For a long, suffocating moment, no one moved.
The projection of Yi Lin and his joyous family still flickered in the air like broken memories—then sputtered out, leaving the ancient hall in a tomb-like silence. The disciples of Blaze Sword Sect, Skyfire Monastery, and Serpent River Clan stood frozen, their faces pale and drenched with cold sweat.
Not a single record in their sects…No history mentioning this calamity…A city erased so completely that even its bones disappeared…
How could this be real?How could such destruction remain unknown?
Even the elders outside would not believe it.
Zu Tian's heartbeat slowed, steadied.Yet the atmosphere refused to calm.
An echo rose through the hall.
—KRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEECH—
A sound like metal screaming.
A vibration like the grave waking.
Dust fell from the pillars as the entire structure trembled. All heads snapped toward the entrance.
"Something is coming," whispered Li Xueyao, voice trembling. "No… something awakened."
Before anyone could respond—
A blur of shadow and bone exploded through the doorway.
BOOOOOOOOM!
The stone arch shattered into boulders as a long-limbed, skeletal creature burst into the hall. Black cloth draped its bones like burial rags. Its empty sockets burned with faint, green ghost-light. A rancid wind rushed ahead of it, thick with malice and old, rotting qi.
The Soul-Shattering Beast.
The same creature that stalked them through the gorge.
But this time, it did not hide.It did not observe.It attacked.
The ground quaked as its presence filled the chamber.
Its murderous aura swept through the disciples like an executioner's blade. Several collapsed to their knees, gagging on terror. Others clutched their heads, spirit seas turbulent under the creature's oppressive qi.
And its eyes—those hollow, soulless pits—locked onto Zu Tian.
A guttural, ancient growl tore from its skeletal frame.
"—Grrrrahhhhhh…"
Zu Tian stepped forward instinctively, hand tightening on his broken sword.
Li Xueyao shouted, "Zu Tian! Don't—!"
But the beast moved first.
Its bony limb raked through the air—SHRAAAAACK!—sending a wave of corrupted spiritual force that distorted the world around it.
Zu Tian dodged, but the impact behind him shattered an entire row of stone reliefs, pulverizing them into ash.
Bai Kuan rushed in, fists blazing with Blazing Stone Fist."OVER HERE!"
He struck with full force.
The beast didn't dodge.It simply caught his flaming fist.
The hall flashed—FWOOM—
—and Bai Kuan screamed as the flames were extinguished instantly, like water smothering a spark. The beast hurled him across the room. He smashed into a pillar and crumpled, coughing blood but alive.
The monks of Skyfire Monastery unleashed twin flame wheels.The Serpent River disciples conjured twisting fire-serpents.
The attacks hit squarely—
—and scattered like sparks striking a mountain.
"Nothing… it didn't even flinch…" someone whispered in horror.
The Soul-Shattering Beast turned, slowly, deliberately.
It didn't see groups or factions.
It saw prey.
But Zu Tian moved.
His broken sword hummed violently—almost in warning—and he intercepted the beast with a fiery slash.
"Blazing Vein Severing Slash!"
Flames roared along the blade.The beast lifted an arm—
—steel met bone—
CLAAAAANG!
A shockwave burst outward, sending disciples sprawling. The beast was pushed back—half a step—but it was the first time anything had made it yield.
Zu Tian gritted his teeth.The impact tore at his arm; his spiritual veins burned.
The beast tilted its skull.
Its ghost-light eyes shifted…
…not to Zu Tian,but to the broken sword.
It released a sound none of them understood—a deep, resonant growl that almost carried meaning.
Then—
In an impossible burst of speed—
SHFFF—
It vanished.
Gone.
Only cracks in the stones marked where it once stood.
Silence slammed into the hall
Everyone stared at the space where the monster disappeared.
"What… what level was that thing?" a Skyfire disciple stammered.
"A Vein-Carving Realm beast shouldn't have power like that," someone else whispered.
Bai Kuan struggled to stand, wiping blood from his chin."Its killing intent alone nearly crushed my spirit sea… I thought I was going to black out…"
Li Xueyao turned to Zu Tian.
"You…"She swallowed."It was coming for you. Why?"
Zu Tian didn't answer immediately.
Because he didn't know.
But he did know one thing.
When the beast looked at him, its gaze wasn't on his face.It wasn't on his stance.Not even on his qi.
It was on the sword.
His broken, rusted, worthless sword.
Only Zu Tian had seen that look clearly.
A look of recognition.A look of fear.A look of hatred.
He kept this to himself.
"Whatever its reason," Zu Tian finally said, "we're still breathing. And it left."
"Left?" Bai Kuan barked. "If it comes back—"
"It won't," Zu Tian said calmly. "Not immediately. Something drew it here. Something we triggered."
He turned toward the silent, ancient hall.
The place where Yi Lin and his family lived.The place where a forgotten catastrophe unfolded.The place erased from history for a reason.
Zu Tian exhaled slowly.
"We keep going," he said at last. His blade lowered, but not his guard. "This hall hasn't revealed everything yet."
And high above, unseen by any of them, the shadows stirred—the faint outline of the Soul-Shattering Beast clinging to the ceiling like a nightmare.
Its soulless gaze never left Zu Tian.