They slowly pushed open the stone door embedded into the statues foot and stepped into the darkness behind it.
The air changed immediately.
Cooler. Still. Heavy in a way that felt intentional.
The duo followed a narrow path upwards.
After a while a they could see flickers of light in front.
As they approached, the faint glow spilling from ahead brushed across the tunnel walls — just enough to reveal shapes carved into the stone.
Murals.
Crude at first glance, but deliberate.
A man and a woman standing side by side.
The same pair again — training together, blades raised in mirrored stances.
Further along, seated opposite each other in meditation.
Always the two of them.
The figures grew more detailed the closer they walked.
The woman appeared thinner in the later carvings.
Reclining.
The man kneeling beside her.
In the final mural before the tunnel opened fully into the chamber, she lay still upon a stone platform.
And the man stood above her.
Sword raised.
Riven slowed.
Yue Lin too.
Then the passage widened.
A circular chamber came into view.
Judging by how far upwards they had traveled, if Riven had to guess, they were inside the statues head now.
Both of them stepped into the chamber.
And the moment they did—
Stone moved.
A low grinding sound rolled through the chamber as the entrance sealed behind them. Stone seemed to appear out of nowhere, creating a sealed chamber with them inside.
Riven turned quickly.
The seam vanished, stone flowing together without crack or line, as if it had never been there at all.
No handle.
No gap.
No way back.
"…Well," Yue Lin muttered softly.
"It did say no return..." Riven realized, turning away from the door and instead inspecting the chamber they were in.
The light they had seen had come from Illuminating Stones that were embedded into the ceiling.
But that wasn't the important part.
As he looked at the ground he saw an enormous formation covering the entire chamber — layered rings carved deep into the stone, intersecting lines and jagged sigils spiraling outward from a central circle. The grooves weren't shallow markings.
There was enough space for a liquid to flow through them.
The air above the formation shimmered faintly, almost imperceptibly, like heat rising from stone. A low hum pulsed beneath his feet — subtle, but steady. Waiting.
There was no stone slab here.
No written instructions.
Just the formation.
And silence.
Thick. Pressing.
Yue Lin stepped closer to the center ring, eyes tracing the patterns. "I don't like this," she said quietly.
Riven nodded.
It didn't feel safe in here.
They moved a little closer to each other without thinking.
The hum beneath their feet deepened.
And then—
A voice echoed through the chamber.
Not loud.
Not furious.
Just ancient.
Detached.
"Final Trial."
The words did not reverberate like a normal echo.
They pressed.
Into bone. Into blood.
The hum beneath the formation sharpened.
Then the voice rang out again — grand, almost divine, as if reciting holy scripture.
"In life, strength may grow."
"In companionship, strength may be multiplied."
"But only in sacrifice may strength transcend."
"Prove yourselves a worthy pair."
Yue Lin's lips parted slightly.
"…I've heard this before."
Riven looked at her. "What?"
"In my sect's records," she continued slowly. "There was an ancestor who once killed his dying wife to preserve her."
Her fingers curled faintly.
"He created a technique that allowed him to carry her will and power within himself… in hopes of later becoming strong enough to restore her."
She exhaled, eyes distant.
"If I remember correctly… it continues like this—"
She opened her mouth.
And at that exact moment, the voice resumed.
Their words overlapped — human and ancient — weaving together into something disturbingly harmonious.
"One shall fall without resentment."
"One shall remain, bearing the will, the devotion, and the power of the other."
"Through death freely given, ultimate inheritance is forged."
Silence followed.
Riven frowned faintly. "So is this his inheritance?"
Yue Lin hesitated — then a faint spark lit behind her eyes.
"He was a legendary cultivator," she murmured. "If this is truly his legacy… it must be a high-grade inheritance. This is probably just the introduction."
Her gaze traced the formation beneath them.
"We need to pass this final test. And then we will probably have massive gains."
For a brief moment, excitement outweighed unease.
Stumbling into a legedary cultivators legacy was a once in a lifetime chance.
Then the voice spoke again.
Colder this time.
Final.
"If resentment remains… or no one succeeds… both shall perish."
Yue Lin blinked. "…I don't remember that part."
The air changed.
The formation beneath their feet ignited.
Light surged through the carved grooves, filling them with a thin, luminous glow like liquid fire threading through veins.
Across the chamber wall, symbols condensed into a number.
[01:00:00]
It ticked.
[00:59:59]
Neither of them moved.
They waited.
For further instruction.
For clarification.
For a condition.
But there was only the steady hum beneath their feet.
And the ticking.
[00:59:12]
[00:58:47]
Riven's throat felt dry.
"…Maybe it's a test of patience," he said quietly.
Yue Lin didn't answer.
The number kept falling.
[00:52:03]
[00:49:31]
Time stretched.
Nothing changed.
Then—
The voice returned.
Calmer. Slower.
Closer.
"Only in sacrifice may strength transcend."
"One shall fall without resentment."
"One shall remain, bearing the will, the devotion, and the power of the other."
"Through death freely given, ultimate inheritance is forged."
The formation beneath them pulsed once.
Silence followed.
Riven's eyes moved across the chamber.
Stone walls.
Sealed entrance.
No hidden alcoves.
No chained prisoner.
No dying master awaiting release.
Just the two of them.
Yue Lin's gaze did the same.
Then, almost unconsciously—
They looked at each other.
"…There's no one else here," Riven said slowly.
The ticking continued.
[00:41:22]
Yue Lin's fingers curled faintly at her sides.
"Maybe…" she began, but the word didn't finish.
Because there was nothing else to suggest.
No beast to slay.
No altar prepared with a victim.
No third trial participant stepping from the shadows.
Only them.
A thin line formed between Riven's brows.
"Where would we even find a sacrifice?" he muttered.
The question lingered in the air.
Neither answered.
Because they both already understood.
The realization didn't crash down all at once.
It seeped.
Like cold water through cracks.
"One shall fall."
The words no longer sounded ceremonial.
They sounded instructional.
Riven took a small step back.
He didn't mean to.
Yue Lin did the same.
The distance between them widened by less than a foot—
But it felt enormous.
The hum beneath the formation deepened.
[00:36:08]
Yue Lin swallowed.
Riven's chest tightened.
The ticking continued.
[00:34:52]
[00:34:51]
Riven let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.
"…There has to be something else," he said. "Some condition. Some loophole."
Yue Lin's eyes scanned the formation again, more urgently this time. The carved lines. The central circle. The grooves wide enough to carry—
Blood.
Her stomach tightened.
"If resentment remains…" she murmured.
"…or no one succeeds," Riven finished.
"Both shall perish."
The words no longer felt distant.
They felt immediate.
The hum beneath their feet pulsed again, slightly stronger, as if reacting to their understanding.
[00:30:07]
Riven shook his head once. "It doesn't make sense. Why force it? If the technique needs willingness, then—"
"Then it can't be forced," Yue Lin said quietly.
Silence fell between them.
Because that was the point.
It couldn't be forced.
Which meant—
One of them had to choose.
Riven looked at her properly now.
Not as a partner in battle.
Not as the girl chained to his waist for two months.
Just her.
Red dress, dulled from travel. Hair falling loose over one shoulder.
The face that had been beside him through sandstorms and blood and bone forests.
His chest tightened.
"We can just wait," he said, though it sounded hollow even to him.
The countdown continued.
[00:27:18]
Yue Lin's gaze dropped to the formation lines at her feet.
"If neither of us dies," she said slowly, "it said we both will."
Riven's jaw clenched.
He thought of his sister.
Of the worn necklace under his robes.
Of the map he still didn't have.
Of home.
He wasn't done.
He couldn't be done.
Across from him, Yue Lin's expression shifted.
Something fragile flickered there.
Fear.
Real fear.
She lifted her eyes to him again.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then her hands slowly tightened at her sides.
"…I don't want to die yet," she said.
It wasn't dramatic.
It wasn't loud.
Just honest.
The words hung heavy in the chamber.
Riven felt something twist in his chest.
"Me neither."