Volume 2, Chapter 39: The Grey Orchard
The iron stairs leading down into the Abyss felt endless.
Yuhao left Tang Ya resting with the freed factory workers above. He followed Ye Xishui into the dark, his boots echoing sharply against the metal grating. His head throbbed with a dull, constant ache. The Seed of Grey Decay sat in the jar of Electrolux's making, a heavy marble rolling around inside his skull.
He focused on the smell to ground himself. It smelled like old copper, wet stone, and something sweet that was starting to rot.
"Stay close," Ye Xishui murmured. Her peach-colored Radiant Phoenix aura cast long, warm shadows against the cavern walls.
They reached the bottom of the stairwell. The cavern opened up into a massive underground dome. Yuhao opened his Third Eye, keeping it at a low hum. What he saw made his breath catch in his throat.
It was an orchard. But nothing was alive.
Hundreds of towering, jagged crystalline trees filled the cavern. They weren't made of wood or glass. They were made of frozen, grey ash. They pulsed with a slow, sickly rhythm, drawing the ambient movement of energy out of the surrounding rock and storing it in thick, dark roots.
"A battery," Yuhao whispered. "He's storing the Silence inside."
"Not just storing it," Ye Xishui corrected, her eyes narrowing. "He's cultivating it. This is where the grey decay comes from."
In the center of the grey orchard stood Chen Feng.
He didn't look surprised to see them. He stood calmly by the largest of the ash-trees, running a hand over its smooth, dead trunk. But he wasn't alone.
Four figures stepped out from the shadows behind him. They wore heavy, dark cloaks, and their faces were covered by iron masks etched with corrupted Baybayin markings. The Holy Ghost Cult.
One of them held a massive Kalasag — a traditional shield — but the Anito spirit inside it had been suffocated. Instead of glowing with protective life, the shield leaked a thick, black fog.
"I thought you'd be faster, Arbiter," Chen Feng said. His voice carried easily through the dead air.
"Your cultists are a minor delay," Ye Xishui said, stepping forward. The temperature in the cavern began to rise. "You've poisoned my city, boy. I'm going to burn this orchard to the ground, and you along with it."
Chen Feng sighed. He looked at Yuhao, ignoring the furious God-level Arbiter.
"Do you know why I do this, Yuhao?" Chen Feng asked, his voice taking on a soft, practiced sadness. "I was born empty. In a world where everyone sings Lakan's Greatness and legend, I was the silence. The Federation looked at me and saw a broken instrument. A failure of their perfect system."
He took a step forward, extending a hand.
"The noise of this world is a lie. It's a forced symphony by a tyrant who rewrote the rules to fit his own ego. Join me, Yuhao. Let the Seed in your mind grow. In my Silent World, there is no pressure. No expectations. Just rest."
It was a good speech. It sounded tragic. It sounded real.
But Yuhao's Third Eye was open. He saw the movement of energy of Chen Feng's body. The boy wasn't empty. He was filled with a dense, alien energy that felt entirely detached from the Douluo planet. It felt like cold, calculating machinery.
And then, Chen Feng muttered something under his breath. It was so quiet that even Ye Xishui missed it, but Yuhao read the movement of his lips.
'The plot is ruined anyway. Tang San was supposed to be the god here.'
Yuhao didn't know who Tang San was. He didn't care. But he knew a liar when he saw one.
"You don't want rest," Yuhao said, his voice flat. "You're just throwing a tantrum because the world isn't acting to the play you wanted to see and happen."
Chen Feng's sad expression vanished. His eyes turned flat and dead. "Pity. You would have made a decent pawn."
He snapped his fingers.
The four Holy Ghost cultists lunged.
"Stand behind me," Ye Xishui ordered.
She didn't summon her martial soul. She didn't need to. She simply raised her hand and let the Twilight Reset flare. A massive wave of peach-colored fire washed over the cavern.
The cultist with the corrupted Kalasag slammed the shield into the ground. A wall of black fog erupted, clashing with the peach fire. The shield screamed — the trapped Anito spirit burning away under the pressure. It was a brutal, ugly sound.
The cultists weren't trying to win. They were just buying time.
While Ye Xishui was focused on breaking the shield wall, Chen Feng pressed a hand to his chest. A strange, metallic hum filled the air — the sound of a system activating. The space behind him began to tear, revealing a jagged portal of absolute black.
"The battery is full anyway," Chen Feng said, stepping backward into the void. He looked at Yuhao one last time. "Grow strong, navigator. The Universe Will always corrects its mistakes eventually."
The portal snapped shut, taking Chen Feng with it.
"No!" Ye Xishui roared.
She pushed both hands forward. The peach fire flared blindingly bright, shattering the black fog and instantly incinerating the corrupted shield. The four cultists didn't even have time to scream. The Twilight Reset reduced them to regular, harmless ash, purging the grey decay from their bodies entirely.
The cavern was silent again. The grey Trees of Grey Decay began to crack and crumble without their master there to stabilize them.
Yuhao sat heavily on the cavern floor. The adrenaline was fading, leaving behind a bone-deep exhaustion. The headache from the Seed was still there, a constant reminder that the war hadn't ended. It had just been delayed.
"He escaped," Ye Xishui said, her fists clenched tight. The glow of her aura faded, leaving her looking tired and deeply human. "He sacrificed a whole branch of the Cult just to secure that energy."
"What does he want with it?" Yuhao asked, rubbing his eyes.
"I don't know," she admitted. "But he has enough stored silence now to blanket a continent. I have to report this to Mu En and Long Xiaoyao. The Federation needs to prepare for a siege."
She looked down at Yuhao.
"You did well today, kid. But you're bleeding from the eyes. Your Crystalline Vessel is cracking."
Yuhao wiped his face. His hand came away smeared with red. She was right. He had barely survived channeling her power for a few seconds. His Level 19 body was a fragile glass cup trying to hold a roaring ocean.
He thought about the Seed in his mind. He thought about Chen Feng's alien energy. He thought about the upcoming battles that would make this tournament look like child's play.
"I need to break through," Yuhao said quietly. "Level 20. But a regular Soul Spirit Seed won't be enough. I need… more power."
Ye Xishui nodded slowly. "The Dean mentioned something about this. He said if you survived the tournament, Lakan left instructions for your next step. You aren't going to a Resonance Altar, Yuhao."
"Where am I going?"
"North," Ye Xishui said, pointing toward the cavern ceiling. "To the Extreme North. Your Professor believes it's time you met the Ice Devil Titan."
Yuhao looked at the pile of grey ash where the cultists had stood. The capital was safe for now, but the noise of the world was fragile. He had to get stronger.
"When do we leave?" Yuhao asked.
End of Volume 2, Chapter 39