."
He poured more energy into the domain.
[Rootlink Authority: Domain Pulse – Activating]
[All active root structures gain +10% resonance efficiency]
A ripple spread across the Veinfield projection.
The spiritual roots pulsed in rhythm, absorbing ambient memory qi and destabilizing the hostile Echoes' cohesion.
More shattered.
But then—
The sky cracked.
Or rather, the Spiral's sky remembered it had once broken.
A shape emerged from the stormcloud of memory:
A colossal Echo, fifty meters tall, humanoid in outline, but covered in bark-like armor with glowing veins of violet light. Its head was twisted backward, its chest hollow, and in its right hand it carried a root-scythe larger than a house.
[Deep Echo Identified: "Hollow Root-Saint"]
[Classification: Apex-Class Remnant – Memory Anomaly]
[Warning: High Threat Entity – Combat Capacity Unstable]
The Broker hadn't lied. This was high risk.
And Lin Fei had no backup.
🌩️ Bargain of the Bloom
The Hollow Root-Saint didn't move at first.
It simply watched.
Then it raised one limb—and pointed to Lin Fei's soul.
[System Prompt: Conditional Contract Offered by Apex Echo]
["Bind the Bloom. Witness the Last Fall. Inherit the Silence."]
[Reward: Unknown. Risk: Full Domain Resonance Exposure.]
Lin Fei blinked, dazed by the spiritual pressure. The offer was not a standard quest—it was an imprint of a memory too large to forget. Accepting it could corrupt his domain. Rejecting it might make the creature attack.
But he understood one thing:
The Hollow Root-Saint was not alive. It was a looped obsession—trying to fulfill a memory it could no longer process. The "contract" was a test of memory willpower.
So he did the unthinkable.
He counter-offered.
"Then let me bind you. I don't need to inherit silence. I'll turn it into something that screams life."
He poured his intent into the domain.
[Rootlink Authority Override – Contract Clash Initiated]
[Binding Attempt on Deep Echo Entity – 17% Compatibility]
[Warning: Mental Overload Possible]
🌌 The Memory Spiral Collapses
Reality buckled.
The spiral crater folded in on itself, becoming a tunnel of memory loops. Lin Fei saw flashes of the past: the Root-Saint in battle. Wielders forming pacts. Systems crying out in forgotten tongues. Cultivators dying while smiling—knowing their names would never return.
Then:
A bloom.
A single white flower growing at the edge of the Root-Saint's shattered foot.
He understood.
The Spiral was never about rage or punishment.
It was about remembrance.
About someone trying to remember a single flower that bloomed in the middle of all their failure.
He extended his hand—both physical and spiritual—and touched the flower.
[Domain Resonance Achieved – 94% Connection]
[Deep Echo Accepted Binding Terms]
[New Entity Acquired: Memory Guardian – Hollow Root-Saint (Dormant State)]
[New Feature Unlocked: "Phantom Bloom Binding"]
[Special Reward Acquired: "Echo Seed – Bloom of the Last Saint"]
[Mission Completed – Returning to Root Anchor]
🌀 Return to the Bloom Broker
When Lin Fei opened his eyes again, he stood at the edge of the spiral. Mist rolled away from his feet. His clothes were torn, soul battered, and his qi was dangerously low.
But he was alive.
And in his hand… the white bloom remained.
The Bloom Broker reappeared in a slow spiral of golden light, applauding.
"Well done! I honestly didn't think you'd survive, let alone bind the saint. My ledger's going to be thrilled."
Lin Fei didn't answer. He simply stared at the flower. Then finally, asked:
"Why are they all still here?"
The Broker tilted his head. For once, his voice softened.
"Because cultivation is more than power. It's memory. And the system remembers everything you try to forget."
He snapped his fingers.
[Reward Dispensed: +1 Bound Credit, +1 Echo Gift Box]
Then, with a grin, he vanished—leaving Lin Fei alone.