The Weight of Worlds
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### **I. The Mud Buddha's Echo**
The Mud Buddha materialized in the Sacred Abyss, his form flickering between corporeal and cosmic dust. Before him, Chen Zhen sparred with Mei Ling's hologram, their glaives clashing in a storm of fire and harmony.
*"A thread fraying,"* the Mud Buddha murmured, his voice resonating through the Nexus.
Chen staggered, sensing the intrusion. Mei Ling's hologram froze mid-strike.
*"Who—?"*
*"Guardian,"* the Mud Buddha interrupted, his skeletal hand brushing Chen's brow. Visions erupted—Li Na battling Eclipse drones in Tokyo, Gorampa rallying monks in Tibet, Nathan carving runes into Boston's bedrock. *"Your family fights. Your world bleeds. Will you remain a student… or become a *shield*?"*
The Catalyst flared, its black orb splitting to reveal a third energy—verdant, earthbound, *alive*.
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### **II. The Temple's Fracture**
In Tibet, Bassui convened his disciples in secret.
*"The Mud Buddha favors Gorampa, but *we* will not kneel to a glorified errand boy,"* he hissed, unveiling a void-crystal stolen from Eclipse scouts. *"The Queen offers strength beyond the Alliance's petty oaths. Who among you craves *true* power?"*
A young monk stepped forward, his eyes glinting with ambition. *"What must we do?"*
Bassui smiled. *"Burn the scrolls. Corrupt the shrines. Let the temples fall… so we may rise."*
As midnight struck, sacred texts blackened in silent pyres.
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### **III. The Guardian's Trial**
Nathan stood atop Mount Katahdin, Gorampa's scrolls orbiting him like satellites. The earth trembled as he channeled leyline energy, his marbleized skin cracking under the strain.
*"Balance,"* Gorampa warned from below. *"You're not a dam—you're a *conduit*."*
Nathan roared, thrusting his palms downward. The mountain *shifted*, its bedrock reshaping into a fortress of living stone.
*"Good,"* Gorampa approved. *"Now find the next Guardian."*
The scrolls flared, pointing northeast—toward a fishing village in Nova Scotia.
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### **IV. Li Na's Crucible**
Li Na knelt in her ancestor's tomb, the kids clutching her sleeves. The walls pulsed with bioluminescent vines, their light revealing a seedpod etched in Elder Futhark.
*"The First Seed,"* she whispered. *"But… it's dormant."*
Xiaojun pressed his palm to the pod. *"Baba says broken things need music."* He hummed Chen's lullaby—the one he'd sung nightly before the crash.
The pod *split*, tendrils fusing with Li Na's veins. She screamed as roots speared her spine—
—then gasped. The tomb dissolved, replaced by a memory: Chen, whole and laughing, sparring with a younger Gorampa.
*"Protect them,"* Chen's echo pleaded. *"Even from me."*
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### **V. The Queen's Gambit**
The Eclipse Queen observed Earth through a dying star's core.
*"The Mud Buddha interferes,"* her lieutenant rasped. *"Shall we accelerate the invasion?"*
*"No."* The Queen's void-forged claws caressed a captured Moonbloom. *"Let them gather their Guardians. Let them *hope*. Then shatter their unity… with the boy."*
The star collapsed, its final light revealing Xiaojun's face.
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### **VI. The Mud Buddha's Price**
Gorampa found the Mud Buddha at the Sacred Abyss' edge, his form dissolving into silt.
*"You're dying,"* Gorampa realized.
*"A will incarnate cannot linger,"* the Mud Buddha chuckled. *"But fear not—I'll return as desert sands, as typhoon rains… and in *her*."* He pointed to Mei Ling, her Nexus glow flickering with unexpected vitality.
*"The Echo?"*
*"A soul reforged. She'll anchor you when the Queen strikes."* The Mud Buddha crumbled, his final words echoing: *"Beware the guardian who craves…*
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