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The air turned colder with every step below.
Li Tianming descended the spiral stairs carved through a mountain of collapsed skyscrapers and fossilized ash. The Raven Cult's torches didn't flicker — they hissed, burning with black flame laced with bone dust.
Each wall was lined with carvings — crude, desperate etchings of a man devouring monsters, people, even gods.
> "The First Chaos Lord," said the horned priest behind him.
"We only know his title. No name. No face. Only the ruin… and the breathing."
Tianming raised an eyebrow. "Breathing?"
The priest lowered his voice.
> "The tomb... never stopped breathing."
They reached the bottom.
A black door stood before them — massive, rusted, and pulsing. Not with light.
With breath.
> Huff... huff... huff...
Not loud. Not mechanical.
Just… alive.
> [Warning: Chaos Signature Detected. Tier: Unknown. Status: Dormant]
[Absorption not advised.]
Tianming stepped closer. The door bore a single symbol burned deep into the steel — the Chaos Seal, nearly identical to the one on his chest.
Only bigger.
Older.
> "This isn't a tomb," Tianming muttered. "It's a gate."
He placed his palm against it.
> [Chaos Sync Initiated. 1% match… 5%… 12%… WARNING – OVERLAP DETECTED]
His mark glowed.
So did the door.
Suddenly—
The air cracked.
A windless gust tore through the chamber, knocking several cultists backward. The torches went out all at once.
Darkness.
Then—
> "Li Tianming…"
A voice.
Old. Heavy. From the other side.
> "Your blood... is not yours."
"Your power… was stolen."
"Return what was mine, and I'll show you the truth."
Tianming stumbled.
His head throbbed with images — hundreds, thousands of them — chaotic visions of battlefields drenched in black fire, of titans falling from the sky, of a robed figure chained beneath the earth screaming into the void.
Then the system flared.
> [Soul Interference Detected. Corruption Source: Dormant Entity – Echo Fragment of Original Chaos Code]
[Trait Evolution Triggered: Fragmented Recall → Chaos Bloodline Memory (I)]
> [Warning: Memory Sync Will Cause Mental Strain. Proceed?]
"Do it," Tianming whispered, gripping his blade.
> [Syncing… 7%… 19%…]
The door cracked open.
Behind it… a chamber of endless bone and ash.
At its center — a throne of teeth and swords, and on it sat a corpse wrapped in chains made of light.
It didn't move.
But it breathed.
Once.
Twice.
And Tianming felt something inside his own body breathe with it.
> "He's not dead," Tianming whispered.
Suddenly— the corpse opened one eye. Not fully.
Just a slit.
> And the room collapsed into silence.
The Raven Cult dropped to their knees in fear. Even the horned priest looked pale beneath his mask.
But Tianming?
He stepped forward.
> "Who are you?" he demanded.
The corpse did not speak.
But the walls did.
> "We are the hunger. You are the mouth. Devour me… and become me."
> [New Skill Unlock Path Detected: "Devour the Echo"]
[Trait Absorption: Available. Choose One:]
— [ ] Chaos Eye – Passive Vision of Soul Signatures
— [ ] Bone Lord Physique – Mutation: Body Enhancement
— [ ] Nightmare Step – Teleportation Shadow Step Variant
Tianming hesitated. Each one burned with power. Each one screamed with risk.
He raised his hand.
> "I choose…"
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