Jumanji stood in silent awe, contemplating the sparks flickering from the mouth of the Rift.
He had known of this phenomenon, but seeing it firsthand—witnessing it gnaw at the very fabric of space—was something else entirely.
He swallowed hard, suppressing the tension coursing through his veins, and whispered to himself:
*"An eighth-rank Rift... a gamble that might cost me my life inside. No matter; I will find my way."*
Excitement mixed with fear dominated the faces of the crowd, yet a few were exceptions to the rule.
While the younger ones trembled, Bluton stood with a strange, dull smile, his eyes gleaming with a mysterious luster as he stared into the heart of the spiritual glow.
May Ejin broke the silence. Standing before the masses, she cried out in a powerful voice that pierced through the roar of spiritual energy:
"Spiritual Fellows! Prepare yourselves well, and lend me your ears! I assure you, this place knows no mercy. It is no arena for negligence or recklessness."
"A single wrong step inside will claim your life before you even realize what hit you. You are still at the beginning of your path, and the Rift does not forgive beginners!"
"Therefore, no one shall bear responsibility for your actions inside. You must penetrate in cohesive groups. Whoever strays from their comrades and ventures alone, I cannot guarantee their survival."
"We shall wait for you here on the outside; your mission is to unite and purge the Rift of its filth until our turn comes."
The words settled heavily upon the listeners, who realized that unity was their only shield.
In the depths of that chasm lurked predatory spiritual beasts and carnivorous plants that made no distinction between prey and cultivator. There was no way to deter them except with a single strike from united hearts.
At that moment, the Flower Elder approached Jumanji and whispered with a voice thick with dread:
"Shepherd... you must stay with our young ones and follow them. You, more than anyone, know the depth of the danger lurking behind that mouth."
Jumanji merely offered a cryptic smile that revealed nothing of his thoughts.
Without a word, he took his first steady steps toward the heart of the Rift.
***
Jumanji moved through the ranks of cultivators with a striking calmness, advancing toward the spiritual glow without hesitation.
As he passed by May Ejin, she did not look at him, but her voice came low and firm:
"Be extremely careful... Spiritual Fellow."
Jumanji smiled and replied confidently:
"I appreciate your words, Spiritual Fellow, but I know exactly what I must do."
He stopped before the mouth of the Rift, which churned with a yellowish-brass hue, like a gateway made of molten metal.
He muttered to himself:
*"Here we go. The real confrontation begins now."* Then, he lunged into the depths, swallowed by the folds of the void, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
The moment Jumanji disappeared, May Ejin gave her commanding cry:
"Go! Move now!"
The masses surged behind him. The number of youths and young men accompanying May Ejin was massive—nearly thirty individuals in their early twenties.
In stark contrast, the Carp Fish and Brown Bear tribes held only ten seats each.
Since Jumanji had taken one of those seats for himself, only nine spots remained for the Carp Fish. These were given entirely to the children and trainees as compensation for the previously delayed resources, making this Rift their only gateway to ascension.
***
The moment Jumanji pierced the energetic membrane, the scales of existence inverted around him.
The noise of the outside world vanished instantly, replaced by a muffled spiritual hum that vibrated through his marrow and shook his bones.
The interior of the cave was not merely a dark hallway as it had appeared from the outside. Instead, a vast space opened before his eyes, stretching beyond the horizon—a breathtaking nature that captivated the mind with its grandeur.
Giant plants defied logic, and towering mountains touched a sky of strange colors.
The trees were unnaturally massive, like pillars anchoring the corners of this parallel world.
Jumanji stood atop a massive boulder. Compared to his surroundings, he looked incredibly small, as if he had turned into a stray ant in a forest of giants.
He scrutinized the area with sharp focus and whispered:
*"What a vast space... the area of this place is bounded by the limits of the Rift. I must hurry in exploring it. The spiritual density here is exceptional—it is the key that will carry me toward the fourth stage of my cultivation."*
In various parts of this new world, other cultivators fell into a state of temporary paralysis.
The atmospheric pressure of an eighth-rank Rift was as heavy as mountains; some youths fell to their knees, struggling to catch their breath.
Bluton's eyes were wide as he spun around in a wonder that evoked both ridicule and pity, watching the giant trees reach for the sky like bars of an endless green prison.
Elsewhere in this infinite expanse, the twins stepped with extreme caution, having landed in the same spot due to their strong bond.
Before them stood the young doctor from the Stork Clan. She gave them a cold, analytical look, devoid of friendliness, before turning her back and disappearing into the dense thickets.
Though they had all entered the mouth at the same moment as one body, the Rift's terrifying spatial mechanics refused to keep them together.
It scattered them across its reaches like lost seeds in the wind.
The world inside was not just a cave; it was a vast homeland of chaos and deadly beauty.
This was only the beginning. In this strange wilderness, the familiar laws of physics collapsed, and every still leaf or plant became a potential death trap waiting for its first victim.
***
As soon as Jumanji was out of sight, he moved to change his disguise, reclaiming his true features:
A boy on the verge of turning fifteen, with a marble-like face carved by coldness and deep black eyes monitoring every atom of the place with anticipation and caution.
Jumanji leaped from the boulder with agility, landing on a rugged rocky slope, and began to make his way downward quietly.
He hadn't traveled far before the ground shook in front of him. From between the cracks emerged a giant insect, twice his size.
The insect rose on its tail with terrifying majesty, fixing its crimson eyes on him like a choice prey.
Its abyssal black color added to its dread, while its overlapping scales shimmered with a metallic luster—not mere natural shells, but armor of polished, invincible steel.
Its many legs made a sharp, terrifying clicking sound, like knife blades being whetted in preparation to tear into its prey.
Jumanji narrowed his eyes with intense coldness and whispered:
"A centipede... of the ninth rank."
The creature twisted its head with mechanical horror and let out a screech that echoed among the rocks like a harsh metallic protest.
Jumanji did not wait.
The insect was faster than its size suggested; it lunged at him like a black arrow, striking the ground with legs that left deep gashes in the rock with every step.
Jumanji stood his ground without a flinch. He was watching the joints of that black armor.
The moment the claws were an inch from his face, Jumanji slid his body with superb flexibility beneath its belly, exploiting his short stature and the gap between the beast and the ground.
He clenched his fist tightly and delivered a lightning strike toward a precise gap between the rings of its steel armor.
Jumanji's fist was no ordinary physical blow; it was backed by the momentum of his Spiritual Fetus.
It struck with a brutal force weighing a ton, as if a great boulder had fallen from the sky.
The insect flew through the air like a leaf in a storm, while its blue blood began to leak profusely from the cracks of its shattered armor.
The centipede slammed into the ground violently, its entrails spilling from its torn belly. Its numerous legs twitched randomly before its movement died out completely, and silence returned to its lifeless corpse.
***
Jumanji glanced at the dead body with a fleeting trace of sorrow; a shadow of sadness crossed his face but did not last long.
He lowered his gaze to his fist, stained with sticky blue blood, then let out a sigh heavy with realism:
*"There was no third option. Either I am the killer, or the prey. And in this desolate world, I chose survival over death."*
He fell silent for a moment before continuing bitterly:
*"There is no room for retreat now. It was an inevitable confrontation that ended in my favor. Fortunately, I finished it quickly. There is no time to waste."*
**End of Chapter**