The world dissolved into a silent, howling black. Gen and the others found themselves floating forward in a formless, cosmic corridor. There was no up or down, no walls, no sky. Only a defined path of stable, breathable air cutting through an endless, black void dotted with faint, swirling spheres of dark energy that seemed to drink the light.
As the leading elder had warned, Gen could feel it immediately—a powerful, chaotic sucking force emanating from the black spheres, like invisible hands trying to pluck them from the safe current and drag them into the abyss. Covered in the golden hue of his **Jingdao**, Gen and the others concentrated, pouring energy into forward momentum, fighting to stay centered in the main flow.
Suddenly, a cry tore through the tense silence. A cultivator a dozen yards ahead, his aura flickering weakly, was yanked sideways as if by a giant, unseen hook. He vanished into the inky blackness of a sphere before anyone could even shout a warning. The corridor swallowed him without a sound.
Gen's face darkened. "Stay focused! Don't get distracted! The Qi in these areas preys on weak auras. Give everything you have, now!"
As he spoke, he was already following his own advice, unleashing his Qi in a torrent. The dense, humming shell of the **Eternal Body, Second Door** erupted from him, the golden light so intense it cast sharp shadows. The faint, cold vapor of condensed energy wreathed his form. Beside him, Lorel released her power, and the seven **Supremacy Swords** fanned out in a blazing pink halo behind her, their dominating light pushing against the void's pull. Chubbs roared, his skin taking on a solid, grey-gold sheen as he reinforced his body to its absolute limit. Liang's body glowed as he focused. Before him, the air shimmered and a construct of pure intent took form— the Kalash of Elements. From its mouth, a torrent of orange-gold flame roared into being
Ahead, the entire vanguard of the expedition was doing the same. Azure dragons of condensed water Qi coiled around their masters. Crackling auras of lightning spat and flared. Shields of elemental earth glowed. It was a baptism of the strong. Only the most resilient, those who could manifest and maintain a powerful, cohesive aura, were allowed passage through the corridor.
But as they pushed further, the sucking force grew stronger, more selective. More and more people vanished with stifled screams, their auras snuffed out like candles in a gale. The number of the expedition dwindled at an alarming rate.
Seeing his own formidable figure waver, threatened by a sudden, violent pull, the Wild Edge Sect Leader's eyes hardened. Without a flicker of hesitation, his reinforced palm shot out—not against the void, but against the shoulder of a cultivator floating beside him. The blow wasn't meant to kill, but to shove. The man, caught completely off guard, was propelled directly into the path of the sucking force, which seized him greedily. The exchange of momentum kept the Sect Leader centered.
The action was so swift, so brutally pragmatic, that a chill colder than the void swept through those who saw it. Many stares illuminated the deed with horror and dawning understanding.
Gen's heart turned to ice. *It meant one could somehow exchange their place with another at the last moment.* Being at the rear with Lorel and the others suddenly felt terribly vulnerable. "We need to hurry forward!" he shouted over the psychic roar of the corridor. "We can't stay behind!"
They nodded, pushing their speed. But at that same moment, a particularly violent eddy of suction lashed out. Chubbs, straining at the edge of their formation, was caught. His reinforced body was hauled sideways towards a waiting sphere of darkness.
"No!" Lorel's face flashed with panic. She didn't hesitate. A **Supremacy Sword** slashed out, not at the void, but at the *form* of the sucking force itself—a slash of pink light against intangible hunger, buying him a precious fraction of a second. Liang summoned a torrent of orange-gold flame, propelling himself to try and grab Chubbs's outstretched hand.
Chubbs screamed, a raw sound of terror. "HELP!" Sweat and now blood trickled down his face as the pressure mounted. The force was so intense it began to lacerate his skin, fine lines of red appearing as if invisible blades were slowly flaying him. The more Lorel and Liang fought to pull him back, the more the destructive energy seemed to focus on him.
Gen bit his lip until he tasted copper. Chaos was erupting ahead as the strongest cultivators used those behind them as buffers, sacrificing the weak to secure their own passage. Staying here was sealing their fate.
But how could he abandon his friend?
He turned and shot towards Chubbs like a golden comet. His **Jingdao**-reinformed fist, glowing like a small sun, did not strike Chubbs or the others. It slammed directly into the "mouth" of the sucking black cloud itself.
***BOOOM!***
The impact was a silent concussion of light and nullification. The dark sphere *rippled*, distorted, and recoiled backward as if scalded. The grip on Chubbs vanished. He was catapulted back into the group, crashing into Liang and Lorel in a tangle of limbs and gasped breaths.
Chubbs lay heaving, staring at the now-quiescent cloud with pure horror. He hadn't expected to be in mortal danger seconds after entering this place. Was it even right for him, with his hard-won but modest power, to be here?
Before the doubt could take root, Lorel was there, tapping his shoulder, her voice firm despite her own fear. "We will be fine. We form a ring. Protect each other while we go further."
Gen took the lead, with Liang and Lorel flanking him and Chubbs guarded at the rear. They decided to sprint, shooting down the corridor as fast as their strained Qi would allow.
It was less a flight and more a brutal survival dash. All around them, cultivators fought not each other, but the environment, and often lost. The further they went, the denser and more intelligent the sucking force became, snatching even cultivators with powerful, but momentarily faltering, auras. However, as the elder had said, sticking together gave a greater chance. The first to vanish through the far end of the corridor were Camui and his protective entourage, then the Li elder and his allies, followed by the Doom College and Kang delegations.
When it came to those far at the back—Gen and his group—a figure was blocking their path.
The Wild Edge Sect Leader hovered before the shimmering exit to the next stage, his arms crossed, his aura a crackling storm of grey and silver. He had waited.
Gen's face darkened. "What is the meaning of this?"
The man smiled at them, a look of such utter contempt it was like he was examining insects. "Juo Si said you were troublesome. But looking at you now… you don't look very hard to deal with."
Gen's fists balled. So it was *him* again. He wasn't surprised, given the coronation.
Lorel spoke up, her voice cutting. "Why would a powerful Sect Leader go so far to serve a young king? You know what he is."
The Wild Edge Sect Leader's smile vanished, replaced by a deep-seated, septic anger. "Gen Jiang," he spat. "If your father had not proclaimed himself 'Immortal,' do you think the Divine Generals would have descended on us?"
The question struck Gen like a physical blow, stunning him into instant, gut-wrenching silence. He had never truly stopped to dwell on the reason Zeph had given that day. *Because they dared to crown one of their own with the title 'Immortal.'* His father's honor, his people's love… was it the spark that lit the fire?
The Sect Leader shook his head, his voice a low growl of grief and rage. "The Damocles that fell that day took everything that mattered to me. Today… I will take everything that matters to *you*, Gen."
As he spoke, his finger lifted. Qi condensed into a bolt of devastating grey light that pulsed with cutting intent. It didn't aim for Gen.
It shot towards Lorel.
The attack was blindingly fast. Lorel barely had time to fan her **Supremacy Swords** into a defensive array before her. The impact was a dazzling bloom of sparks in the dark corridor, the screech of dominating light against annihilating force. The blow threw her back several meters, and a sickening *crack* echoed as one of the luminous pink swords fissured down its length.
Seeing that, Gen's face turned ashen. This man was far stronger than even Juo Si, perhaps on the level of the Royal Guard.
Gen didn't think. The **Eternal Body, Second Door** flared like a star going nova. He shot forward, a golden missile of fury, and threw a punch that could shatter a mountain peak.
The Wild Edge Sect Leader merely waved a hand. Using **Zhidow—Creation**—he didn't make a solid shield. He conjured a gale of wind that solidified around him into a swirling, phantom form with two glowing eyes—the **Wild Edge** itself. It was a spell born from the deep desire to be as sharp as a blade without the restraint of a physical form.
With a flick of his palm, the phantom wind lashed out. It passed *through* Gen's guard, not clashing with his fist but slicing across his torso. The impact didn't just cut; it forced Gen back as if hit by a landslide. His Eternal Body shell screamed in protest, leaving a deep, smoking gash across his chest. But the real damage was inside. The cutting wind's intent rattled his organs, and blood gushed from his nose and mouth.
Liang summoned the **Kalash** once more. From its imagined depths, the pure white **Lightning from the Abyss** boiled forth in a searing line.
The Sect Leader smirked. His fingers flickered, using **Shidow** to manipulate the very air, bending the lightning's path with ease around him. Simultaneously, he sent another concussive slice of cutting wind, this time towards the still-recovering Lorel.
Chubbs saw it. Without a second thought, he threw himself in front of her, his **Jingdao** shining. At his level, the impact was catastrophic. It lacerated his forearms and chest, and the force blasted him backward like a rag doll—directly back into the reach of a newly formed sucking cloud.
This time, Lorel didn't hesitate. She charged after him, into the cloud's grasp, grabbing his terrified arm as the darkness began to consume them both.
"LOREL!" Gen's heart skipped a beat, his scream raw. But she was already gone, swallowed by the void alongside Chubbs, leaving only Liang and himself.
The Wild Edge Sect Leader smiled, satisfied. He turned and rushed into the now-narrowing exit of the corridor. His final words floated back, steeped in venomous triumph. "You will die here. You can only blame your father for that."
Gen spat a mouthful of blood, the ravaging wind-strike still tearing at him from within. The corridor around them was destabilizing, the safe path dissolving.
Liang rushed to his side, his face grim. "It's too late! We can't go through the main exit now! Our only chance is to force our way… through the cloud!" He pointed at the same sphere that had taken Lorel and Chubbs.
Gen's heart, filled with a torrent of anger, terror, and shattered guilt, looked from the disappearing figure of the Sect Leader to the swirling darkness that had taken his friends.
There was no choice.
As the last of the stable corridor collapsed around them, the sucking void reached out. Liang grabbed Gen's arm, and with a final, desperate surge of their combined Qi, they didn't resist.
They let the darkness take them.