One minute.
Two minutes.
Five minutes.
The bronze floor beneath the altar began to tremble.
The bronze plates slowly parted, revealing a pitch-black opening beneath them.
The opening did not lead downward. It ran sideways, like an upright door. Beyond it lay total darkness, with nothing visible inside.
But this was no ordinary darkness. It was a darkness that swallowed light.
The patriarch stopped chanting.
He opened his eyes and looked at the black doorway, excitement spreading across his face.
"It worked."
Bei Huai stared at the doorway as well.
His heart raced.
Ever since childhood, he had heard countless legends about their founding ancestor, Chiyou. Chiyou had fought the Yellow Emperor and died in defeat, but before his death, he had sealed his Divine Soul and part of his power in another world.
The Bei Family had guarded this secret for generations, waiting for the day they could open that door again.
Now, the door was open.
A figure drifted out of it.
It was a blurry shadow, with no discernible features or clear shape, only a vaguely human outline.
Black mist coiled around the shadow, threaded with flashes of red lightning.
The patriarch dropped to his knees in excitement.
"Honored ancestor! We pay our respects!"
His forehead struck the bronze floor with a dull thud.
Bei Huai knelt as well.
"Your descendant, Bei Huai, pays his respects to the founding ancestor."
The shadow did not look at them.
He hovered in midair, his gaze settling on Summers.
Summers was looking at him, too.
The two inhuman beings stared at each other for three seconds.
Then the shadow spoke.
His voice was deep, as though it came from far beneath the earth.
"An Extraterrestrial Demon?"
Summers did not answer.
The shadow began to solidify into a three-meter-tall giant, bare-chested