Chapter 96: The Gate Between Worlds
The entire sky froze.
For one impossible instant, the Central Region fell silent.
The winds stopped. Clouds hung motionless above the mountains. Rivers ceased to ripple, and the countless formations scattered across the land trembled as though an invisible hand had seized the world by its throat.
Then the golden eye emerged from within the gigantic fissure.
It did not blink.
It did not breathe.
It simply watched.
Han Feng felt his entire body stiffen.
That eye did not seem alive.
It resembled a law given form—something ancient and indifferent, an existence that had watched worlds rise and fall without feeling the slightest concern for either.
And now, its attention rested upon him.
The Celestial Diagram erupted into motion.
Golden lines spun through Han Feng's consciousness, accelerating until the pain became almost unbearable. The tiny fissure at the center widened, releasing fragments of pure golden light that coursed through his meridians.
Han Feng staggered.
Blood filled his mouth.
His chest burned beneath the golden seal, which pulsed violently against his skin.
The seal was not producing energy. It was struggling to regulate the foreign pressure flooding into his body, and Han Feng could feel its limits approaching.
Behind him, Shen Lian tried to take a step forward.
"Han Feng—"
Her voice broke off.
Her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed.
Han Feng turned instinctively, but he could not reach her. The pressure descending from the sky had become too immense. Even the spiritual energy surrounding his body seemed to have acquired weight.
He forced himself to remain standing.
The Celestial Diagram was absorbing part of the pressure.
That should have been a relief.
Instead, it terrified him.
Something was connecting the Diagram to the golden eye.
He did not know whether the connection was deliberate, whether the eye had recognized the Diagram, or whether the two were responding to some deeper law.
But the eye was looking at him.
And the Diagram was answering.
Stop.
Han Feng tried to suppress the Diagram's rotation.
It ignored him.
Stop!
A fresh wave of pain tore through his spiritual sense.
The golden lines continued to spin, and the crack at the center revealed a glimpse of something beyond it: an unfamiliar sky, dark and immense, crossed by thin lines of light that did not resemble stars.
For a heartbeat, Han Feng felt as though he were standing on the edge of an abyss.
Then the golden eye shifted its attention.
The pressure on his body eased slightly.
Han Feng nearly fell.
He caught himself against a rock, breathing hard.
The eye had not attacked him.
That was the only certainty he possessed.
Whether it had spared him, ignored him, or simply finished examining him, he could not tell.
Then the heavens broke.
CRAAAAACK!
New fissures spread from the original breach, racing across the sky like fractures in shattered glass. Some stretched over thousands of kilometers. Others appeared above distant cities, mountain ranges, and ancient ruins.
The world groaned.
In a city far beyond Han Feng's sight, a protective formation failed. A section of the outer wall folded inward as space distorted around it. Buildings trembled, and cultivators fled into the streets while their defensive Gu flashed uselessly.
Elsewhere, a mountain peak split apart.
Its upper half lifted into the air, suspended above the lower slopes by a distortion in space. Trees, boulders, and fragments of ancient structures drifted around it before gravity abruptly reclaimed them.
Across the Central Region, alarms rang from sects that had remained silent for centuries.
The boundary was no longer failing in a single place.
The damage was spreading.
And the golden eye had not even crossed through.
The Gu Immortals finally abandoned restraint.
Monstrous auras erupted across the horizon.
One after another, figures appeared above the mountains, their bodies surrounded by immortal light. Some stood alone, while others arrived atop flying palaces or within enormous formations carried by their sects.
The sky filled with intersecting beams of light.
Ancient formations awakened beneath mountain ranges. Sealed altars opened, releasing reserves of immortal essence accumulated over countless years. Entire peaks rose into the air as their foundations transformed into formation nodes.
Han Feng watched through blurred vision.
He had never witnessed so many Immortals gathered in one place.
Yet there was no sense of grandeur in the scene.
Only desperation.
An Immortal in a dark-gold robe raised both hands. Countless runes spread from his sleeves, forming a gigantic chain of symbols around the nearest fissure.
Another Immortal pressed a jade seal against the air.
A mountain-sized phantom appeared behind him, its enormous hands pushing against the fractured sky.
Farther away, several Immortals joined their immortal essence to activate an ancient formation. Seven stars appeared above them, connecting into a pattern that Han Feng recognized only vaguely from the visions inside the Celestial Fragment.
The Immortals were not fighting the golden eye.
They were trying to prevent the damage around it from spreading.
And they were failing.
Han Feng saw an Immortal retreat abruptly as a spatial fracture tore through his protective barrier. Another was struck by a wave of distorted energy and thrown backward, his immortal light flickering as blood spilled from his mouth.
These were beings who could dominate regions and overturn the fate of ordinary cultivators.
Now they were struggling merely to keep the sky intact.
What kind of existence requires this many Immortals to contain it?
The thought barely formed before an ancient voice thundered across the heavens.
"SEAL THE FISSURE IMMEDIATELY!"
The command carried no visible source.
Yet every formation in the Central Region responded.
Seven gigantic pillars of light erupted from the land.
BOOOOOOM!
Each pillar rose beyond the clouds, its surface covered in ancient runes. They appeared at different points around the Central Region, forming the corners of a vast sealing network.
The first pillar connected to the second.
The second to the third.
In moments, a colossal web of light stretched across the sky.
Space began to stabilize.
The spreading fractures slowed.
For the first time since the golden eye appeared, the world seemed capable of resisting.
Han Feng narrowed his eyes.
So the great sects still have something hidden.
The formation's power was astonishing. It did not merely suppress spiritual energy. It seemed to reinforce the boundary itself, forcing the fractured space to remember its original shape.
But the price was immediately apparent.
The seven pillars flickered as immense quantities of immortal essence poured into them. Several distant mountains trembled under the strain. Han Feng could even sense the pressure from where he stood, despite being far from the formation's central nodes.
The network was consuming the resources of entire sects.
And it had only just begun.
Then the golden eye moved.
Barely.
Its gaze shifted by the smallest fraction.
That was enough.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
Two pillars of light shattered.
The explosions swallowed the surrounding clouds, and fragments of broken runes scattered across the heavens. The sealing network collapsed in two places, its remaining connections stretching taut as they struggled to compensate.
An Immortal near the western pillar coughed blood.
Another vanished behind a flash of light, retreating before the backlash could consume him.
The entire Central Region shook.
Han Feng felt his soul recoil.
This was not a battle between equals.
It was an attempt to hold back a collapsing mountain with bare hands.
The golden eye had not unleashed a technique.
It had barely moved.
Yet the formation built by countless Immortals had nearly disintegrated.
Han Feng swallowed the blood in his mouth.
If it truly wants to cross over, what can this world possibly do?
He had no answer.
And the heavens offered none.
Then the second presence returned.
It arrived without an opening in the sky, without a flash of light, and without any visible movement.
One moment, the red clouds above the fissure were still.
The next, they began to spiral.
A profound pressure descended upon the world.
Cold.
Heavy.
Possessive.
It felt like an endless ocean pressing against the heavens, each invisible wave carrying a will that refused to yield.
Han Feng's fingers dug into the rock.
He knew this sensation.
Not its origin.
Not its owner.
But the same oppressive presence had reached him through the void between worlds.
The golden eye remained motionless.
Yet the space surrounding it began to distort.
The red clouds twisted into enormous spirals. The remaining sealing pillars bent inward, and several ancient formations began producing sounds like metal being slowly crushed.
For the first time, Han Feng wondered whether the golden eye was the source of the disturbance at all.
Perhaps it was merely watching.
Perhaps it was holding something back.
Or perhaps the second presence had forced its attention toward the breach.
He could not distinguish the possibilities.
He only knew that two wills of unimaginable scale were now pressing against one another across the boundary.
And the Gu World was caught between them.
The Celestial Diagram convulsed.
Han Feng cried out as the fissure within it widened another fraction. Golden light burst through his meridians, illuminating the blood beneath his skin.
The golden seal flared in response.
A thin crack appeared across its surface.
Han Feng's heart stopped.
The seal had endured the foreign energy before. It had helped regulate the small amount he had been exposed to.
But this was different.
The seal was not designed to withstand two unknown forces pressing against the boundary of an entire world.
He tried to draw back the energy leaking from the Diagram.
Pain exploded through his spiritual sense.
His knees buckled.
For an instant, he felt the Diagram slipping beyond his control.
Then his consciousness was pulled away.
The world disappeared.
Han Feng returned to the infinite void.
This time, he did not arrive gently.
He was thrown into the darkness as though an unseen force had dragged him through a narrow passage. His body had no weight, yet the pain in his spiritual sense followed him.
Around him floated dead stars and broken fragments of light.
Far ahead stood the silent figure.
Long hair. Simple clothing. An expression impossible to read.
The being had not changed.
But the space behind it had.
A vast fracture now stretched across the darkness, its edges twisting like the boundaries of a wound that could not heal.
Beyond that fracture lay the second presence.
Han Feng could not see a face.
There was no stable shape to observe, only a monstrous pressure that seemed to consume the darkness around it. The void bent toward it, and distant stars dimmed as though their light were being swallowed.
The two existences stood apart.
Neither crossed the fracture.
Neither attacked.
Yet the space between them trembled continuously.
Han Feng understood with sudden clarity that distance alone was not protecting the worlds.
Their proximity was enough.
Their wills were enough.
Even without crossing the boundary, their presence was beginning to alter the structures that separated them.
The silent figure turned its eyes toward Han Feng.
"You are the variable."
The words carried no anger or surprise.
They sounded like an observation made after a long calculation.
Han Feng struggled to speak.
"What do you mean?"
The figure offered no immediate answer.
Its gaze shifted briefly toward the fissure within Han Feng's consciousness.
Han Feng felt exposed.
Not as though someone were reading his thoughts, but as though the figure could perceive a shape in him that he himself did not understand.
"You stand where the pattern should not be complete," the figure said.
Han Feng's breath caught.
The Celestial Diagram.
Was that what it meant?
Before he could ask another question, the second presence reacted.
The void darkened.
Not gradually.
All at once.
An immense pressure swept across the dead stars, forcing them into silence. The fracture behind the silent figure widened, and the edges of the darkness began to ripple.
Then a voice emerged.
Low.
Cold.
Indifferent.
"Interesting."
The word was almost identical to the one Han Feng had heard before.
Yet there was no certainty that it came from the same source.
The second presence seemed to be looking at him.
Han Feng could not prove it.
But he felt the weight of that attention settle upon his consciousness, and every instinct screamed that he must not allow it to reach deeper.
The silent figure moved.
For the first time, it took a single step—not toward the second presence, but sideways, placing itself between Han Feng and the widening fracture.
The movement was small.
The effect was not.
The pressure around Han Feng weakened for a heartbeat.
He stared at the figure.
Was it protecting him?
Or was it preventing the second presence from interfering with something it had not finished examining?
The distinction mattered.
Han Feng refused to mistake an unexplained action for kindness.
The silent figure spoke again.
"Do not answer it."
Han Feng froze.
"Why?"
The figure's eyes remained fixed on the darkness.
"Because it has not asked you a question."
The second presence said nothing.
Yet the void trembled more violently.
Han Feng suddenly understood the danger.
The word Interesting had not been a greeting.
It had been a sign of recognition—or perhaps the beginning of an assessment.
He had no idea what would happen if he responded.
The Celestial Diagram flared.
The fracture in its center widened, revealing a sliver of an unfamiliar sky. Beyond it, faint lines moved like distant formations, too large and too complex for Han Feng to comprehend.
The silent figure noticed.
Its expression did not change, but the surrounding void grew still.
"Your pattern is opening."
Han Feng clenched his fists.
"I didn't choose this."
"No," the figure replied.
For a brief moment, something almost resembling sympathy crossed its otherwise unreadable face.
"But choice is not always the beginning of a path."
The second presence pressed closer.
The fracture between the two beings expanded another fraction.
The silent figure turned its head.
The conversation was over.
Han Feng felt the connection beginning to collapse.
Before the void disappeared, the figure spoke one final sentence.
"Find out what the Diagram is connected to before it opens again."
Then the darkness shattered.
Han Feng opened his eyes with a violent gasp.
He was back in the hills.
Blood seeped from his pores, staining his clothes. His spiritual sense felt torn and raw, and the Celestial Diagram continued to spin inside his consciousness.
The golden fissure had widened.
It was now large enough to reveal fragments of an unknown sky.
But the sight lasted only a moment before the light flickered and the image vanished.
Han Feng pressed one hand against his chest.
The golden seal was still there.
Its surface had returned to normal, but the faint crack he had sensed remained. It was not broken.
Not yet.
He could not tell whether the seal had weakened permanently or whether its reaction had simply been a temporary consequence of the pressure.
Either possibility was dangerous.
"Han Feng…"
A faint voice came from beside him.
Shen Lian was stirring.
He crawled toward her, ignoring the pain in his limbs, and checked her breathing. It was shallow but steady.
She was alive.
Relief passed through him, followed immediately by another wave of exhaustion.
He had no strength to investigate the Diagram.
No strength to test the seal.
And certainly no strength to approach the Central Region.
For now, survival came first.
Han Feng forced himself upright and looked toward the sky.
The golden eye remained open.
The seven-pillar formation was broken, though fragments of its remaining light still clung to the heavens. Immortals were withdrawing from the most unstable areas, while others attempted to preserve the surviving formation nodes.
Then Han Feng noticed something behind the eye.
Something that had not been visible before.
A shape was emerging from the fissure.
It was enormous, dark, and metallic.
At first, he mistook it for a mountain.
Then he saw the straight edges.
The symmetrical surface.
The faint lines carved across its face.
It was not a mountain.
It was a structure.
A colossal door.
Its upper edge had begun to pass through the breach, though the rest remained hidden beyond the boundary. Its surface seemed to absorb the light around it, leaving only thin silver markings visible against the darkness.
The formations of the Gu World reacted immediately.
One after another, ancient arrays collapsed.
The surviving pillars flickered.
Several Immortals retreated at once, abandoning sections of the sealing network before the spatial backlash could reach them.
The door was not fully crossing.
But it was no longer merely an image beyond the fissure.
Part of it had entered the Gu World.
Han Feng felt the Celestial Diagram react again.
This time, however, it did not spin faster.
It became still.
Every golden line halted simultaneously.
The tiny crack at its center shone with a pale light.
Han Feng stared inward, barely daring to breathe.
For one heartbeat, the Diagram seemed to be listening.
Then a faint vibration passed through it.
Not an answer.
Not a command.
A recognition too subtle to understand.
Han Feng's stomach tightened.
You know what that is.
He could not tell whether he was addressing the Diagram or himself.
The golden eye remained fixed upon the world.
The door continued to emerge.
Across the Central Region, the surviving Immortals gathered their remaining power, but none immediately dared to approach the breach again.
Han Feng finally understood the shape of the disaster.
The fissure was not simply a wound between worlds.
It was an entrance.
And something on the other side had begun to use it.
He looked down at Shen Lian, then back toward the distant heavens.
He could not stop the door.
He could not repair the boundary.
He did not even understand why the Celestial Diagram had reacted to the eye.
But he had heard the warning from the silent figure.
Find out what the Diagram was connected to before it opened again.
Han Feng clenched his bloodied hand.
He would need to recover.
He would need answers.
And above all, he would need to keep the Diagram from opening any further.
Because whatever was behind that colossal door—
It had not yet finished crossing.
And the world had no idea what would happen when it did.