Zhi Xuan gasped inwardly, feeling a vibration that traveled from the neck of the fra he gripped toward the center of his soul. The voice did not originate from the vibration of the air, but rather a transmission of consciousness that leaped across ages—a lant from the remnants of a soul that refused to perish completely.
"I can feel... you have found , those flowers... you have seen them," the voice lilted softly, as if speaking of longing. "The Heavens could not destroy ... so I split myself... leaving the flowers that you were supposed to collect... you were the one who destroyed... yet I never hated."
Zhi Xuan felt his chest tighten, as if the entire suffering of the underworld were being poured into the cup of his soul. His grip on the woman's neck loosened, yet his hand remained there, trembling subtly. The man in the sky, the woman on the path—the vision grew clearer, rging with the marble fra that now seed more real than the practitioners behind him.
"Who are you?" hissed Zhi Xuan, his voice hoarse, echoing among the cave walls that seed to mourn along with him. "What flowers do you an? What do you an by saying I destroyed the flowers you ntioned?"
The woman did not answer verbally. However, the grey glow in her eyes changed into a warm, dim gold, contrasting with the cold aura enveloping her translucent body.
"Those flowers... are a promise," the voice echoed again within Zhi Xuan's mind, growing softer yet more suffocating. "Among the nine fallen heavens, I only wished to be a petal falling into your palm. My ti is up; the flowers will always wait to be carried by you."
Zhi Xuan released his hand completely. The wine-pouring woman did not flee; she remained floating before Zhi Xuan for a mont in an unspoken aura. Slowly, a subtle wave surged and fell silent. The stillness crept back after she simply vanished, as if she had never been there.
Zhi Xuan stood frozen, his palm still feeling the cold—a cold that did not co from the air temperature, but from the remnants of grief that had seeped into his bones. He stared at his own palm, where the drop of clear liquid had evaporated, leaving a faint yet violently vibrating essence within his soul.
"Senior..." Ji Haoxuan's voice sounded very distant, as if muffled by thick layers of fog.
Zhi Xuan did not turn. His sapphire blue eyes now appeared darker, reflecting the depths of an unasurable chasm. He slowly clenched his fist, feeling the residual vibration of the consciousness transmission. 'The flowers you collected... The promise among the nine fallen heavens...'
"What did she an? What exactly was she saying?" Zhi Xuan's mind asked the silence, a question that not even Ruo Xianxue could answer, as she remained absolutely silent within his sea of consciousness.
"Senior Gu, are they... truly gone?" Lu Qingyan stepped forward cautiously, her fan still open in a defensive position. "You were silent for several breaths; we thought you were trapped and about to be attacked by those figures."
Zhi Xuan turned his body slowly. His black and white robe rustled, cutting through the remaining silence like a sword through silk. His face returned to a cold, impenetrable mask.
"They did nothing," Zhi Xuan said calmly. "They are rely echoes of the past, and perhaps attempted to take a bit of consciousness to be part of that Fengshen cycle."
"Just echoes?" whispered Wei Tianfeng, his voice filled with great doubt. He glanced at Zhi Xuan's wrist, the spot where the dew of grief had briefly landed. "Just echoes, yet they were capable of making Senior freeze and radiate such chaotic intent?"
"I felt a very strong aura of sadness," Ji Yuanyi said, staring into the darkness where the woman's figure had been. "Senior Gu, are you sure you are alright? You appear more shaken than us now."
Zhi Xuan did not answer imdiately. He rely moved his shoulders slightly, as if to release an invisible burden still hanging there. His gaze swept over the young faces before him—and for a second, he felt like an alien stranded among them.
"I was a bit careless for grabbing that figure without knowing it would drag my consciousness," Zhi Xuan countered. "But it did feel strange, how an echo could leave the Fengshen cycle... perhaps because only we crossed through that city."
"Perhaps, Senior," Ji Haoxuan replied, regaining his composure. "But if that echo could follow us this far, does that not an the boundary between Fengshen and this passage no longer exists?"
"Or perhaps we carried the 'scent' of Fengshen on our clothes," Wu Xinghan added, flicking his robe roughly. "This place truly plays with one's sanity. I thought Senior Gu might be swallowed by that woman's gaze."
"Brother is right," whispered Wu Xingyan, her eyes still fixed on the point of darkness where the dancers had hovered. "That gaze... it's inexplicable, as if it could devour one's consciousness at any ti. Senior, did you truly not feel any danger?"
Zhi Xuan shook his head slowly. "Danger is when there is killing intent. There, there was only a lanting emptiness."
"The underworld is indeed a strange place." Wei Tianfeng murmured softly before snorting. "Look at Jing Kuang who was briefly calm, now like a duckling that lost its mother because of seeing that figure. Xingyan, are you truly heartless toward this 'man' of yours?"
Wu Xingyan jolted, her face which was originally pale from horror was instantly covered in a deep red flush.
"Wei Tianfeng! Watch your mouth or I will ensure your tongue turns to stone in this place!" she shouted in a high-pitched tone vibrating between anger and sha.
She imdiately turned her face away, unwilling to look at Jing Kuang, who indeed appeared pathetic in Wei Tianfeng's arms.
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"Oh, you are truly cruel, Xingyan," Wei Tianfeng said with a short, raspy laugh. "Jing Kuang, you can stand on your own now. Don't always show your weakness just because you're afraid Senior Gu will kill you for insulting him before."
Jing Kuang stumbled as Wei Tianfeng released his support. He brushed off his robe, his eyes glancing at Zhi Xuan before finally looking down deeply. "I... I can walk. Forgive , Senior Gu... I truly do not know what possessed during that banquet."
They resud walking; Zhi Xuan ignored Jing Kuang’s apology and simply walked back into the stone tunnel. The sound of footsteps echoed from the young practitioners, letting the disruption of the echo be rely a reminder that the underworld could not be explained by their logic.
The echo of Fengshen may have faded, but the silence it left behind felt much heavier, as if the air inside the tunnel had grown weightier just for the figure in the black and white robe. Zhi Xuan walked at the front, his steps steady, but within his mind, words continued to spin endlessly.
"Great Saint," Zhi Xuan's voice transmission echoed in his sea of consciousness, sharp and demanding. "You are the remnants of an era that might intersect with this echo. Why are you silent? Do you also recognize the grief that just touched ?"
"My mory is not vast enough to digest everything that intersects with you, boy," Ruo Xianxue replied, opening her eyes in the sea of consciousness. "I am indeed the Great One and existed before the Nine Heavens. But I also cannot say that everything about that echo, or when you saw the four colors at the Emperor Monunt, all intersect."
"Do not be foolish and dwell on what you do not understand now," Ruo Xianxue said. "You have seen many things, that your origins are so complex that figures like and Zhan Xianwang can only watch your every step and let you grow to bring our glory back."
"The past has collapsed, leaving endless echoes in the void," Ruo Xianxue continued, her voice wise. "What makes you think a fallen figure like won't violate heavy karma if I know everything that intersects with you? You carried the Nine Heavens Bead from the start without knowing until my awakening."
Ruo Xianxue looked up completely, staring at Zhi Xuan's sea of consciousness which was nebulous and orange. Her Sun and Moon double pupils glowed, causing Zhi Xuan's sea of consciousness to churn for a mont due to the majesty of the Ancient Sacred Devil that dared to be pressured by a figure like Zhi Xuan.
"Ascend to the Upper Realm if you want answers; do not just lant in ignorance," Ruo Xianxue snapped, her voice thundering to cut off Zhi Xuan's demands. "If you only ask without having the ability to reach what becos the path to seek those answers, then all your Dao Vows are rely the nonsense of a loser."
Zhi Xuan fell silent; the echo of Ruo Xianxue's voice thundering in his sea of consciousness slowly faded, but its vibration left a ripple that cald his turbulent emotions. True, lanting in the darkness of the underworld would not change the lines of destiny already written in the dust of ti. Only absolute strength could force the past to open its mouth and admit the truth.
"You are right, Great Saint," Zhi Xuan thought coldly. "Asking shadows will only make blind. I will find those answers with my own hands, when I stand at the peak of the Nine Heavens."
Zhi Xuan's footsteps, which had felt heavy, were now steady and calm again. He did not feel angry that his questions remained unanswered for now, clearing his Dao Heart which had been shaken to the point of making him question things he should simply allow to settle within him while waiting for the answers.
The tunnel seed to respond to the return of Zhi Xuan's inner peace. The stone walls that had felt restrictive slowly began to widen, revealing a space no longer bounded by the narrow cave limits. The air, originally stuffy with an inexplicable aura, now turned into an atmosphere carrying pure energy.
"Senior Gu," Jing Kuang said, his voice slightly calr, breaking the silence. "I do not expect you to forget the insults that may have left a mark on you. However, I am not standing still to be useless after walking behind your back. I have several clues I found while walking with ng Zhan and Shi Jing that I haven't told yet."
Zhi Xuan stopped his pace, but he did not turn around. His black and white robe fell straight, his back to Jing Kuang who now stood with a slightly straighter posture. In the silence of the widening tunnel, every breath of the young practitioners sounded like waves crashing against a reef.
"Speak," Zhi Xuan said briefly. His voice was flat, yet contained an authority that made Jing Kuang swallow hard.
"Not here," Jing Kuang said, taking a step forward while waving his hand. "I have formation stones I found before joining you. This formation will at least lead to a place that is random yet safe."
Jing Kuang waved his hand, and five glowing formation stones hovered before him. But before he could speak further, Wu Xinghan interrupted sharply out of disbelief.
"You want us to trust our lives to so junk stones you found in this cursed place, Jing Kuang?" Wu Xinghan hissed, his eyes flashing with suspicion. He stepped forward, blocking the path between Jing Kuang and Zhi Xuan. "After seeing how ng Zhan and Shi Jing ended, do you think we are stupid enough to jump into a random formation that even you don't understand?"
Jing Kuang did not back down, though Wu Xinghan's threat made his heart tremble slightly. "I know I am hard to trust again, Xinghan. But I saw a stone tablet showing formation points when I found these stones."
Wu Xinghan snorted, his cold laugh echoing piercingly against the cave walls. He stepped closer until the tips of his boots nearly touched Jing Kuang's feet, looking down on the youth with a pair of eyes full of contempt.
"Stone tablet? Formation points?" Wu Xinghan repeated the words with a dismissive tone. "You think by telling a fairy tale about a lucky discovery, we will hand our necks over to your trap? You are the remnant of that group of losers. Who can guarantee these stones won't send us straight into the mouth of a thirstier darkness?"
Jing Kuang clenched his fists, his face pale but he remained in place. "I dare to swear by my Dao Heart, Xinghan! I have no ill intent. I just want us all to get out of this increasingly suffocating passage!"
"Dao Heart?" Wu Xinghan interrupted with a low roar. "Your Dao Heart has been cracked since you decided to be ng Zhan's follower dog! And don't think I don't know why you're so insistent on appearing useful now. You're trying to gain favor in front of my sister, aren't you?"
Wu Xinghan glanced briefly at Wu Xingyan who stood frozen, then turned his gaze back to Jing Kuang. "Listen to carefully, Jing Kuang. Even if we get out of this cursed place alive, don't ever dream of being within ten zhang of Xingyan. You are dust unworthy of standing beside the jewel of the Wu family. If you try to use this formation to gain sympathy or do anything suspicious, I myself will break every bone in your body before the underworld laws do!"
Wu Xingyan bit her lower lip, her beautiful face now clouded with deep distress. She wanted to speak, but her brother's overwhelming authority and the uncertainty of Jing Kuang's honesty made her only able to stay silent, clutching the silk edge of her clothes until her knuckles turned white.
"Xinghan, enough," Ji Haoxuan interrupted, though his voice was calm, he also did not hide his vigilance toward the stones in Jing Kuang's hand.
However, Zhi Xuan turned and waved his hand, letting the five stones hover before him. Zhi Xuan stared intently at the five formation stones. Their rough surfaces were decorated with ancient runes glowing dimly. The legacy of his Ancient Heavens mory was familiar with the formation stored within these stones.
Wu Xinghan was slightly surprised; he was about to interrupt, but Wei Tianfeng had already pulled him aside. Zhi Xuan finally shifted his gaze to Jing Kuang, staring into the man's eyes which now appeared truly on the verge of a heartbreaking surrender.
"What were the images of the points on that stone tablet like?" Zhi Xuan asked, his voice cold yet calm. "Tell ."
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