The woodland clone walked slowly toward the pyramid.
Each step it took was careful, almost stiff, as if it could feel the weight of the place pressing down on it.
Due to the presence of the fallen dao beast, the pyramid itself felt like a giant beast slumbering. Even the plants nearby looked dull and lifeless, as though they did not wish to grow close to it.
When the clone reached the base of the pyramid, it stopped.
The stairs rose upward in neat lines, carved from dark stone. Strange runes were etched into every step. They looked old and sharp, like they had been cut by something far more dangerous than metal.
For a moment, the clone hesitated. Aksai, watching through the clone's senses, felt his heart tighten. He even wondered why someone like him would take such risks to come here no matter how successful he had gotten during his last close-door cultivation. Was it his fate to come here?
