The air in the throne room was thick with the scent of ozone and antiquity, as if time itself had been distilled into the stones. Li Tian stood at the threshold, the jade key burning in his palm like a shard of captured lightning. Beyond the blackened steel door, the chamber stretched into shadows so profound they seemed to swallow the light of the glowing fungi clinging to the walls. Pillars of obsidian marble rose like sentinels, their surfaces etched with scenes of cosmic cataclysms—stars colliding, gods clashing, and serpents devouring their own tails. At the far end of the hall, atop a dais of fractured crystal, coiled the guardian.
It was larger than Li Tian had imagined. The serpent's body, thick as an ancient tree, glimmered with scales like liquid mercury, each one inscribed with faint constellations that pulsed in time to some celestial rhythm. Its wings—translucent membranes crackling with violet energy—spread wide, casting jagged shadows that writhed across the floor. Six eyes, cold and luminous as dying stars, locked onto Li Tian. A voice echoed in his mind, neither male nor female, but vast, like the hollow groan of a collapsing galaxy.
***You have come far, mortal. But this is where your path ends.***
Li Tian tightened his grip on the dagger, its edge already humming with qi. "I've heard that before," he muttered. "You'll have to try harder."
The serpent's laugh reverberated through the chamber, shaking dust from the ceiling. ***Brave words. Let us see if your flesh matches them.***
It struck.
Li Tian dove sideways as fangs longer than his forearm sank into the stone where he'd stood. The ground shuddered, and the serpent's tail whipped around, forcing him into a desperate roll. He lashed out with a qi-infused slash, but the blade screeched harmlessly against the creature's scales. *Stars, it's like cutting diamond.*
The serpent reared back, its wings flaring. Energy gathered in its maw, a swirling vortex of violet and gold. Li Tian sprinted toward the nearest pillar as a beam of celestial fire erupted from the guardian's jaws. The pillar exploded, shards of obsidian slicing the air. Li Tian shielded his face, feeling a hot sting as a fragment grazed his cheek.
***Run, little mortal. Run until your legs fail.***
Li Tian didn't run. He *watched*. The serpent's movements were precise, almost ritualistic—it lunged, struck, and retreated to the dais, as though bound to an invisible tether. *It's protecting something.* His eyes flicked to the crystal dais. Beneath the serpent's coils, a sigil glowed faintly: the same symbol he'd seen in the previous chamber, the temple's heart.
The serpent struck again, faster this time. Li Tian barely dodged, the fangs tearing through his sleeve. He countered with a slash to its throat, but the scales repelled the blade. A wing snapped forward, catching him in the chest and hurling him into a pillar. Pain flared as his ribs creaked, and he tasted blood.
***You are persistent.*** The serpent's voice dripped with amusement. ***But persistence without power is futility.***
Li Tian pushed himself up, spitting crimson. "Power?" He grinned, teeth stained red. "You're just a glorified watchdog. Let's see how you bark without your kennel."
He sprinted—not toward the serpent, but parallel to the dais. The guardian hissed, tracking him. As Li Tian neared the edge of the chamber, he pivoted and hurled his dagger. The blade streaked toward the serpent's primary eye, but the creature snapped its head aside contemptuously.
The distraction was enough.
Li Tian channeled qi into his legs and leapt, soaring onto the serpent's back. The scales seared his hands, celestial energy burning through his gloves, but he clung on. The serpent thrashed, its wings beating violently as it tried to dislodge him. Li Tian crawled toward its head, the jade key blazing in his grip.
***You dare—!***
The serpent rolled, crushing Li Tian against the floor. He gasped, vision blurring, but drove the key into the gap between two scales. The creature screamed—a sound that split the air like shattered glass—and convulsed, hurling Li Tian across the room. He slammed into a pillar and crumpled, his left arm hanging uselessly at his side.
The serpent reared, its body now flickering erratically. The key, lodged in its hide, pulsed with golden light, disrupting the celestial energy that sustained it. ***You… cannot…***
"Watch me," Li Tian rasped.
He forced himself upright, every muscle screaming. The serpent lunged, slower now, its form destabilizing. Li Tian sidestepped, grabbed a shard of broken obsidian, and plunged it into the creature's wounded flank. The serpent writhed, its tail smashing pillars to dust. Li Tian dodged debris, eyes fixed on the dais.
The sigil. *Destroy the sigil.*
He sprinted, the serpent's enraged roar shaking the chamber. As he reached the dais, the guardian struck one last time, fangs closing around his leg. Agony seared through him, but he twisted, slamming the jagged shard into the sigil.
The world exploded in light.
---
When the glare faded, Li Tian lay on his back, the serpent's corpse dissolving into motes of starlight above him. The dais was gone, replaced by a circular portal swirling with nebula hues. His leg throbbed where the fangs had pierced it, the wound oozing blackened blood. *Poison. Of course.*
Footsteps echoed. Su Lin and Zhang Wei staggered into the chamber, their clothes torn and faces smeared with ash. "Tian!" Su Lin dropped to his side, her hands glowing with healing qi. "What in the ten hells did you do?"
"His usual," Zhang Wei said, though his voice lacked its usual humor. He nodded to the portal. "That our way forward?"
Li Tian tried to sit up, but Su Lin shoved him down. "Don't. This venom—it's celestial corruption. My qi can't neutralize it." Her voice trembled. "You've got hours, maybe less."
Elder Qiang materialized from the shadows, his robes singed. "The inner chamber may hold answers. And antidotes."
Li Tian met Su Lin's terrified gaze. "Then let's not waste time."
As they helped him toward the portal, the temple shuddered. Behind them, the walls began to collapse, as though the serpent's death had severed the last thread holding the ancient structure together.
***You have won nothing,*** the serpent's voice whispered in Li Tian's mind, faint now, like fading static. ***The temple's judgment is eternal.***
Then they were through the portal, and the throne room—along with the guardian's warning—vanished into the void.
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