Chapter 64: The Echoes of a Forgotten Past
The descent into the Black Tomb was a plunge into a cavernous abyss, a realm where time seemed to fold and decay was the very air they breathed. Lin Xuan led the expedition, his figure, a silhouette of crimson resolve, cutting through the heavy gloom. The air, thick with the oppressive scent of ancient decay and a faint, unsettling hum of demonic qi, pressed against their skin like a physical weight. Twisted runes and the shattered, scattered remains of long-dead cultivators—their bones bleached and brittle—adorned the jagged stone walls, a silent, macabre testament to the tomb's lethality.
Lin Xuan's 9th Layer Qi Transformation aura was a steady, warm force that seemed to carve a small pocket of normalcy out of the darkness. Every sense was heightened; his crimson eyes, usually blazing with intent, were now alight with a profound, almost prophetic vision, scanning for the subtlest shifts in the pervasive shadows. The Celestial Unity Crest on his back pulsed with a quiet, persistent rhythm, guiding him not just physically, but spiritually, deeper into the nexus of ancient power.
"Stay close, the qi here is thick enough to drown a cultivator," he murmured, his voice absorbed instantly by the profound silence of the depths.
After hours of navigating winding, treacherous passages, they reached their objective: Qorath's Seal. It was a monumental, massive slab of obsidian, its surface not polished but jagged, etched with crimson glyphs that seemed to writhe and pulse with a malevolent, ancient energy. The stone itself felt cold, yet radiated an invisible heat that made Lin Xuan's heart pound—a primal warning. He approached cautiously, the weight of a forgotten past pressing down on him.
This isn't just a tomb, he thought, his hand hovering over the seal. It's a prison. And whatever is sealed here... it knew the Great Sage.
Ignoring the instinctive dread that screamed at him to retreat, Lin Xuan pressed his fingers against the obsidian. The moment of contact was a rupture in his reality. The world dissolved not into blackness, but into a blinding, blood-red luminescence.
A fragmented vision assaulted his mind, a torrent of disjointed, overwhelming images that slammed into his consciousness like waves against a cliff face. He saw a desolate, impossible realm—a sky that was not blue, but a swirling mass of blood-red and churning violet. Towering, grotesque spires crumbled under the crimson firmament, collapsing not with the sound of rock, but with a horrifying, silent roar.
Then, the focus sharpened, centering on a figure cloaked in shadow, whose identity was tantalizingly veiled but whose power was absolute. The figure held a blade—not of metal or qi, but of pure, white-hot concept—that split the very heavens, tearing a seam in the fabric of reality itself. The blade's purpose and origin were a chilling enigma, yet the figure's shadow felt deeply familiar to the darkness that inhabited his own resurrected soul.
Who are you? Lin Xuan's consciousness screamed, but the vision offered no answer, only the haunting knowledge that this figure was tied irrevocably to the deepest secrets of his previous life and the current demonic threat.
The torrent ceased as abruptly as it began, leaving Lin Xuan staggering, his breath ragged, his body trembling violently as he braced himself against the cold stone. The unsettling echo of that vision, the sheer terror of that split-second glimpse into the high-level secrets of the world, left his mind reeling.
He barely had time to recover before the darkness retaliated. A shadowy shade, an ethereal remnant with glowing red eyes and claws like shards of ice, lunged from the gloom. Its dark qi lashed out in tendrils, a physical manifestation of decay and malice.
"Senior Brother!"
Liu Yue and Liu Yang reacted instantly.
Lin Xuan dodged with a primal instinct, the shade's claw scraping the air where his face had been. He countered with a decisive burst of Crimson Blood Crystallization Art, the red-tinged qi dissipating the wraith in a puff of acrid smoke. The ground shuddered as it vanished, but the encounter had broken the spell of the vision.
Liu Yue, still at the 9th Layer Qi Transformation, her moonlight eyes now razor-sharp with focus, unleashed a wave of Icy Skin mist. Her snowflake mark glowed brightly as she froze a cluster of charging shades, the ethereal figures trapped within a sheath of glittering frost. "We're holding the perimeter, Senior Brother! Regain your footing!" she called out, her voice clear despite the strain.
Liu Yang, his young face set with grim determination, was a blur of motion. Now at the 6th Layer Qi Gathering, his qi was robust enough to handle the full weight of his blood-forged glaive, which flashed as he cleaved through a large, hulking shade, the blood-like ichor spraying and sizzling harmlessly on the stone floor. He was also adjusting a small, defensive qi array—a subtle net of light near their feet—hastily placed with a focus born of necessity. "I'm maintaining the formation, Elder Sister—nothing gets past here!" he grunted, the glaive's weight a familiar, grounding force in the chaos.
The team continued their perilous descent, moving past the terrifying seal. The tomb was a network of ancient, forgotten traps. A section of the ceiling groaned, then collapsed with a deafening roar, prompting Lin Xuan to shove Liu Yue aside, deploying a Jade Aegis barrier to shatter the falling debris. Moments later, a series of qi-charged blades sliced out from hidden wall compartments, forcing all three disciples to scatter and weave, their coordinated movements a silent testament to their unity.
In the flickering light, Bai Ningxue, standing guard at the original entrance, was a beacon of serene power. Her 1st Layer Profound Heavenly Realm aura, though newly ascended, was potent and stabilizing. She was weaving her Thousand Lotus Seal Art with fluid, complex motions, her seals shimmering like translucent lotus petals as she sealed the entrance. As she worked, she sensed a deep, rhythmic throb—a sinister pulse—from within the tomb, a chilling vibration that confirmed the awakening power inside.
It is stirring, she thought, her hands moving faster, solidifying the seals. "This will hold the surface," she murmured into her communicator seal, "but the core is... active. Proceed with care, Lin Xuan.".
Back at the Royal Expedition Camp on the surface, Ji Yunjing, radiating the unwavering authority of the 5th Layer Profound Heavenly Realm, paced the command tent. The rustle of his silk robes was the only sound in the tense silence as he traced the outline of the tomb on a map. "Dispatch scouts! I want the outer qi flows mapped and monitored for any surge!" he ordered, his voice echoing with the weight of command.
He had to trust Lin Xuan, but the demonic energy emanating from the earth was growing more palpable by the hour, raising an uneasy furrow in his brow.
The descent had been a grueling trial of teamwork and quick reflexes, a process that tested the very limits of their cultivation and resolve. They had crossed the threshold, survived the first wave of decay and terror, but Lin Xuan knew the greatest perils lay ahead.
He gathered his team in a brief pause, the flickering lantern light catching the grime on his face and the determined glint in his crimson eyes. "We've crossed the threshold," he said, his voice thoughtful, low, and heavy with unspoken warning. "More than just traps and shadows awaits inside. The seal is broken, and whatever was behind it is already stirring. We continue, but every step now is on borrowed time."
Liu Yue nodded, meeting his gaze with an unwavering resolve that warmed him despite the tomb's cold. "We'll face it, Senior Brother," she replied, her breath even but her spirit firm. She placed a hand briefly on his arm—a quiet, comforting gesture in the chaos. "Together."
The camp above hummed with the quiet clink of strategy, the shifting of armor, and the low, tense murmur of preparation. The tomb's threshold was crossed, the Forgotten Past revealed, and the true, perilous journey into the heart of the demonic threat had finally begun.