Chapter 29: Echoes of the Deep

Light bent and warped, folding the world into nothingness.

Then, with a sound like cracking ice, the group reappeared — not in the forest, but within a sunken temple.

Moss-covered pillars loomed in every direction. Bioluminescent algae pulsed across the damp walls, casting an eerie green glow. Water dripped steadily from above, though there was no ceiling in sight, only a dark canopy of stone and tide-bound fog.

The teleportation had brought them to another section of the secret realm — deeper and older.

Lin Ho staggered slightly, blood running from his nose. Using Chaos Qi to power a foreign formation had drained him far more than expected. He wiped it away, scanning the surroundings.

> "Where are we now?" the saber-wielder asked, his voice hoarse.

> "Beneath the coastal shelf," Lin Ho said, his voice steady despite the exhaustion. "An outpost of the Deep Court. One of their last before the Fall."

The green-robed girl knelt beside the unconscious tiger-cloaked boy, who had taken a slash from the Herald. His breathing was shallow, his aura flickering.

> "He won't last long if we don't treat him."

Lin Ho nodded and reached into his pouch. He pulled out a deep-blue pill etched with silver lines — one of the three his grandfather had given him before leaving Qingye City.

> "Here. Spirit-Recovery Pill. It should stabilize his condition."

She hesitated. "That's... a rare-grade pill."

> "He fought to give us time. Don't waste it."

She accepted the pill, eyes softening briefly before she focused on treating the wound.

Meanwhile, Lin Ho walked deeper into the temple. Every step echoed as if the walls themselves remembered the feet of those who came before. At the heart of the structure, he found a massive altar — different from the one they'd escaped, yet carved in a similar spiral.

A large mural towered above it, depicting an ocean swallowing the sky, and in its center… a black star.

Lin Ho's Chaos Qi stirred involuntarily.

> "This place was meant to be forgotten," he whispered. "But it's still alive."

His hand reached for the mural, and as soon as his fingers touched the surface, it responded. An illusion burst forth — memories locked in stone.

He saw figures in robes of tideglass, kneeling before an altar. An ancient sea beast, massive and crowned with ten eyes, floated above them, giving commands in a forgotten tongue.

And then… destruction.

Waves of golden fire. Screams. The sky cracking open. Something descended — not a god, not a beast, but a force — one that radiated Chaos. It didn't destroy out of malice. It simply unmade.

The mural ended in silence.

Lin Ho took a step back, his breath shallow. "They tried to resist Chaos once. And they failed."

The others entered behind him, drawn by the burst of energy.

> "You saw something," the saber-wielder said.

> "A warning," Lin Ho replied, turning to face them. "And a truth the world's forgotten. The Deep Court wasn't destroyed by war or plague… but by Chaos."

They stared at him, unsure what to believe.

Before anyone could speak again, the temple began to rumble. The water seeping from above grew darker — thick, brackish, like old blood.

A roar echoed through the stone.

The Herald had followed them.

> "It's coming," Lin Ho said calmly. "And this time… we may not outrun it."

He walked to the altar and sat cross-legged.

> "I'll hold it here."

The others looked stunned.

> "You'll die!"

> "If I do nothing, we all will."

But deep within, Lin Ho knew something had changed. The Chaos within him no longer trembled at the presence of ancient power.

It welcomed it.

He smiled faintly, eyes closing as he began to draw in the realm's corrupted energy, purifying it through his breath.

> "Let's see if I'm truly my bloodline's heir."

The shadows moved.

The fight for their lives had only just begun.

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End of Chapter 29