Chapter 30: Heart of the Storm
The temple trembled as if the sea itself had become furious. Statues cracked, algae curled inward, and distant chambers echoed with the howls of awakening beasts. The Herald's presence pressed closer — a tide of hatred and hunger.
Lin Ho sat unmoving, Chaos Qi spiraling around him like a miniature galaxy. It absorbed the corrupted energy from the temple's depths, spinning it into calm order, refining it into something more than Qi — something primal.
The others took cover behind the shattered pillars, weapon hilts tight in their fists.
> "We need to retreat," the saber-wielder whispered.
"We can't leave him," the green-robed girl hissed. "He's the reason we're still alive."
Lin Ho heard none of it. He had entered a state beyond meditation — a communion.
In his mind's eye, he saw it: a vast ocean swallowing a continent, the sky torn apart by celestial spears, and at the center, the black star again — pulsing.
He reached for it.
Pain stabbed into his spirit as his soul was pulled toward the image. The star opened like an eye.
And something looked back.
A voice, ancient and cold, thundered not in words, but in meanings.
> "You awaken too early."
> "I didn't ask," Lin Ho whispered back.
> "You are not ready. Chaos obeys no one."
> "Then it will learn to walk beside me."
A surge of power exploded through his meridians. His cultivation base swelled, bursting past Mid Meridian Forging into Late Stage. The spiral in his dantian tightened and hardened — not spinning randomly, but with purpose. It had stabilized.
The others gasped as Lin Ho rose, golden-black light flowing from his every pore.
The Herald smashed through the far wall.
It was no longer masked in illusion. Its true form towered over the temple — eight limbs, serpentine body, face like a malformed fish god. Eyes burned with resentment, and a trident of bone shimmered with cursed runes.
It roared, flooding the chamber with soul-pressure.
The saber-wielder collapsed, unconscious. The green-robed girl clutched her head in agony.
Lin Ho stepped forward.
Chaos Qi wrapped around him like robes woven from starlight. He drew his blade — his father's longblade — and held it low.
> "You've chased me long enough," he said softly.
The Herald snarled.
Then charged.
Their clash was thunder given shape. Every strike from the Herald's trident carved gouges in the floor. Every counter from Lin Ho sent golden-black arcs through the walls. Water rose, steam hissed, and Qi swirled like a cyclone.
At one point, the trident shattered Lin Ho's shoulder — bones cracked.
But he didn't fall.
With a roar, he reversed his grip and stabbed upward — blade surging with Chaos Spiral Qi.
The Herald screeched.
The altar behind them lit up suddenly, activated by the force of Lin Ho's Qi. The spiral etched into its stone spun rapidly, creating a vortex of ancient energy.
The Herald's body was pulled toward it.
> "No—!" the creature shrieked in its tongue, but Lin Ho pressed forward, slamming his palm onto the altar with the last of his strength.
A blinding light exploded outward.
The Herald vanished into the spiral — sealed or destroyed, Lin Ho couldn't tell.
He collapsed, unconscious, just as the temple began to crumble.
---
Later.
When Lin Ho awoke, he was aboard a Qingye Sect rescue vessel.
The green-robed girl sat nearby, relief on her face.
> "You're awake. You sealed it. And… you're alive."
Lin Ho nodded weakly.
> "Did we make it out?"
> "Barely. The realm collapsed after the altar activated. But the elders found us in time."
He closed his eyes again.
Somewhere in the deep, a presence stirred — but it would not follow.
Not yet.
> "The deep remembers," he murmured.
---
End of Chapter 30