Smoke drifted between the trees.
Lin Feng remained on his back for several seconds, staring through the branches at the torn patch of sky above him.
The strange vortex was still there.
Smaller now.
But not gone.
Its dark edges slowly twisted against the clouds, and the strange rune within it pulsed every few breaths.
Once.
Twice.
Then it disappeared.
Lin Feng finally sat up.
His entire body hurt.
"I'm beginning to dislike flying."
Xuanyu Ye floated down beside him.
"You flew for the first time."
"I flew for approximately thirty seconds."
"And crashed."
"Exactly."
Xuanyu folded his arms. "A promising beginning."
Lin Feng gave him a tired look.
"You're enjoying this."
"A little."
Lin Feng pushed himself to his feet.
Despite the pain, he immediately noticed something strange.
His body felt different.
The Middle Stage Core Foundation Realm had given his spiritual foundation greater stability. His qi circulated more smoothly through his meridians, and the Heavenstorm Veil had protected him from what should have been a fatal fall.
But something else was there.
A faint pressure.
Coming from beneath his feet.
Lin Feng looked down.
The ground was covered with blackened leaves.
Yet beneath them…
Something was glowing.
"Xuanyu."
The old man's expression changed.
"I see it."
Lin Feng crouched and brushed away the leaves.
A stone appeared.
Then another.
Then another.
Within moments, a section of ancient stone flooring had been uncovered.
There were lines carved across it.
Not cracks.
Symbols.
Xuanyu descended closer.
His expression became unusually serious.
"Don't touch it."
Lin Feng stopped.
"What is it?"
"I don't know."
That answer bothered Lin Feng more than anything else.
Xuanyu Ye had explained countless cultivation techniques, ancient beasts, spiritual medicines and formations.
He always had an answer.
But now…
He was staring at the stone like he'd encountered something he desperately wished he hadn't.
Lin Feng slowly stood.
"You recognize it."
Xuanyu was silent.
"Master."
A long pause.
Finally, Xuanyu spoke.
"I've seen that symbol once."
"Where?"
"On the remains of a battlefield."
Lin Feng waited.
Xuanyu's gaze remained fixed on the carving.
"Everyone who entered that battlefield died."
The forest suddenly felt colder.
⸻
The Buried Road
Lin Feng examined the stone more carefully.
At its center was a strange symbol.
A circle surrounded by three intersecting lines.
One resembled a blade.
Another resembled a claw.
The third looked like a small gourd.
Lin Feng's breathing stopped.
Those were familiar.
Too familiar.
His Blade Spirit.
His Beast Spirit.
His Brew Spirit.
"That's impossible."
Xuanyu didn't respond.
Lin Feng touched the symbol with one finger.
The moment his skin made contact—
BOOM!
The entire forest shook.
Birds exploded from the treetops.
The earth beneath Lin Feng's feet cracked.
His sword flew from his back and slammed into the ground.
The blade began vibrating violently.
Lin Feng staggered backward.
"What's happening?!"
Xuanyu shouted:
"Don't resist it!"
"That's your advice?!"
"Just trust me!"
The sword suddenly lifted into the air.
Its blade pointed downward.
Then—
SHHHHHK!
A beam of silver light shot from the sword into the ground.
The earth split open.
A staircase appeared beneath the trees.
Lin Feng stared.
There had been no staircase before.
Now dozens of ancient stone steps descended into darkness.
Cold air flowed upward.
And with it came an unmistakable smell.
Blood.
Old blood.
Lin Feng slowly reached for his sword.
"Someone built this."
Xuanyu nodded.
"Someone who didn't want to be found."
⸻
The Voice Below
Lin Feng descended.
One step.
Then another.
The forest disappeared above him.
The further he went, the colder the air became.
After roughly fifty steps, sunlight vanished completely.
Xuanyu created a small sphere of spiritual light.
The walls appeared.
Ancient murals covered them.
Lin Feng stopped.
The first mural showed a massive battlefield.
Thousands of cultivators stood beneath a blackened sky.
Above them floated something resembling a giant sword.
The second mural showed a beast.
A colossal wolf-like creature stood beside the sword.
The third showed a golden gourd.
Lin Feng stared at it.
His fingers tightened.
"These are my spirits."
Xuanyu didn't answer.
Lin Feng turned toward him.
"Why are my spirits here?"
"I don't know."
"You're lying."
Xuanyu's eyes hardened.
"I said I don't know."
The answer carried enough weight that Lin Feng stopped questioning him.
They continued.
The murals changed.
The three spirits were no longer separate.
They had become one figure.
A cultivator.
A sword in one hand.
A beast behind him.
A gourd hanging from his waist.
But there was something else.
Above the cultivator stood a massive black shape.
A formation.
Thousands of chains stretched from the ground into the sky, binding something unseen.
Lin Feng stepped closer.
"What is that?"
Xuanyu's face became pale.
"A seal."
"For what?"
Before Xuanyu could answer—
CRACK.
Something moved behind the wall.
Lin Feng instantly drew his sword.
The Blade Spirit awakened.
Lightning crawled along the blade.
"Someone's here."
Xuanyu's expression changed.
"No."
Lin Feng frowned.
"Then what was that?"
Xuanyu looked toward the mural.
"Something's waking up."
⸻
The Guardian
A low growl echoed through the passage.
Lin Feng immediately entered a fighting stance.
The darkness ahead shifted.
Two red eyes appeared.
Then four.
Then six.
A massive creature slowly crawled from the darkness.
Its body resembled a wolf, but its limbs were covered in black stone-like armor.
Three long horns curved from its skull.
Ancient chains wrapped around its neck.
Lin Feng's eyes narrowed.
"What is that?"
Xuanyu spoke quietly.
"A Stoneblood Guardian."
The creature opened its mouth.
Rows of jagged teeth emerged.
Lin Feng tightened his grip.
"How strong?"
Xuanyu studied it.
"Stronger than you."
Lin Feng sighed.
"Of course."
The Guardian lunged.
BOOM!
Lin Feng barely raised his sword in time.
The impact threw him backward.
His feet carved trenches into the stone floor.
He immediately activated—
Heavenstorm Veil!
Lightning spiraled around his body.
The Guardian struck again.
BANG!
The defensive barrier cracked.
Lin Feng's expression changed.
"This thing broke through my defense in one hit!"
"Then stop defending."
Xuanyu shouted.
"Attack!"
Lin Feng's eyes sharpened.
The Beast Spirit awakened inside his soul.
His senses exploded.
He could hear the creature's heartbeat.
Its breathing.
The movement of its muscles.
For one brief moment—
He understood its attack before it happened.
Lin Feng disappeared.
THUNDERSTEP!
The Guardian's claws struck empty air.
Lin Feng appeared behind it.
His sword flashed.
RAGED THUNDER STRIKES!
BOOOOM!
Lightning tore across the Guardian's back.
The creature roared.
But it didn't fall.
Instead, the chains around its neck glowed.
The entire ruin trembled.
Xuanyu suddenly shouted:
"Lin Feng!"
"What?!"
"Don't kill it!"
Lin Feng froze.
The Guardian turned.
Its red eyes weren't filled with hatred.
They were filled with pain.
Then it spoke.
Its voice was rough and barely understandable.
"Three… spirits…"
Lin Feng's heart stopped.
The Guardian lowered its head.
"Finally…"
Its chains tightened.
"…the successor has returned."
Silence.
Lin Feng stared at it.
"Successor?"
The Guardian looked directly into his eyes.
Then one of the ancient chains snapped.
KRAAAAAK!
The entire ruin shook.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
Xuanyu's expression changed completely.
"Lin Feng."
"What?"
"Run."
Lin Feng looked at him.
"Why?"
Xuanyu stared into the darkness behind the Guardian.
Because something much larger had just opened its eyes.
His voice dropped to a whisper.
"Because that guardian wasn't protecting the ruin from you."
A deep heartbeat echoed beneath them.
BOOM.
Another.
BOOM.
The stone beneath Lin Feng's feet trembled.
Xuanyu finished:
"It was protecting the world from whatever is imprisoned below it."
Lin Feng slowly turned toward the darkness.
Two enormous golden eyes opened far beneath the ruins.
And this time…
They were looking directly at him.