The obelisk pulsed softly compact, broad; its sides etched with dense runes. Eight formation points circled it in a perfect ring.
Ryu crouched near one, fingers brushing the carved line. Space stirred beneath his touch. "It's a teleportation array," he said.
Yan stepped closer. "Will it send us all together?"
Ryu shook his head. "I don't know. Could be one place or many. Either way… it's the only way forward."
More cultivators began filtering down the long staircase into the chamber, their footsteps echoing against the ancient stone. Lanterns and Qi-infused orbs cast dim light across the sloped walls, flickering against the runes carved into the floor.
They circled the obelisk in silence, eyes scanning the formation etched beneath their feet. Eight sockets. Eight distinct channels feeding into the condensed structure, smaller than the one above but humming with far more power.
One by one, glances turned toward Ryu.
He could feel it. The pressure. The expectation.
Warren was the first to voice it.
"Ryu," he called over, arms folded. "Any thoughts?"
Ronan stepped beside him. "Same question. Is it another array like the last one? Just… scaled down?"
"Then why only eight spots?" Himari asked, glancing between the engraved leyline anchors. "Why shrink it?"
Silence.
And then the realization hit.
They didn't expect everyone to make it this far.
The room had been designed under the assumption that battles, traps, and greed would whittle their numbers down. If only eight remained… the array would still function.
"What happens to the other fifteen?" Akari asked quietly.
Ryu exhaled through his nose. The weight of the decision pressed into his shoulders. His eyes narrowed on the sloped runes of the obelisk.
"They won't be needed," he said at last. "This isn't a shared trial. This is a filter."
He stepped forward, voice steady. "If you want my opinion… this seal was meant for Ascension cultivators. No one else will be able to activate it fully. Maybe not even survive the teleportation."
A ripple of conversation spread through the crowd. Most looked toward the highest-ranked present.
Yan. Ryu. Lira. Warren. Baihu. One of Baihu's men. That made six.
Ronan, standing a half-step behind Warren, looked unsure. Akari, still glowing faintly from her earlier advancement, met Ryu's eyes with determination.
Eight.
Ryu folded his arms. "If we're going through this array, we need to choose carefully. Not by pride. By power."
Baihu stepped forward, robes brushing the dust-free floor, his presence sharp as drawn steel.
"And who decided you're the judge of that?" he asked. "You solved one array and now you think you're an expert?"
Ryu smiled, calm and slow. "No. I just know what this is." He knelt by the nearest channel. His fingertips hovered over the formation lines. "This is a spatial seal, locked with layered inscriptions. Whoever created this… infused it with the Dao of space. That's how I know."
Baihu's jaw twitched. "Convenient."
"Not convenient," Ryu said, standing. "Experience."
"You're bluffing," Baihu snapped. "And if you're not, then you've made a mistake. Because if I didn't need you to open this gate, I'd erase your name from the air you breathe."
Yan stepped forward, fire gently curling along the hem of her robe. "Try it," she said. "And you will return to your sect in an urn of ash."
The room held still.
Ryu raised a hand. "Enough. I don't need to prove anything. But if this array goes off with the wrong balance, the backlash might destroy the entire chamber, and everyone in it."
Warren nodded solemnly. "We can't afford that risk. We pick eight."
There was a pause.
Ronan spoke next. "If we're choosing… I'll go. I'm Ascension-adjacent, I have been at the peak of stage eight for a long time. I can manage a burst."
Akari didn't hesitate. "Count me in."
Ryu looked at them. "Then it's set. The rest of you…" He turned to the other cultivators, some still wounded, some silent. "Wait here. If we succeed, we'll return. If not, "
"You'll leave us in a collapsing ruin?" Baihu muttered.
Ryu met his eyes. "No. We'll unlock the path forward. For everyone."
Ryu stared at Baihu, eyes calm, unwavering. But before he could speak, Yan stepped in, voice firm.
"You're out of your depth," she said coolly. "You couldn't come close to Ryu, so put those thoughts aside."
A low ripple passed through the chamber. Baihu's expression twitched, but he said nothing.
And so it was chosen.
The eight who would activate the next array: Baihu and his loyal second, Ryu, Lira, Yan, Warren, Ronan, and Akari.
Each took a place around the condensed obelisk, stepping into the leyline points etched into the stone floor. The formation hummed beneath their feet, anticipating release. Unlike the earlier trial, this one required more than harmony. It required force.
They began slowly, each cultivator pushing Qi outward and upward, an intentional, balanced flow equal to Elemental Rank Nine.
For Ronan, the strain showed quickly. Veins bulged at his temple, sweat collecting beneath his brow. But his foundation held. Stronger than any Rank Eight they had seen, he endured.
The obelisk reacted.
Lines brightened. The room pulsed.
And then, the glow plateaued.
Ryu's voice broke the tension. "Not enough. We need to push into Ascension. Now."
He surged first. Qi flared from his body like a current of stars, silent but immense. The others followed suit, one by one, matching intensity.
Warren. Yan. Baihu. Even Ronan forced the transition, teeth gritted.
The array blazed white. Light engulfed the chamber.
But what activated wasn't just the seal.
Ryu, eyes narrowed, had reached deep into the structure's resonance. Beyond physical Qi, he twisted the ripples of space itself, folding the array's momentum forward, forcing its transition through the Dao of Space. A subtle nudge, but the difference between static power and function.
The chamber rumbled.
And just before the eight vanished, Ryu turned his head slightly toward the others above, where Himari stood near the staircase entrance.
"Wait twenty minutes," he called out, voice low and even. "Gather eight more. Use your full strength. And follow."
Then they were gone.
The world fell away.
They landed in silence.
The new chamber stretched tall and wide; a vast room shaped like the very obelisk they had activated. The walls were pitch-black, smooth as obsidian and seamless, curving upward to a tapered peak where no light reached. It wasn't lit by flame or orb, but by Qi itself, glowing subtly from the air.
Ryu took one look and exhaled. "We're inside the obelisk."
The walls pulsed with power, unadorned, yet saturated with intent. The Qi here was dense, ancient, pure.
At the room's centre, resting atop a raised dais, was a singular object: a golden chest. Not ornate in excess but patterned with runic swirls and faint glows that moved like living ink. The lid shimmered softly, as if still breathing in the lingering will of the one who left it behind.
Lira approached first, her steps hesitant, her brooch flashing faintly. "Ryu," she said, breath hitching. "I felt it. My mark… it's resonating. This is the inheritance."
The others moved cautiously forward.
Baihu pushed through them with little grace, ascending the short steps two at a time. "This inheritance is mine," he declared.
He reached for the lid.
It didn't budge.
He strained. Nothing. The more he pulled, the heavier it became, as if resisting his very will.
"Stop," Lira said, voice sharp. "Can't you see there's writing on the lid?"
"Runes," Akari added. "Probably instructions."
But Baihu continued.
Ryu moved without hesitation. In a blink, his hand clasped Baihu's wrist, surging a pulse of Qi, not enough to harm, but enough to remind.
Baihu froze.
Ryu's presence washed over him, not violent, not oppressive. Just controlled. And overwhelmingly cold.
For the first time, Baihu stepped back.
He'd assumed Ryu was beneath him. Most cultivators at Ascension Stage Two were. But this… this presence, this pressure, was something else.
Ryu turned to the chest. "Let's read it properly."
Before anyone could act, the chest exhaled. A wave of Qi surged upward, and from it formed the figure of a man, tall, regal, dressed in ancient robes that shimmered with mirrored stars. He hovered above the chest, a translucent spectre of will.
His voice echoed through the chamber.
"Welcome, young cultivators. I am the Sixth Sovereign of the Ten Realms. One of you is destined to inherit my mark. But to do so, you must first synchronize with the Qi in this chamber. Only once your spirit aligns with this place will the chest open."
The projection faded.
In its absence, the room stirred, Qi swelling, humming louder.
And then Ryu heard it.
A whisper.
A woman's voice, low and calm. "You cannot inherit this power. You already know why. Your mark is known. The world remembers."
His head throbbed.
Across from him, Lira winced and touched her temple. She felt it too.
Neither of them would be chosen.
Panic rippled through the others.
Baihu dropped to his knees in a flash, beginning meditation. Warren followed, then Ronan and Akari.
The race had begun.
Not a battle of strength.
But of spirit.
They would all try.
Only one would be chosen.
And above them all, the sovereign's mark waited, pulsing with ancient power, ready to be passed on.