In time, the gorge narrowed into a cruel throat of stone. Mist hung thick on the walls, pale veins of light flickering faintly within like arteries. Every throb sent a quiet hum through the ground, as if the gorge itself had a dozing heart.
The disciples came to a stop, their eyes wide. Even the air here was heavier, filled with such powerful qi that it could almost be touched on one's skin.
Meng Zhao stepped forward. His face was calm and composed. "The gorge's marrow lies beneath our feet," he said. "You can feel it, can't you? This is no ordinary battlefield. It is a place steeped in energies untold—as ancient and powerful a vein as any Primordial Trough."
The words struck like sparks in dry tinder. Murmurs broke out among the disciples.
"A Primordial Trough…?"
"If there's such a thing, then it's certainly guarded, and who knows what treasures lie in store?"
"That would mean treasures — rare herbs, ancient ores…"
In thanks for his words, their eyes flicked back and forth between the splendors of glowing stone and the quiet figure standing proudly at the head: Lin Xuan.
His were the objects of their stares, and Lin Xuan felt none too comfortable. He rested his hand on the shaft of his lance and breathed gently within. He heard his own heart beating. Within him was the hum of System.
[Primordial Qi Detected]
[Analyzing…]
[Warning: Energy Type is unstable. Absorption risk: 78%. Mitigation protocol available via Talent Replication.]
His face darkened somewhat. That's the feeling that has preyed on my heart from the night of the serpent. It's not just a trial ground, it's a trap laid over something older.
Meng Zhao's voice was silky-smooth again. "But fortune so great is never gained without risk. But somebody has to lead. Somebody has to smash the beasts that guard this vein. My dear Brother Lin…"
All heads now turned to him, their anticipation sharper than knives.
Lin Xuan's eyes flickered briefly towards Meng Zhao as the briefest smile of the beast behind his mask of camaraderie glimmered cold with craft behind its facade. This was the net lain out for him, the trap set under his feet.
Lin Xuan exhaled softly. "All right," he consented. "But if fortune says go before the masses, drugs filling a vent will do it. Every man with his sword has blood to shed, or else none of us will get out alive." There was a murmur of agreement. The faces of the disciples were no longer rigid and lifeless but relaxed, because every action on Lin Xuan's part was like salvation to them—and to him, just another step into darkness.
Lin Xuan felt the ground shake beneath his feet. Forward out of the fog there rolled a strange sound that in both tone and depth felt wrong to the bone. It certainly wasn't the roar of wolves and snakes. But inherently distorted in the manner of sound, as though it were one creature born onto a world that was never meant for it. Figures came into view.
The first was a boar. However, its tusks gave off a faint glow and were covered in rough bone script that spelled out natural energies. Its red eyes shed foam at the corners as they glowed. Behind it came wolves with hair that was like wool and flashed arcs of electricity periodically. Up in the sky, a snake moved sinuously along its path, its shiny scales dripping with poison.
At the sight of the tone-deaf figures, the disciples all retreated in terror.
Lin Xuan walked forward, the spear sliding into his hands with a sound like a whisper of steel. His voice was clear and without emotion, "Formation! Do not run off alone. Watch out for each other."
The beasts charged.
The boar was the first to strike, its huge tusks gouging trenches in the rock. But Lin Xuan moved, his body as liquid as water. The spear came out, and the lines of glowing light which overlaid the beast's form in his vision were transcribed with the hacking knife move from the Omni-Talent System.
His blow landed accurately. The boar gave a cry and tottered. But another wolf leapt at him from the side, jaws snapping lightning.
Lin Xuan twisted, calling to mind the rain of blows in Luo Feng's wolf-fang strike from weeks gone by. The spear changed hands in a brutal pull upward—the wolf's jugular ripped open and died with its own blood as the sparks went out.
The disciples gasped. "He fights like he used to... without doubt." Meng Zhao saw a face full of cold. "Lin Xuan, spill your blood for it below. The deeper you fall, the gorge must have something for you before long."
System Sync
[Activate Material Insight]
[Primordial Vein fragment identified when beast marrow was examined.]
[Option] Strip corruption from beasts when killed.
It was a familiar feeling — tuning into the qi leaking out of these creatures — that turned Lin Xuan's eyes cold. His elbows rippled off the bowstring, and his fingers grew still with the odd fish. He harvested that corruption.
The System chimed as he stabbed his spear into the boar's chest, then turned it.
[Absorbed: Fragment of Primordial Qi]
[Risk reduced: Talent Replication equilibrium now achieved.]
[+1 Strength temporarily]
His system was flooded with energy again, unrestrained and uncontrolled, but the sense was tamed. He felt his body growing harder, every inch of muscle aching.
But on the surface, he betrayed nothing but the calm blue eye from which strike after strike rained over all.
Screams echoed behind him. A serpent came down, melting rock where the venom splashed. One of Lin Xuan's followers shrieked as its poison ate through his leg. Wolves ranged far and wide, taking out those not strong enough to defend themselves.
Panic spread in this battlefield.
That word Lin Xuan roared, "Hold!"
Undaunted, his spear twisted and broke the spine of a wolf. His voice sliced through the chill cloak of the mountain. "Run, and death claims you. Stop, and you survive. Choose."
Many thought about it, then rallied around him:
Backbones stiffened, knives arose. In that moment, his words read on believers as commandment.
Meng Zhao narrowed his eyes. Lin Xuan had expected chaos to swallow him whole, but instead, it gathered around like iron filings to a magnet, forming a solid line.
The battle dragged on. Beast corpses lay upon beast corpses, their ichor seeping into the glowing stone. And then, with a rush of force, the vein itself told them more about itself.
Splintered cliffs took on the glow of golden cracks. The atmosphere around became more thick, and every breath was filled with raw qi. In the light, faint inscriptions flickered: ancient seals that were worn out but still faintly visible.
The earth rumbled. From out of a crack in the vein, something was about to break forth. A silent anguish that beat against skulls and hearts alike.
Numerous disciples crumbled to their knees, clasping onto their heads.
Lin Xuan staggered, one warning after another flashing across the System.
[Primordial Seal Fragment Resonance]
[Absorption Possible. Danger Level: Extreme.]
His fingers clenched tighter around the shaft of his spear. It turns out the seal is here, the power leaking into cloth and beasts together. Meng Zhao didn't send me here for beasts; he sent me straight into the hash of the seal.
Lin Xuan's Choice
The serpent made another sick attack, venom pouring off it. The boar thumped at the air again crazily trying to rush on, its body half ruined. Wolves ringed in, lightning crackling.
And further down, the fissure pulsed yet brighter. Its rhythm became ever faster.
Lin Xuan's gaze swept over the battlefield. Fellow students hesitating, Meng Zhao standing there, the seal beckoning.
A choice: Full development of strength is necessary, or duck low.
He pressed his lips into a thin line. Low-key? Always low-key. Let them only see urgency, never anything else.
He lunged. Every spear stroke was supported by System overlays. He hit vital points of beasts with impossible precision, silently swallowing Primordial Qi fragments. Each absorption filled him with strength, yet he still moved as if simply trying to breathe. Beasts died. They were all gone one by one until the field was still.
Adoration of the disciplined. "Again!"
And Meng Zhao, with a thin smile, thought: It's not time, Lin Xuan. The vein's only just beginning to stir. You won't be able to hide what something you'll soon be.
The fissure split—from its depths rose a shade, massive and contorted, its very presence redolent of something ancient.
Different followers screamed.
Lin Xuan simplified his take a little, the narrow look in his eyes even now fixed upon the other squat buildings forming a heart.
Now that is what lies yonder in the depths of the gorge!
The System rang coldly in his mind:
[A Hidden Quest update: "Survive the Primordial Awakening."]