The eastern ridge stretched for miles before dipping into a wide, open basin.
From a distance, the battlefield looked ordinary.
Broken stone.
Scattered ruins.
Half-buried weapons rusted by time.
But as the expedition crossed the final slope, the air changed.
Heavier.
Not oppressive.
Just dense.
As if the land remembered something.
The Third Prince raised a hand.
"We divide here," he announced. "Three teams. Independent exploration. Regroup in three days."
Names were assigned quickly.
Kael and Aric were placed in separate teams.
Deliberately.
The prince did not hide the intention.
Rivalry measured separately.
Kael's team consisted of four others:
A Core Formation Early cultivator from the Montrell family
Two Foundation Peak nobles
One imperial scout
No one spoke much at first.
Everyone observed everyone.
The moment they stepped into the basin fully, Kael felt it.
Not hostile energy.
Residual intent.
Old battle pressure still embedded in the earth.
His chaotic circulation adjusted instinctively.
Suppressing external influence.
One of the Foundation Peak cultivators stumbled slightly.
"This place feels wrong," he muttered.
"It's old," Kael replied calmly. "Not wrong."
They advanced carefully.
The first sign of danger came from beneath.
A fractured spear embedded in stone began vibrating faintly.
Then—
The ground cracked.
Three armored skeletal constructs rose from the earth.
Ancient battlefield remnants.
Their eye sockets glowed faint blue.
Foundation Peak level.
The Montrell cultivator stepped forward aggressively.
"I'll handle this."
He attacked with fire technique.
The flames struck one construct directly.
It staggered.
But did not fall.
Kael watched.
The construct absorbed part of the energy.
Adapted.
Interesting.
One skeletal warrior charged toward a Foundation Peak noble.
Kael moved before the attack connected.
He intercepted with a palm strike.
Their collision rang like metal striking metal.
The force traveled through his arm.
Strong.
But predictable.
He shifted angle and struck at the joint instead of the chest.
The arm detached cleanly.
Structural weakness.
The construct fell shortly after.
"Don't attack center mass," Kael said evenly. "Break structure."
The team adjusted quickly.
Within minutes, the constructs were dismantled.
The imperial scout approached one fallen construct.
"These are old war puppets," he said. "Bound by battlefield formations."
Kael knelt briefly near one core fragment.
Energy residue lingered inside.
He did not absorb it.
Too impure.
Better not contaminate his core.
As they moved deeper into the basin, the terrain shifted.
Ruins grew larger.
Broken walls hinted at ancient fortifications.
The air thickened slightly.
Then Kael stopped.
"Do you feel that?" he asked quietly.
The Montrell cultivator frowned.
"Feel what?"
A faint pulse beneath the ground.
Slow.
Rhythmic.
Not spiritual fluctuation.
Something else.
Then the pulse intensified.
The earth trembled.
A crack split across the basin floor.
Dark mist rose from within.
The Foundation Peak nobles stepped back instinctively.
Kael did not.
He observed.
The mist did not spread randomly.
It flowed toward specific broken pillars.
Formation activation.
The battlefield was not dormant.
It was reacting.
Across the basin, another explosion echoed.
Aric's team had encountered something stronger.
A shockwave rippled through the air.
Core-level clash.
Kael's eyes narrowed slightly.
So it begins.
From within the dark crack, a larger construct rose.
Not skeletal.
Fully armored.
Core Formation Early.
Its armor bore ancient insignia.
Its movements were deliberate.
The Montrell cultivator stiffened.
"This one's mine," he said.
Kael did not object.
He stepped aside slightly.
The Montrell attacked first.
Strong fire technique.
Direct impact.
The construct raised its blade and cleaved through the flames cleanly.
The collision sent the Montrell cultivator sliding backward.
Not weak.
But the construct was different.
It wasn't just animated armor.
It moved with technique.
Intent.
Kael stepped forward calmly.
"Rotate with me," he told the Montrell cultivator.
They attacked together.
The construct's blade moved in clean arcs.
Precise.
Kael tested it with a direct clash.
Core Formation pressure collided.
His chaotic Qi suppressed part of the construct's force.
But not fully.
This was a real Core-level opponent.
He adjusted.
Instead of frontal clash, he targeted the formation nodes embedded in its armor.
There.
Small glowing lines at the joints.
He shifted position and struck one directly.
The glow flickered.
The construct's movement slowed briefly.
"Target joints," Kael said evenly.
The Montrell followed.
After several coordinated strikes, the armor cracked.
The construct collapsed into fragments.
Silence returned briefly.
But the pulse beneath the earth did not stop.
It grew stronger.
Kael looked toward the center of the basin.
Something was awakening deeper inside.
Not a relic.
Not just a formation.
Something larger.
Across the basin, Aric's aura flared brightly for a moment.
Then dimmed.
Not defeated.
Engaged.
The imperial scout swallowed slightly.
"This isn't a simple relic field."
Kael nodded.
"No."
He looked toward the dark mist rising from the central crack.
The battlefield was not a graveyard.
It was a seal.
And something inside had begun responding to their presence.
The first day had not even ended.
And the expedition was already unstable.
Good.
Unstable environments revealed people clearly.
And Kael preferred clarity.