The Gray Ghost Valley was dying.
The once thick mist was now slowly dissipating, revealing a land ravaged by spatial instability. Trees had turned to black ash. Rocks were cracked like glass. The very ground pulsed occasionally with small spiritual distortions.
Han Feng walked slowly among the wreckage.
His body was still wounded.
The forced use of the Celestial Diagram had caused deep damage to his meridians, and even now a constant pain burned within his chest.
But that wasn't the worst.
The worst was the persistent feeling.
That thing from the other side…
now he knew about it.
Han Feng could feel it instinctively.
As if an invisible thread had been created between his existence and something extremely ancient beyond the crack.
His gaze turned cold.
This was too dangerous.
As he advanced along the destroyed trail, the girl who had survived walked a few steps behind him in silence. She had already regained some of her strength, but still seemed shaken by what she had witnessed.
And rightly so.
Even Han Feng had never seen a fissure of that size before.
The Bone Refining Sect group probably didn't even imagine they were dealing with something so absurd.
The girl finally spoke in a low voice:
"That… was it a beast?"
Han Feng remained silent for a few seconds before answering:
"I don't know."
And it was true.
It seemed too intelligent to be just an ordinary creature.
The girl lowered her gaze.
"If that thing had gone through…"
She didn't finish the sentence.
She didn't need to.
Han Feng understood too.
The entire valley would have disappeared.
Perhaps even more.
They continued walking in silence until the sun began to emerge from between the dark clouds. But even the morning light seemed strange now. Weaker. As if the sky itself was becoming unstable.
Han Feng discreetly raised his eyes.
The three stars were still there.
Red.
Purple.
Gold.
But now…
the golden star seemed slightly larger.
Its Celestial Diagram vibrated gently.
Han Feng narrowed his eyes.
The connection was increasing.
Each fissure strengthened the resonance between the worlds.
And that meant the worst was yet to come.
A few hours later, they finally left the valley.
Outside, the scene was even more unsettling.
Cultivators rushed along the roads.
Entire caravans were abandoning smaller towns.
Even some small sects seemed to be evacuating territories.
Panic.
The Gu World was beginning to feel it.
Han Feng overheard fragments of conversation as he passed near a group of merchants.
"—The heavens are cracking in three different regions…"
"—I heard that even a Rank 5 disappeared near the eastern border."
"—Disappeared nothing. Taken away."
"Taken away why?!"
No one answered.
The silence said it all.
The fear of the unknown was far worse than the fear of death.
Han Feng continued walking calmly.
But his mind was elsewhere.
That silent being on the other side…
The presence that occasionally appeared during the cracks…
It was different from other entities.
It carried no chaos.
It carried no madness.
It was simply cold.
Profound.
Like a cultivator observing a chessboard through the void.
And strangely…
when that presence appeared, the Celestial Diagram stabilized.
As if there were some kind of partial harmony between them.
Han Feng didn't understand why. But he understood one thing:
That being was also observing the cracks.
Perhaps trying to understand.
Perhaps waiting.
Or perhaps calculating.
The thought made Han Feng narrow his eyes.
On the other side of the void…
Fang Yuan had probably already sensed that presence.
And that meant something dangerous.
The two monsters were slowly beginning to notice each other's existence.
Still distant.
Still separated by universes.
But increasingly aware.
The sky trembled faintly.
Han Feng stopped.
His Celestial Diagram vibrated.
But this time there was no fissure.
It was something else.
A distant resonance.
Han Feng slowly closed his eyes.
And for a brief instant…
his consciousness seemed to touch something.
Infinite darkness.
Dead stars.
Fragments of destroyed worlds floating in the void.
And there…
very far away…
a figure sitting silently.
Immobile.
Like an eternal statue before the cosmos.
Han Feng couldn't see its face.
But he felt it.
Coldness.
Karma.
Loneliness.
Then—
the figure's eyes opened.
Han Feng felt his soul tremble.
The connection was severed immediately.
He opened his eyes abruptly.
Cold sweat trickled down his forehead.
The girl beside him looked frightened.
"What happened?"
Han Feng remained silent for a few seconds.
Then he only replied:
"Nothing."
But his mind was agitated.
It didn't seem like an illusion.
It seemed like contact.
Very brief.
Very distant.
But real.
His Celestial Diagram was beginning to create involuntary connections through the cracks.
And that was extremely dangerous.
Because, if he could sense the other side…
the other side could sense him too.
At dusk, Han Feng finally reached an ancient stone road that led directly to the outer routes of the Central Region.
But something was wrong.
Corpses littered the road.
Dozens of them.
Farmers.
Merchants.
Guards.
All recently deceased.
Han Feng immediately became alert.
The girl behind him paled.
"Bandits?"
Han Feng crouched near a body.
No.
This didn't seem like the work of bandits.
The corpses were dehydrated.
As if something had completely drained their vitality.
And then—
he heard.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Coming from the front.
Han Feng stood up immediately.
The thin mist over the road began to move.
And a figure slowly emerged.
Black robes.
Long gray hair.
An extremely thin man.
But his eyes…
were completely red.
Han Feng narrowed his eyes.
The man's aura was unstable.
As if two different energies were fighting within him.
The man slowly observed the corpses around him.
Then he looked at Han Feng.
And smiled.
The smile seemed… broken.
Wrong.
"Can you hear it too…?" he murmured.
The girl took a step back immediately.
Han Feng didn't answer.
The man slowly brought his hand to his head.
His fingers trembled.
"They're calling… from the other side…"
His smile widened.
"So beautiful… so vast…"
Han Feng's Celestial Diagram vibrated violently.
Danger.
Enormous danger.
The man ahead no longer seemed entirely human.
Parts of his skin were turning black like burnt cracks.
The energy around him began to distort.
Han Feng immediately understood.
Prolonged exposure to the fissures was driving cultivators mad.
Transforming them into something different.
Something between human and dimensional corruption.
The man took a step forward.
And the space behind him…
cracked slightly.
Han Feng felt a chill run down his spine.
Because that did:
the fissures began to spontaneously appear around the contaminated.
And that…
was a disaster waiting to happen.