The staircase spiraled down like the throat of a beast.
Ethan gripped the Dragon Slayer Sword tightly, the air thickening with each step. Elena, still pale from her awakening, followed closely behind, her silver-tinged eyes flicking around as if expecting something or someone.
Vane whispered,
The Qi down here it's old. Older than the tomb, older than even the sects that sealed it.
Ethan felt it too.
A pressure on his bones, a whisper in his blood. As they reached the final step, a vast underground chamber opened before them.
At its center stood a black crystal obelisk, sealed with seven glowing chains, each forged from a different elemental Qi
fire, water, wind, lightning, earth, void, and soul.
Aeliria appeared beside them, her form dimmer now.
This is the Obsidian Lock, she said. The Dragon Slayer forged it to contain a spirit even he could not kill.
Elena clutched her chest. I feel something calling me.
Ethan turned sharply. Elena!
But before he could reach her, one of the soul chains snapped with a crack of violet lightning.
The entire chamber shook.
A voice echoed from the obelisk low, ancient, cruel.
After a thousand years the veil thins.
A figure began to form behind the crystal a man cloaked in smoke, his eyes twin like abysses, his body half-formed from shadows.
Aeliria's tone turned urgent. This is no mere spirit. This is a Wraithlord a cultivator who transcended into undeath through cursed Qi. He devours not just life, but fate.
Ethan's grip on his sword tightened.
What does it want?
You, the Wraithlord whispered.
You, who hold the Dragon Vein. You, who walk with the Virellen girl. Give me her and I shall spare you.
Elena stepped forward, silver light swirling faintly beneath her skin
You fear my blood.
The Wraithlord snarled, and three of the seven chains snapped.
A vortex of death Qi exploded outward. Bones erupted from the ground skeletal guardians, armed with rusted blades and black mist curling from their sockets.
Vane activated a protective talisman, barely holding the energy back.
Ethan moved first, sword flashing. The Dragon Slayer Blade cleaved through bone and darkness, its runes glowing gold. The battle raged fast, brutal, intense.
Fifteen minutes passed.
Sweat dripped from Ethan's brow, but his stance never wavered. His movements were sharper now, more precise. Each strike burned with internal fire and perfect balance, the result of his body's meticulous tempering.
Elena joined him, her voice whispering words in an ancient tongue. Her presence distorted the air itself skeletons cracking apart at the edge of her resonance.
But the Wraithlord was laughing.
Break one more chain, and I'll be free.
Vane turned, eyes wide,
He's not bluffing. If he's freed, All the sects won't be able to stop him.
Ethan raised the sword again.
Aeliria's voice screamed in his head,
Don't! You must retreat. Not even the Heaven Sect could kill him at full strength.
And then
The sixth chain cracked.
A sliver of the Wraithlord's true body began to form, six arms, eyes stitched shut, and a voice that spoke in multiple realms at once.