The sky above the Broken Seal Mountains boiled with thick grey clouds as Ethan and Elena stood at the edge of an ancient trail half-buried in vines and broken stones. The terrain here pulsed with dormant Qi, and each breath they took felt heavier.
This place reeks of old battles, Elena whispered, her hand resting near the hilt of her curved blade.
Ethan nodded, gripping the Dragon Slayer Sword. The frost runes glimmered faintly, responding to the unnatural stillness. The bindings are definitely weakening. Whatever was sealed here it's stirring.
As they pressed deeper into the forgotten path, they passed shattered pillars etched with runes long faded. Then they found it a collapsed shrine veiled by a curtain of vines. Behind it, the mouth of a cave exhaled a cold mist, glowing faintly with golden light.
Inside the cave, they discovered a long-forgotten battlefield. Skeletons in ancient armor lay scattered in ritual circles. At the far end, a massive treasure trove glimmered beneath a protective formation.
But as they approached, the earth shook.
A monstrous roar tore through the mountain.
From the shadows surged a spirit beast of molten rock and void flame a guardian left behind by the Immortal who had hidden the trove. It stood fifteen feet tall, eyes glowing with hatred, its body wrapped in living chains inscribed with suppression seals.
We can't outrun that, Elena warned.
Then we stand,
Ethan roared, unleashing a flurry of frost Qi. The air snapped with sudden cold as he activated Frozen Vein Manifestation.
The beast lunged.
Ethan blocked with the Dragon Slayer Sword, the merged frostfire clashing against the creature's blazing claws. Elena darted in with precision, targeting its joints, her strikes amplified by her clan's lightning-infused boxing techniques.
Their coordinated assault continued for several intense minutes. The battlefield shuddered with each collision, stone cracking, and echoes rolling across the cave.
The spirit beast howled, retaliating with a volcanic blast. Ethan barely managed to raise an ice barrier, frost exploding outward as the two energies collided.
Drawing in deep spiritual energy, Ethan shifted his stance. He summoned the Ice Lotus Palm, slamming a glowing sigil into the creature's chest. As it staggered, Elena leapt upward and drove her blade into its skull, piercing the final chain seal.
The beast let out a final roar before crumbling into molten ash.
Silence fell.
The protective formation dimmed.
Before them lay chests of spiritual stones, gold coins, and magical artifacts. There were ancient scrolls containing long-lost cultivation techniques, vials filled with glowing golden pills, bundles of mystical herbs, and several storage rings crafted with divine seals.
One scroll bore the sigil of an Immortal cultivator, its contents still unreadable to their current level.
Ethan knelt, reverently lifting a shimmering orb from the chest. He left all this behind for someone strong enough to claim it.
Elena smiled.
You were meant to find it.
But in the deepest part of the cave, a whisper slithered through the stone. A pulse of ancient energy.
Something else has awakened.