The deeper they descended, the air thickened not from heat, but from pressure. A weightless, invisible force coiled around their spiritual cores, warning of something far older than blood or bone.
Feilí's team entered first. The passage opened into a vast, low-ceilinged chamber. Stone pedestals were arranged in strange hexagrams, and atop each sat a demon in meditation eyes closed, Qi cycling, their auras dark and surging.
Feilí raised a hand, whispering, "Soul Awakening Realm. They're cultivating."
"Should we wait?" Feng Ruo asked.
"No," Feilí said coldly. "Their existence is already a threat."
She snapped two fingers.
Fourth Seal Vermilion Spiral Rend.
Her blade ignited, forming circular flame arcs as she dashed forward, severing the first demon's neck in a clean blur. The others awoke snarling, hissing in guttural tongues.
Huo Shan launched forward: Titan Grip Skycrushing Hammer!His fist slammed into a horned beast's chest, caving it inward with a thunderous crack.
Feng Ruo spun mid-air, igniting both flame whips: Sunfire Bloom Erupting Vine Grasp!Her strikes coiled like dragons, setting four demons ablaze before their claws even left the stone.
Feilí moved like a shadow on fire, cutting through Qi-shields and deflecting bone claws, her sword humming in rhythm.
When it was over, smoke filled the hall.
"They were gathering blood essence," she muttered. "Fueling something deeper below."
Elsewhere, Xuanye, Shui Lin, and Yue Chányīn reached the heart of a spiraling chasm. It opened into a crater-like cave, walls lined with corpses cocooned in red silk.
There, hunched beside a cracked altar, was a grotesque figure a demon beast shaped like a bloated rat, its limbs thick, fur filthy and matted with pus. Its tail lashed like a whip, embedded with black nails, and its claws sparkled with venomous light.
Its name, carved crudely in demonic glyphs above the altar, read:
"Hei Zhu Ba Blood-Tailed Devourer of Graves."
It turned.
A pair of red eyes met Xuanye's eyes filled not with malice, but hunger.
The demon hissed and surged forward, faster than its body should allow.
Claw Strike: Bone Piercing Dig!
It lunged for Xuanye.
"Xuanye!" Shui Lin reacted instantly.
Technique: Glass Lotus Reflecting Petal Spear!
His palm pressed forward, forming an expanding crystalline barrier which exploded into six shards that intercepted the demon mid-air, throwing it back with a screech.
Xuanye steadied himself, then closed his eyes.
Spiritual Eyes: Celestial Thread Vision.
The world changed again. Lines and pulse points glowed across Hei Zhu Ba's body threads of Qi, patterns of weakness, micro-fractures in its defenses.
"Belly ridge under the third rib. That's its Qi core channel," he said. "We strike there."
Yue moved: Silent Snow Step Needle Blade Descent.
Her sword vanished into frostlight as she dove, slashing at the demon's chest.
Shui Lin followed with: Fractured Flame Scroll Shimmer Cage.
A net of burning paper sigils fell, pinning the demon's claws to the ground.
Xuanye leapt.
Technique: Skyfolding Fang Divine Pierce.
His blade became light. He struck the weak point
and the demon shrieked as its body split from stomach to spine, dissolving into a black mist that faded into nothing.
Breathing hard, they stood in silence.
"That wasn't just a brute," Yue said. "It was guarding something."
Xuanye picked up the shard of an altar stone. Its edge burned his fingers, glowing faintly with blood Qi.
"There's more below," he said. "And it's waiting."
To be continued...