Chapter 26 : The Abyss Beckons

Chapter 26: The Abyss Beckons

A suffocating silence settled over the abyssal realm. The air was dense, thick with a darkness that seemed to breathe, shifting around Ruoyan like unseen eyes watching her every move. The ground beneath her feet pulsed with an unnatural rhythm, neither solid nor liquid, but something in between—a realm that defied logic, built upon the essence of the void itself.

The figure before her remained still, his golden eyes gleaming like twin suns swallowed by darkness. His presence was a paradox—ethereal yet suffocating, powerful yet restrained, as if the entire abyss bent around his will.

Ruoyan kept her stance firm, flames flickering around her fingers. "Who are you?"

The man's lips curled into a slow, knowing smile. "Names have power, little phoenix."

A flicker of irritation crossed Ruoyan's face. She had no patience for riddles. "I don't have time for games. Either state your intentions, or I will carve the answers from you myself."

His smile deepened. "Such fire. But the abyss does not yield to flames, no matter how bright they burn."

With a flick of his wrist, the very shadows beneath Ruoyan twisted, rising like serpents to ensnare her ankles. Reacting instantly, she summoned a surge of fire, the golden-red blaze igniting the darkness around her. The tendrils hissed but did not fully retreat.

The man chuckled. "Interesting."

Ruoyan narrowed her eyes. "I won't ask again. Who are you?"

The figure finally sighed, as if humoring a child. "You may call me Jing Zeyan."

The name stirred something in her memory, a vague recollection of the abyssal forces that scholars whispered about. The Abyssal Lords—rulers of this forsaken domain, feared even by celestial cultivators.

Her grip on her sword tightened. "One of the Abyssal Lords?"

Jing Zeyan gave her an appraising look. "A quick mind. But not quite."

Ruoyan didn't let her guard down. "If you aren't an Abyssal Lord, then what are you?"

He took a slow step forward, and the very space around him rippled, as if reality itself had to make room for his presence. "A shadow between realms. A force long forgotten. And perhaps… a guide, if you prove worthy."

Ruoyan resisted the urge to step back, unwilling to show weakness. "A guide?"

Jing Zeyan's smile didn't reach his eyes. "You seek something stolen from your world. You believe retrieving it will restore balance. But tell me, little phoenix… do you even understand what it is you're chasing?"

Ruoyan clenched her jaw. "The Star Lord entrusted me with this mission."

"And do you blindly follow orders?"

She hesitated.

Jing Zeyan's golden gaze sharpened. "Good. Doubt is the beginning of wisdom."

Ruoyan didn't appreciate his cryptic tone, but she knew better than to charge headfirst into an unknown battle. "If you know where the stolen object is, tell me."

Jing Zeyan tilted his head. "Very well. But knowledge comes at a price."

The ground beneath Ruoyan trembled. The darkness deepened, and suddenly, the space around them shifted.

In the blink of an eye, she was no longer standing on abyssal soil. Instead, she found herself falling.

Ruoyan hit the ground hard, a sharp jolt of pain shooting through her body. The moment she landed, she was on her feet, blade drawn, eyes scanning her surroundings.

She was inside a vast cavern, its walls lined with glowing blue crystals that pulsed with eerie energy. Strange symbols were etched across the stone, remnants of an ancient civilization lost to time.

A soft rustling sound made her spin.

Figures emerged from the darkness, their bodies cloaked in tattered robes, faces hidden beneath shadowed hoods. But what sent a chill down Ruoyan's spine was the aura they exuded—not quite alive, not quite dead.

The Forsaken.

Her pulse quickened. She had read about them—warriors who had once served the abyss but had been trapped in an eternal cycle of existence, neither truly dead nor alive.

One of them raised a skeletal hand, its fingers tipped with elongated claws.

"Intruder."

Ruoyan didn't hesitate. The moment they lunged, she moved.

Her blade cut through the air, igniting in golden-red flames. She met the first attacker head-on, her sword slicing through the mist-like body, but instead of crumbling, the creature reformed.

Tch.

She flipped backward just as another swiped at her, narrowly dodging a strike aimed for her throat. Flames surged around her, but the Forsaken barely reacted to fire. They weren't physical beings.

Her mind worked quickly. If they weren't truly alive, and they reformed from physical attacks… then how could she defeat them?

A crackling sound echoed.

From the shadows, Jing Zeyan watched.

He leaned lazily against a pillar of dark stone, amusement flickering in his golden eyes. "Struggling already?"

Ruoyan scowled. "They're immune to fire."

Jing Zeyan's lips twitched. "And?"

Ruoyan gritted her teeth. "And that means I need another way."

She dodged another attack, flipping over one of the creatures and landing behind it. If fire wouldn't work, then…

She exhaled, reaching deep into herself. Her spiritual energy shifted. Instead of fire, she called upon something else.

A deep, resounding pulse echoed from within her. Light.

Golden threads wove through her veins, and a brilliant radiance burst forth from her palm. The cavern blazed with blinding brilliance.

The Forsaken screeched. Their forms withered, the shadows unraveling under the purity of her energy.

Jing Zeyan arched a brow. "Interesting."

One by one, the Forsaken crumbled, their bodies dissolving into dust. Within moments, silence fell over the cavern.

Ruoyan's breath was heavy, sweat trickling down her forehead. She had never used that kind of power before.

She turned to Jing Zeyan, wary. "That was your test?"

He pushed away from the pillar, strolling toward her. "A necessary lesson. The abyss cannot be conquered by brute force alone."

Ruoyan's grip on her sword tightened. "And what was the point of it?"

Jing Zeyan met her gaze. "To see if you were ready to wield what was stolen."

Ruoyan stiffened. "You mean—"

A slow nod. "Yes. What you seek… is the Heart of Radiance. A fragment of celestial power that was once sealed away in this realm."

Ruoyan's mind reeled. "Then why was it taken?"

Jing Zeyan's gaze darkened. "Because not everything the heavens call 'light' is truly righteous."

Ruoyan frowned. "You're saying the Star Lord—"

He cut her off. "I am saying history is written by those who remain standing."

A chill ran down her spine.

Before she could press further, a distant rumble echoed through the cavern.

Jing Zeyan's gaze flickered upward. "It seems… we are not alone."

A new presence stirred. Stronger. Darker. Ancient.

And Ruoyan knew—her true trial was only beginning.

This Jing Zeyan, tests Ruoyan's abilities, and reveals a major twist—the Heart of Radiance may not be as pure as she believed. Descent into the Abyss

The ground trembled beneath Ruoyan's feet, sending cracks through the cavern floor. Dust and fragments of dark stone rained from the ceiling as a low, guttural growl echoed through the abyss. Whatever presence had stirred, it was unlike anything Ruoyan had faced before.

Jing Zeyan tilted his head, his golden eyes gleaming with amusement rather than fear. "Well now, it seems our guest has finally arrived."

Ruoyan ignored him, gripping her sword tightly as she scanned the shadows. The very air twisted, thickening with an oppressive energy that clawed at her senses. The abyss was alive, and something ancient lurked within its depths.

The darkness shifted.

From beyond the crumbling cavern walls, an enormous figure emerged, its form materializing from the abyssal void like a nightmare given flesh.

A Void Devourer.

Ruoyan inhaled sharply. She had read about these creatures in the Star Lord's records—primordial beasts of the abyss, birthed from pure darkness, capable of consuming spiritual energy and light itself. Even the most powerful cultivators avoided them.

The creature's form was shifting and unstable, as if it existed between reality and oblivion. It had no true face, only a gaping maw filled with spiraling darkness, and dozens of shifting eyes blinked across its semi-transparent body. Its limbs—long, jagged appendages—stretched outward, dragging across the cavern floor, leaving trails of void energy in their wake.

Ruoyan felt the pull of its power—a force that sought to consume everything in its path. Even her flames flickered as if struggling to exist in its presence.

Jing Zeyan let out a low chuckle. "You have quite the luck, little phoenix. Not many get to witness a Void Devourer up close and live to tell the tale."

Ruoyan shot him a glare. "Then help, or stay out of my way."

He smirked but said nothing, merely folding his arms as if observing an interesting show.

Tch. Useless abyssal trickster.

Ruoyan's instincts screamed at her to move.

The Void Devourer lunged.

She dodged just as one of its tendrils smashed into the ground where she had been standing, leaving a deep crater. The cavern shook, more debris falling from above. If she didn't end this quickly, the entire place would collapse.

Summoning her flames, she unleashed a torrent of fire, golden-red streaks blazing through the darkness. But the moment her attack struck the beast's form, the flames dimmed, swallowed by the abyss.

Ruoyan's eyes widened. It was absorbing her spiritual energy.

The creature twisted, its spiraling maw opening wider as a wave of abyssal energy erupted toward her.

Ruoyan barely had time to throw up a defensive barrier before the attack slammed into her.

Pain exploded through her body as she was flung backward, colliding against a jagged rock formation. The impact sent a shockwave through her bones, but she gritted her teeth and forced herself to stand.

The Void Devourer advanced, its many eyes glowing with eerie intelligence.

Fire wouldn't work. Direct energy attacks would only feed it.

She had to think. Fast.

Her gaze flickered to the glowing blue crystals embedded in the cavern walls. They pulsed with energy—ancient, raw, untouched by the abyss.

Ruoyan narrowed her eyes. A natural counterbalance.

If the abyss devoured light, then what if she used the abyss against itself?

A plan formed in her mind. Risky, but possible.

She dashed forward, dodging another sweeping attack, and reached for one of the crystals. The moment her fingers brushed against its surface, a surge of power jolted through her.

The energy was foreign yet familiar, a force that hummed in harmony with her own. It wasn't fire, nor light—it was the energy of balance itself.

The Void Devourer hesitated.

Ruoyan smirked. "So you can feel it too."

Channeling the crystal's power into her blade, she struck. The sword's edge glowed, crackling with a fusion of her fire and the crystal's unique energy.

The Void Devourer shrieked.

Where her blade cut, its form unraveled, unable to consume this unfamiliar force.

Ruoyan didn't hesitate. She moved like a streak of light, slashing through its tendrils, severing its connection to the abyss. Each strike weakened the beast, its writhing form losing cohesion.

It lunged one last time, desperation in its movement.

Ruoyan drove her blade into its core, channeling every ounce of her strength into the final blow.

The cavern erupted in light.

For a brief moment, everything was silent.

Then, with a final, agonized wail, the Void Devourer collapsed into itself, its body dissolving into threads of abyssal energy, which scattered into the void.

The battle was over.

Ruoyan let out a shaky breath, wiping the sweat from her brow. The crystal's energy was still humming in her veins, its presence lingering in a way that felt… different.

Jing Zeyan's voice broke the silence.

"Not bad."

She turned to find him still standing in the same spot, his expression unreadable.

Ruoyan scoffed. "Could've used your help."

Jing Zeyan merely smiled. "You didn't need it."

Her irritation flared, but before she could argue, the cavern shifted again.

The walls peeled away, the remnants of the abyss folding into itself, revealing a vast, open space beyond.

A temple stood at its center—an ancient, towering structure of black stone and glowing runes, untouched by time.

Ruoyan's breath caught.

This… was no ordinary place.

Jing Zeyan stepped forward, his golden gaze settling on the temple. "Welcome to the heart of the abyss."

Ruoyan's grip on her sword tightened.

Something powerful lay beyond those doors.

And she had a feeling this journey was far from over