# Chapter 15 — Beneath the Mountain
# Sun City — Xu Family Main Hall
The broken crystal fragnt still rested on the stone table.
No one touched it anymore.
Even the elders kept their distance now.
---
The atmosphere inside the hall remained heavy after the crimson eye disappeared.
Several younger disciples already looked frightened.
Others tried pretending they weren’t.
Poorly.
---
Third Elder Xu Jian finally broke the silence.
“From this mont onward…”
His voice sounded colder than usual.
“…the eastern forest becos forbidden territory.”
Several disciples imdiately nodded.
No one wanted to enter that place anymore anyway.
---
One elder suddenly spoke quietly:
“The city lord plans sending investigation teams underground.”
Silence spread again.
Underground.
That word alone now felt dangerous.
---
Lin Hao looked horrified beside Xu Yuan.
“Why would anyone willingly go down there?”
Xu Yuan calmly answered:
“Because cultivators lose survival instincts after reaching certain realms.”
“That keeps becoming more believable.”
---
anwhile—
Xu Yuan still stared toward the black crystal fragnts silently.
The resonance inside his chest gradually weakened again.
But not completely.
It almost felt…
connected.
---
Then suddenly—
a sharp pain flashed through his mind.
Xu Yuan froze instantly.
Darkness swallowed his vision for one brief second.
---
He saw underground stone halls.
Ancient formations carved across endless walls.
Black crystals growing like roots throughout the ruins.
And—
countless dried corpses kneeling toward a massive sealed gate.
---
Then—
a woman’s gentle voice echoed faintly again.
> “My son…”
The vision violently shattered afterward.
---
Xu Yuan staggered backward slightly.
Xia Yu imdiately supported him.
“You saw sothing again.”
Her voice remained calm.
But Xu Yuan noticed her grip tightened slightly.
---
Several elders instantly looked toward him.
Third Elder frowned deeply.
“What did you see?”
Xu Yuan hesitated briefly.
Then answered honestly.
“…Underground ruins.”
The hall instantly beca quieter.
---
One elder narrowed his eyes.
“You’ve never entered the eastern forest before.”
Xu Yuan nodded.
“That’s why I’m also concerned.”
---
Suddenly—
BOOM!
A violent tremor shook the hall again.
Much stronger than before.
Dust fell from the ceiling instantly.
Several disciples nearly lost balance.
---
Then—
outside the Xu Family grounds—
alarm bells erupted across the entire city.
DONG!
DONG!
DONG!
Not once.
Not twice.
Continuously.
---
A Xu Family guard imdiately rushed inside.
“Elders!”
Everyone turned instantly.
The guard’s face looked pale.
“The eastern mountains…”
He swallowed heavily.
“…they opened.”
Silence.
Absolute silence.
---
Several elders instantly rushed outside afterward.
Xu Yuan and the younger disciples followed quickly behind.
The mont they reached the outer courtyard—
everyone froze.
---
Far beyond Sun City—
the eastern mountains glowed crimson beneath the dark sky.
Massive red cracks spread across the mountainside endlessly while spiritual energy surged upward violently.
And at the center—
an enormous ancient stone gate slowly erged from beneath the earth itself.
---
The entire city stared toward the mountains in horror.
Civilians flooded the streets.
Cultivators gathered atop rooftops.
Fear spread instantly.
---
Then suddenly—
the resonance inside Xu Yuan’s chest exploded again.
BOOM!
His vision blurred violently.
And this ti—
deep within the distant crimson light—
he saw countless red eyes opening one after another inside the gate.
Watching him.
Only him.
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