Cultivation starts with picking up attributes

The night was heavy with silence. Not the silence of peace, but of waiting—the hush before a storm rends the sky. From the western horizon came the faint shimmer of qi, alien and ordered, pulsing like the measured beat of a war drum.

Tian Shen stood at the northern cliff, his spear resting in his hand, silver flames crawling along the weapon's shaft. His Core thrummed inside his chest, alive with restrained power. The last battle had scarred his flesh and shaken his veins, but the fire within had only grown sharper. Around him, the Root Division held their posts, lines of disciplined disciples standing shoulder to shoulder, eyes forward, breaths synchronized.

"Commander," Ji Luan whispered from behind, her tone urgent but steady. "Scouts report movement near the western ridge. Not just soldiers. They've erected obelisks. Four this time, not one."

The memory of the first obelisk flared in Tian Shen's mind—how it had twisted qi, bending the battlefield into a graveyard. His eyes narrowed, silver light sharpening within them. "Four," he repeated. "They've learned."

Feng Yin stepped to his side, her blade sheathed but her aura sharp enough to cut stone. "If four obelisks activate at once, even the strongest formations of the Feilun Sect may fracture."

Tian Shen did not respond immediately. His gaze fixed on the horizon, where the faint shimmer of foreign banners fluttered like shadows against the moon. Then he lowered his spear, its tip sparking against stone. "Then we destroy them before they root themselves fully."

...

At dawn, the enemy marched.

The foreign host stretched across the ridges in a tide of black steel and crimson banners.

Their armor gleamed with etched runes, their steps synchronized by some unseen law. And at their center towered the obelisks—massive pillars carved of obsidian, bound with glowing chains of blood and spirit.

Their hum was deep, unnatural, as though the earth itself strained to reject their presence.

The leader was there as well. The man Tian Shen had faced before—the gauntlet-bearer, clad now in heavier armor, his eyes glowing with fractured light. He raised his hand, and the army stopped as one. Even at a distance, his voice carried like a blade through the wind.

"Feilun Sect," he called, the words distorted by foreign cadence, yet clear. "Your roots have endured longer than expected. But today, they will be torn out. Kneel, and your sect may live as subjects of the Dominion. Resist, and you will be ash beneath our banners."

Murmurs rippled among the Feilun disciples. Fear clawed at their chests, but Tian Shen's voice cut through it like thunder.

"Your Dominion bleeds arrogance," he replied, voice steady, cold, unwavering.

"We do not kneel. Not today. Not ever."

The leader's eyes narrowed. His gauntlet pulsed with red light.

"Then you will learn what it means to defy a nation."

The obelisks roared to life.

The ground shook as the pillars activated, chains of scarlet light stretching between them, weaving a net that distorted the flow of qi across the battlefield. Spirit beasts roared in their pens, sensing the corruption, while disciples staggered as the air grew thick and sharp, like breathing through broken glass.

"Formations!" Tian Shen barked.

The Root Division moved instantly, spears and talismans aligning into synchronized arrays. Feng Yin drew her sword, her aura flaring in pale light that cut through the distortion. Elder Su raised his staff, his calm presence anchoring the disciples even as the battlefield twisted.

Tian Shen launched forward. His spear swept in a wide arc, silver fire bursting outward to clash against the nearest chain of light.

Sparks erupted, and the entire obelisk formation shuddered. The Dominion soldiers advanced at that instant, their steps falling in perfect rhythm, their blades glowing with fractured qi.

The clash was immediate and violent.

Spears met swords, talismans flared, elemental storms collided with the Dominion's war-forged techniques. The battlefield became a maelstrom of light and steel.

Tian Shen cut through soldiers like a silver tide, his spear's flames devouring their corrupted qi. Each strike was precise, economical, yet devastating, his movements flowing like a storm given human form. But for every soldier he felled, two more stepped forward, bound by the Dominion's unnatural cohesion.

The gauntlet-bearer advanced, his strikes heavy enough to split stone. Tian Shen met him head-on, silver spear clashing with crimson gauntlet in an explosion of light. Shockwaves tore across the ridge, flinging disciples aside.

"You've grown stronger," the leader said, voice calm despite the fury of his strikes. "But strength alone cannot match the will of a Dominion."

"And yet here you stand," Tian Shen shot back, silver flames flaring as he forced the gauntlet aside. "Afraid of a single sect's roots."

Their battle was relentless. Each strike carried the weight of worlds—the gauntlet crushing with sheer force, the spear cutting with unstoppable precision. Around them, the war raged, disciples screaming as formations cracked, spirit beasts charging into Dominion ranks, talismans detonating in bursts of searing light.

Feng Yin moved like a shadow of moonlight, her blade severing the Dominion's chains of qi, cutting soldiers free of their unnatural unity.

Ji Luan and Little Mei rallied the Root Division, their coordination holding the line even as the obelisks pressed harder. Elder Su's staff struck the ground, stabilizing qi flows, preventing the battlefield from collapsing entirely under the weight of corruption.

But the obelisks pulsed stronger. Cracks formed in the Feilun defenses.

"We cannot hold long," Feng Yin shouted, her blade carving another Dominion soldier in two. Her eyes locked on Tian Shen. "The obelisks must fall, or all of this is for nothing!"

Tian Shen knew she was right. His spear blazed brighter, silver flames licking skyward. He twisted past the gauntlet-bearer, driving his spearpoint directly into the nearest obelisk.

The pillar shrieked. The chains binding it trembled, fracturing as silver fire tore through.

But the other three pulsed in response, their energy converging into the leader's gauntlet. His strike came down like a mountain, smashing into Tian Shen's guard and forcing him back.

"Futile!" the leader roared. "For every chain you break, three more bind you!"

Tian Shen's grip tightened. His Core flared violently, the silver flames within him reaching toward the edge of eruption. His body shook under the strain, but he did not falter.

"Then I will break them all."

The battle spiraled into chaos.

The Dominion soldiers pressed with mechanical precision, their lines advancing like unyielding tides. The Feilun Sect fought with desperate ferocity, every disciple pushing beyond exhaustion, every talisman burned, every beast unleashed. Blood stained the ridges, and the screams of both sides echoed against the mountains.

The Root Division became the anchor. Ji Luan's orders cut through the chaos, Little Mei's talismans reinforced crumbling gaps, and together they held the formation even as the earth itself cracked beneath the obelisks' power.

Feng Yin reached Tian Shen's side, her sword blazing with moonlight. "Together," she said, her voice calm even in the storm.

He met her gaze briefly, then nodded. Their auras intertwined, silver and pale light merging into a radiant storm. With one synchronized strike, they surged forward, Tian Shen's spear and Feng Yin's blade tearing into the chains binding the obelisks.

One shattered. Then another.

The battlefield lurched, Dominion soldiers faltering as their cohesion frayed.

The leader roared, crimson gauntlet blazing with fury. "ENOUGH!"

He charged, his strike aimed to crush them both. But Tian Shen stepped forward, spear raised high, silver flames erupting into a towering storm. His Core screamed, his veins burned, but his eyes were steady.

"For Feilun!" he bellowed, voice carrying across the entire battlefield.

Their clash shook the heavens.

Silver met crimson. Fire met steel. The mountain itself cracked under the weight.

When the dust settled, silence followed.

The obelisks lay in ruins, shattered into fragments that bled black smoke into the air. Dominion soldiers, their unity broken, staggered and fell beneath the renewed charge of Feilun disciples. Spirit beasts roared as they swept across the field, driving the invaders back.

The gauntlet-bearer stood in the center, his armor fractured, blood streaking down his side. His eyes, however, still burned with cold arrogance.

"This is not the end," he said, voice steady despite his wounds.

"The Dominion does not fall from one battle. You may have broken chains, but the net is vast. When we return, it will be with a tide you cannot resist."

And with that, he vanished into the shadows, retreating with the remnants of his army.

The Feilun Sect stood bloodied, battered, but alive.

Disciples fell to their knees in exhaustion, some weeping, others too drained even for that. Elders moved swiftly to heal, to stabilize, to preserve what remained. Fires burned across the ridges, the air thick with smoke and ash.

At the center stood Tian Shen, his spear planted into the earth, his chest heaving, silver light dimming but unbroken. Feng Yin stood beside him, her blade sheathed, her gaze steady.

Elder Su approached, his eyes calm yet grave. "The battle is won," he said. "But the war has only begun."

Tian Shen nodded slowly, his gaze fixed on the western horizon. The gauntlet's memory still burned in his veins, but so did the fire of resistance.

"The Dominion will return," he murmured. "And when they do… we will be ready."

Feng Yin's hand brushed his arm briefly, grounding him. "Then let them come. Together, we will stand."

And for that moment, despite the smoke, the blood, and the weight of what lay ahead, the Feilun Sect stood unbroken.

The storm had broken.

But the war had only begun.