The air changed the moment they stepped past the second gate.
It wasn't colder—it was heavier. The walls here were no longer rough stone but smooth, polished obsidian etched with ancient runes that pulsed faintly in the dark.
Every step echoed like thunder.
Every breath felt stolen from someone else.
Luo Yun said nothing. Neither did the woman beside him.
There were no words for what they were feeling.
Because this place wasn't a cave anymore.
It was a tomb.
At the center of the corridor stood a massive door, carved from black crystal, shaped like a star split in half. Above it, an inscription in a forgotten script shimmered briefly as they approached.
"Those who walk beyond this gate walk the path of the fallen star."
The door opened without touch, soundlessly parting as if recognizing them.
Beyond it… silence.
And in that silence—a voice.
Not spoken.
Not heard.
Felt.
"Luo Yun."
His heart froze.
"You carry a seed that was never meant to bloom."
"You are the echo of another."
"Come. Let us see if your will is truly your own."
The chamber they entered was vast—an underground hall larger than any temple Luo Yun had seen, its ceiling lost in darkness, its walls lit by glowing lines of runes.
At the far end stood a sarcophagus, black and silver, resting upon a platform shaped like a falling star.
The woman stopped.
"I've never been this far," she said quietly.
Luo Yun stepped forward, drawn by something deeper than curiosity—like an answer he didn't know he was looking for.
The closer he came, the louder the voice became—not in his ears, but in his bones.
"I was once like you. Weak. Mortal. Forgotten."
"But I refused the fate given to me. I took strength, no matter the cost."
"And in the end, the heavens cast me down."
"This is the price of ambition."
Suddenly, the runes on the walls flared.
The chamber began to shift.
Stone rose from the floor, forming a circle around the sarcophagus. Runes spiraled outward. A formation had activated—a complex array that shimmered with layered intent.
A test.
A defense.
A memory.
The voice returned—clearer now.
"To inherit my legacy… you must face me."
From the shadows behind the sarcophagus, a figure emerged.
Human-shaped.
Clad in tattered robes, face hidden beneath a metal mask.
But its presence… was suffocating.
"Is that… a remnant soul?" the woman whispered.
Luo Yun nodded.
"No," he said.
"That's what's left of him."
The remnant raised its hand.
The chamber rumbled.
Swords of shadow rose from the floor.
The trial had begun.
Luo Yun stepped forward.
He didn't summon his Moonshadow Step yet. Not until he had to.
The first sword struck—a sweeping arc of pure energy.
He dodged left, rolled, and cut across the angle.
A second came—spinning, fast.
He used Moonshadow Step, blurring to the side, reappearing just behind the blade's arc.
Another. Then two. Then five.
The formation wanted to drown him in impossible angles.
But Luo Yun moved like water.
He wasn't the strongest.
He wasn't the fastest.
But he was still standing.
Even when his shoulder bled. Even when his breath came in gasps.
He stood.
The remnant figure raised both hands.
The blades stopped.
A voice echoed again—this time softer.
"You should not have passed."
"But you did."
"Then prove it."
The figure lunged.
Not a sword this time.
A fist.
Heavy. Fast. Burning with spiritual fire.
Luo Yun blocked with his arms—bones cracking—but held his ground.
Then he struck back.
Not with power.
But with precision.
He used Moonshadow Step at the last second, reappearing behind the remnant's shoulder.
His knife plunged deep—into the base of the spine.
The figure staggered.
"Good…" the voice murmured.
"Not power alone… but timing… will… clarity."
The figure fell to one knee.
Then dissolved into smoke.
The sarcophagus opened with a hiss.
Inside, there was no body.
Only a crystal shard, floating above a scroll sealed in golden threads.
The shard pulsed.
A final message filled the air.
"I was the Fallen Star—
cast down not for failing, but for daring."
"This legacy is not a gift. It is a burden."
"Carry it, and the heavens will one day look down on you with hate."
"But if you survive… you may rise higher than them all."
Luo Yun stepped forward.
He took the shard.
The scroll unraveled.
Inside, three characters glowed in brilliant silver:
Falling Star Manual
(Heaven-Tier Incomplete)
The chamber began to tremble.
Runes blinked.
The tomb was closing.
"We have to go," the woman said.
Luo Yun turned, scroll and shard in hand.
He looked back once.
At the empty sarcophagus.
At the place where a dream became a curse.
Then he ran.
Behind them, the gate collapsed.
Stone sealed away the tomb once more.
But its legacy had been claimed.
And now, the heavens would feel it.