Chapter 42: Fangs Beneath the Surface

  The stone wall sealed behind them with a low groan, like the ancient secrets inside had exhaled one last breath. Cold mist rushed to fill the void, curling around their feet as the four stepped into the narrow alley behind the archive chamber as they made it outside the archives.

  Silence reigned—no bells, no footsteps. Just the sound of their breathing.

  Then Zhen stopped.

  “Wait,” she whispered sharply.

  A figure stood at the mouth of the alley, half-shrouded in shadow. Lean, calm, arms folded—and eyes glowing like solidified mist.

  His voice cut through the silence. “You shouldn’t be here.”

  Zhen stepped forward cautiously. “Kaisen?”

  He tilted his head, jaw tense. “You dragged outsiders into the Archives? Are you insane?”

  “I did what I had to.”

  Kaisen's voice dropped. “You have no idea what you’ve done, Zhen.”

  Tianming moved forward, eyes sharp. “If you have a problem, speak it. Otherwise, get out of our way.”

  Kaisen’s gaze flicked to him—and lingered.

  “You’re the one with the jade.”

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  Tianming didn’t flinch. “And what of it?”

  A slow, bitter smile curved across Kaisen’s face. “You're marked. And the Abyss always reclaims what belongs to it.”

  He turned to leave, but paused.

  “I hope you’re ready. Because you’ve brought something into this sect that’s going to wake up things even the elders fear.”

  Then he was gone. Not with a flourish—just a faint ripple in the mist as if he’d never been there at all.

  They stood in silence for a moment, processing the warning.

  Jiang Chen broke it with a scoff. “Friendly bunch.”

  Zhen looked conflicted, her brows drawn. “Kaisen… he wasn’t always like that.”

  Xueyan folded her arms. “Doesn’t matter. We made it out. That’s what counts.”

  But Tianming didn’t speak.

  The mark on his skin throbbed—like it was listening.

  Something deeper was watching now.

  The secrets they uncovered tonight were only the surface of something vast…

  And the Abyss was stirring.

  Elsewhere – A Dark Chamber in the Inner Sanctum

  Kaisen knelt in the shadows, robes marked with the sigil of the outer acolytes. The chamber was lit by a faint violet glow from a spirit lantern suspended above.

  Before him stood Elder Veyar—a thin, hawk-eyed man wrapped in heavy abyssal robes stitched with dark metal thread. His presence felt like smoke and knives, impossible to read yet heavy with threat.

  “They’ve entered the sect. They found the Archives,” Kaisen said. “And they’ve added someone else to their circle. A girl from within.”

  Veyar’s smile was a thin, sharp line. “Fools. They think the Archives gave them answers.”

  Kaisen hesitated. “They’re planning something. The tomb vaults, maybe. Should I follow?”

  “No,” Veyar said. “We already know where they’ll go. The jade leads them.”

  He stepped closer, placing one skeletal hand over a dark map on the table. “Let them believe they’re clever. Then we snap the trap shut.”

  He tapped a location near the base of the central sanctum.

  “I’ll prepare the altar. When the jade pulses, we’ll be ready.”

  Kaisen bowed, but his eyes flickered uncertainly.

  Later That Night

  In a Shadowed Courtyard

  Far across the sect, past the public training grounds, in a forgotten courtyard wrapped in thorned vines and silent stones...

  A man knelt before an altar of flickering blue flames. His robes bore the insignia of the Azure Dragon Pavilion—though covered by the Abyss robes.

  His lips curled.

  “So the boy is here… and the jade sings.”

  Behind him, a second figure—face hidden beneath a white mask—stepped forward.

  “The Obsidian Temple still watches,” the masked one whispered. “You are not alone in this hunt.”

  The man stood slowly, fire reflecting in his silver-irised eyes.

  “Good.

  Let them come.”

  Next up chapter 43

  -The trio along with Zhen sets out into a deeper part of the sect

  -Their path is filled with enemies and betrayal

  Can Tianming take this all along with the mark placed on him?

  Find out next.

  The world shall soon know

  Tianming was not just a rogue cultivator

  He was the sovereign of celestial ascent

  Tianming art ch 1 Finding the jade