While hiking the mountain pass, Huo Jin took a brief pause, looking at the village behind him. Situated at the volcano's slope, the village and the surrounding jungle was blessed with bountiful natural resources. The villagers didn't have to worry about starving since everything they needed was within arms' reach, literally.
Smoke rose from the forge's chimney, tinkering and clanking noises rang in harmony with nature. No children were starving and everybody lived decently.
Rongyan Village was renowned for its metalworking and craftsmanship. Influential figures from across the Baitian Kingdom came personally to commission a weapon or heirloom.
Many asked the same question over the years. Where did the Rongyan Village obtain the raw materials?
The secret was guarded tightly by the village's elders. Ores and exotic materials were distributed accordingly to the blacksmith and craftsmen as the commission was accepted.
But none of those secrets could escape Huo Jin's sharp mind. He knew exactly where those ores and exotic materials came from.
For the last couple of years, he had mapped the volcano. And while investigating the Flame Valley's exact coordinate, he noticed an odd phenomenon.
No birds crossed a certain stretch of sky. Clouds drifted around it, never above it. Wind patterns bent subtly, as if avoiding something unseen.
Huo Jin could not see the qi fluctuations but he wasn't that stupid to not realize there was a Formation Array at the back mountains which was strictly guarded by the disciples of Mountain Peak Hall.
That realization alone narrowed the possibilities. When he overlaid the anomaly with the terrain, only one conclusion remained.
The Flame Valley must be somewhere in there.
The elders spoke of it rarely, always with warnings layered thickly over half-truths. Only those who have awakened SpiritRoots were permitted to enter, and under strict supervision. To the mortal villagers, Flame Valley was framed as a death trap. A place mortals could not endure, but Huo Jin knew better.
The elders fabricate such a narrative to deter curiosity and question their authority.
Knowledge was passed to the commoners only when they decided so. The valley fed the village's prosperity, yet the ladder was guarded carefully. Those who climbed without approval were not tolerated.
To confirm his hypothesis, there was only one way; sneaking to the Mountain Peak Hall to access the back mountain from there.
Huo Jin hastened his pace, traversing through the winding and narrow mountain path. This was a secret passage that he discovered last year but he was unable to see the end because he didn't have the time.
Regardless of the risk, Huo Jin was confident the secret passage would allow him to bypass the hall's front gate entirely.
After an hour or so, he could finally see a light at the end. He jogged faster, the thrill of discovery made his heart raced.
However, the surroundings light suddenly dimmed down as if the sky was shrouded when he stepped out of the mountain path and found himself inside a canyon.
"Where am I!?" He muttered. It didn't take long for him to recalibrate himself. "Ah, this place must be the Misty Canyon. The elders and adults mentioned this place every now and then. Hmm, but how did I end up here so easily? Something's not right." Huo Jin pondered for a moment, calculating the loss and gain.
However, the thought of having a weapon for self-defense and survival outweighs the most sane decision a normal person would take.
'I have been controlled and steered for all my life by the Hidden Hall. If I ought to die in this world, my existence would be completely deleted. This is my only chance to dictate my own fate. I can't delay it anymore. I need to get stronger as soon as possible!' Huo Jin muttered to himself. He opted to face the unknown and embrace the fear.
Huo Jin proceeded cautiously, walking into the mist, every step on the dried soil echoed by the wall. His body shivered due to the chilling cold the farther he went but his mental state strangely very calm.
A few moments later, he could see a tall structure towering in the distance. It was a Pailou Gate built atop a huge stone platform with numerous intricately carved symbols and ancient characters.
Huo Jin touched the stone plate, it was warm to the touch.
"Huh? What is this structure?" He tried to make sense of everything, walking around the gate.
The moment he stepped onto the center of the circle, the air suddenly shifted, the mist spiraling around him. The formation flared brightly, the gate's mechanism cranked aloud followed by the appearance of a colorful portal on the gate.
"Oh shit!"
Huo Jin didn't know what was happening to the gate and why, but his survival instinct screamed at him to flee. But alas, the suction force of the portal was too powerful for him to resist. He clawed the ground, holding onto the stone plate's edge as his legs were pulled backward.
"What did you do this time, Huo Jin!" Grand Elder Rongyan shouted from above the canyon. He flew down the cliff with his sword and was followed by others from Mountain Peak Hall.
"Grand Elder! The formation is unstable! The gate will collapse at this rate!" Shouted one of the senior disciples.
"Don't get too close or you'll be sucked into the portal!" Grand Elder Rongyan warned his disciples.
Rongyan made a quick decision, he threw a spell onto the spiraling storm of energy. However, the portal gate refused the input and became wilder instead.
"Hold it, kid! I will get you out!" Grand Elder Rongyan undid the spell, he rushed toward the storm of energy.
Not wanting his plan to be delayed by another year by being grounded, Huo Jin deliberately let go of his grip and let his body be sucked into the portal. Disappeared without a trace along with the portal.
Grand Elder Rongyan stood at the edge of the broken platform, his gaze fixed on the Pailou Gate.
The carved symbols had cracked unevenly, Residual spatial turbulence that lingered in the air was erratic.
"This was not a natural failure." Grand Elder Rongyan summarises his deduction.
"Grand Elder, what should we tell Huo Jin's parents?" Inquired the senior disciples.
"Let me worry about that." Grand Elder Rongyan replied. "Clean this place and investigate the Pailou Gate. Somebody must have sabotaged it."
"Yes, Grand Elder!"