The ancient, iron-scented wind of the Secret Realm of the Ancient Sun-Moon Abyss howled across the jagged, crimson-soiled mountain ridges, carrying with it the lingering ashes of the three Shadow Moon Peak direct disciples.
Railin stood completely alone amidst the desolate waste, his dark navy-blue robes untouched by the dust, grit, or dried blood of the preceding battle. Beneath his pale feet, the grey ash that had once been Senior Brother Feng dissolved into the dry earth, scattered into utter nothingness by the bleak, howling gale.
Inside Railin's lower dantian, the Absolute Peak of Late-Stage Three Void Core rotated with a dense, majestic, and lightless rhythm.
Having swallowed the entire cultivated energy, life essence, and spiritual foundations of two Early-Stage Four cultivators and one Mid-Stage Four direct disciple in rapid succession, Railin's meridians hummed like dark-jade pillars. The newly absorbed energy was completely purified, compressed, and locked into his core. He was now standing right on the razor-thin precipice of the bottleneck—the absolute barrier dividing Stage Three Foundation Establishment from Stage Four (Mid-Tier Foundation Establishment).
Railin slowly raised his right hand, looking at his pale fingers. A microscopic thread of pitch-black void energy danced across his fingertips like an immortal serpent, twisting, warping, and bending the ambient light around it.
"Not enough..." Railin murmured softly, his cold, smooth voice vanishing into the vast, twilight solitude of the abyss. "Ordinary Stage Four foundations provide dense fuel, but to break through the barrier of Stage Four without damaging my primordial void base, I need an ancient, unrefined spirit core."
He reached smoothly into his sleeve, pulling out the crystalline azure jade slip provided by Senior Sister Mu Xuan before his departure. Injecting a thread of his refined spiritual sense into the glowing rune, the intricate, three-dimensional light map expanded in his mind once again.
His pitch-black eyes locked onto a deeply shrouded, blood-red mark situated at the very center of the Shattered Bone Valley—an ancient, subterranean ruin complex known as the Buried Palace of the Primordial Serpent.
According to the ancient records compiled by Ice Mystic Peak, the palace was a remnant of a pre-historic war, housing the corpse of a Stage Five Primordial Void-Attribute Beast and dense spatial fissures where untamed spirit energy condensed into ancient core fragments.
"The perfect cauldron," Railin whispered, his pale lips curving into a dark, predatory arc.
Without another moment of hesitation, Railin took a step forward.
Phantom-Void Step—Spatial Glancing!
His silhouette blurred into a streak of dark navy lightning, vanishing into the blood-scented fog as he traversed ten miles of jagged terrain in the blink of an eye, heading straight toward the dark heart of the ancient ruins.
Two hours later.
Deep within the subterranean depths of the Shattered Bone Valley, the air grew ice-cold, thick with the heavy smell of rotten iron, ancient moss, and stagnant, decayed blood.
Railin stood before a massive, ruined stone archway buried fifty meters underground. The archway was carved from ancient obsidian, covered in ancient, decayed runes that faintly pulsed with a dark, greenish-black light. Beyond the archway lay a vast, subterranean cavern that stretched as far as the eye could see—the Buried Palace of the Primordial Serpent.
The ground inside the cavern was littered with thousands of skeletal remains—some human, some belonging to extinct, giant beasts—all turned to fossilized stone over tens of thousands of years. In the very center of the cavern, coiled around a massive, floating pillar of spatial quartz, was the giant, skeletal frame of a hundred-foot-long Ancient Abyssal Serpent.
Though the serpent had been dead for millennia, its fossilized skull still radiated a suffocating, dense Stage Five aura! Floating right inside the serpent's hollow eye socket was a fist-sized, dark green orb that pulsated with chaotic, raw energy—the Primordial Serpent Core Fragment!
Railin's eyes flared with a blinding, dark light.
"An unrefined Stage Five beast core..." Railin observed softly. "Intact, untouched by human cultivators, and saturated with primordial shadow-attribute energy."
However, just as Railin took a step toward the floating spatial pillar, his sharp spiritual sense caught a subtle, extremely dangerous tremor in the air surrounding the cavern ceiling.
SZZZZZ!
Three spatial ripples flared simultaneously in the shadows above the giant serpent skeleton!
Down glided three figures wrapped in heavy, bone-carved armor, landing silently upon the fossilized stone floor seventy yards away from Railin.
The leader of the three was a broad-shouldered, pale young man carrying a massive, blood-dripping battleaxe across his back. His eyes were entirely jet-black, without pupils, and his cultivation base radiated a terrifying, heavy pressure that shook the subterranean cavern floor—Peak of Stage Four Foundation Establishment!
The silver crest on his chest bore the mark of the Imperial Dragon Peak—the top martial faction directly allied with Grand Elder Shu-Lin's central council network!
"Well, well... what a fortunate day," the battleaxe wielder sneered, his raspy, metallic voice echoing off the quartz walls. "We followed the energy signature of the Primordial Core, only to find the famous little pest of Ice Mystic Peak standing right in front of it."
The two disciples beside him—both at the Late-Stage Four Foundation—drew their barbed steel swords, their eyes filled with cold, murderous intent.
"Senior Brother Xiang," one of the disciples remarked with a cruel grin, "this is the brat who killed Mo Ji and humiliated the Enforcement Hall. Grand Elder Shu-Lin and Senior Sister Shu-Lin sent word to all allied factions in the inner sect before we entered the portal—his head is worth a fortune."
Railin stood motionless amidst the skeletal remains, his navy robes hanging loose, his hands tucked quietly into his wide sleeves.
When he heard the name Senior Sister Shu-Lin, a faint, cold light flickered deep in his pitch-black pupils.
Shu-Lin...
His cousin, his mother's sister's daughter. A Yellow-Rank talent who had entered the academy around the same time as him, currently residing in the high-tier circles of Shadow Moon Peak. While Railin was clawing his way up from the Outer Sect, Shu-Lin had been quietly leveraging her connections, utilizing the name and influence of the faction's Grand Protector Elder Shu-Lin to build a dark, suffocating network of influence against him.
"So Shu-Lin has already placed a price on my life before I even step out of this abyss..." Railin said softly, his voice completely calm, devoid of any emotional fluctuation.
Senior Brother Xiang laughed mockingly, lifting his massive blood-dripping battleaxe with one hand. "You think you can play the solitary genius just because you won the Inner Sect Assembly? In the eyes of Senior Sister Shu-Lin and the Central Council, you are nothing more than an illegitimate stain on the family line! A worm from the outer districts who accidentally stumbled upon a taboo art!"
Xiang took a heavy step forward, his Peak Stage Four pressure erupting like a volcano, cracking the fossilized ground beneath his boots!
"Hand over your spatial ring, break your own meridians, and I might leave your corpse intact for Senior Sister Shu-Lin to inspect!" Xiang bellowed, his battleaxe flaring with a violent, crimson flame!
Railin looked at Xiang, then glanced past him toward the glowing dark green serpent core floating inside the fossilized skull.
"You speak too much," Railin whispered smoothly. "And you are standing in front of my breakthrough medicine."
BOOM—!
Without a single moment of warning, Railin exploded into action!
He did not use a weapon. He did not execute a defensive maneuver.
Phantom-Void Step—Quadruple Flash!
Railin's silhouette dissolved into four distinct, pitch-black afterimages that swept across the subterranean cavern at supersonic speed!
"FAST!" The two Late-Stage Four disciples gasped, their eyes failing to track his trajectory as the air pressure in the cavern suddenly plummeted!
SWISH—THUD!
Before the disciple on the left could even raise his barbed steel sword, a pale, dark-jade-reinforced palm materialized out of the dark shadow directly behind his shoulder blades!
"ASHEN DEVOURING ART—VOID DRILL!"
SZZZZZZZZZZZZ—!
Railin's palm drove clean through the disciple's heavy bone-carved armor, piercing straight into his upper spine!
A terrifying, fist-sized void vortex erupted inside the disciple's torso!
"AAAAAARGH—!"
The Late-Stage Four disciple let out a short, horrific shriek as his entire body withered in a fraction of a second! His rich Late-Stage Four spiritual base, his blood essence, and his vital force were violently sucked into Railin's palm like water drawn into an infinite drain!
In less than two seconds, the tall, armored disciple turned into a grey, lifeless husk that collapsed into dust upon the stone floor!
"JUNIOR BROTHER!" Xiang screamed in absolute horror and disbelief!
"Die!" The second Late-Stage Four disciple shrieked, his face pale with terror as he thrust his sword forward, unleashing a twenty-foot arc of sizzling lightning qi toward Railin's throat!
Railin did not even turn his head.
In his upper dantian, his three microscopic Soul-Piercing Needles flared with black, abyssal soul-slicing intent!
SWISH!
An invisible thread of pitch-black light shot out from Railin's forehead, passing clean through the lightning arc and striking the second disciple straight between his eyebrows!
CLANG!
The disciple froze mid-air. His eyes went completely blank as his soul sea was cleanly severed into microscopic fragments! His lightning qi dissolved into thin air, and his lifeless body crashed heavily onto the fossilized ground like a sack of rocks!
Two Late-Stage Four direct disciples—eliminated in less than four seconds!
Senior Brother Xiang stood frozen, his hands trembling violently on the leather grip of his massive battleaxe. Sweat poured down his face like rain, soaking his collar. The arrogant, condescending smile he had carried moments ago had completely shattered, replaced by pure, instinctual, soul-crushing dread!
"What... what kind of monster are you?!" Xiang whimpered, taking a shaky step backward. "You... you are only at Late-Stage Three!"
Railin stepped over the corpse of the second disciple, his dark navy robes falling smoothly around his frame. His pitch-black pupils were completely calm, reflecting the dim green light of the subterranean cavern.
"Stage Three... Stage Four..." Railin murmured softly, walking toward Xiang with slow, unhurried steps. "To the void, numbers are merely volume."
"DIE! DRAGON CLEAVING IMPACT!" Xiang screamed frantically, burning half of his essence blood to unleash his ultimate, desperate strike!
BOOM—!
Xiang's massive battleaxe turned into a roaring, seventy-foot phantom of a blood-red dragon that cleaved down from above, intending to crush the entire subterranean cavern along with Railin!
Railin raised his right arm, his pale fingers forming a simple, ancient void claw.
SZZZZZZ!
A ten-foot ring of pure, lightless void materialized in front of his palm!
THUD—BOOM!
The massive, roaring seventy-foot blood dragon struck the void ring head-on! The catastrophic energy that could pulverize a steel fortress was instantly stopped in mid-air! The blood-red flame, the physical weight, and the dense Peak Stage Four sword intent were violently pulled, compressed, and swallowed into the black ring without causing Railin's hand to tremble a single millimeter!
"NO! IMPOSSIBLE!" Xiang shrieked, his eyes bulging as his battleaxe was pulled magnetically toward Railin's hand!
Railin's left hand reached out, locking around Xiang's throat like an immovable iron vise!
THUD!
Railin slammed Xiang's broad frame onto the hard stone floor, shattering his spinal column instantly!
"Senior Sister Shu-Lin... Hao-Lin..." Railin whispered directly into Xiang's ear, his voice cold enough to freeze blood. "Tell them in the underworld... that I am waiting for their next move."
SZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ—!
"NOOOOO—!"
The Ashen Devouring Art erupted at absolute maximum capacity!
A roaring pillar of dark, pitch-black void energy enveloped both of them! Xiang's Peak Stage Four cultivation base, his vital essence, his blood, and his soul were violently dragged through his chest into Railin's dantian!
Within five seconds, the broad-shouldered Peak Stage Four powerhouse withered into a brittle, bloodless husk, crumbling into a pile of fine grey dust under Railin's palm.
BOOM—!
The moment Xiang's Peak Stage Four energy entered Railin's system, his lower dantian erupted into a violent, roaring storm!
Combined with the previous energy he had absorbed in the valley, the sheer volume of power inside his dark-jade meridians reached an absolute, explosive critical mass!
Railin did not waste a single millisecond.
He turned, flicked his wrist, and summoned the glowing green Primordial Serpent Core Fragment out of the fossilized skull into his palm!
CRACK!
Railin crushed the ancient Stage Five beast core in his grip!
WOOOOOOOOO—!
A blinding wave of unrefined, primordial shadow energy surged through his hand, rushing directly into his lower dantian!
Railin glided smoothly onto the floating quartz platform in the center of the cavern, sitting down cross-legged. He closed his eyes, sealing off all external senses as he initiated the final, violent consolidation!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Inside his inner world, the pitch-black Late-Stage Three void core began to shrink, compressed under the tremendous, mountain-cleaving pressure of the combined energy!
The dark core shrank from the size of a fist to the size of a marble, its density increasing by a hundred times until it resembled a miniature, physical black hole hovering at the center of his dantian!
CRACK—!
An ancient, crisp sound of an invisible ceiling breaking echoed deep within Railin's soul!
WOOOOO—!
A dark, majestic shockwave of primordial void force erupted from Railin's body, sweeping across the entire underground palace! The fossilized bones of the ancient serpent crumbled into dust, and the quartz pillars cracked under the sheer weight of his ascending presence!
His dark-jade meridians expanded to three times their former width, glowing with a deep, obsidian sheen. His mental sea expanded drastically, his three Soul-Piercing Needles fusing together into a single, microscopic Abyssal Soul Needle that hovered silently above his spiritual core!
Railin opened his eyes in the pitch-black cavern.
Two beams of blinding, lightless abyss light shot out from his pupils, tearing two five-foot deep holes into the solid rock ceiling above!
Stage Four Foundation Establishment (Early-Stage Four)—ACQUIRED!
He had successfully broken through the major bottleneck! He had crossed the boundary from Low-Tier to Mid-Tier Foundation Establishment, forging a foundation so dense, dark, and primordial that even ordinary Stage Five core elders would shudder in his presence!
Railin slowly stood up from the quartz platform. He smoothed out his dark navy robes, his pale hands casually slipping back into his wide sleeves.
He looked up toward the ceiling of the cavern, looking past the rocks, past the dark sky of the abyss, toward the distant direction of the Sun-Moon Academy where Hao-Lin, Shu-Lin, and the central council factions resided.
A quiet, dark, and utterly cold smile curved the corner of his pale lips.
"The abyss is conquered..." Railin murmured softly, his melodic voice echoing through the quiet ruins. "Now... it is time to return to the academy and settle the family debts."
He took a step forward, his silhouette dissolving into a dark shadow, vanishing from the subterranean palace.
[ END OF SEASON 2 ]