The Phoenix Egg pulsed with a soft, warm light, casting a gentle glow on my face. The Three-Tailed Spirit Fox, my former adversary, was now my self-appointed bodyguard, nudging my hand with its snout and emitting happy little yips. The disciples, once terrified, were now staring with open-mouthed reverence at the scene. It was a picture of harmony, a tale of compassion conquering fear.
It was the most terrifying thing I had ever seen.
A Phoenix Egg. A PHOENIX EGG. Why couldn't it have been a chicken egg? I know how to handle chickens. You feed them, you collect their eggs, you don't get hunted by primordial serpents. This is a significant downgrade in my quality of life.
Elder Liu, the infirmary head, and several other sect elders had arrived, drawn by the commotion. They skidded to a halt at the edge of the garden, their eyes wide as dinner plates.
"By the Ancestors…" Elder Liu breathed, his gaze fixed on the glowing egg. "Is that…?"
"The legends are true," another elder whispered, his voice trembling. "A celestial omen! A sign of great prosperity for our Jade Quill Sect!"
Feng Qing, who had been watching from the back, stepped forward. There were tears in her eyes, but they were tears of pure, unadulterated joy. "It wasn't a rampaging beast! It was a guardian spirit, protecting a sacred life! And Master Li… he understood. He didn't use violence. He used compassion. He communicated with it on a level we can't even comprehend!"
I didn't communicate! I weeded! The bar for interspecies diplomacy is apparently incredibly low!
[The Legend of the Beast Tamer has been born.]
[Your affinity with righteous and noble beasts is now considered a fact.]
[New Title Acquired: Friend to the Innocent.]
[Effect: Righteous beasts will be naturally drawn to you. Corrupted beasts will feel an instinctual hatred for you.]
My soul screamed. The System had just painted a giant, glowing "KICK ME" sign on my back for every demonic creature in a thousand-mile radius. And the Black-Hearted Serpent of the Cursed Mire was at the top of that list.
The elders approached cautiously, their eyes darting from me to the fox to the egg. They were treating me not as a disciple, but as a ticking bomb of profundity that might go off at any moment.
"Master Li," Elder Liu said, his voice laced with awe. "What… what should we do? An artifact of this magnitude… it requires utmost care. It must be protected."
Yes! Good idea! YOU protect it! Take it to a vault, bury it under a mountain, I don't care, just get it away from me! The giant snake is coming for the egg, not for the guy standing next to the egg!
I opened my mouth to suggest this very sensible course of action. I was going to say, "This is beyond my station. I entrust this sacred duty to the wisdom of the Sect Elders." It was polite, it was humble, it would get me out of this mess.
The System had other ideas.
[Grandstanding Mandate Issued: The Burden of the Chosen.]
[A true master does not delegate a sacred trust.]
[Action: Pick up the Phoenix Egg.]
[Spoken Line Requirement: "Responsibility is not a cloak to be passed on. It is a weight to be borne. This burden... is mine."]
My jaw clicked shut. The words died in my throat. I was, once again, a prisoner in my own body.
My arms moved forward. The Spirit Fox, sensing my intent, stepped back respectfully, recognizing me as the alpha-nanny. My hands, guided by the mandate, gently cradled the glowing egg. It was surprisingly heavy, and pulsed with a comforting warmth that did absolutely nothing to soothe the ice-cold terror in my heart.
My gaze lifted to meet the hopeful, expectant eyes of the elders. My voice emerged, imbued with a deep, weary gravitas that I did not feel.
"Responsibility is not a cloak to be passed on," I stated, the words tasting like ash. "It is a weight to be borne."
I paused, adding a dramatic flair I had no control over. "This burden... is mine."
NO, IT'S NOT! IT'S YOURS! TAKE IT! I'M BEGGING YOU! I HAVE A MANDATORY QUEST TO FIGHT A GIANT SNAKE! MY ONLY SKILLS ARE INSULTING PEOPLE AND A BRIEF, ACQUIRED KNOWLEDGE OF FOX EMOTIONS! I AM NOT QUALIFIED FOR THIS JOB!
The elders looked like they were about to weep with relief and admiration.
"Such wisdom! Such strength of character!"
"He accepts the burden without hesitation! A true pillar of our sect!"
"The Phoenix chose him! Of course he must be its guardian!"
[The Chains of Acclaim are now so radiant they are almost visible to those with high spiritual perception.]
[Feng Qing has fainted from pure, unadulterated admiration. Her belief has reached a new plateau.]
[Inherent Cultivation Speed: -40%]
My knees felt weak. Forty percent. I was practically a spiritual black hole, sucking in praise and radiating incompetence.
I stood there, holding a god-beast's egg, with a super-powered fox at my heels, a sect full of adoring fans watching my every move, and a continental threat slithering its way toward me.
The cycle had never been more vicious. My 'reward' for solving the fox problem was a dragon-level problem. I needed a reward of commensurate power just to survive the quest that was now hurtling toward me.
Provoking an elder wouldn't be enough. Humiliating a fainted prodigy wouldn't cut it.
I needed to do something so outrageous, so offensive to the public consciousness, that the resulting Chaos would be biblical. I needed to generate enough rage to arm myself for a war against a mythical beast.
My mind raced, frantically searching for an opportunity, a target big enough to save my life.
The Sect Master? No, he was in seclusion. The First Elder? A good candidate, but finding him would take time I didn't have.
Then, my eyes fell on the group of kneeling, worshipful disciples. Their faces were full of hope. They saw me as their savior.
The System, sensing my desperation, chimed in with its uniquely terrible brand of help.
[Opportunity Detected: A crowd of loyal followers.]
[A Grandstanding Mandate is being formulated to maximize emotional chaos.]
Oh no. Oh no, no, no.
The System's cruelty was poetic. It was going to make me use the very source of my problem—my followers—as the fuel for its solution.
[Mandate: The Master Rejects His Flock.]
[Action: Address your followers. Inform them that their faith is worthless, their potential is negligible, and their presence is an annoyance.]
[Follow-up Action: Use the 'Friend to the Innocent' Title to dismiss the Spirit Fox, proving that you value a beast's loyalty over theirs.]
I stared in horror at the smiling, hopeful faces. I had to crush them. I had to look them in the eyes and tell them they were garbage.
It was the most monstrous thing the System had ever asked me to do.
And it was my only hope.