The door was very old.
There were no formation markings on its surface, no dark red membrane covering it. It was merely an ordinary metal door, most of its paint already peeled away to reveal the rusted metal beneath. Thick dust had accumulated along the gap around it, as though it had not been opened in a very long time.
Qi Wu stood before the door for a moment, then placed his fingers against its surface, brushing a streak of rust with his fingertips.
The door was unlocked, merely left ajar.
He pushed it open. The hinges gave a dry rasp, like a bearing that had finally been forced to turn after years of disuse.
Beyond the door was a descending staircase. There were no light sources on the walls flanking it, but the air was moving, carrying a faint, dry breeze.
Qi Wu headed down. His footsteps echoed through the narrow passage.
Every footfall rang clearly, and each step fell utterly silent once he had passed over it, as though it no longer made a sound after its existence had been confirmed.
At the bottom of the stairs stood an identical metal door, likewise unlocked and left ajar.
He pushed open the second door.
Beyond it lay an enormous circular space, like a domed building with its top sheared off.
The floor was level, with no pillars around its perimeter. Daylight showed through the dome above, slanting through a breach to illuminate the floor at the center of the space.
Di Tian stood directly beneath that shaft of light, without the outer shell of demonization, without dark red markings covering his body, without the projections of the Four Fiends Formation surrounding him.
He wore that old robe, as though he had never changed it. It was neither damaged nor