The Abyss Temple loomed like a scar beneath the Southern Wastes. Its jagged arches and weeping obsidian walls seemed to hum with cursed life. From its gaping entrance, a foul energy spread outward enough to choke the breath of lesser cultivators.
Lady Seraphina descended first, robes gliding soundlessly behind her. Her Nascent Soul Stage aura radiated like moonlight through the void. Behind her, the Four Great Elders followed—each a Golden Core Stage cultivator, their presence balancing the corrupt Qi around them.
Ethan, Elena, and Juno moved in as backup. This mission was no longer reconnaissance. It was war.
Inside, they met the horror face to face.
A figure cloaked in black shadow hovered over a ruined altar, void tendrils writhing around it. Beneath its cloak, there was no face just pulsing abyssal mist.
So the Moon dares to face the Deep once more,
It hissed.
Without pause, Elder Lysithea struck first. Her Moon Petal Spear shimmered with pure light as she launched a blinding thrust. The blow exploded in a flash but the void-being absorbed it, the impact muffled like a scream underwater.
Elder Selene conjured a wall of shifting mist, hiding their formation as Elder Lunara traced runes mid-air with moonfire, attempting to seal the altar.
Circle formation! Push back its essence! shouted Elder Thalia, weaving healing Qi into a dome that resisted the abyssal pressure.
Ethan and Elena took position at the center, coordinating their strikes. Ethan unleashed frostfire crescents from the Dragon Slayer Sword, while Elena's thunder arced through the black mist, illuminating parts of the creature's true form tattered limbs, fragments of a soul long twisted.
Seraphina raised both arms.
Moonlight Bloom:
Phase Nine!
Thousands of crescent-shaped blades materialized and rained from the ceiling, shredding the dark tendrils.
But the figure laughed.
You shine, but your light is not eternal.
It countered with a pulse of anti-spirit force. Seraphina winced as her robes tore and one elder was flung back. The walls trembled. Black roots surged from the altar's base, lashing wildly.
Juno parried several of them, but cried out as her Qi defenses shattered.
Ethan gritted his teeth. All of this and it's not weakening.
The were battling for a long time yet no use.
He tried every technique poison mists, silver needles, frost seals. Nothing pierced its core. Even the Dragon Slayer Sword's enchantment sputtered.
The corrupted altar surged with power. The void-being began to form a second shell around itself stronger, darker.
Seraphina, her brow furrowed, looked to Ethan. Now
Use what lies within you.
He knew what she meant.
They tried every possible means but no use
His Immortal Legacy pulsed like a comet in his soul. He had three chances in his lifetime to use it.
Ethan stepped forward,
By fate's vein and immortal oath awaken the star within.
Golden light burst from his spine. An ancient celestial mark bloomed across his back thirteen glowing runes circling a sunstar.
His body ignited with Immortal Qi.
With a roar, Ethan charged. The Dragon Slayer Sword became an arc of immortal flame. He slashed downward, and time seemed to still.
The blade cleaved through all darkness through the altar, through the beast's soul, through the centuries of corruption.
The void-being screamed as it was unmade.
A violent shockwave burst outward. The temple cracked. Light filled every shadow.
Silence.
The altar lay broken. The black roots evaporated.
Seraphina approached,
You carry the light of an age long buried.
Ethan collapsed to one knee, the mark on his back fading.
I have used one time, now remains two.
I won't use it again unless absolutely necessary,
He murmured.
The moonlight shone gently upon them. But beneath the shattered altar, a spiral staircase began to uncoil, revealing deeper truths.