Chapter Eleven: An Extraordinary Phenomenon Emerges

At the bottom of the Abyssal Cliff, in an unnamed cave, Lu Han lay motionless on the ground.

Drip...

A drop of water fell from the cave ceiling onto Lu Han’s face, causing his fingers to twitch slightly.

"Where am I... My head hurts so much. Am I... dead?" Lu Han slowly opened his eyes, struggling to prop himself up into a half-sitting position.

Looking around, he found himself in an ancient cave surrounded by cold, unyielding rock. The chill seeped into his bones. Rubbing his temples, he tried to recall what had happened. He remembered, knowing escape was impossible, grabbing the black-clad man and hurling himself off the cliff in a desperate attempt to drag his foe down with him. After that, everything went black. What happened next, he could not remember.

"Ah..." The moment Lu Han tried to stand, pain tore through his chest, reopening his wound. He gritted his teeth, clutching his injury as his hand was quickly stained with fresh blood.

"Boy, you've finally woken up." Suddenly, a sapphire ring floated before him, and above it hovered a semi-transparent, ancient figure.

"Ah, a ghost!" Lu Han, only fifteen, had never encountered such a sight—a talking, translucent figure. The stories he’d heard of ghosts in ancient ruins flashed through his mind. Without a second thought, he bolted, ignoring the pain in his wound.

The old man above the ring winced, thinking, This kid really is faint-hearted. What’s so scary about a soul body?

"You little brat! I saved your life, and this is how you repay me—by running off?" The ring flashed and instantly blocked Lu Han’s path. The old man’s voice rang out again.

"You… you saved me?" Lu Han stammered, clearly frightened by the apparition.

After all, having a translucent soul drifting about in front of you would unsettle anyone.

"Hmph, of course I did. Otherwise, do you think you’d have survived a fall from such a height? You’d have been smashed to pieces outside this cave," the old man said, visibly annoyed by Lu Han’s suspicion.

"How do you think you ended up inside this cave? I used soul power to draw you in. If I hadn’t sensed a trace of my old friend’s aura on you, I wouldn’t have bothered. Every use of soul power here depletes me, and I don’t have much left. You’re lucky, though. That knife wound in your chest—had it been two centimeters lower, it would have pierced your heart. Not even I could have saved you then," the old man grumbled.

"Uh… Sir, you said this is the bottom of the cliff?" Lu Han asked, still confused.

"What, did you hit your head on the way down? Don’t you remember how you fell?" the old man replied, exasperated.

"Well… I was fighting someone up there…" Lu Han quickly recounted his encounter with the masked man.

"From what you’re saying, you must have been pushed off the cliff after you lost consciousness," the old man mused, stroking his chin.

"Sir, thank you for saving my life. How long have I been unconscious? Is there any way out of here? My family will be worried sick if they realize I’m missing," Lu Han asked anxiously. He knew he had to find a way home as soon as possible.

"Boy, you’ve been out for two days. But as for getting out—forget it. It’s impossible. You can’t leave this cave. Go see for yourself at the entrance," the old man said with a sigh. Even he couldn’t step outside.

A young man followed by a floating ring, atop which hovered a translucent soul—an eerie sight. Together, they made their way to the cave’s entrance.

"Now you see for yourself. There’s no way out," the old man said as Lu Han pounded at the white barrier blocking the entrance.

A white light screen sealed the exit, solid as iron. No matter how hard Lu Han tried, it didn’t budge.

"This barrier only lets people in, not out. I could draw you in, but I can’t send you out. I’ve been trapped here for so long I’ve lost track of time," the old man explained helplessly.

"Why did you save me then? You gave me hope, only to dash it. I’d have been better off dead," Lu Han said, slumping to the ground in despair.

"If I hadn’t sensed a trace of my old friend’s aura on you, I wouldn’t have bothered. Do you think my soul power is unlimited?" The old man was thoroughly irked. He’d gone to great effort to save the boy, risking what little soul power he had left, and now was being blamed for it.

He rambled on, but suddenly, Lu Han got up and dashed deeper into the cave.

"I don’t believe there’s no other way out," Lu Han muttered, determined not to resign himself to fate. He began searching the cave for another exit.

"This kid won’t believe it until he hits a wall," the old man thought, shaking his head. No one knew the cave better than he did after all these years; if there were another exit, he would have found it long ago. Still, he was glad for the company, however temporary. He wondered how long the boy would last, then followed after him.

"Huh? What’s this?" Lu Han exclaimed at the far end of the cave.

There, a stone bed stood, and a meter above it floated a white pearl exuding a frigid aura. Lu Han reached out for it.

"Don’t touch that!" the old man shouted, hurrying after him.

The memory of that pearl sent a shiver through the old man. When he had first entered the cave, curiosity led him to touch the cold pearl as well, only to have his soul frozen for three hours. Given his strength, that was no small feat. Since then, he hadn’t dared approach it. With Lu Han’s meager cultivation, he’d surely be frozen solid.

The old man closed his eyes, resigned. "I thought I’d found someone to talk to. Who knew he’d be gone so soon…"

But as Lu Han grasped the pearl, he didn’t freeze as the old man expected. Instead, he cried out.

"What’s going on?" the old man muttered, opening his eyes. He saw the pearl erupt in dazzling light, rising into the air with Lu Han, and slowly drawing itself to his brow.

The old man was astonished. What was happening?

He hadn’t noticed the blood on Lu Han’s hand from his reopened wound. The instant Lu Han gripped the pearl, his blood seeped into it, triggering this strange reaction.

As the pearl merged into Lu Han’s brow, his body drifted back down and collapsed to the ground.

Boom…

The entire cave began to shake.

"It’s collapsing… Wait! The barrier at the entrance—it’s gone!" The old man was first startled, then overjoyed as his soul sense confirmed the barrier had vanished.

"What… what happened?" Lu Han, sprawled on the ground, was still lost.

"No time to explain! Move! The cave is collapsing!" the old man shouted urgently. His transparent soul slipped back into the ring, which dropped into Lu Han’s lap.

Slap…

Beyond the entrance was not solid ground, but a waterfall. Without hesitation, Lu Han leapt out.

The moment he did, the cave behind him came crashing down with a thunderous roar.

What neither Lu Han nor the old man knew was that, at the very instant the pearl merged with Lu Han’s brow, ten thunderclaps rang out across the bright, cloudless sky of the Tianqiong Continent. Each peal was louder than the last. Ten bolts of dry thunder in broad daylight—an event that drew the attention of every major power.

Far from the Great Xia Empire, in the very center of the continent, lay the Central Ancient Domain. On an unnamed mountain, a middle-aged Taoist was practicing his forms. When the thunder boomed, the Taoist paused only when it stopped, then gathered his robes and looked up at the sky.

"Jian Qing, I am about to begin my seclusion. If I have not returned in two years, go to Northern Yue and bring the young sect master back. Whoever holds the first volume of the ‘Heavenly Strategy’ is the young sect master. Our time has come. Master, this is the golden age you foresaw at the cost of your life—it is finally upon us," the Taoist said calmly, hands clasped behind his back, gazing at the sky.

"Yes, Sect Master," the cold-faced middle-aged man with a long sword replied behind him.

In a mysterious ancient tower, an old man sat cross-legged. After the thunder, he opened his eyes, as if a sleeping lion had awakened, and looked skyward. His aura surged, as though it might crush the heavens.

"The golden age Old Man Tianji foretold—has it come at last? It seems those old foxes have sensed it too," he murmured, then closed his eyes and resumed his meditation.

"All disciples of the Four Directions Family, listen well! The golden age is upon us. All are to enter the family’s secret realm to cultivate and strengthen yourselves for the coming era!"

"Disciples of the Freezing Cloud Sect, heed the call…"

"Disciples of the Absolute Sun Sect, heed the call…"

"Disciples of the War God Sect, heed the call…"

The great powers of the Central Ancient Domain were all stirred to action.

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