47. The Path Beyond the Ruins

The winds howled through the desolate Forsaken Realm.

Ling Tian stared at the broken gateway before him, its ancient runes flickering as if caught between existence and erasure.

Xu Qing'er stood beside him, her silver eyes reflecting the eerie glow of the gateway. "This portal… it's incomplete, yet still connected to something beyond our reach."

Ling Tian extended his palm, where the golden-azure mark still pulsed with power.

The moment his energy touched the gateway—

It reacted.

The ruined structure trembled, ancient engravings lighting up one by one.

A surge of power rippled through space, as if something on the other side had awakened.

Xu Qing'er's breath hitched. "Ling Tian… something is watching us."

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The Watchers

A deep, unnatural pressure filled the air.

Ling Tian's gaze sharpened. He felt it too—a presence beyond this realm, observing him.

Not one.

Many.

Faint figures flickered within the broken gateway, shadows stretching across the void.

They were not human.

Their forms were twisted, featureless yet filled with unfathomable will.

Xu Qing'er took a step back. "Are they… guardians of this place?"

Ling Tian remained silent.

The figures did not move.

They did not speak.

Yet he felt an unspoken challenge radiating from them.

A test.

A trial.

And Ling Tian did not hesitate.

"I will break through."

With a step forward, his golden-azure aura erupted, clashing against the unseen will guarding the gateway—

And the world shattered into endless light.

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