But before they could enter, a soft sound echoed behind them.
Breathing.
They turned in unison, weapons half-raised—only to see a girl sprawled in the grass, long dark hair spilling like ink, dressed in the elaborate crest-marked outfit of the Royal Sovereign House Academy.
She yawned.
Then sat up, rubbing her eyes.
"What's all the noise?" she murmured sleepily.
Zhou Qian and Kai Shi exchanged looks of disbelief.
The girl blinked at them, then smiled lazily. "Xia Ying. Nice to meet you."
Lyra Thomas stiffened. "Royal Sovereign House?"
"Mm," Xia Ying hummed, stretching. "What are you all standing around for? Let's go treasure hunting."
Before anyone could object, Xia Ying bounced past them into the cave.
The next hour was a nightmare.
Every step Xia Ying took triggered another disaster.
Pressure plates unleashed showers of arrows, swinging blades nearly bisected Soren Lee, collapsing floors sent the whole group scrambling to avoid pits lined with spikes.
Zhou Qian nearly lost his temper after the third trap, yelling, "Could you stop walking ahead like you own the place?"
Xia Ying only grinned. "Why? You'd be bored otherwise."
Even Lyra Thomas, normally composed, snapped, "Do you have any idea how many times you almost got us all killed?"
Xia Ying just winked.
Yet somehow, through sheer stubbornness and coordination, they managed to navigate the labyrinthine chambers.
Each of them claimed a fragment of inheritance: a shard of technique, a sliver of spiritual insight, or a treasure that pulsed faintly with old power.
Even Xia Ying walked out with something glittering in her hand, though no one wanted to ask how she found it.
When they finally stumbled out into fresh air again, bruised, singed, and scowling, Zhou Qian muttered, "If I ever see another cave, it'll be too soon."
"Agreed," Soren Lee muttered.
But Xia Ying just laughed.
—
They didn't have long to breathe.
Kai Shi stiffened as they crossed a grove. His qi trembled violently.
A familiar aura pressed faintly at the edges of his senses.
He froze, staring at a cratered patch of earth where shattered branches and burned soil spoke of a crash.
The energy felt achingly familiar.
Mystic.
But Kai Shi shook his head, jaw tight. No. He wasn't sure. He couldn't risk assuming.
"Something wrong?" Zhou Qian asked.
Kai Shi shook his head. "Nothing."
He forced himself to move on, though his heart hammered.
The group soon came upon a wooden structure rising between the trees.
It wasn't built—it had grown.
The trunks of ancient trees twisted together into the shape of a temple, its doors creaking under the weight of centuries.
Inside, the air was thick with dust and silence.
They found murals stretching across the walls. Unlike before, the words weren't obscure. They understood them clearly.
It told a story.
Of Mystic's kin—realm creators, grand leviathans who shaped skies and birthed oceans.
A race of beasts that knew no male kind, only females.
A predator came against them, a deceiver called the Buygong, which wore their faces but devoured them whole, swallowing realms and leaving rot.
And then came the forbidden sin.
One of the kin was forcibly bound to the predator. A union that should never have been. Heaven itself grew furious, shattering the realm into ten broken fragments. The last surviving leviathan birthed one egg, forcing it into safety beyond the fracture, while she stayed behind to seal both herself and the Buygong in a forest temple.
The very temple they stood in.
Zhou Qian's stomach turned cold. Kai Shi's fists clenched as he read the final words, heart hammering with certainty.
This story was about Mystic.
But the timeline didn't fit. Two hundred years ago. Impossible.
Then came the sound.
A low, mournful whale-call echoing through the walls. Zhou Qian's eyes widened. "Mystic?"
"No!" Kai Shi barked, stepping in front of them. His skin prickled with dread. "That's not Mystic—don't you feel it?"
The air turned heavy. The murals on the wall rippled, figures twisting unnaturally. From the far end of the temple, something uncoiled. A shape like Mystic's kin, but wrong. Eyes glimmered with hunger, its form shifting between beauty and horror.
The Buygong.
It stepped free from the wall.
The temple shook.
The group raised their weapons, qi flaring desperately. But the predator's aura crushed the air like a vice, suffocating their movements. Its maw opened, ready to consume them.
At the last possible moment, the world erupted.
A whale-call thundered, not mournful but enraged. Lightning split the sky, rain lashing down in torrents as thunder boomed across the realm.
The temple doors blasted open, wind howling.
Mystic descended, golden eyes blazing, thunder swirling around her form. And at her side stood Lufei, his aura sharp and battle-ready.
Kai Shi's chest ached as he staggered, nearly overcome with relief.
This time, there was no doubt.
It was Mystic.
And she had come for war.