The shattered remnants of the Abyss Temple groaned as the dust settled from the titanic battle. Beneath the fractured stone, a crack had formed leading to a hidden stairwell carved from ancient obsidian, its steps bathed in eerie blue fire that flickered without warmth. Ethan, supported by Elena, stepped cautiously forward, his heart still recovering from the use of the Immortal Legacy.
This energy,
murmured Lady Seraphina, her ethereal silver hair floating slightly with the dense spiritual pressure. It predates the sects themselves.
The Blue Moon Sect's elders Lysithea, Selene, Lunara, and Thalia all Golden Core Stage cultivators readied their weapons as the group descended into the depths. Even at their level, unease curled at their cores like frostbite. The deeper they went, the more the stone walls pulsed with ancient veins of dark spirit ore, humming with dormant malice.
As they entered a vast underground chamber, a single object drew all attention a suspended obelisk of jet-black crystal, swirling with red veins of corrupted spirit energy. It rotated slowly, bound by celestial chains etched with primordial seals. At its base was a ritual circle partially fractured by time.
Ethan's Dragon Slayer Sword quivered, its edge glowing with frostfire.
Elena whispered,
That thing it's not just sealed. It's watching us.
Suddenly, from the shadows around the obelisk, a being emerged. Not monstrous humanoid. Its skin was ash-gray, eyes void-black, and a halo of abyssal mist crowned its head. It spoke.
The first gate is broken, The sleeper stirs.
Seraphina stepped forward, her Nascent Soul Stage energy flaring in silvery radiance.
She said,
Then we reseal it now.
The warden raised a hand, and dark roots shot from the obelisk. They crashed into the shield summoned by Elder Thalia shaking the entire sanctum.
It's not just a warden, said Selene, forming a blade of crystallized moonlight
It's the harbinger of what lies beneath.
Ethan tried frost seals, poison powder, even explosive runes. Nothing pierced its shroud. Only one response echoed in his soul the Immortal Legacy, burning within him like a celestial flare. But he'd already used it once.
We'll distract it
Seraphina said,
Get to the heart of the obelisk.
Ethan and Elena moved as one. Spirit energy surged between them, their swords singing. He slashed through corrupted vines while Elena cracked the glyphs with thunderbolts. The obelisk pulsed violently like it knew what was coming.
When Ethan plunged the Dragon Slayer Sword into its core, a wave of light exploded outward.
The chains shattered.
The warden screamed its form unraveling into ash as the entire chamber began to quake.
Back to the surface! Lunara shouted, her voice distorted by the chaos.
Now!
They escaped just as the lower levels collapsed, burying the Obsidian Heart once more.
Above, under the starlit sky, Ethan fell to one knee. The mark on his soul glowed briefly, then dimmed. Whatever they had sealed was not gone.
It was only waiting.
Seraphina placed a hand on his shoulder,
The deeper gates will come. We must be ready.
Ethan nodded,
Then I'll forge myself stronger before the next seal breaks.