The solitary, narrow path leading back to the ice-shrouded summits of Ice Mystic Peak was wrapped in a blanket of perpetual, bone-chilling mist. The distant, booming roar of forty thousand spectators, the thick stench of blood, and the electric tension of the Central Sun-Moon Arena slowly faded behind Railin's footsteps. With every stride he took up the winding stone trail, the noise of the academy dissolved, replaced only by the crisp whistle of the sub-zero mountain wind cutting through ancient, frost-draped pine needles.
Railin walked with his usual measured, unhurried precision. His dark navy-blue robes—immaculate and free of a single tear, crease, or stain—fluttered gently against his frame.
To any low-tier disciple passing by on the mountain roads, he looked like a quiet, harmless scholar taking a stroll through the fog. Yet, inside his body, his internal senses were conducting an intensely meticulous, silent sweep of his entire cultivation system.
Deep within his lower dantian, the pitch-black void core turned with a heavy, dense rhythm. The massive energy extracted from Mo Ji's withered Stage Five core, along with the pure, righteous sword intent absorbed from Zhao Ling's massive iron blade during the final strike, had been thoroughly digested. The violent shadow-attributes and sharp golden sword-qi had been violently stripped, purified, and compressed into raw void essence, merging seamlessly into his dark-jade meridians.
His cultivation foundation sat completely immovable at the absolute Peak of Mid-Stage Three Foundation Establishment.
Railin lightly brought his right hand out from his wide sleeve, holding the cold, jet-black spatial ring and the glowing purple-gold jade scroll he had received as the undisputed Inner Sect Champion.
Fifty thousand high-tier Spirit Stones.
One month of isolated access to the Top-Grade Sun-Moon Spirit Spring.
An entry token to the Secret Realm of the Ancient Sun-Moon Abyss.
Railin's pale thumb brushed slowly over the intricate, ancient runes carved into the face of the abyss token. A cold, dark light flickered briefly deep within his pitch-black eyes.
To ordinary disciples, the Spirit Stones and the Spirit Spring were high-grade treasures meant for consolidating realms or breaking through bottleneck stages. But to Railin, whose Ashen Devouring Technique required astronomical amounts of raw, untamed, and ancient energy to advance, the true prize was without a doubt the secret realm.
The Ancient Sun-Moon Abyss was a desolate, prehistoric battleground preserved from an ancient era. It was filled with forgotten ruin complexes, lethal spatial fissures, monstrous void beasts, and the buried skeletal remains of long-extinct high-tier powerhouses. To normal cultivators, it was a terrifying maze where death lurked behind every shadow. To Railin, it was an endless, unblemished feast waiting to be swallowed whole.
As Railin crossed the outer boundary arrays of Ice Mystic Peak, the ambient temperature plummeted sharply. Jagged, icy spires pierced through the swirling clouds like blue steel spears, reflecting the faint indigo glow of the setting sun.
Standing near the edge of the narrow stone bridge that bridged the gap to his private subterranean meditation cave, a tall, elegant silhouette stood waiting in the mist, wrapped in a heavy frost-white mantle.
Senior Sister Mu Xuan.
She stood motionless, her hands folded behind her waist, her pale ice-blue eyes watching Railin's quiet approach. The freezing mountain wind whipped her long, snowy hair across her delicate face, but her gaze was sharp, deep, and filled with a complex mix of solemnity and caution.
"You managed to walk back on your own two feet," Mu Xuan said softly, her melodic voice cutting through the howl of the arctic gale. "I expected you to at least display a hint of physical exhaustion after swallowing Zhao Ling's Heavenly Sword Intent with your bare palm."
Railin came to a stop three paces away from her, his hands tucked loosely into his sleeves. "A well-constructed vessel does not leak its contents, Senior Sister."
Mu Xuan turned her body slightly, looking down toward the clouded valley where Shadow Moon Peak lay hidden in dark fog.
"You revealed far too much today, Railin," Mu Xuan murmured, her brow furrowing slightly. "The Ashen Devouring Technique... or whatever dark, ancient heritage you possess... has thoroughly unsettled the entire senior hierarchy. Right at this moment, Grand Elder Shu-Lin is convening a secret emergency meeting with the faction leaders of Shadow Moon Peak and Flame Core Peak. They cannot strike you openly while Peak Master Bing Lian guards you within the academy grounds, but once the barrier to the Ancient Abyss opens... you will be entering a domain with no rules."
Railin's pale lips curved into a subtle, dark arc beneath his high collar. "A hunter who steps into a dark forest often forgets that he is also made of soft flesh, Senior Sister. Let them come. It saves me the tedious effort of seeking them out individually."
Mu Xuan stared at him for a long, silent moment. There was no boastful arrogance in Railin's tone—only a flat, icy matter-of-fact reality that sent a faint chill down her own spine.
She reached into her frost-white mantle and withdrew a small, crystalline jade slip that radiated a soft, arctic blue glow. With a light flick of her wrist, the slip glided through the frozen air, coming to a smooth halt inches from Railin's hand.
"This is the comprehensive terrain map of both the outer and inner perimeters of the Ancient Sun-Moon Abyss, compiled by Ice Mystic Peak over the last two centuries," Mu Xuan explained calmly. "It marks the locations of several volatile spatial fissures, ancient burial grounds, and forgotten underground palaces where high-tier qi gathers. If you intend to break through to Late-Stage Three or push toward Stage Four before the realm closes, those buried ancient corpses will be your best source of raw energy."
Railin caught the crystalline slip between his index and middle fingers, sweeping a thread of his spiritual sense across its contents. In an instant, intricate topographies, hazardous dead-zones, and ancient ruin locations were permanently etched into his memory.
"Why go to such lengths for me, Senior Sister?" Railin asked neutrally. "Ice Mystic Peak has already claimed the ultimate glory of the assembly. You owe me no favors."
Mu Xuan turned her back to him, her frost mantle swirling as she took a step toward her own isolated cultivation dwelling higher up the cliff.
"Peak Master Bing Lian placed her absolute authority on the line when she froze Shu-Lin's blood claw today," Mu Xuan said without turning around. "In Ice Mystic Peak, we do not abandon our own to the wolves of Shadow Moon. Do not throw your life away in that abyss, Railin. I still intend to challenge you myself once my Frost-Core reaches complete perfection."
Without waiting for his response, her silhouette dissolved into a cloud of fine ice crystals, vanishing into the icy fog.
Railin looked down at the glowing azure slip in his pale fingers, a quiet, unreadable smile lingering on his face.
An hour later, deep beneath the rocky foundations of Ice Mystic Peak, Railin sat cross-legged upon the smooth white-jade meditation platform inside his secluded subterranean cavern.
The heavy, ten-ton granite isolation doors had been sealed tight, reinforced by three layers of defensive and sound-isolation spiritual arrays. The air inside the cavern was dark, freezing, and heavy with pure, unrefined arctic spirit qi.
Railin closed his eyes, instantly sinking into a state of absolute internal meditation.
Inside his lower dantian, the Peak Mid-Stage Three Void Core rotated with smooth, terrifying stability. The fifty thousand high-tier Spirit Stones he had won sat organized inside his spatial ring, but he did not rush to absorb them immediately.
Instead, he brought his hands together in his lap, holding the purple-gold access key to the Top-Grade Sun-Moon Spirit Spring.
According to the rules of the academy reward system, he had three days of rest before his one-month isolated session in the Spirit Spring began. That high-density spring, combined with the fifty thousand Spirit Stones, would serve as the ultimate fuel to push his foundation to the absolute limit of Stage Three before he stepped into the lethal expanse of the secret realm.
In his upper dantian, his three microscopic Soul-Piercing Needles hovered in a tight, triangular formation around his consciousness, their pitch-black surfaces vibrating with the lethal, soul-slicing intent he had stripped from Mo Ji's weapon.
Railin took a deep, quiet breath. Every single meridian in his body hummed with silent readiness.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
On the morning of the fourth day, the heavy stone doors of Railin's subterranean cavern rolled open with a low rumble.
Railin stepped out into the light, his navy robes moving smoothly around him. He did not linger. Guided by the instructions on the purple-gold scroll, he navigated the deep, underground tunnels of the academy that led directly beneath the central mountain peak—the absolute heart of the Sun-Moon Academy.
The entrance to the Top-Grade Sun-Moon Spirit Spring was guarded by two ancient, blind elders sitting upon stone pedestals, their cultivation bases hidden so deep they felt like lifeless rocks.
Railin presented his purple-gold key without a word.
The blind elder on the left slowly opened his milky, cloudy eyes, sweeping a faint spiritual probe over Railin's body. A brief flicker of surprise crossed the old man's wrinkled face before he gestured with his bony hand.
"One month," the elder's dry, papery voice echoed in the cavern. "The spirit spring at the center of the array is connected to the primary subterranean spiritual vein of the entire mountain range. Do not force a breakthrough if your meridians cannot handle the pressure."
The massive, ancient iron gate behind the elders slowly ground open, revealing a short passage filled with blinding, dense white mist that reeked of overwhelming spiritual energy.
Railin bowed slightly, stepped through the iron gate, and the heavy doors slammed shut behind him.
The chamber of the Top-Grade Sun-Moon Spirit Spring was a grand, natural cavern carved out of ancient, glowing spirit quartz.
In the center of the chamber lay a circular pool twenty feet wide, filled with a thick, milky-white liquid that bubbled softly. The air above the pool was so saturated with spirit qi that tiny, liquid droplets of energy continuously condensed in mid-air and rained back down into the water!
This was the absolute pinnacle cultivation environment of the entire academy—a place reserved exclusively for core elders and assembly champions.
Railin did not hesitate. He glided to the edge of the pool, removed his navy outer robe, and stepped directly into the milky-white spirit water.
BOOM—!
The moment his skin touched the liquid, an astounding wave of dense, scalding spirit energy rushed into his pores like an overflowing river!
Ordinary cultivators entering this spring would have to carefully circulate their internal arts, absorbing the energy drop by drop to prevent their meridians from rupturing under the immense pressure.
Railin, however, sat cross-legged at the bottom of the two-foot-deep pool, his eyes snapping open with a terrifying, pitch-black light!
"ASHEN DEVOURING ART—FULL CORE ROTATION!" Railin commanded cold-bloodedly in his mind!
WOOOOOOOOO—!
A terrifying, pitch-black vortex erupted from Railin's chest while he sat submerged in the water!
The tranquil, bubbling spirit spring instantly turned into a violent, roaring whirlpool! The thick, milky-white spirit liquid was aggressively pulled into Railin's skin, rushing through his dark-jade meridians like a raging tidal wave!
Inside his lower dantian, the Peak Mid-Stage Three Void Core began to spin at a speed three times faster than usual!
SZZZZZZZZ!
The massive volume of spirit spring liquid was violently swallowed, its vast impurities instantly burned away by the void, leaving behind pure, highly concentrated essence that was forced directly into his core!
Not content with just the spring water, Railin swept his hand across his spatial ring!
SWISH-SWISH-SWISH!
Ten thousand high-tier Spirit Stones flew out of his ring, hovering in a circle in the air above the spirit pool!
"Break!" Railin barked softly.
CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!
All ten thousand high-tier Spirit Stones shattered simultaneously in mid-air, releasing a blinding cloud of pure, liquid spirit gas that completely filled the cavern chamber!
The black vortex expanding from Railin's chest reached out of the water, forming a dark, gravitational storm that pulled the cloud of spirit gas down into the pool, swallowing it whole!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Inside Railin's body, violent explosions of energy echoed as his dark-jade meridians expanded! The sheer volume of power he was devouring in a single hour equaled what an ordinary Stage Three cultivator would absorb over ten years of painstaking meditation!
His cultivation base, which had been locked at the Peak of Mid-Stage Three, began to tremble violently!
The dark void core in his dantian expanded from the size of a thumb to the size of a fist, its pitch-black color deepening into an absolute, lightless abyss!
Days turned into weeks inside the silent, sealed spirit spring chamber.
Every ten days, Railin shattered another ten thousand high-tier Spirit Stones, feeding the roaring, insatiable void engine inside his body. The milky-white spirit spring water, which usually took months to deplete by even a fraction, was slowly losing its color, turning clearer and thinner with each passing day as its ancient essence was drained dry!
On the twenty-eighth day of his isolation...
CRACK—!
A loud, crisp sound of an invisible barrier breaking echoed inside Railin's mind!
BOOM—!
A dark, terrifying wave of void energy erupted from Railin's frame, blasting the remaining clear water out of the spirit pool and crashing against the reinforced quartz walls of the chamber!
Railin's pitch-black eyes opened in the darkness of the drained pool. Two solid beams of dark, abyssal light shot out from his pupils, piercing two inches deep into the solid quartz rock wall in front of him!
His breathing was completely calm, yet the air around his body vibrated with a terrifying, heavy weight.
Late-Stage Three Foundation Establishment—ACQUIRED!
He had successfully broken through the bottleneck! His lower dantian held a vast, liquid ocean of void energy, and his dark-jade meridians had doubled in thickness and resilience. His physical strength, reaction speed, and soul capacity had elevated to a realm where ordinary Stage Four cultivators would no longer pose the slightest threat to him!
Railin slowly stood up in the dry, empty spirit pool. He reached out his pale hand, summoning his navy robe back onto his frame with a casual flick of his sleeve.
He looked around at the completely drained, crystal-clear spirit spring chamber. The subterranean spirit vein beneath the floor was whimpering, its ancient energy dryly depleted by his relentless devouring.
"Late-Stage Three..." Railin murmured softly, inspecting his pale, dark-jade reinforced palm. "With this foundation, even if Grand Elder Shu-Lin sends Stage Four and Stage Five core disciples into the abyss... they will merely be livestock waiting for slaughter."
On the thirtieth day, the heavy iron gate of the Spirit Spring chamber slowly ground open.
Railin stepped out into the outer corridor. The two ancient, blind elders sitting on the stone pedestals opened their eyes simultaneously, staring at Railin with absolute, horrified disbelief!
They could feel it clearly—the primary subterranean spirit spring inside the chamber had been completely drained of its accumulated essence, a feat that should have been physically impossible for a single Foundation Establishment disciple without blowing their body to pieces!
Yet, Railin stood before them with a calm, unblemished complexion, his dark navy robes hanging perfectly still, his pulse steady and undisturbed.
The blind elders opened their mouths to speak, but Railin merely bowed respectfully and walked past them into the long, dark exit tunnel, leaving the two old powerhouses in stunned, trembling silence.
Two hours later.
The central high platform of the Sun-Moon Academy was packed with thousands of elite inner disciples, elders, and Peak Masters.
The sky above the platform was swirling with violent, multicolored spatial ripples as a giant, fifty-foot ancient stone archway stood floating in mid-air—the Gate to the Secret Realm of the Ancient Sun-Moon Abyss!
The entrance ritual was about to begin!
Among the crowd of disciples preparing to enter, three distinct groups stood out, radiating heavy, hostile spiritual pressure.
To the left stood five direct disciples from Shadow Moon Peak, led by a tall, pale young man with sunken eyes and dark crimson robes—Senior Brother Gu Yan, the top Direct Disciple of Shadow Moon Peak and Mo Ji's biological senior brother, whose cultivation sat firmly at the Peak of Stage Four Foundation Establishment!
To the right stood four towering disciples from Flame Core Peak, their bodies radiating intense, scorched heat waves.
Every single one of their eyes was fixed with venomous, deadly intent upon the mountain path leading to the platform.
"He's here," Gu Yan whispered, his raspy voice dripping with cold blood as his hand tightened around the hilt of his crimson shadow dagger.
The crowd parted silently as Railin walked smoothly onto the high platform.
He wore his simple navy robes, his hands loosely tucked into his sleeves, his pitch-black eyes completely calm as he glanced at the swirling, chaotic spatial portal above.
High atop the spectator balcony, Grand Elder Shu-Lin sat with a cold, sinister sneer on her withered face. Beside her, Peak Master Bing Lian stood quietly in her white mantle, her azure eyes meeting Railin's for a brief, silent second.
The Grand Referee stepped forward, raising his golden staff high into the sky!
"THE SECRET REALM OF THE ANCIENT SUN-MOON ABYSS IS NOW OPEN!" the referee boomed. "DISCIPLES... ENTER!"
WOOOOOOO—!
The giant stone archway flared with blinding, dark purple light as the spatial vortex expanded!
Gu Yan looked back at Railin, making a slow, horizontal slashing motion across his own neck with a cruel, bloodthirsty smile. "Inside the abyss, boy... I will personally tear your skin off to avenge my junior brother."
Gu Yan and the Shadow Moon Peak disciples leaped into the swirling spatial vortex, vanishing in flashes of crimson light.
Railin did not respond. He did not show anger, fear, or hesitation.
He stepped smoothly onto the floating wind platform, glided toward the towering spatial gate, and stepped straight into the swirling dark purple vortex.
The light swallowed his silhouette whole, launching him into the ancient, lawless expanse of the primordial abyss.
See you in next chapter...