Chapter 95: The Eye Beyond Heaven
The eye opened.
Golden light spread through the enormous fissure, illuminating the shattered heavens above the Central Region.
For a moment, the entire world seemed to stop.
The clouds ceased moving.
The distant formations flickered.
Even the spiritual currents flowing through the surrounding mountains became strangely still, as though every living thing had been forced to hold its breath.
Han Feng could no longer feel the wind against his face.
He could barely hear Shen Lian breathing beside him.
All his attention had been drawn toward that enormous golden eye.
It was not the chaotic, blood-red eye he had glimpsed during earlier disturbances. Nor did it resemble the countless eyes of the monstrous presence that had appeared beyond the sky.
This eye was different.
Its golden iris contained intricate patterns resembling ancient formation marks. They rotated slowly, one layer after another, without any visible pupil.
There was no anger in its gaze.
No curiosity that Han Feng could recognize.
Only an overwhelming indifference.
It was as though the entire Gu World were nothing more than an insignificant object being examined.
Then the eye shifted.
And Han Feng felt it.
It had found him.
His blood ran cold.
He immediately activated the Art of the Celestial Veil.
His aura contracted, his Qi circulation slowed, and his spiritual fluctuations blended with the surrounding environment.
Normally, that would have made him difficult to distinguish from the countless cultivators scattered throughout the region.
This time, nothing changed.
The golden eye continued looking directly at him.
Han Feng's fingers tightened.
It can see through the Celestial Veil?
He immediately reconsidered.
Perhaps the eye wasn't observing his physical body.
Perhaps it was looking at something inside him.
His Celestial Diagram vibrated violently.
The tiny fissure at its center widened.
Golden light seeped through the fracture, forming thin lines across his consciousness. The pure energy on the other side surged toward the opening.
Han Feng's knees nearly buckled.
He forced himself to remain standing.
Stop.
He tried to suppress the Diagram.
Nothing happened.
I said stop!
The golden lines accelerated.
A sharp pain tore through his spiritual sense, and blood trickled from his nose.
Shen Lian grabbed his arm.
"Han Feng!"
He barely heard her.
The eye had not moved.
Yet the pressure inside his consciousness was growing stronger.
Something was responding to its gaze.
Or perhaps the Diagram was responding to something behind the eye.
Han Feng could not tell.
And that uncertainty was becoming unbearable.
He had survived by understanding the limits of his abilities. Even when confronted with stronger enemies, he could usually identify a weakness, recognize a pattern, or find a way to escape.
But this was different.
He couldn't even determine what kind of danger he was facing.
The golden eye was not attacking him.
It was simply looking.
And that was enough to make the Celestial Diagram behave as though it were standing on the edge of destruction.
A thunderous voice suddenly erupted across the Central Region.
"ALL SUPREME SECTS MUST SEAL THE SPACE BORDERS IMMEDIATELY!"
The command shook the heavens.
Han Feng looked toward the horizon.
The voice carried no recognizable spiritual fluctuation. It seemed to emerge from the world itself, reverberating through mountains, rivers, and every formation connected to the region's spiritual network.
It was not merely loud.
It possessed authority.
For an instant, Han Feng felt as though the world had issued an order that even the heavens were expected to obey.
Shen Lian stared at the sky.
"Who was that?"
Han Feng shook his head.
"I don't know."
"Was it a Gu Immortal?"
"Perhaps."
He paused.
"Or someone who doesn't need to announce what they are."
Shen Lian's face grew paler.
Han Feng couldn't blame her.
The voice had reached across thousands of kilometers without any visible medium. Even the distant Immortals seemed to react to it.
Several of the golden lights abruptly changed direction.
Others withdrew toward the mountains.
A few remained near the fissure, apparently attempting to maintain the formations they had already established.
The retreat was not universal.
But it was unmistakable.
Some of the strongest beings in the Gu World were choosing distance over confrontation.
Han Feng's expression hardened.
So even they don't know what that eye is.
That realization was more frightening than the eye itself.
The Immortals had enough power to destroy the monstrous creature that emerged from the fissure. Yet they had not attacked the golden eye.
They were not even attempting to approach it.
Either they understood the danger better than he did—
Or they understood nothing at all.
Neither possibility offered comfort.
Across the Central Region, ancient formations began to awaken.
Mountain peaks illuminated one after another.
Gigantic runes emerged above valleys and rivers, forming interconnected patterns across the sky. Some formations spread outward from ancient sect territories, while others rose from places that had appeared abandoned for centuries.
Han Feng watched a distant mountain split open.
A pillar of silver light shot into the heavens.
Then another appeared farther west.
And another.
The formations were not identical.
Some formed barriers around entire mountain ranges. Others created enormous circular patterns that seemed to anchor the surrounding space. Several extended thin lines of light toward the gigantic fissure, attempting to restrict its expansion.
The Gu World was mobilizing.
Not through a single sect or a single Immortal, but through a network of powers that had apparently prepared for disasters of this scale long before Han Feng was born.
He felt a chill.
They knew this could happen.
Perhaps they had never expected it to happen now.
Perhaps they had hoped the ancient formations would never need to be used.
But the formations existed.
And the command had been immediate.
That meant the world possessed defenses against spatial instability.
The question was whether those defenses were strong enough.
The answer came less than a minute later.
A wave of dark energy descended through the enormous fissure.
It did not resemble an attack launched by a cultivator.
There was no projectile.
No visible technique.
The darkness simply spread across the opening, washing over the formations that had gathered around it.
The first barrier trembled.
The second lost its light.
Then—
BOOOOOOM!
Three formations exploded almost simultaneously.
Their destruction sent waves of spiritual energy across the horizon. The clouds were torn apart, and the distant mountains flickered beneath the shock wave.
Shen Lian cried out.
Han Feng immediately pulled her behind the broken monument.
The pressure struck them a moment later.
Stone fragments scattered across the road.
The monument cracked from top to bottom.
Han Feng's damaged meridians tightened painfully, and he nearly collapsed beneath the force.
He had to use both hands to keep himself upright.
When the pressure finally passed, he looked toward the Central Region.
The formations were still there.
But several had been destroyed.
Others flickered dangerously.
The darkness had not erased the entire defensive network.
It had merely passed through the weakest points.
That was enough.
Han Feng understood the difference between an overwhelming attack and something far worse.
An attack tried to destroy a target.
This energy seemed to test the structure of the world's defenses.
It had struck the formations and exposed their weaknesses.
Almost as though something beyond the boundary were learning how the Gu World protected itself.
Han Feng's gaze returned to the golden eye.
Is that what you're doing?
The eye remained motionless.
No answer came.
Then its golden patterns rotated once.
The Celestial Diagram convulsed.
Han Feng fell to one knee.
Pain swallowed his consciousness.
He found himself standing inside the familiar darkness of his spiritual sea.
The Celestial Diagram floated before him.
Its golden lines were no longer rotating randomly. They had gathered around the central fissure, forming an incomplete ring.
The ring pulsed.
Each pulse sent a wave of pressure through his consciousness.
Han Feng approached cautiously.
He had never seen the Diagram behave this way.
The golden fissure was wider now, and tiny fragments of light escaped through it. They drifted around the Diagram like particles suspended in water.
The energy felt pure.
Ancient.
Yet every time Han Feng attempted to examine it, his spiritual sense encountered a barrier.
Not an attack.
A limit.
He could sense the energy's presence without understanding its nature.
He could observe its movement without controlling it.
And he could feel that the Diagram was reacting to the golden eye.
But he could not tell whether the eye had caused the fissure to widen or merely triggered a reaction that had already been waiting to occur.
Han Feng slowly extended a thread of spiritual sense.
The moment it approached the crack—
A vision appeared.
The infinite void.
Dead stars.
Rivers of souls flowing through a darkness without end.
And beyond them stood the silent figure.
Simple clothing.
Long hair.
An expression that seemed almost devoid of emotion.
The figure stood before the vast emptiness as though it had watched the rise and fall of countless worlds.
Han Feng felt the same pressure as before.
Cold.
Distant.
Controlled.
Then the figure's gaze shifted toward him.
"You..."
The voice was calm.
"You don't completely belong to this world."
Han Feng's consciousness tightened.
The words were not a question.
He tried to speak.
"Who are you?"
No answer came.
The figure simply observed him.
For the first time, Han Feng noticed something unusual.
The figure did not seem to be looking directly at his face.
Its attention was directed toward the Celestial Diagram.
Toward the tiny fissure inside it.
Then the darkness behind the figure changed.
A second presence emerged.
Han Feng could not see its form.
He could barely comprehend its existence.
It was immense, carrying a pressure that made the surrounding void seem to contract. Unlike the silent figure, this presence felt deep and oppressive, like an abyss whose bottom had never been reached.
The figure turned slightly.
Not in surprise.
Not in fear.
But with unmistakable caution.
The two presences did not attack each other.
They did not speak.
Yet the void between them trembled, and distant stars flickered as though their light had been disturbed by an invisible force.
Han Feng felt the pressure reach his consciousness.
The Celestial Diagram shuddered.
The golden fissure began to close.
For an instant, he saw something on the other side.
Not a world.
Not a landscape.
A pattern.
An immense structure composed of countless intersecting lines, extending beyond the limits of his perception.
Then the connection shattered.
Han Feng opened his eyes abruptly.
He was back on the ancient road.
Blood dripped from his mouth onto the broken stone.
Shen Lian was kneeling beside him, her expression filled with alarm.
"What happened? You suddenly stopped moving!"
Han Feng wiped his mouth.
"I saw something."
"What?"
He hesitated.
How could he explain it?
That he had witnessed two presences through a crack in his consciousness? That one had spoken to him while the other seemed powerful enough to distort the void simply by existing?
He barely understood the experience himself.
"Two beings," he finally said. "They were aware of each other."
Shen Lian stared at him.
"From the other world?"
"I don't know."
"Then how can you be sure?"
"I'm not."
Han Feng pushed himself upright.
"But the connection was real."
He looked toward the distant fissure.
The golden eye remained visible.
Its gaze still seemed directed toward him, though he could no longer feel the same pressure inside his consciousness.
He had not received an explanation.
He had received a warning.
Not through words, but through the sheer danger of what he had witnessed.
The Celestial Diagram was connected to something beyond his understanding.
And whatever that connection was, the current disturbance had strengthened it.
He could not afford to let it happen again.
Not until he knew more.
The enormous golden eye moved.
Only slightly.
Its gaze shifted away from Han Feng and toward the formations surrounding the fissure.
The change was almost imperceptible.
Yet the pressure across the Central Region immediately altered.
Several distant formations stopped flickering.
Others began to stabilize.
For a moment, Han Feng wondered whether the eye was actually helping the Gu World contain the damage.
Then he noticed the remaining formations were not becoming stronger.
They were changing.
Their runes rearranged themselves into unfamiliar patterns, as though an invisible force were examining their structure and forcing them to respond.
The golden eye had not repaired the formations.
It was interacting with them.
Or perhaps it was using them for something else.
Han Feng's expression turned cold.
Don't assume benevolence simply because the immediate result looks helpful.
He had survived too many dangerous situations to confuse an unknown force with an ally.
The eye could be stabilizing the boundary.
It could be testing the Gu World's defenses.
Or it could be preparing the conditions for something that neither the Immortals nor the ancient formations could withstand.
There was no way to know.
Then a distant golden light shot toward the fissure.
One of the Gu Immortals had returned.
The figure stopped before the enormous opening, surrounded by a brilliant aura. A massive formation unfolded beneath its feet, its runes extending across the sky.
This time, the Immortal did not attack the eye.
Instead, the figure pressed both hands together.
The formation tightened.
For several breaths, the gigantic fissure stopped expanding.
The golden eye's patterns rotated.
The Immortal's formation trembled.
A second figure appeared nearby and added its power to the structure.
Then a third.
The combined pressure spread across the Central Region.
Han Feng watched in silence.
They were not attempting to destroy whatever lay beyond the boundary.
They were trying to hold the opening in place.
Perhaps they had concluded that closing it by force was impossible.
Perhaps they feared that another violent attack would damage the world even further.
Whatever their reason, their strategy was clear.
Stabilize the fissure.
Prevent further expansion.
Buy time.
For the first time since the eye had appeared, Han Feng felt a faint sense of relief.
It lasted only a moment.
The golden eye looked down.
Every formation across the sky went still.
The Immortals stopped moving.
Then a voice emerged from the enormous fissure.
It was not loud.
It did not need to be.
"Who authorized this boundary?"
Han Feng's blood ran cold.
The voice had not come from the silent figure in his vision.
Nor did it resemble the oppressive presence that had emerged behind that figure.
It sounded older.
Colder.
Almost mechanical, as though the question were being asked by something that had no need to understand the answer.
The formations began to tremble again.
One of the Immortals raised a hand, but did not attack.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then the golden eye shifted toward the Gu World.
Its attention swept across the mountains, the formations, and the distant cultivators.
When it reached Han Feng, the Celestial Diagram pulsed once.
A single golden line illuminated.
Han Feng felt a faint pressure against his consciousness.
Not enough to injure him.
Just enough to make one thing clear.
Whatever stood beyond that eye had noticed the Diagram.
And it had not forgotten him.
He clenched his fists.
Why me?
The question remained unanswered.
The golden eye slowly closed.
The pressure disappeared.
But the enormous fissure remained open, and the formations around it continued to struggle against the unstable boundary.
Han Feng looked down at his chest.
The golden seal was quiet.
The Celestial Diagram had stopped moving.
Yet the tiny fissure within it had not closed completely.
A faint golden light remained visible beyond the crack.
He could not touch it.
He could not understand it.
And he could not safely ignore it.
Han Feng took a slow breath.
"Shen Lian."
She turned toward him.
"We need to leave this region."
She looked toward the Central Region, where the Immortals were still struggling to maintain the formations.
"Where can we go? The whole world is changing."
Han Feng followed her gaze.
For once, he had no clever answer.
There might be no completely safe place anymore.
But there were places where he could recover, gather information, and avoid becoming trapped beneath the next disaster.
That would have to be enough.
"We go somewhere quiet," he said. "Somewhere we can observe without being caught in the middle."
"And if the fissure opens further?"
"Then we'll have to make another decision."
Shen Lian studied him for a moment.
"You really don't know what's happening, do you?"
Han Feng gave a faint, humorless smile.
"Not even close."
He turned away from the ruined road.
Behind him, the heavens continued to groan.
The Gu Immortals were still fighting to stabilize the boundary. Ancient formations illuminated distant mountain ranges, and the gigantic fissure remained suspended above the Central Region like an open wound.
The world had seen the other side.
The other side had seen the world.
And something beyond both had begun asking questions.
Han Feng moved into the hills, forcing his damaged body onward.
He did not know what the golden eye wanted.
He did not know who had spoken through the fissure.
And he did not know whether the silent figure in the void would ever look at him again.
But he understood one thing with absolute clarity.
The Celestial Diagram was no longer merely a mystery he could investigate at his own pace.
Something beyond his world had begun to respond to it.
And the next time the connection opened, Han Feng might not be able to close it.