Chapter 38: The Path Ahead and the Shadows That Follow

  Their path from Storm Horizon Sect to the Nether Abyss region was long and winding, crossing wild hills, placid lakes, and forgotten ruins. Though the days were peaceful, the nights often sang with strange energies.

  As they set up camp by a moonlit river, the trio sat by the fire sharing roasted fish and laughter.

  “You snore like a beast, Jiang Chen,” Lei Xueyan teased, poking him with a twig.

  “I do not,” he deadpanned, earning a snort from Tianming.

  “He does,” Tianming confirmed with a smirk.

  “I trained all night. Excuse me for sleeping like the dead,” Jiang Chen muttered.

  Lei Xueyan leaned back against a log, her arms behind her head. “It’s hard to believe we’re really doing this. Leaving everything behind… Feels like a dream.”

  Tianming looked up at the stars. “It’s only the beginning.”

  But under that clear night sky, the wind carried whispers—foreign, heavy with dark intent. Somewhere far ahead, near the lands governed by the Nether Abyss Sect, something stirred. An ancient pulse, faint but growing stronger, beat in the direction they traveled. Tianming felt it before the others did—a strange resonance with the fragment within him.

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  The next afternoon, their journey took them through a dense stretch of ancient forest. The sun barely reached the forest floor, filtered through thick branches like streaks of dying gold. The air grew cold—unnaturally so.

  A sudden hush fell over the woods.

  “No birds,” Lei Xueyan whispered, drawing closer to the others. “Not even the wind.”

  Tianming slowed, his instincts prickling. The fragment within his body stirred restlessly, as though reacting to something nearby.

  Then, they saw it.

  A broken ritual circle, carved into the mossy earth, half-covered in fallen leaves and vines. Its lines pulsed faintly with a dark, violet hue. Faded symbols etched along its edge thrummed with an eerie power.

  “Don’t step—” Jiang Chen began, but Tianming had already stepped within its boundary.

  A sharp pulse of energy erupted beneath his feet, surging up his body like an invisible wave. His eyes widened, his body froze in place—just for a heartbeat—but that was enough.

  A mark, black and thin like smoke, etched itself across the inside of his left forearm. It shimmered for a moment, then vanished beneath his skin.

  “Tianming!” Xueyan rushed to him. “Are you okay?”

  He staggered back a step, catching his breath. “I… I think I’ve been marked.”

  Jiang Chen inspected his arm, his expression grim. “It’s not a curse. It’s a beacon.”

  “For what?” Lei Xueyan asked, glancing around warily.

  Tianming looked toward the north, toward where the skies seemed darker than they should have been.

  “For something watching. Waiting.”

  In the Depths of the Nether Abyss Sect

  Far from them, deep within the sealed archives of the Nether Abyss Sect, a shadow moved. A robed figure traced his finger across a black jade mirror. In it, Tianming’s face glimmered faintly—marked and chosen.

  “It worked,” the shadowy figure said, his voice smooth like oil over water.

  “He was drawn to it, just as the jade fragment predicted,” said another figure with blood like crimson hair, obscured in the dark cloak. “The Primordial Chaos within him resonates with our seal.”

  “We’ve ensured he cannot escape notice now,” the third person murmured.

  “Let the others hunt him if they dare. He belongs to the abyss.” The shadowy figure laughed smashing black jade mirror with his hand.

  “Send word to the Trial Keepers. Prepare the Gate of Shadows. The marked one approaches.”

  Next: Chapter 39

  The trio reaches the outer territories of the Nether Abyss Sect.

  They meet another group of cultivators seeking entrance.

  The Sect’s strange rules and dark customs begin to unfold.

  A mysterious trial involving illusions and manipulation begins.