66. The Abyss Awakens

The oppressive darkness of the Forsaken Abyss stretched endlessly before them. It was not a mere void—it was a realm consumed by forgotten agony, where the shattered remnants of once-glorious civilizations floated like drifting corpses in a sea of eternal night.

Ling Tian, Xu Qing'er, and Bai Xue stood atop a crumbling platform of obsidian stone, their figures illuminated only by the faint flickers of their own energies.

Xu Qing'er's gaze sharpened. "The abyss is alive."

She was right. The shadows moved—not as tricks of the light, but as entities watching, waiting. The air itself carried a low, whispering murmur, as if countless fallen beings murmured in their slumber.

Bai Xue's silver-blue eyes reflected the darkness around them. "Something here remembers you, Ling Tian."

Ling Tian's expression remained unreadable. He felt it too—an ancient awareness pressing against the edges of his soul, as if the abyss itself recognized him.

Was it merely the remnants of past sovereigns? Or was there something deeper waiting in the void?

He stepped forward, his azure-gold aura flaring faintly, casting a long glow over the abyssal ruins. "Let's move. If we linger too long, we may become part of this place."

The three figures pressed on, their footsteps eerily silent against the shifting stone beneath them.

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The Forgotten Tomb

After what felt like hours, they reached a massive gateway—an ancient tomb carved into the abyss itself. Its colossal doors bore inscriptions in an unknown language, their meaning lost to time.

Ling Tian traced his fingers along the worn symbols. Though unfamiliar, they stirred something within him.

A memory that did not belong to him.

Xu Qing'er placed a hand on the door. "It's sealed with an oath—one bound by the souls of those who entered before."

Bai Xue stepped forward. "Then there must be a key."

Before Ling Tian could speak, a voice—cold and hollow—echoed from the depths of the tomb.

"The one who carries the fate of two shall prove their right to enter."

A sudden force erupted from the gate, engulfing Ling Tian in a surge of dark energy. It was neither an attack nor a test—it was recognition.

His azure-gold aura clashed against the abyssal force, sending violent ripples through the air. The ground trembled beneath their feet as the tomb responded to his presence.

Then, as suddenly as it came, the energy receded.

The massive doors groaned as they slowly began to open.

Ling Tian exhaled. "Looks like we were expected."

Xu Qing'er's expression was unreadable, but Bai Xue's gaze lingered on him for a moment longer than usual.

They stepped into the tomb.

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The Trial of the Vanquished

The air within the tomb was different. Heavy. Ancient.

Rows of statues lined the path—sovereigns of old, their faces worn but their auras still lingering. These were not mere figures of history. They were witnesses to something long forgotten.

At the far end of the chamber, an altar stood, shrouded in a veil of shadows. Upon it lay a stone tablet, its inscriptions glowing faintly with ethereal light.

Ling Tian stepped forward.

The moment his fingers touched the tablet, the chamber came alive.

The statues trembled. A voice, neither living nor dead, echoed through the tomb.

"Prove yourself."

A vortex of abyssal energy erupted around Ling Tian, forming into a figure—a specter of ancient royalty, its hollow eyes gleaming with a sovereign's lost dignity.

Xu Qing'er and Bai Xue stepped back as the presence intensified. This was Ling Tian's battle alone.

The specter raised its hand. In an instant, a blade of abyssal light formed in its grasp, slicing toward Ling Tian without hesitation.

Ling Tian's gaze remained calm. He summoned his sword, its azure-gold glow clashing against the darkness. The impact sent shockwaves rippling through the chamber.

The battle had begun.

Each strike was not merely a clash of blades—it was a battle of wills, of existence itself. The abyss sought to consume, to judge, to test.

But Ling Tian was not one to be judged.

His sword flared with sovereign might, severing the abyssal blade in a single decisive stroke. The specter wavered, its form shattering like a dying ember.

A moment of silence followed.

Then, the altar pulsed. The shadows lifted, revealing a new inscription upon the tablet.

Bai Xue read it aloud.

"The path to truth is neither light nor dark—it is sovereign over both."

Ling Tian's expression was unreadable.

The Forsaken Abyss had acknowledged him.

But the real question remained—what lay ahead?

As they turned toward the next passage, the whispers of the abyss stirred once more.

Somewhere in the depths, something else had awakened.

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