[Author Note: I have planned next big arc. So I guess there will be no big delays between chapters, probably... Also I don't know if u guys like Medusa tagging along or her forced relationship with MC. And if u guys have any ideas for any future plot, comment here.
Also pls leave a review and power stones.]
The sun beat down ruthlessly on the endless golden dunes of the Tagore Desert, the heat warping the air into shimmering mirages that danced like ghosts above the sand.
Ren sat cross-legged atop a weathered sandstone outcrop, perfectly insulated from the scorching temperatures by the ambient hum of his Dou Wang aura. He was alone, several miles out from the designated rendezvous point where he was supposed to meet Cai Lin. With a few hours to kill before her arrival, it was the perfect time to test his newest acquisition.
He retrieved the heavy, rolled beast-hide scroll from his spatial ring and laid it across his knees. The leather was rough, cured from an Earth-Core Sand Wyrm, smelling faintly of ozone and dried blood.
Ren murmured, his voice low enough to be swallowed by the wind. "Upgrade."
A familiar, cold energy drained from his reserves, funneling directly into the cartography. It was a tangible sensation, like ice water pouring through warm veins. The heavy Earth-Core Sand Wyrm leather shuddered. The physical texture smoothed out, transforming from rough hide into something that felt like woven starlight and liquid silk. The ink lines glowed faintly before settling back into a deep, obsidian black.
[Item Name: Pan-Continental Cartographic Atlas (+5)]
[Tier: 5]
[Quality: 100%]
[Enhancement Slots: 5/5]
[Traits Unlocked:
Holographic Matrix: Projects the map into a fully interactive, three-dimensional construct of light and Qi. The projection scales from a palm-sized tactical display to a room-spanning war table, allowing zoom, rotation, terrain layering, and seamless integration with all other traits.Topographical Resonance: Passively scans the environment using ambient Qi, permanently drawing and expanding the map in real-time as the user travels. It records surface geography, subterranean cave networks, hidden ravines, and complex topological layers within a wide radius, forming an ever-expanding, flawless terrain archive.Omniscient Radar: Generates real-time markers for entities (Self/Allies/Hostiles), unsealed high-value resources not contained within spatial artifacts, and hidden faction or realm locations within all scanned territories.The Hunter's Tether: By consuming a target's blood, personal artifact, or intact Qi signature, the Atlas may establish a Gold Marker linked to that individual. Once anchored, the target's movements are displayed across all mapped territories in real time.]
[Description: A masterwork cartography tool upgraded into a dynamic, omniscient intelligence matrix. It actively maps the world, tracks resources and entities, and projects a flawless tactical overview of any explored territory.]
Ren smiled. He didn't bother unrolling it. Instead, he channeled a single thread of Dou Qi directly into the core of the scroll.
Instantly, the atlas dissolved into a concentrated sphere of golden light that hovered over his palms. With a soft hum, the sphere snapped outward, expanding into a flawless, three-dimensional construct of light and Qi that settled in the air before him.
[Holographic Matrix] activated.
It was breathtaking. Ren reached out and swiped his hand through the glowing projection. The map spun effortlessly, the light rippling like water under his fingers. He pinched his fingers together, and the matrix zoomed out, displaying the massive, sweeping borders of the Jia Ma Empire and the entirety of the Tagore Desert exactly as Hai Bodong had drawn them.
He reversed the motion, zooming in rapidly. The macro-level political boundaries vanished, replaced by shifting dunes, rocky outcrops, and finally, a hyper-detailed rendering of the exact sandstone cliff he was sitting on.
But as Ren looked closer, he realized the map was doing something Hai Bodong's ink never could.
At the edges of the matrix, the hand-drawn map was static. But within a ten-mile radius of where Ren currently sat, the hologram was actively shifting. Using [Topographical Resonance], the map was silently devouring the ambient Qi of the desert to map the world in real-time. Ren watched in fascination as the projection rendered not just the surface, but sliced downward, revealing a hidden, dried-up subterranean riverbed buried fifty feet beneath the bedrock.
"Incredible," Ren whispered. It was a permanent, ever-expanding Fog of War reveal.
Next came the [Omniscient Radar].
Right in the center of the 3D matrix, sitting on the sandstone outcrop, pulsed a steady, bright Blue Dot. Himself.
Ren looked beneath the surface rendering. Buried in the sand dunes about two miles to his left were three dull, sluggish Red Dots. He didn't need to go look; he knew they were likely Rank 2 Sand Scorpions waiting in ambush for passing merchants. To his right, much farther away, a cluster of neutral white dots indicated a small, moving merchant caravan.
Then, something caught his eye.
About a hundred meters away, near the base of a particularly steep dune, the map projected a soft, glowing Gold Blip. A resource marker.
Curious, Ren stood up, leaving the glowing matrix hovering in the air. He blurred across the sands, arriving at the exact coordinates. To the naked eye, there was absolutely nothing there but wind-swept sand.
Ren channeled a burst of Dou Qi into his palm and struck the ground. Sand exploded outward, excavating a small crater. There, buried three feet deep and completely hidden from normal spiritual senses, was a withered but perfectly intact Tier-3 Fire-Lava Root.
Ren picked up the scorching hot herb, tossing it thoughtfully in his hand before stowing it in his ring. He looked back at the hovering 3D map in the distance.
"Well, that's just cheating," Ren chuckled, walking back to his outcrop. It wasn't just a map; it was an x-ray metal detector for the entire continent. No unsealed treasure, hidden vault, or rare herb would ever escape his notice as long as he walked past it.
He sat back down and analyzed the final trait: [The Hunter's Tether].
He couldn't test it right now—he didn't have a target's blood or Qi signature on hand, and he wasn't about to waste it on a random desert scorpion. But the tactical implications were terrifying. Once they reached the Black-Corner Region, if a warlord managed to slip away through a secret tunnel, Ren just needed a scrap of their clothing. The map would generate a permanent marker, turning the vast continent into an inescapable fishbowl.
Suddenly, the holographic matrix flared.
At the extreme northern edge of the radar's range, a new marker breached the boundary.
It wasn't a standard dot. It was a blazing, overwhelmingly bright Green Beacon of pure energy, tearing across the simulated sky at terrifying speeds. The radar categorized it instantly: Ally. Extreme Threat Level.
Ren didn't need the system to tell him who it was. The sheer, sovereign pressure of a Dou Zong was already making the distant clouds warp and scatter.
Ren smiled, waving his hand through the projection. The massive 3D matrix collapsed instantly, folding back into the sleek, physical scroll, which he tucked safely into his robes.
He stood up, brushing the desert dust from his clothes, and looked toward the northern horizon.
A streak of brilliant, nine-colored light pierced the blue sky, descending rapidly toward the sandstone cliff. The Queen had arrived.
---------------------------------------------------------
The nine-colored light crashed onto the sandstone outcrop with the force of a localized meteor. Sand plumed outward in a perfect, rippling ring, but it was the sheer, suffocating weight of her arrival that truly made an impact.
The air itself warped and groaned. The ambient Dou Zong pressure radiated from her in invisible, crushing waves, grinding the sandstone beneath her boots into fine powder.
When the light settled, she looked utterly magnificent.
She wore her usual regalia — a fitted crimson battle dress threaded with golden serpent motifs that shimmered like living scales beneath the sun. The high slits along her legs revealed toned muscle forged by countless battles, and the curved serpent crown resting against her red hair glinted with restrained majesty. She stood tall on two perfectly formed human legs, her aura screaming absolute, undisputed royalty. It was the exact, highly conspicuous outfit she wore to hold court over the Snake-People, paired with the unsealed, terrifying might of a Dou Zong.
Her emerald eyes found Ren immediately.
They softened.
Then sharpened.
She walked toward him across the sand without hurry, each step leaving shallow impressions that the wind dared not erase.
"You're late," Ren said. His voice was flat, devoid of accusation but heavy with implication.
Cai Lin tilted her head slightly. The crown shifted with the movement, catching the light. "The elders required final instructions. The tribe does not run itself, Ren."
Ren just stared at her. The desert wind howled softly between them.
He didn't say a word. He just slowly blinked, looking from the massive, glittering gold snake-medallion on her chest up to her face
Cai Lin arched a brow. "Why are you looking at this Queen like that?"
Ren pinched the bridge of his nose, exhaling a long, slow breath. When he dropped his hand, his usual relaxed, calculating demeanor completely vanished. He closed the distance between them, his posture straightening as his expression hardened into an intense, domineering glare.
"You came dressed like that."
She stopped a few paces from him. "Like what?"
"'Like What?'" Ren scolded, his voice dropping into a strict, exasperated tone that brooked absolutely no argument. "Linlin, look at yourself. We are crossing a continent to lay low in the most notorious, crime-ridden wasteland in the world. You look like a walking national treasury."
Instantly, the terrifying Queen of the Snake-People melted.
The haughty tilt of her chin vanished. A deep flush crept up her neck and dusted her cheeks. She broke eye contact, suddenly fascinated by the sandstone beneath her boots, a small, barely suppressed shiver running through her shoulders.
"I... you didn't specify exactly how low," she mumbled, her voice losing all its usual venom. She shifted her weight, fidgeting slightly with the edge of her crimson silk, looking entirely too thrilled to be reprimanded.
"Don't talk back," Ren snapped, stepping directly into her personal space and pointing an accusatory finger at her glittering crown. "You're giving me a headache."
Cai Lin bit her lower lip, her flush deepening as she looked up at him through her eyelashes, completely submissive to his sudden aggression. "Yes, Ren," she murmured softly. But the faint curl at the edge of her lips made it clear—she allowed this.
'She's enjoying this,' he realized.
"Hands out," he ordered, leaving absolutely no room for negotiation.
Obediently, and almost eagerly, she thrust her hands out in front of her.
Ren dropped the strict act with a sigh, pulling a sleek, silver band from his own spatial ring and dropping it into her palm. "Bind it with a sliver of Dou Qi."
[Item Name: Subspace Wardrobe Ring (+2)]
[Tier: 2]
[Quality: 100%]
[Enhancement Slots: 2/2]
[Trait: Instant Spatial Swap (Requip)]
[Description: A Spatial ring that instantly exchanges currently worn attire and equipped weapons with pre-configured sets stored within the ring's subspace matrix.]
"What is it?" she asked, her voice returning a bit more to normal now that the scolding was over, though she still looked a little flushed as she slipped the silver band onto her index finger.
"A little trick I put together. Think of it as an auto-wardrobe," Ren explained, crossing his arms. "I pre-loaded it with a few things I picked up before I came out here. Send a thread of Dou Qi into the ring and just think the word 'Traveler Outfit'."
Cai Lin sent the mental command.
Instantly, a soft, silver spatial light flared around her entire body. It wasn't an illusion; it was a pure, physical spatial exchange. In the blink of an eye, the heavy gold ornaments, the regal crown, and the vibrant crimson silks were digitized and sucked directly into the ring's void.
Replacing them, seamlessly wrapping around her form, was a sleek, high-quality traveler's outfit. Soft, durable dark leather boots replaced her ceremonial sandals. A tailored, midnight-blue tunic and fitted trousers allowed for maximum mobility, topped with a deep charcoal traveler's cloak that passively concealed her striking features and suppressed the natural outward bleed of her Dou Zong aura. Now that she also had actively reined in her own aura, she looked like a high-tier, but unremarkable, wandering mercenary. Even the twin serpentine daggers she kept hidden at her waist were instantly stowed away into the ring's subspace armory.
Cai Lin looked down at herself, her eyes widening in genuine surprise as she flexed her arms. The fabric was exceptionally comfortable, and the transition had been instantaneous—no different than drawing a sword from a standard spatial ring, but applied flawlessly to her entire body.
"It operates on a localized spatial exchange," Ren noted, looking her up and down with a satisfied nod. "You can swap between your battle armor, your royal gear, and civilian clothes in less than a second. Much better."
Cai Lin pulled the hood of the cloak up, casting a shadow over her crimson eyes. She traced the silver ring on her finger, a small, genuinely amused smile tugging at the corner of her lips. She glanced back up at him, her tone teasing but still lingering on the high of the earlier scolding. "A spatial ring dedicated entirely to changing my clothes. You could have just told me to change, you know. I might have listened if you yelled a little louder."
'He prepared this carefully.'
Aloud, she asked, "How many sets?"
"Five currently," Ren replied. "Formal. Traveler. Combat-light. Combat-heavy. Desert-adapted. I can add more later."
Cai Lin's gaze softened almost imperceptibly.
"You made this for me before I even arrived."
Ren shrugged. "You'd never remember to pack properly."
She stepped forward suddenly and flicked his forehead with two fingers.
"You speak too much."
He rubbed his forehead lightly. "You're welcome."
She studied him quietly for a moment.
There was warmth in her eyes now.
'He thinks ahead,' she thought. 'Even for trivial matters.'
He smiled, turning to look out over the endless dunes toward the northern horizon. "Now that you don't look like a walking chandelier, we have a flight to catch. Next stop: the Black-Corner Region."
While Ren and Cai Lin took to the skies, a far darker conversation was taking place thousands of miles behind them.
The secluded pavilion on the rear peak of Misty Cloud Mountain was silent, save for the rhythmic dripping of condensation from the eaves. The air inside was stale, heavy with the scent of aging wood and medicinal incense that failed to mask the underlying odor of decay.
Yun Shan sat cross-legged on a cold stone platform, his eyes closed. His hands rested on his knees, palms up. The skin on his face was parchment-thin, stretched tight over bone. Every breath he took was a shallow rasp, like dry leaves scraping against stone.
A cluster of black fog seeped from the shadows of the corner. It didn't drift; it crawled. It coiled around the legs of the stone platform before rising, forming a vague, humanoid shape within the dim light of the single oil lamp.
"Tsk tsk..."
The voice emanated from the fog, layered and echoing, as if three people spoke in unison. It was slick, oily.
"Sect Leader Yun Shan. Your life force continues to leak away. Like water through a cracked vessel." The fog surged closer, obscuring the lamp light. Shadows lengthened across Yun Shan's face. "At this rate, you will simply rot away at the peak of the Dou Huang class. Such a pitiful end for a man who once commanded the skies of the Jia Ma Empire."
Yun Shan's eyelids twitched. He didn't open them. His chest rose and fell, slow and deliberate. "Protector Wu. I have already given you my answer."
The black fog churned, agitated. A pair of red eyes ignited within the mist, glowing like embers in a dead fire.
"Hee hee... why?" The voice dropped an octave, becoming intimate, conspiratorial. "Don't tell me you are actually unwilling? Yun Shan, our Hall of Souls can allow you to achieve the Dou Zong strength you so desperately crave. We can pull you from the grave. All we require is your cooperation... and a few outstanding spiritual bodies from this empire."
Yun Shan opened his eyes. They were clouded, but the light within them was sharp. He stood up. The movement was stiff, joints clicking audibly in the silence. He clasped his hands behind his back, turning to face the window. Outside, the clouds rolled over the mountain peak, thick and white.
"And in return, my Misty Cloud Sect becomes a puppet for your shadows," Yun Shan replied. His voice was flat, devoid of fear. "A year ago, I might have been desperate enough to accept. I might have sold my ancestors for another decade of life."
He turned back. The lamp light flickered across his face, deepening the lines around his mouth.
"But heaven has blessed my sect. Yun Yun has already successfully broken through to the Dou Zong class. The legacy of the Misty Cloud Sect is secure. I no longer need to sell my soul to ensure its survival."
The black fog halted. The red eyes narrowed. The air temperature in the room plummeted ten degrees in a second. Frost began to creep across the stone floor, radiating from the fog.
"Tsk tsk... you refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit." The voice lost its slickness. It became hard, metallic. "Do you truly think one newly advanced Dou Zong makes you untouchable? If our Hall of Souls were to be unhappy one day, we could easily let you and your precious disciple be left with nothing. Do not think too highly of yourself, Yun Shan."
Yun Shan's expression changed. A ruthlessness flashed over his lowered eyes, gone as quickly as it appeared. He laughed dryly. The sound was brittle.
"Protector Wu, what you are saying is truly frightening. However, this is the Jia Ma Empire. My sect now has a Dou Zong protecting it. If you wish to wage a war of attrition against us purely out of spite, you are welcome to try."
He stepped forward. The frost on the floor cracked under his boot.
"But I sincerely doubt your superiors would appreciate you wasting your strength here, would they?"
The black fog rippled. The red eyes dimmed slightly. Wu Ying knew Yun Shan was right. A drawn-out battle with a Dou Zong would consume far too much time and energy. It would expose the Hall's operations. It would ruin the covert harvest.
"You are playing a dangerous game, Yun Shan." The fog began to recede, pulling back into the shadows. "Hopefully, you will not disappoint yourself when you turn to dust..."
The last ripple vanished. The room was empty. The frost remained.
Yun Shan stood alone in the silence. He waited until the spatial resonance of the departure faded completely. Then, he exhaled. A cloud of white breath hung in the air.
'Dangerous indeed,' Yun Shan thought. He walked to the window. He looked toward the western horizon, where the clouds were darker. 'But not as dangerous as becoming a dog.'
'They are searching for something,' he thought. 'And I am not the only target.'
-----------------------------------------------------
High above the Misty Cloud Sect, the black fog writhed against the wind. Wu Ying's soul body was translucent, barely visible against the gray sky. He hovered there for a long moment, looking down at the sect below.
'Ignorant, arrogant ant,' Wu Ying sneered mentally. The thought rippled through the fog like a shockwave.
Without a proxy in the empire, his soul-harvesting operations were severely behind schedule. The Hall of Souls did not tolerate failure. Tianzun would demand results.
He mentally ran through a list of alternative targets in the Jia Ma Empire. The Imperial Guardian, Jia Xingtian? Too many allies. The Mittel family's Ice Emperor? Too hidden.
He needed someone who was already corrupt. Someone who operated in a place where the sudden death of experts was a daily occurrence. Someone who wouldn't ask questions about where the souls were going.
"The Pill Emperor..." Wu Ying rasped. The voice was carried away by the wind.
Han Feng. Wu Ying had used the greedy alchemist years ago to assassinate Yao Chen. Though the old ghost's spirit had managed to slip away in the chaos, Han Feng remained a highly useful, easily manipulated pawn. If Wu Ying couldn't gather souls in Jia Ma, he would simply go to the Black-Corner Region and use Han Feng to orchestrate a slaughter.
Wu Ying turned west. The black fog compressed, turning into a streak of shadow. He tore through the sky, heading toward the continent's most notorious sinkhole.
Weeks Later — The Deep Ravines of the Black-Corner Region
The heat here was different. It wasn't the sun's fire; it was the earth's breath. The ground vibrated with a low, constant hum.
Wu Ying was en route to Han Feng's territory when he felt it.
A ripple.
It wasn't Dou Qi. It wasn't energy. It was spatial compression. Raw, ancient, and heavy. It echoed out from a deep, uncharted ravine hidden beneath a cluster of jagged peaks.
Wu Ying halted. The black fog expanded, sensing the air.
'There,' he thought.
He descended. The ravine was narrow, the walls sheer cliffs of black stone. No vegetation grew here. The air smelled of sulfur and old dust.
Wu Ying followed the resonance deep underground. He phased through layers of dense bedrock, his soul form ignoring the physical barriers. He went deeper than any mine, deeper than any beast's lair.
Until he hit the barrier.
It was a wall of shimmering spatial energy protecting a massive pair of ancient stone doors.
He stopped. He raised a hand. The black fog coiled around his fingers, forming a sharp claw.
'Let's see,' Wu Ying thought.
He lashed out. The claw struck the barrier.
BOOM!
A terrifying backlash of golden energy erupted from the seal. It wasn't defensive; it was punitive. The shockwave shattered Wu Ying's soul claw instantly. The force sent his entire soul body tumbling backward, crashing against the cavern wall.
Wu Ying stabilized himself. The black fog was frayed, flickering. He stared at the invisible barrier.
"This seal..." Wu Ying muttered. His voice trembled slightly.
He drifted closer. He pressed his spiritual sense against the golden energy. He felt a profound, ancient resonance radiating from the stone. It was old. Older than the Misty Cloud Sect. Older than the Jia Ma Empire.
'Could it be?' The thought struck him like a physical blow. 'The legendary place... the very reason I was stationed in this wretched western wasteland to begin with?'
The reason the Hun Clan had been probing western fluctuations for centuries.
If this was truly that place, the merit for discovering it would be unfathomable. Tianzuns would promote him. He would be given a real body.
But he couldn't break the seal. The backlash alone had nearly scattered his soul.
Wu Ying reached into the fog. He pulled out a specialized, deep-blue jade token. It was cold, carved with a skull that seemed to shift when viewed from the corner of the eye.
He crushed it.
The token dissolved into black dust. The dust floated upward, vanishing into the spatial rift.
Three Days Later
The space inside the outer tomb distorted violently. The air didn't just move; it shattered.
A tear opened in the void. It was jagged, uneven, leaking spatial storms. Through the tear stepped an old man.
He wore blue robes that seemed to absorb the light. His hair was long, flowing without wind. His skin was pale, almost translucent. When he stepped onto the cavern floor, the temperature plummeted. The sulfur smell vanished, replaced by the scent of frozen ozone.
Honorable Elder Qing Hai. A 2-Star Dou Zun.
Qing Hai did not look at the architecture. He did not look at Wu Ying. His cold, piercing gaze locked instantly onto the invisible barrier.
"Wu Ying," Qing Hai's voice ground out like shifting ice. It wasn't loud, but it vibrated in Wu Ying's soul core. "I sent you to the Jia Ma Empire to retrieve a specific item from a fallen clan. Did you finish what I sent you for?"
Wu Ying flinched. Desperate to avoid the embarrassment of his complete failure regarding the Xiao family, he immediately bowed deeply and deflected.
"Elder Qing Hai, please, observe these doors!" Wu Ying urged. He gestured toward the invisible seal. "I have found something far greater."
Qing Hai frowned. The air around him froze. Ice crystals formed on his eyebrows. He was irritated. But he turned his gaze to the massive gates.
He raised a hand. His fingers were long, slender. He sent a wave of spatial Dou Zun energy washing over the runes.
The golden energy flared defensively. It didn't just block the probe; it neutralized it. The spatial energy Qing Hai sent vanished, consumed by the seal.
Qing Hai's eyes widened. The boredom and anger vanished from his face. They were replaced by a sharp, predatory hunger. His hand trembled slightly before he clenched it into a fist.
"Ancient resonance," Qing Hai muttered. He stepped closer. His boots made no sound. "And a bloodline lock... The Hun Clan possesses fragments of the Tou She Ancient God's Jade, but they are not with us to test this. Could this truly be the Dou Di Mansion? Or merely the tomb of an ancient expert?"
"Can you shatter it, Elder?" Wu Ying asked eagerly. His black fog shrank behind Qing Hai, afraid to get too close to the seal.
Qing Hai scoffed. The sound was like glass breaking. "With raw force? No. Not without risking the collapse of the entire spatial pocket. A bloodline seal of this caliber requires the specific Jade key, or..."
Qing Hai turned to look at Wu Ying. A sinister smile pulled at the corners of his mouth. It didn't reach his eyes.
"...or it requires a raw, agonizing, concentrated soul sacrifice."
"A soul-devouring array," Wu Ying realized. The red eyes in his fog glowed brighter.
"Exactly." Qing Hai nodded. He walked to the center of the cavern. He drew a circle in the dust with his toe. "We will build a Ten Thousand Souls Devouring Array right here in the outer chamber. We will condense the spiritual agony of thousands of cultivators and use it to rot away the bloodline seal. If we open this chamber, Wu Ying, we will not need to bow to the Tianzuns any longer."
Wu Ying's fog churned with excitement. But then he hesitated.
"But Elder," Wu Ying said. "Gathering that many high-level experts... drawing them into this specific ravine without arousing suspicion from Jia Nan Academy..."
Qing Hai waved a hand. The gesture was dismissive. "We will not do it ourselves. We are shadows. Shadows do not gather crowds. People do."
He looked at Wu Ying. "Who holds the most influence in this wretched region?"
"A local alchemist," Wu Ying replied instantly. His earlier plan perfectly aligned with the Elder's command. "Han Feng. The Pill Emperor. He has connections to every major warlord in the Black-Corner Region. He is greedy. Easily manipulated."
"Perfect." Qing Hai turned back to the seal. His back was to Wu Ying. "A greedy alchemist is the best proxy. Make contact with this Han Feng. Instruct him to spread a rumor. Tell the region that a pristine Dou Zong inheritance tomb will open in two months. Let the natural greed of these lawless pigs do our work. They will flock here by the thousands."
"Understood," Wu Ying bowed.
Qing Hai paused. He didn't turn around.
"And the Xiao Clan in the Jia Ma Empire?" Qing Hai's tone turned dangerously sharp. He hadn't forgotten the original mission. "We still require their Jade piece. Especially now. Just in case this truly is the Dou Di Mansion. We cannot rely solely on the array."
"I will have Han Feng handle that as well," Wu Ying promised quickly.
Qing Hai stepped into the spatial tear. The jagged edges of the void hummed.
"Do not fail me again, Wu Ying," Qing Hai commanded. His voice was fading, distorted by the spatial turbulence.
"It will be done."
The tear closed. The cavern was silent again.
Wu Ying stood alone in the dark. The golden seal glowed faintly before him. The promise of power hung in the air, thick and sweet.
He turned. The black fog compressed. He shot toward the surface, toward the light, toward Han Feng.
The trap was set.