The descent was silent.
No footsteps echoed. No air stirred. The only light came from a faint phosphorescent glow lining the stone spiral steps—a light neither made by talisman nor fire.
It pulsed in slow rhythm, like a heartbeat buried in stone.
Rael ran his hand along the wall. The stone was warm to the touch, despite the absence of heat. Somewhere far below, the sound of dripping water rang faintly… or was it something else?
Behind him, Yue Qingshi's breath was calm. Measured. Her presence had always been light, like mist. But down here, beneath earth and sky, even she seemed heavy. Anchored.
"How old is this place?" she murmured.
"Older than the sect," Rael answered. "Older than the Yue Clan, maybe."
They kept walking, deeper.
The staircase opened into a vast underground chamber.
---
It was circular, with six massive pillars supporting a cracked dome. Symbols danced across the ceiling—stars, moons, suns—none of them aligned with known constellations. The floor was covered in bones, most shattered, many humanoid.
But the centerpiece was what drew Rael's eyes.
A large black lotus.
Dead. Withered. Rooted in a small pond of silver liquid.
He approached cautiously.
[System Alert: Unclassified Cultivation Resource Detected]
Designation: "Astral Bone Marrow."
Status: Dormant.
Warning: Corrupted traits will be absorbed if consumed in unrefined state.
[User Trait Affinity: Bloodburn Variant – Incompatible]
Suggested Action: Do not consume directly.
*[Optional Action: Store sample for refinement]
Rael squatted beside it and dipped a vial into the pool. The marrow inside swirled like mercury, resisting the glass, but eventually settled.
He looked at Yue. "Feel anything?"
She shook her head. "Only silence."
"Not even the moon stirs?"
Yue closed her eyes and listened longer. Then—faintly—she shivered.
"There's… something beneath the marrow."
Rael touched the lotus stem.
It snapped like dry paper.
From inside the withered petals, something fell out and clattered across the stone.
A mask.
Cracked. Just like the one Ren Yao had worn.
Only this one bore an engraving on the inner surface—
"To hide truth from the stars, one must wear lies of shadow."
---
They weren't alone.
Yue's eyes opened suddenly. "Step back."
Rael obeyed.
A sound like grinding rock echoed behind one of the pillars.
From the darkness, a figure emerged.
Tall. Cloaked in silver robes. Face hidden by a smooth, featureless mask.
It carried no weapon.
But its presence was like a collapsing mountain.
[System Alert: Threat Analysis Unavailable]
Spiritual signature detected: Inverted. Classification: Unknown.
Warning: Entity exists partially outside real-space. Standard attacks ineffective.
The figure tilted its head.
"You shouldn't be here," it said. Its voice was like wind passing through dead branches.
Rael didn't flinch. "And you're late to stop us."
Yue stepped forward, her palm glowing with pale lunar Qi.
"Starlight Breaker?"
The masked figure paused. Then gave a slow nod.
Rael said nothing. He was already calculating.
Distance: 12 meters.
Pressure field: expanding at a 40-degree cone.
No visible weapons—possible Qi-type attack formation. Delay response minimal. 1.2 seconds if lucky.
Yue's stance: defensive. Likely prepping seal technique.
He moved first.
---
The moment Rael stepped left, Yue followed right.
Twin arcs of motion.
The masked figure raised a hand. Mist exploded outward—but it hit nothing. Rael had already dropped low, sweeping behind the central pillar while Yue shot upward, riding a burst of moonlight Qi.
Rael's hand formed a claw.
He dragged his palm across the stone and activated one of the hidden talismans he'd embedded earlier. A trap rune flared.
The ground surged, trying to bind the figure's feet.
It didn't work.
The masked entity vanished.
Reappeared behind Yue.
She turned mid-air and struck with her fan. A wave of silver light expanded—
—and the mask cracked slightly.
Rael caught a glimpse beneath.
A human face. Young. Eyes too old.
Then the figure vanished again.
---
They regrouped by the lotus.
Rael whispered, "Not an enemy. Not fully."
Yue looked at him sharply. "You saw it?"
Rael nodded. "He's like me."
"More like Ren Yao," Yue murmured.
The masked figure reappeared at the edge of the chamber.
It raised a hand again—this time, not to attack.
Instead, it snapped its fingers.
The walls shimmered.
A hidden passage opened behind the lotus pool.
Then the figure spoke:
"Truth beneath stars… is a blade forged from lies."
It turned and walked away—vanishing into the mist.
---
They didn't follow.
Instead, Rael and Yue entered the revealed path.
It led downward again, but now the walls were glass. Behind them shimmered ancient memories—fragments of battles, cities, dying cultivators, and celestial beasts long extinct.
Rael felt dizzy.
Yue touched the glass once—and it rejected her with a flash of heat.
Rael touched it.
Nothing happened.
Instead, a line of glyphs lit up.
"Bearer of broken fate. Heir of lost war."
---
At the bottom, they found a vault.
It was a single sealed room, and inside—
—six coffins.
Each marked with the crest of a Great Clan.
Each humming with barely-contained Qi.
Yue paled.
"These are ancestral vessels."
Rael nodded slowly.
Not corpses.
But seeds.
Cultivators placed into stasis, buried during a forgotten era, waiting for some ancient call to rise again.
And now?
Rael's presence had triggered them.
---
The ground shook.
Dust fell from above.
One of the coffins cracked.
A cold hand pressed against the glass.
Yue took a defensive stance.
Rael's breath slowed.
[System Alert: Unique Trait Opportunity Detected]
Trait: Echo of the Lost Path – Fragmented Remnant of Forgotten Strategist.
Warning: Absorption will alter personality resonance temporarily.
Do you accept consequence?
Rael stared at the rising corpse within the stasis coffin.
And without a word—
He stepped forward.
And touched the glass.