The foul air inside the hall slowly settled. The fierce, murderous pressure that had swept across heaven and earth had faded, but the lingering chill still clung to Lin Chen's limbs and bones, refusing to disperse. He stopped at the threshold, his back tensing slightly, and did not rush outside.
He had not forgotten the slender black figure in the shadows beneath the dome. After the giant hand underground had withdrawn into its hole and the bell had rung, that figure had stood motionless high above, its aura concealed to the utmost, as if it had merged with the bricks and black mist of the hall. If he had not caught sight of it by chance from the corner of his eye, anyone else might have left without ever noticing it.
The other party had made no move at all. It had neither launched a sneak attack nor shown the slightest hostility, simply standing there in silence, its gaze fixed on him. Such silent scrutiny put him far more on guard than an open fight would have. Lin Chen slowly turned his head and followed the mottled stone pillars upward with his gaze, looking toward the dome.
The dome was exceedingly high, covered in spiderweb-like cracks. Years of grime mingled with black foul air, forming broad patches of dim shadow. All he could make out was a slender, graceful silhouette. Its frame was slight, its features indistinct, and it gave off no obvious fluctuations of cultivation, almost like a rootless phantom. But Lin Chen knew that anyone who could lie hidden in this ancient hall, where foul air gathered and murderous energy filled the place, while evading the divine-soul search he had spread out earlier, was not to be underestimated.
"Since you've shown yourself, why keep hiding?" Lin Chen's voice was steady as it echoed through the vast hall, striking the cold stone walls and returning in waves. Golden light remained concealed around him as divine power flowed through his meridians, leaving him ready to strike at any moment. On one side, mysterious bell tolls continued outside the hall; on the other, an unknown Dark Shadow lay in wait within. With both uncertainties unfolding at once, he could not afford the slightest carelessness.
The black figure beneath the dome remained motionless. It did not reply or change position. Only its pair of icy eyes flickered faintly, as if a ripple had passed through them, then fell silent once more. The entire hall sank into an eerie stillness, broken only by the faint hiss of foul air continuously pouring from the hole in the stone platform.
Lin Chen wondered to himself whether the other party's unwillingness to appear and speak meant it harbored no ill will for now, or was simply watching how things unfolded. The terrifying presence deep underground had temporarily gone dormant and would not attack again in the near future. For now, what mattered most was learning where the bell tolls outside had come from. Their righteous, awe-inspiring tone had actually subdued the creature underground. No ordinary power could possess such a bell.
After weighing it for a moment, he stopped trying to force the Dark Shadow beneath the dome to act. If it wanted to remain hidden, so be it. As long as it did not attack, he would leave the ancient hall first and meet the person ringing the bell.
He stepped over the threshold, and the scene outside came into view once more. Compared with the oppressive darkness inside, the outside was still shrouded in gray-black foul air, but the view was much more open. A stretch of broken walls and ruins extended into the distance. Ancient halls lay silent amid the deathly aura, and only the deep, lingering tolls of a bell came from a relatively intact high platform to the west.
Dong—dong—dong—
The bell tolled at an unhurried pace. Each note became an invisible sound wave that washed over the swirling foul air nearby. The once-frantic black miasma grew much more docile within the bell's reach, and even the ever-present murderous aura in the air was largely suppressed. Lin Chen focused his senses and could clearly detect an extremely ancient Dao resonance within the bell's tone. It faintly harmonized with the aura of this remnant from an old era, while also carrying a power that cleansed evil—one perfectly suited to counter the foul air and murderous energy here.
Following the bell's tolls, he continued onward across the sticky gray earth. The wreckage of weapons and scattered bones lay everywhere along the way. As he walked, he deliberately sent a wisp of divine soul behind him to keep watch. Sure enough, he discovered that the slender black figure from beneath the dome had silently followed him. It kept several dozen yards away, neither drawing closer nor falling behind, following like a shadow. Its movements were so light that it made not a sound as it stepped over the foul air.
Lin Chen did not look back, pretending not to have noticed. The other party had followed all this way without making a move, so there was no need to get entangled with it for now. All his attention was focused on the bell-ringing platform ahead.
After walking several hundred yards, the view ahead suddenly opened up. A high platform built from blue-black boulders stood in the middle of the ruins, perhaps a dozen yards tall. Stone steps climbed up its face, and its surface was covered in tightly packed runes. The runes shimmered with a faint white light, forming a barrier that kept the surrounding foul air out. An ancient, imposing bell hung at the top of the platform.
The bell was dark bronze, its surface covered in the marks of time. Mountains, rivers, the sun and moon, birds, and beasts were carved into it. The designs were simple yet imposing, and every line brimmed with the weight of the ages. A gray-robed elder stood beneath it, holding a bell striker and slowly striking the bell again and again.
The elder's hair and beard were completely white, and his frame was thin, his back slightly stooped. He looked entirely ordinary, like a simple old man from the mountains. Yet each time he swung his arm, an immense, enduring force flowed into the striker, giving the bell tolls their power to subdue evil. The elder's gaze was calm as he watched the foul air churning in the distance. A trace of sorrow rested on his face, mingled with an unspeakable worry.
Sensing someone approach, the elder stopped and slowly turned around. Their eyes met, and Lin Chen could see the endless vicissitudes settled in the depths of the elder's eyes, as if he had witnessed countless changes across the ages.
"Young man, you're quite bold to venture into this forbidden place alone." The elder spoke first. His voice was not loud, yet it pierced through layer upon layer of foul air and reached Lin Chen clearly. "This was the final battlefield before the old era fell. Foul air runs rampant here, and evil creatures lie in wait. Countless mighty figures from ages past perished in this place. In the past thousands of years, few have dared to set foot in its core region."
Lin Chen walked up the stone steps and entered the area covered by the runic barrier. The moment he stepped inside, the icy, murderous aura clinging to him vanished, and he felt much more at ease. He cupped his hands toward the elder, his manner respectful. "This junior is Lin Chen. I followed the source of the foul air here and stumbled into this place by accident. Thanks to Senior's timely bell tolls, I might not have made it out of the hall unharmed."
He did not go out of his way to conceal his journey. Since the other party was guarding the ancient bell here and knew the terror of the presence underground, he must understand this ruin thoroughly. Concealing things would only put him at a disadvantage.
At his words, the elder sighed softly and raised a hand to stroke the wall of the ancient bell before him. His fingertips traced its mottled patterns. "I've been keeping watch here for a very, very long time. This Evil-Suppressing Ancient Bell is not mine. It's a treasured relic left behind from the old era, made specifically to suppress the foul air and murderous energy seeping up from underground. The thing below was disturbed just now. Without the bell's deterrence, you would already have been in grave danger."
"Senior, do you know what lies deep underground?" Lin Chen asked. This was the question that troubled him most. "The foul air in this whole region rises from beneath the earth. Was the fall of the old era also connected to that presence?"
The elder fell silent and looked up at the gray sky. Only after a long while did he speak, his tone heavy. "This story begins in the heyday of the old era. In that age, martial cultivation flourished like never before. Great figures rose among the Heavens, cultivation systems were perfected, and all living beings believed that the golden age would last forever. But no one expected disaster to quietly take root deep beneath the earth."
"At first, only wisps of black qi seeped out from underground. They tainted living beings, robbing them of their reason and driving them to violence. The powerful figures of the old era initially mistook it for ordinary evil and repeatedly sent people to suppress and purge it. But the black qi kept coming, growing in volume with every purge, and spreading farther by the day. Later, when they ventured deep underground to investigate, they discovered that a monstrous evil from the Outer Realm had been sealed beneath the earth."
"That creature was not born of this world. Its power was strange and overbearing, and it fed on the vital essence of living beings and the life force of the world. All the old era's foremost experts joined forces and spent untold effort to gravely wound it and seal it beneath this land. To strengthen the seal, they built this entire complex of halls, relying on a great formation, treasures, and the remnant souls of powerful figures to suppress it. The main hall you entered just now was the formation's core."
Lin Chen listened in silence, his brows gradually knitting together. An evil creature from the Outer Realm? No wonder its aura had been so strange—it was nothing like a being from this world.
"They had thought the seal unbreakable, but the creature's vitality was extraordinarily tenacious. Even after suffering severe injuries, it could still slowly regain its strength. It continually released its own corrupting power, eroding the great formation that bound it. The foul air was the aura leaking from its body. As the ages passed, the seal weakened year by year and the formation runes steadily wore away. Then, with the various powers constantly at odds and no one focused on maintaining the seal, one day it developed a massive crack."
The elder continued, his voice full of regret. "The instant the seal broke, a vast tide of foul air swept across heaven and earth. Countless evil creatures imprisoned underground and the remains of powerful figures controlled by that monster all burst forth. The old era's order collapsed completely. Countless sects and dynasties fell one after another, and an age that had once shone so brightly vanished without a trace. The few survivors fled in every direction, leaving behind only this dead land shrouded in foul air."
"And I am a descendant of those who stayed here to guard the seal." The elder's gaze returned to the ancient bell. "My ancestors left an order: our family was to guard this place from generation to generation, using the ancient bell to strengthen the seal and suppress the foul air leaking out. We have kept that watch for one generation after another, all the way to this day."
The truth slowly came to light, and at last many of Lin Chen's questions were answered. It turned out that everything stemmed from an evil creature from the Outer Realm, sealed by the united might of the old era's experts. Now that the seal was weakening and the creature's power recovering, the foul air kept spreading outward, threatening the surrounding world.
"How much longer can the seal hold?" Lin Chen pressed. The terrifying aura he had felt underground had clearly recovered a considerable amount of strength. If the seal broke completely, the consequences would be unthinkable.
"It's on the verge of collapse." The elder shook his head, his expression grave. "Over the past ten thousand years, the seal has weakened faster and faster, and the creature's power has grown stronger by the day. The ancient bell's power is limited. It can only temporarily suppress the foul air leaking out; it cannot repair the damaged seal. In another thousand years, the seal will probably collapse completely. By then, this whole world will face annihilation."
As he spoke, the elder looked at Lin Chen, a trace of hope in his eyes. "You seem to have considerable cultivation and a resilient divine soul. Your aura is upright and peaceful, and you don't appear to be a wicked person. Tell me, young friend, have you come with a way to help repair the seal? If that creature is allowed to emerge, all the worlds of the Heavens will be plunged into calamity."
Lin Chen considered the matter in silence. Repairing the seal would be no easy task. The formation had been built by countless powerful figures from the old era, and had been damaged over untold ages. He alone might not be able to restore it. And the strength of the creature underground was unfathomable. Approaching the seal's core rashly would be extremely dangerous.
"This junior's strength is limited, so I dare not claim I can repair the seal completely. But I'm willing to do what I can," he said honestly. "Still, repairing the seal would require going deep underground to the formation's core. That creature occupies the depths and is on its guard. Forcing our way in would be far too dangerous."
"It's rare to have such good intentions." The elder looked pleased. "The ancient bell can temporarily suppress the creature and buy us some time. But the creature underground isn't the only danger here. Over the years, many cultivators greedy for the treasures of the old era have entered the ruins. Some are not up to any good, secretly coveting the seal's power and hoping to take a shortcut by using the creature's strength."
As his words faded, a cold laugh suddenly came from the ruins beside the platform.
"Hahaha, you old fool. You've guarded the seal your whole life, and now you want to find yourself an ally? How laughable and naive."
Several black figures emerged from behind a broken wall. There were five of them, each with an evil aura, faint foul air swirling around them. They had clearly been corrupted by the tainted aura long ago. The leader had a sinister expression. His gaze swept over Lin Chen and the elder on the platform, greed filling his eyes. "The ruins of the old era are full of treasures, and there's an evil creature from the Outer Realm sealed underground. If we can subdue it, we'll be able to run wild across all the worlds of the Heavens. Since we've crossed paths today, we'll take this bell, the seal, and the cultivation of this brat all at once!"
The five stepped forward, black qi surging around them as a murderous force bore down on the platform. They had spent years roaming the regions filled with foul air and cultivating with its help. Each had reached the Immortal Emperor level, and together their power was terrifying.
The elder's expression darkened, and he raised his hand to strike the ancient bell again, intending to suppress the enemies with its toll. But at that moment, a slender figure suddenly darted out from behind Lin Chen. It was the Dark Shadow that had followed him all this way.
The shadow moved with blinding speed, becoming a streak of light as it instantly appeared in front of the five evil cultivators. Its slender frame stood against the wind, its face still impossible to see. It simply raised a hand, sending a bone-chilling wave of black qi sweeping out to collide with the enemies' murderous force.
A deafening boom shook the air, and the shock waves scattered as pieces of rubble flew everywhere. The five Immortal Emperor-level evil cultivators all staggered back several steps, their faces filled with astonishment. They had not expected anyone else to be hiding nearby, much less someone so powerful.
"Another coward hiding his face!" the leader of the evil cultivators roared, then gestured for the others to attack together.
The situation on the platform instantly descended into chaos. Five evil cultivators eyed them hungrily from one side, while the mysterious Dark Shadow who had stepped in to stop them stood on the other. The bell-guarding elder, who meant them no harm, was before Lin Chen, while the evil creature underground stirred restlessly. Forces converged from all sides, and danger lurked everywhere.
Lin Chen's eyes narrowed, and he was about to go help when the mysterious Dark Shadow turned slightly, seeming to send him a cryptic glance. At the same time, a violent tremor suddenly came from underground, shaking the entire platform. The foul air gushing from the hole in the stone platform abruptly surged several times over, and an even more violent murderous presence rose once more from the depths.
The ancient bell rang out on its own with a deep hum. The runes on its surface blazed to life, and its tolls came in rapid succession as it struggled to hold back the force leaking from underground. The elder's face turned deathly pale, and he staggered back again and again, clearly under immense pressure.
"Oh no! The creature was disturbed by the fighting outside and is stirring ahead of time!" the elder cried out.
Lin Chen's heart tightened, and he turned toward the main hall. Just then, he suddenly noticed that the mysterious Dark Shadow who had blocked the evil cultivators was slowly moving toward the underground passage, seemingly planning to enter the seal's core alone. The five evil cultivators saw this, a flicker of madness in their eyes. They abandoned the people before them and turned as one, racing toward the main hall. Clearly, they wanted to take advantage of the turmoil in the seal and sneak underground to pursue their own designs.
On one side was the mysterious Dark Shadow, intent on plunging into danger. On another were the greedy evil cultivators, bent on releasing the evil creature. And all the while, the ancient seal kept weakening.
Lin Chen looked around, a thousand thoughts rushing through his mind. Just as he was about to decide what to do, a faint, ethereal woman's voice suddenly reached his ear, seeming both near and far as it drifted through the foul air:
"Don't go near the depths... Beneath the seal, there's more than one secret."
The instant the voice faded, the ground throughout the ruins suddenly sank with a violent tremor. A world-shaking boom came from the main hall, and a massive black fissure raced across the earth, heading straight toward the platform.
Deep within the fissure, pair after pair of crimson eyes slowly opened.
Before you continue