Chapter 28: Beneath Stone, Memory Sleeps

The mist clung tighter the deeper they ventured, curling around their legs like pale serpents. Every few steps, Li Yuan Tian could feel the resistance in the air grow stronger. Not crushing, but dragging—like walking through molasses soaked in ancient spite.

"Are you sure you're only at Body Tempering?" Zhao Qilin asked over his shoulder, adjusting the straps of the formation kit on his back.

"Yes."

"No offense, but you're either crazy… or you've got some serious death wish. This place swallows pseudo-core cultivators like they're steamed buns."

Li Yuan Tian didn't reply. He simply stepped over a collapsed totem, pausing to inspect the strange patterns etched into its stone.

Zhao Qilin sighed, jogging forward to keep pace. "You don't talk much, huh?"

"I talk when there's something worth saying."

"Fair."

The two moved in silence for a time. The valley deepened. The light grew dim. And the mists thickened into near-opacity.

But then it changed.

Not abruptly—but subtly.

A strange tension hummed in the soil, a low pulse like a heart beating beneath stone. It wasn't spiritual energy, not exactly. It was older. Wilder. Li Yuan Tian's body, honed through years of body tempering, shivered in reaction. His bones resonated faintly with the rhythm.

"You feel it too, don't you?" Zhao Qilin whispered.

Li Yuan Tian nodded slowly. "Something's watching."

They turned a bend and came upon what could only be described as a temple ruin—half-buried in stone and vines, its entrance yawning like the mouth of a corpse.

Massive stone statues, long eroded by time, lined the steps. Each bore cracked weapons and chipped armor. One had a half-shattered mask—its remaining eye socket carved in the shape of a lotus.

"The Silent Legion," Zhao muttered. "This valley was once their stronghold. Before they vanished. Some say they served an ancient cultivator lord who surpassed even the Core stage."

Li Yuan Tian narrowed his eyes. "A myth?"

"Maybe. But this—" he pointed to the statue—"is real. And if the stories are true, the inner sanctum holds a formation that's been pulsing for centuries. Some say it's an inheritance site. Others… that it's a prison."

Li Yuan Tian didn't ask which one Zhao believed.

He already knew.

They descended the broken steps. Each footfall stirred memories long buried—echoes in the air, faint whispers in forgotten dialects. When they reached the threshold, Zhao halted, pulling out a worn talisman.

"It's sealed," he said. "Old, but alive. This kind of formation... it's not like modern ones. It remembers. If we press forward blindly, it'll react. Possibly violently."

Li Yuan Tian stared at the archway. Something within called to him—not in words, but in hunger.

"Can you unseal it?"

"Eventually. But I need time. Days, maybe weeks. There are layered constructs here—one of them seems to resonate with bloodline energy, the other... with intent."

"Intent?" Li Yuan Tian echoed.

Zhao shrugged. "That's my guess. The formation feels. And right now, it doesn't recognize us."

Li Yuan Tian knelt near the archway and pressed his hand against the stone. A shiver ran through his skin—not from cold, but from contact. A flicker of something unseen stirred.

Zhao's eyes widened. "Did you feel that?! It reacted."

"I didn't do anything," Li Yuan Tian replied calmly. But inwardly, a storm had begun. The stone had pulsed faintly, just once—and not in rejection.

But in welcome.

---

The Sleeper Within

That night, they camped within a shallow cave, not far from the temple's broken gate. Zhao Qilin scribbled calculations by firelight, cross-referencing worn scrolls and yellowed maps.

Li Yuan Tian sat cross-legged, shirt off, breathing slowly as he guided his qi along his meridians.

The mist here interfered with cultivation—but not completely. It distorted the flow, yes—but it also... compressed it.

His qi felt denser now. Sharper. Like steel folded one more time. And his bones ached, not from strain—but from adaptation.

He was changing.

"I think I figured out part of the lock," Zhao said suddenly. "It's layered in nine rings, like a flower blooming inward. But the third and fifth rings are fused. That shouldn't be possible. Someone rewrote the base logic."

Li Yuan Tian opened one eye. "Can it be undone?"

Zhao hesitated. "Not by me. Not yet."

Li Yuan Tian nodded and closed his eyes again. But his thoughts lingered on Zhao's words.

Nine rings. Layers of intent. Echoes of blood and will. A trial, perhaps. Or an invitation.

This was no simple ruin. This was something left behind by a cultivator who had glimpsed the edges of the pseudo qi core —or even passed beyond it.

And somehow, it was responding to him.

---

Foreshadowing the Storm

Over the next few days, Li Yuan Tian began pushing himself further.

He explored the surrounding ruins alone, mapping fragments of lost formations and marking potential danger zones. Occasionally, he stumbled upon beasts—strange things, twisted by the valley's energy. He fought them without techniques, relying only on the raw strength and resilience of Peak Body Tempering.

Each battle left him bruised and drained—but stronger.

And each night, the energy of the valley seeped into him just a little more.

Meanwhile, Zhao Qilin continued his work, gradually coaxing the outer layers of the formation to life. Glyphs flared and faded. Runes shimmered like dying stars. The air around the temple grew charged with tension, like a drawn bowstring.

"We're getting close," Zhao said one evening. "But I don't think it'll open for me."

Li Yuan Tian looked up from his meditation.

Zhao stared into the flames. "It's responding to you. Not me. I don't think this was ever meant to be my path."

Li Yuan Tian stood and walked toward the gate. He reached out again—no talisman, no qi manipulation.

Just presence.

And again, the stone stirred.

But this time, the reaction was different.

A gust of warm wind blew from within the sealed chamber—impossible, silent, yet real. It passed through Li Yuan Tian like a whisper of memory.

And in that moment, a vision blinked into his mind:

A figure—tall, robed in ancient black—with lotus sigils blooming across their chest, standing before a stone altar soaked in blood and starlight.

A voice echoed faintly—

"Only those who dare enter death may glimpse beyond life."

Li Yuan Tian opened his eyes. His heart thundered—not in fear, but in conviction.

He knew then: this valley would be his forge.

He had not yet reached Pseudo Core.

But perhaps that didn't matter.

Because somewhere within these ruins, the path to true cultivation waited—not given, but taken.

By those bold enough to bleed for it.

End of Chapter 29