The big flash of light from Chen Qings garden was fading away. It was getting all fuzzy around the edges. The air was changing too it was not sweet anymore it was sharp. It smelled like something was burning.
Chen Qing said "Open". It was like he was talking to the whole world.
[Ding! Dungeon: 'The Sword Grave' is opening.]
[Warning: Dimensional overlap occurring. The surrounding area will witness a projection.]
[Warning: Space-time stability in the 50-mile radius has dropped to 60%. High-density energy leakage detected.]
The whole mountain was. It felt like a big animal was waking up. The dogs in the village stopped barking and the birds were flying away they were scared.
The Technocratic Nightmare
Down at the "Red Line" area everything was getting crazy.
"Commander! Energy spike! It's off the charts!" someone was yelling he was scared. The noise from his computer was very bad it was like someone was scratching a board. "The reading... It just jumped past 10,000 Sieverts!. It's not ionizing radiation, ma'am! It's... It's density spiritual pressure! The sensors are liquefying!"
Agent Li was not answering she was looking at her hand it was getting all fuzzy and blue.
"Look at the sky!" someone was shouting he was very scared.
Agent Li and the other people looked up the sky was not blue anymore it was like someone put a grey sheet on top of the world. It was a place, a battlefield with a lot of broken swords and shields.
There was no sun, a bad light like it was always evening. The ground was not green it was grey. It looked like dust. There were a lot of swords in the ground they looked like they were waiting for something.
The wind was blowing and it was very cold it was not a cold it was like someone was putting ice on the peoples skin.
"Is... Is that a projection?" someone was asking he was very confused. "My god, the production value... Did he install a holographic system in the sky? Is this a marketing stunt for a movie?"
Agent Li was very angry she grabbed the mans shirt.
"Idiot!" she said, "Look at the shadows! Look at the trees on the ridge!"
The man looked the shadows were not normal they were like they were coming from the grey sky. The trees were bending they were not following the wind they were following something
"Holograms don't cast shadows, Wang! Holograms don't drop the temperature by twenty degrees!" She was very scared. "This is a Spatial Rift. He isn't showing us a movie. He's superimposed another dimension over our reality. He's bringing a world back to life."
The Step into the Void
Chen Qing was standing in his garden he was holding a sword hilt. The flowers were dying they were turning grey.
Chen Qing was not scared he was just looking at the sky. He took a step forward. He was walking in the air.
The people were watching they were very confused. Chen Qing was walking up he was not using stairs he was just walking.
With each step there was a ripple like he was walking on water. He was climbing he was getting higher and higher. Then he disappeared.
The cameras saw him they saw the moment he vanished. The "Gate" of the Sword Grave seemed to swallow him leaving behind only the grey dust and the swords.
The Global Tremor
The internet was crazy people were talking they were very excited.
[Livestream Comments]
"WTF?! He just walked into the sky? Did I just watch a man ascend to heaven?"
"Look at the edges of the screen! The video is distorting! The energy is so high it's warping the signal!"
"I'm in the neighboring town forty miles away... I can see it! I can see the grey battlefield hanging over the mountain with my eye! It's not a camera trick!"
The leaders were talking they were very scared.
"Analysis!" someone was saying.
"Sir we've analyzed the data " someone was replying, "The 'mirage' isn't a light phenomenon. It's an overlap. The 'Sword Grave' possesses its gravitational constant. If that projection becomes fully solid the mass of that -dimensional space will crush the mountain range into a pancake."
". The man? Chen Qing?"
"He's... He's inside it sir. According to the sensors before they melted he isn't just a visitor. He's the anchor. He's the thing keeping those two worlds from colliding and destroying the province."
Inside the Grave
Chen Qing was standing on the grey dust the air was bad it smelled like blood.
[Ding! You have entered the Dungeon: 'The Sword Grave'.]
[Current Objective: Locate the 'Heaven-Sunderer Prime'. Subdue the Sword Spirit.]
[Warning: The restless spirits of ten thousand cultivators are stirring.]
The swords were vibrating they were making a sound. The shadows were coming they were like people. They were not alive.
Chen Qing looked at them he was not scared. He looked at the sword hilt in his hand it was glowing blue.
"I just wanted to do some gardening " Chen Qing said, "But if you all want to play I suppose I can spare a minutes."
He moved his hand the hilt was humming a blue blade came out. It was not a blade it was like it was made of air.
Outside the people saw a light it was, like a big flash.
Agent Li was watching she was very scared. "He's fighting " she said, "He's fighting something in another world to keep our world safe."
But Chen Qing was not fighting for safety he was just looking for a tool to garden.