Ancient Hall, Hidden Shadows and Surging Undercurrents

Dense gray-black corruption churned between heaven and earth like an endless tide of ink, making the entire void tremble faintly. Lin Chen stood at its center, golden light flowing around him as steadily as a boulder, keeping every trace of the sinister aura at bay. He had just followed the corruption's currents back toward their source. At first, he had thought it was merely an ordinary ancient danger zone, but the farther he went, the heavier his heart grew.

The land beneath his feet had long since lost the color of ordinary earth and stone, taking on a lifeless, dark gray hue. It was soft and sticky underfoot, like mud that had been rotting for years. Particles of corruption drifting through the air crept into his nostrils. Even with his formidable body and soul, he could feel a faint restlessness and bloodlust constantly trying to unsettle his mind. The mountains in the distance were twisted and blurred, the trees withered and crooked, and even the wind carried a mournful wail. This region had become a place where no living person could safely tread.

"This corruption could not have formed naturally." Lin Chen murmured to himself, sweeping his gaze over the broken landscape. Along the way, he had found deep and shallow ravines everywhere, ancient cracks covering the cliffs, and indistinct patterns remaining on some of the ruined walls. These were not the marks of ordinary natural erosion. They looked more like the aftermath of a cataclysmic battle.

Combining what he had learned from his earlier investigation, he concluded that this corruption ravaging the region came from the long-vanished Old Era. What had happened in the Old Era, and why had it left behind such a terrifying calamity? Countless questions circled through his mind. The ancient texts passed down throughout the Heavens contained very few records of the Old Era. Most mentioned only that it had been a glorious age, with countless powerful experts and flourishing martial arts. Yet after that glory came a sudden, total collapse. Countless prodigies, sects, and dynasties vanished overnight, leaving only scattered remnants across the various planes.

Lin Chen walked forward slowly, drawing in some of the power he had released and deliberately reducing his pace. He could clearly sense that the corruption ahead was growing steadily denser, and the baleful force mixed within it was becoming more violent. If he charged ahead recklessly at full strength, he might alarm some unknown being lurking in the depths. He circulated his cultivation art, quietly spreading his soul power into an invisible net that carefully probed every inch of space.

Wherever his soul swept, he found scattered weapon fragments, broken armor, and even petrified bones. The bones varied in shape. Some were frozen in the act of throwing a punch, while others were curled up on the ground, as if they had endured immense agony before dying. Countless ages had passed, yet faint wisps of black aura still clung to the bones. It was easy to imagine how fierce the fighting here had been.

"There are traces of more than one battlefield." Lin Chen furrowed his brow. Along the way, he had found at least three sizable battlefields, all close to one another. Clearly, a large number of experts had gathered here in the past, only to perish to the last. Had the Old Era fallen not because of a natural disaster, but because of a civil war or invasion that had swept across the entire age?

As he pondered this, the corruption ahead suddenly churned violently. The currents of air, which had been flowing steadily, burst apart with a roar, and an icy, bone-piercing killing intent rushed toward him. Lin Chen instantly focused, tensing every muscle as golden light flared across his body. He prepared to fight.

The surging corruption parted, and a towering shadow slowly emerged. It stood about twenty feet tall, its body formed entirely from corruption. Its outline was vaguely human, but it had no distinct features; where its head should have been, there was only a mass of writhing black mist. Its limbs were thick, and its arms hung down to its knees. Each time it took a step, the ground beneath it corroded into tiny pits. A low growl rumbled from its misty body, carrying a primitive, savage bloodlust.

"A spirit formed from corruption." Lin Chen saw through its nature at a glance. Beings like this, formed from the corruption and baleful energy of heaven and earth, possessed no independent intelligence. They attacked living creatures by instinct, and their strength depended on how dense the surrounding corruption was. This spirit was roughly at the early Immortal King level. It would be a powerful expert on an ordinary plane, but here it was little more than a gatekeeper's lackey.

The shadow sensed Lin Chen's presence and suddenly sped up. Its massive body swept up a skyful of corruption as it drove both fists toward him with a roar of wind. Space rippled wherever its fists passed, and the surrounding corruption swirled like a tornado. Lin Chen remained calm and did not dodge. He simply raised a hand and blocked the attack.

A muffled boom erupted, and an invisible shock wave swept in every direction, scattering vast amounts of the corruption drifting nearby. The shadow's thick fist slammed into Lin Chen's palm. The seemingly powerful blow was like striking an indestructible divine iron. As a deep hum rang out, the shadow's body shuddered violently, and the corruption holding it together began to come apart.

Before it could recover, Lin Chen turned his wrist slightly and sent a surge of robust power through its arm into its body. The force was pure and imposing, perfectly suited to countering sinister corruption. The shadow let out a shrill scream as its massive body visibly faded and dissolved. In just a few breaths, it vanished completely, returning to the air as scattered corruption.

After eliminating the spirit blocking his way, Lin Chen did not linger. He continued toward the core, where the corruption was thickest. The closer he got to its source, the more orderly the ruined structures became. Instead of scattered stones and rotting wood, he began to see clusters of enormous architectural ruins. Their style was strange, with sharply angled eaves and brackets. Ancient, mysterious runes were carved into the beams and pillars. Even after being worn down by endless ages, the runes still glimmered faintly, giving off a trace of ancient majesty.

Clearly, this had once been a vast complex of ancient halls, a place of great importance in the Old Era. But now, the pavilions and towers had all collapsed, the high walls had crumbled, and the ground lay in ruins. Dust and corruption had buried its former splendor. As he walked between the broken walls, faint echoes seemed to reach his ears: the lingering sounds of ages past, mingled with roars, battles, and mournful cries. They felt both unreal and vivid, as if he had been transported to that distant age.

Lin Chen stopped before a huge broken wall. It was covered in dense lines of ancient writing, written in a strange script unlike any language currently used throughout the Heavens. He studied it intently, using his soul power to decipher it. Gradually, fragments of information surfaced in his mind. The writing did not record cultivation arts, martial techniques, or secrets. It contained one report of a battle after another, along with warnings.

Pieced together, the fragmentary passages described how, late in the Old Era, strange black qi suddenly began appearing throughout the world. Wherever it passed, living creatures went mad and the order of the martial world collapsed. At first, people thought it was merely an ordinary disaster, and the major sects joined forces to suppress it. But the black qi grew ever more powerful, continuously welling up from deep underground until it became a calamity that threatened to destroy the world. Countless experts had ventured into the depths of the earth to seek its source, but most never returned.

"Underground?" Lin Chen's gaze darkened. So the corruption had not come from beyond the heavens. It had been born beneath this land. The experts of the Old Era had discovered the root of the problem long ago, yet they had never managed to eradicate it. Instead, they had been dragged into an endless abyss.

He skirted the ruins and passed through a collapsed gate. At last, he reached the very center of the complex. Before him stood an ancient, austere hall, most of it still standing. It was far more imposing than the surrounding buildings, built entirely from enormous black stones of unknown origin and towering dozens of feet high. Its doors were half open, and the pitch-black entrance resembled the gaping maw of a giant beast. Corruption so dense it had reached its very limit poured out from within. This hall was the true source of the corruption in the region.

The hall's surface was covered with mottled marks: sword and blade cuts, scorch marks from flames, and enormous claw marks buried deep in the stone walls. Every mark testified to a fierce battle. The plaque atop the hall had long since broken and fallen to the ground, leaving only half a fragment. Two ancient characters were faintly visible upon it, their aura heavy and imposing.

Even outside the hall, Lin Chen could feel the terrifying power churning within. Corruption, baleful energy, remnant souls, and bloodlust intertwined into a chaotic field of energy. Any ordinary expert who approached would have their mind corrupted in an instant and become a walking corpse. Lin Chen drew a deep breath, suppressing the unease within him, and walked step by step toward the half-open doors.

The moment he entered the hall, his vision abruptly darkened. The thick corruption completely blocked out the light outside. The interior was vast, comparable to a small plaza. Massive stone pillars supported the ceiling, their surfaces likewise wrapped in black mist. Ancient divine beasts carved into the pillars looked ferocious, their forms barely visible through the haze, as if they might come to life at any moment.

Thick layers of black dust covered the floor, concealing countless weapon fragments and bones beneath. Far more powerful experts had fallen here than outside. Judging by the lingering auras, many had been among the greatest experts of the Old Era. Clearly, the final battle had taken place in this hall.

At the center of the hall stood a circular stone platform several yards across. It was pure white, its color strikingly out of place amid the sea of corruption. Gray-black corruption gushed continually from the hole in its center, spreading out into the world beyond. The platform was the central point from which the corruption flowed.

Lin Chen walked slowly toward the platform. The closer he came, the stronger his unease grew. He could clearly feel that beneath the platform lay more than just the source of the corruption. Something terrifying was lurking there. It had been dormant for endless ages, but it had not perished. Like a prehistoric beast asleep, it could awaken at any moment.

When he was still a few steps from the platform, the corruption inside the hall suddenly surged violently. The mist that had been drifting in every direction converged toward the two sides of the hall. Two spirits of corruption, even more powerful than the one before, gradually took shape. They were larger and more solid, their bodies almost flesh-like. Black chains coiled around them, their runes flashing with a force that could suppress all things. Their strength had reached the peak of the Immortal King level.

The two spirits made no unnecessary movements. They attacked at once from either side, their chains whistling through the air with the power to seal space, seeking to trap Lin Chen completely. Lin Chen's eyes sharpened. He stopped holding back. Divine power surged out of him, and golden light blazed into a radiance that filled the entire hall.

He blurred into a streak of light and dodged the sweeping chains, then unleashed a series of punches. Each strike landed with fierce, overbearing force, scattering the corruption around him. The two peak Immortal King spirits worked in perfect coordination, both on offense and defense. Their chains coiled, their claws raked, and their attacks were ferocious. Howling gusts filled the hall as chunks of stone fell from above. The ancient walls trembled faintly under the violent impacts.

The battle lasted more than a hundred exchanges before Lin Chen gradually figured out his opponents' patterns. The spirits relied on corruption to sustain their strength. They knew no refined techniques and fought only with brute force and instinct. He found an opening, abruptly accelerated, and closed in on one spirit. Gathering his palm force into a single point, he slammed it into the creature's head.

A deafening boom rang out as the spirit's body shuddered violently, large cracks spreading through the corruption holding it together. Lin Chen turned at once, pushed off the ground with his toes, and launched himself into the air, driving a kick into the other spirit's chest. His robust power invaded its body and shattered the foundation of its energy. Both spirits let out pained howls. Their bodies quickly faded, then struggled briefly before breaking apart with a roar and dissolving into a skyful of corruption.

With the two guardians gone, the hall fell quiet for the moment. Only the platform continued to spew corruption. Lin Chen walked to its edge and looked down into the hole at its center. It was deep and pitch-black, with no bottom in sight. A chill rose from below alongside the corruption, accompanied by intermittent whispers.

The whispers were indistinct, like countless people murmuring softly, or an ancient incantation. They slipped into his ears and disturbed his soul. Lin Chen quickly steadied himself and circulated his soul art to keep his mind firm. At the same time, he sent a faint strand of spiritual sense down into the hole, probing carefully.

His spiritual sense sank slowly along the currents of corruption, passing through layer after layer of surging air as it descended deeper underground. After sinking an unknown distance, the surroundings gradually changed. This was no longer merely corruption. A darker underground space appeared. Countless pillars stretched up toward the sky, and black chains ran between them, binding indistinct figures.

The figures did not move. Dense black qi enveloped them, and their auras varied in strength. Even the weakest possessed the strength of an Immortal Emperor. Several had auras as vast as the sea, in no way inferior to the mightiest experts in the Heavens today. They were bound fast by the chains, their bodies covered in wounds. Clearly, they had been imprisoned for countless ages.

At the very depths of the underground space, an enormous shadow beyond all description crouched in the void. Its shape was indistinct, and the black qi around it was so dense it had reached its very limit. A mere trace of its aura made the strand of Lin Chen's spiritual sense tremble violently, as if it might shatter completely at any moment.

It was a terror that came from the depths of the soul, not the oppression of a difference in strength, but a primal evil and desolation that seemed to belong to another world.

Just as Lin Chen was about to investigate further and make out the shadow's true form, the enormous shape crouched in the depths suddenly moved slightly.

It was the faintest movement, yet the black qi throughout the underground space instantly erupted into violence. Countless chains rang out with piercing clangs, and the imprisoned figures struggled fiercely, their shrill roars echoing through the depths. An overwhelming killing intent surged up through the hole, instantly sweeping across the entire ancient hall.

Lin Chen's expression changed drastically. An irresistible force pressed toward him, making the golden light around him sway violently. His body was driven several steps backward before he managed to regain his balance. The moment the being stirred, the strand of spiritual sense he had sent out was directly shredded by the raging black qi and vanished.

"So powerful..." Lin Chen's heart pounded, and a bead of cold sweat appeared at his temple. The being deep underground had already surpassed his current understanding of power. It was absolutely among the most powerful beings in the Heavens. The truth behind the fall of the Old Era was likely bound up with this mysterious existence.

Before he could calm himself, a giant hand covered in black scales suddenly reached out from the hole in the center of the platform. Its five fingers spread wide as it descended toward Lin Chen with the force to destroy the heavens and the earth. Space collapsed layer upon layer wherever it passed. The corruption in the hall was drawn into it, and the entire area fell into dead silence.

The danger of life and death had arrived without warning! Lin Chen's pupils contracted. He immediately summoned every ounce of his strength, preparing to withstand the fatal blow.

But just as the giant hand was about to touch his body, a clear chime suddenly rang outside the hall. The sound was distant and weighty, imbued with righteous power. It pierced through the sea of corruption and rang straight inside the hall.

The moment the chime sounded, the descending scaled hand abruptly stopped. It then drew back slightly in midair before slowly withdrawing into the deep, dark hole, reluctance and wariness in its grasp. The overwhelming killing intent from deep underground quickly receded as well, sinking back into silence.

The raging corruption inside the hall gradually settled. Only the platform continued to emit a slow stream of black qi, as if the breathtaking scene from moments ago had never happened.

Lin Chen's tense body slowly relaxed. Cold sweat had soaked his back. He looked toward the entrance, his gaze full of suspicion. Who had rung the bell outside? Were they friend or foe? Why had the chime been able to drive back the terrifying being underground?

At the same time, the bell outside rang again, then again. Its rhythm was slow, but it carried an irresistible summons. The ancient hall trembled faintly, and the lingering echoes of the Old Era seemed to awaken at the sound. Blurred figures began to appear on the broken walls around him.

Lin Chen clenched his fists, knowing that danger surrounded him here. The terrifying being underground had only gone dormant for now; the threat was far from over. And the sudden appearance of the bell ringer brought with it yet another unknown variable.

He drew a deep breath and walked toward the half-open doors, wanting to investigate. But just as he was about to cross the threshold, the corner of his eye caught a slender black shadow standing motionless in the darkness beneath the hall's dome. It had made not the slightest sound from beginning to end. A pair of cold eyes remained fixed on him.