Four Days Earlier...
Outside the Forbidden Mountain, the sky was a canvas of violence. Elder Han Yue stood suspended in the clouds, his robes snapping like whip-cracks as he unleashed a relentless torrent of Sword Qi.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
For eight grueling hours, he had rained thousands of blades upon the golden dome of Qinghe Village. Yet the formation remained. It rippled; it groaned; but it did not break.
Han Yue's chest heaved, his true Qi nearly drained to the dregs.
This damn formation... he hissed internally. How can a backwater village possess an artifact this resilient?
Below, the villagers' terror began to turn into defiance. They began to whisper, their voices carrying up to his refined ears.
"Is it my eyes, or is a Core Formation 'expert' failing to break a single shield?" someone shouted.
"It's just one man! He's exhausted!" another cried. "Doctor Lu Cheng, tell him to go home before he faints!"
Han Yue's face turned a bruised purple.
Ants... you dare mock me?
"You will pay for this humiliation!" he roared, his voice echoing over the hills. "I came for answers, but now, I will erase every soul in this valley! This humiliation will be the cause of your extinction!"
"You can't even break the door down, trash!" a villager yelled back.
"Enough!" Doctor Lu Cheng commanded, silencing his people. He stepped forward, looking up at the frustrated Elder. "Han Yue, leave. There is no need to cause any more problems. Just go. Please—there is nothing for you here but wasted breath."
Han Yue stared at the village for a long, silent minute. Then, without a word, he turned and blasted into the sky, a streak of blue light vanishing into the horizon.
Doctor Lu Cheng exhaled, his mind finally calming.
I thought this was the end, but we were lucky to have that artifact. Even a Core Formation master can't break this... it's worth keeping.
He looked toward the small mountain where Old Lady Shen lived.
Even after all this... she still didn't come out.
Meanwhile, Han Yue flew at a terrifying five kilometers per second, crossing peaks and rivers in a blur.
I will return with a force they cannot imagine, he plotted. I will grind that village into dust.
But he wasn't paying attention to the air ahead.
Unbeknownst to him, faint patterns had already been etched into space—formation seals hidden so deeply they left no trace. The moment he crossed the threshold, the world shifted.
BUZZ.
The air turned into solid iron. Invisible pressure descended from all directions, locking onto his body like celestial chains. His movement slowed, then halted completely, as if the sky itself had turned into a tomb.
"A formation?!" Han Yue gasped. "Who dares to trap me?!"
He cautiously reached out to touch the invisible wall.
CRACK!
A violent backlash of purple lightning energy surged through his arm.
"Ahhh!"
He recoiled, his hand smoking.
I can't even touch it... I've wasted too much Qi on that village!
"You cannot escape," a voice echoed—cold, deep, and vibrating with enough power to make Han Yue's soul tremble.
A ray of dark, glowing purple light cut through the sky. Moving with a speed that defied the laws of the world, three figures emerged from the light, standing in mid-air as if on solid ground.
They wore black robes, but the leader was different. His robes flowed like living shadows, and behind his head floated a Serpent-Halo—a ring of energy shaped like the fangs of a snake.
The leader took a step forward.
BOOM.
The air trembled.
A second step.
BOOM.
It sounded like thunder descending from the heavens.
Han Yue's heart skipped a beat.
Peak Core Formation... nearly at the Nascent Soul realm!
He immediately dropped his pride and cupped his fists. "Senior... may you forgive me for my rudeness. Which Great Sect do you represent?"
The leader gave a deep, mocking laugh. "Hahaha... a mere Mid-Core Formation cultivator asking which sect I came from. Wise. Wise enough, with good instinct."
"You praise me too much, Senior," Han Yue said, sweating. "But forgive me for my rudeness again, Senior—why have you trapped me?"
The leader's gaze sharpened, and the Serpent-Halo pulsed. "I captured you because you are coming from the Forbidden Mountain direction. I had heard rumors that those who enter do not return... yet you are here."
Huh, Han Yue thought. No, I wasn't coming from the Forbidden Mountain.
Han Yue replied, "No, Senior. I did not enter the mountain. It was my disciples."
The Senior's pressure increased, forcing Han Yue to drop several meters in the air.
"You failed to save your disciples, yet you fly away in a hurry. Are you plotting against someone? Or hiding something?"
"No! Senior, please!" Han Yue shouted, feeling his bones begin to creak.
He realized his only hope for survival was to trade a secret for his life.
Han Yue swallowed hard and looked toward the direction of the village. "I... I discovered something. There is a village thirty kilometers from the mountain. They have a secret passage. A way to enter and leave the abyss without being sealed."
The air went dead silent.
The Serpent-Halo figure slowly allowed a dark, hungry smile to spread across his face.
"Now... that is very interesting