Chapter 65: Collapse into the Abyss of Light

While chaos reigned on the surface, with tremors and the stampede of spiritual animals, something even deeper and more sinister was happening underground in the valley. A silent and intense battle was underway, and its outcome could either end the chaos or escalate it to catastrophic levels.

What lay beneath the surface was shocking. The entire underground of the valley was a complex network of tunnels. These tunnels, though bravely resisting total collapse, were on the verge of complete ruin. However, the most astonishing thing wasn't the structure itself but what was happening in one of these tunnels.

Unlike the others, this specific tunnel was shrouded in a dense, icy mist that obscured vision and left instant frost wherever it passed. The mist was cut through by pulses of power originating from a source deep within the tunnel, and each pulse shattered the ice, increasing the instability of the area.

The cause of all this was a sphere of darkness, mixed with a silvery energy. Even if no one were present, it was possible to discern a silhouette within the darkness holding an umbrella, with the canopy outside the darkness.

The sphere pulsed and grew, writhing like snakes, while inaudible voices emerged and disappeared, accompanied by emotional charges such as pain, anger, denial, disgust, and others that were soon swallowed by three heavy and anguishing feelings: sadness, loneliness, and confusion.

The sphere seemed to move in sync with the person's movements, while the umbrella's canopy, adorned with moons and stars, emitted pulses of power that were absorbed by the surrounding earth, accelerating the tunnel's collapse. The structure, already at its limit, finally gave way with one last pulse that made the air tremble.

— "Creak-crash… Creak-crash… Creak-crash…" — The deafening sounds of collapsing rocks echoed through the tunnel, and an avalanche of debris swallowed everything around. The ground beneath the sphere cracked, and the structure collapsed, taking the sphere of darkness with it.

Gravity pulled the sphere downward as it fell alongside several layers of tunnels collapsing into the depths, while rocks and debris were repelled upon contact with it. It fell... and fell... and fell...

Until a light emerged, piercing through the debris and illuminating the entire hole where they had collapsed. Some rocks and debris were incinerated, while others, with artificial traces, persisted.

— "Chiiiii…" — The sphere hissed like oil on fire, and as it continued to fall, the darkness began to lighten, revealing the person inside it—Tang Chun Xi…

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Moments Earlier...

Tang Chun Xi was lost. She no longer felt the ground beneath her; it was as if she were walking on cotton.

Surrounded by thick, suffocating darkness, she wandered aimlessly. The void seemed alive, moving around her like serpents coiling around her mind.

— "Where am I...?" — she murmured, her voice trembling with panic and confusion.

She tried to run, but she couldn't escape the darkness—after all, it was her own aura! It emanated from her body, though she couldn't control it. She felt every sensation…

— "I'll kill every one of them..." — growled another voice, filled with hatred.

— "I haven't lost everything... it's a lie! It's a lie!" — now a desperate scream, a mix of denial and despair.

These voices emanated from the darkness before being consumed by it. And so, the darkness grew. With each moment, the weight in her heart and mind increased, a desire to destroy everything…

— "Please... help me..." — whispered another voice, weak and trembling, filled with pleading and humiliation.

Tang Chun Xi struggled to maintain her consciousness, but every time she tried to rise, her cold, dark aura enveloped her even more.

Her body glowed faintly, a small light fighting against the limitless void of her own aura.

But her light was failing.

Her movements slowed, her strength waned. Gradually, her glowing body became more and more immobile, as if the cold was finally catching up to her, freezing her from within.

She could no longer ignore the voice in her heart: 'You don't belong in this world! Destroy everything and end your loneliness, your pain…' — the voice was persuasive, almost hypnotic. Her mind trembled, on the verge of being consumed by her repressed fears and terrors.

But then, a burning, comforting warmth began to emerge. At first, it was just a faint breeze, almost imperceptible, but it quickly grew, enveloping the space around her and illuminating it. The warmth dissolved part of the darkness, and Tang Chun Xi felt her senses slowly returning, suppressing the voice in her heart.

'This... is warmth...?'

The warmth increased exponentially, and the darkness surrounding her began to dissolve. In a few seconds, she could see beyond the darkness, but with that came mental and physical exhaustion, as well as a terrifying revelation.

'How did I end up here?!'— she thought, on high alert, gripping the handle of the Lunar Umbrella. Her body tensed as she saw the light below her.

'Don't tell me I'm in free fall and that's the ground?!'

Although the aura still enveloped her and she didn't feel the wind, the absence of weight, the debris around her, and the approaching light told her she was falling—and fast.

Her mind raced, reviewing all possibilities: 'Going from a bad situation to a worse one! Do the heavens want to kill me? Or is it some god?' — The irony of the thought passed quickly, replaced by desperate urgency. 'Either way, how can I escape becoming a pancake? Could I enter the ring?'

She dismissed the idea immediately. It was too risky. Even if she entered, when she came out, she would still be in free fall. And worse: what if the dark aura erupted again, without the warmth and golden light? It would be the worst scenario—trapped without being able to escape and consumed by her own darkness.

'Could I use the debris to slow the fall? No, that won't work!' — she thought, discarding another idea.

— "Boom, boom..." — The sound of explosions from below alerted her. She was close to the ground! The sense of urgency peaked, accelerating her heartbeat. She clenched her fists, gripping the Lunar Umbrella, but she knew she couldn't panic. She had to find a solution, and if she couldn't, she would risk entering the ring.

She stopped looking down, as she could only see the golden light, and closed her eyes. From the approaching noises, she knew she had only a few seconds before hitting the ground.

Reviewing everything she knew and had at her disposal, she finally thought of something she could try.