"Could it be..." he whispered under his breath.
Summoning his halberd beneath his feet, he rose into the air, hovering beside the invisible wall.
The crack in the ground extended straight through the space where the barrier stood, warping the reflection of light faintly. If the quake had damaged the formation, there might be a gap, even a small one, that he could slip through.
Carefully, he reached out. His fingertips brushed against the space where the fissure aligned with the barrier. He felt a pulse of resistance, like pushing into thick water. Then, as he pressed harder, the surface rippled slightly before solidifying once more.
The barrier was still intact.
Han Yu’s expression darkened. He touched the area again, moving his hand along it, but the resistance remained constant. There was no weakness, no hint of damage. Only the earth had shifted. The barrier itself was untouched.
He sighed, disappointnt pressing heavily on his chest. "Not even the heavens shaking apart can break this thing."
The tremors continued around him, sotis small enough to ignore, sotis violent enough to force him to stop and brace himself.
He moved slowly, step by step, following the curvature of the barrier as it circled the vast tomb’s domain. Each ti the ground split or the rocks tumbled, he checked again for any fluctuation. But the result was always the sa: smooth, seamless, untouchable.
A few minutes later, Han Yu stopped abruptly.
HUMM
A strange sensation ran down his spine, one so sudden and overwhelming that it made his entire body freeze. He turned toward the direction of the tomb, his eyes narrowing.
There was sothing in the air.
At first, it was faint, like a whisper in the wind.
WOOM
Then, within monts, it beca a tidal wave of energy.
HUALA
The spiritual pressure flooded through the air, shaking the trees and bending the grass flat against the ground. The once dull glow of the tomb began to brighten, and even from this distance, Han Yu could feel the energy pulsing outward in waves.
"What... is this?" he muttered, his voice barely audible.
The energy was unlike anything he had ever sensed before.
It was vast, ancient, and heavy, as if it carried the weight of the world itself. His heart pounded furiously as the pressure grew stronger with every heartbeat. The air beca thick and oppressive, making it hard to breathe.
THUD
Within seconds, the pressure forced him to his knees. His Qi tried to resist instinctively, but the mont he pushed against it, the force only grew stronger, pressing him harder into the earth.
Han Yu gritted his teeth, sweat dripping down his face. His vision blurred as his ridians trembled under the strain. The ground beneath him cracked as he struggled to remain conscious.
"What... kind of power... is this?"
The pressure was suffocating.
It felt like an invisible mountain had been placed on his shoulders, crushing his very soul. Every attempt to circulate his Qi only made the pain sharper. His arms shook uncontrollably, and his bones creaked under the imnse weight of spiritual suppression.
His consciousness began to waver. Just before the darkness consud him entirely, he felt sothing familiar... an all-too-recognizable hum that cut through the chaos.
His eyes widened slightly. "This... this is..."
Spatial energy!
The sa sensation he had felt during teleportation, when he was pulled into this inner realm.
The air around him distorted faintly, rippling like heat waves. For a mont, he thought he was about to be teleported again. But the energy did not take form. It rely lingered around him, faintly pulsing in harmony with the growing power from the tomb.
"What’s happening?" he thought weakly. "Why... isn’t it activating?"
No answer ca. The pressure only intensified, crushing every thought from his mind. His vision dimd completely, and the last thing he saw before losing consciousness was the faint red glow rising from the direction of the tomb.
Then everything went dark.
.
.
.
Far from where Han Yu lay unconscious, ten kiloters beyond the invisible barrier, the air shimred faintly.
Several dark purple robed figures stood suspended above the ground, their robes fluttering in the turbulent spiritual winds, rising due to the tomb. The world beyond them trembled as the tomb’s red light speared into the sky like a beacon.
One of the figures, tall and broad-shouldered, watched in silence for a long mont before speaking.
His voice carried a deep, controlled authority. "It seems the ti is close."
He turned slightly to his companions. "How is the progress on the shrines?"
A woman to his left bowed her head slightly, her voice smooth but firm. "All shrines are nearly activated, Elder. The last couple should be completed within the next few monts."
The man nodded, satisfaction flashing briefly in his eyes. "Good. Once the final seal breaks, our birthright shall return to its rightful holand."
Another figure, shorter and leaner than the rest, spoke up with a cautious tone. "Elder, what about the pests within the barrier? They still linger in the realm. Should we—"
The leader chuckled, cutting him off. "What do we do with pests?"
The shorter man’s lips curled into a faint grin. "We eradicate them."
"Exactly," the elder said with a faint smile. "Let the juniors handle them. They’ve been waiting for this day for far too long. We’ve already used the pawns for what we needed. The rest of them can serve as sacrifices for the final ritual."
The group fell silent again, watching as the red light from the tomb pulsed brighter, spreading its glow across the land like blood seeping through cracks.
An elderly man stood at their back, a solemn expression hidden under his cloth mask, and yet a faint smirk still appeared on his lips.
Unknown to Han Yu, there was a massive change going not only in the Inner Realm but outside it too. The sects in the camps were in turmoil, as the earth shattered and fissured under them too, many disciples falling into it, while the others rushed to escape it.
All of them wondered the sa thing... Was the world coming to an end?
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