Chapter 46 – Crimson Teeth Beneath Stone
The path ahead was narrow.
After the crypt collapsed behind them, the tunnel veered sharply downward—no longer a carved passage, but a natural shaft drilled through eons of layered rock. The walls wept cold water. Faint crimson light pulsed from mineral veins embedded in the stone, painting everything in a blood-dim glow.
Rael's footsteps echoed as they descended. His breathing had steadied, but the ache in his marrow lingered—a reminder of the Bone Archive's price.
13 days.
That's how long he had to either reinforce the Trait or watch it decay. The marrow of his bones still hummed faintly with the specter of the phantom spear form. Not yet mastered. Not yet his.
But borrowed. On a timer.
Yue Qingshi walked just behind him, silent, her saber drawn—not in fear, but wariness.
Even she, who rarely showed restraint, hadn't spoken since they left the Hall of Bone Echoes.
It wasn't grief. It wasn't fear.
It was instinct.
Something lay ahead. And it was listening.
---
By the time they reached the bottom, only five disciples remained.
Two outer sect initiates—bloodied and broken in spirit. An inner sect girl who had stopped talking altogether. Yue. Rael.
And the sixth.
A silent one.
He wore robes darker than shadow. No name. No system greeting. He had neither drawn a blade nor used a single Qi technique since entering the trial realm.
But his eyes were cold. Watching. Calculating.
Rael had noticed him earlier, during the statue trial.
He wasn't sure whether the man was human or something else.
And for now, he didn't ask.
---
They emerged into a wide basin.
It looked like a crater underground—circular, perfectly symmetrical, its edges lined with sharp, fang-like stalagmites. At its center was a black stone altar, sunken slightly, and upon it rested a closed flower.
The petals were white, glass-like.
Translucent veins pulsed red within, as though blood moved beneath them.
[System Notice: Crimson Lotus Trial – Final Gate]
Trial Difficulty: Grand Yellow Tier
Objective: Bloom the Crimson Lotus.
Warning: Failure results in permanent marrow collapse.
Entry Condition: Only those bearing foreign bone traits may attempt.
---
Rael's heart skipped.
He turned.
None of the other disciples stepped forward.
Only the silent man and Rael carried bone-based traits.
Yue frowned. "You just recovered from the last trial."
Rael shrugged. "I've got momentum."
He stepped toward the altar, expecting the silent cultivator to follow.
But the man did not move.
Just watched.
Rael understood. This was not his trial.
It was Rael's alone.
---
The moment he stepped onto the altar, the world twisted.
The crater vanished. The ground became glass.
Above him, stars spun—spiraling constellations that moved too fast, too close. Each one a memory of war. Blood. Fire. The flower in front of him had bloomed.
Halfway.
Its petals opened like blades.
And beneath them, teeth.
Crimson and white. Rows upon rows. It wasn't a flower.
It was a maw.
[Trial Active: Crimson Lotus Blooming Phase]
To feed the flower, offer technique, pain, and memory.
Rael understood without being told.
This was not a battle of blades.
It was a sacrifice.
---
He sat.
Closed his eyes.
And began to breathe.
---
First Offering: Technique.
He visualized the Phantom Spear Form: Wailing Cicada Strike.
In his mind, the motion played—fast, sharp, unstable. A stabbing whirl of spiraling Qi that built force in his shoulder and released it through a twist of the foot and spine.
He offered it to the lotus.
The petals rippled.
One opened fully.
---
Second Offering: Pain.
He let down his walls.
Let the ache in his marrow pulse forward. The phantom pain of broken bones from years ago. His father's fists. The punishments in the Iron Forest, the time he starved for three days locked in the Bone-Well for failing a simulation trial.
Every strike, every humiliation—
He gave it voice.
The flower shuddered. More petals opened.
Blood trickled down his lips.
---
Third Offering: Memory.
He didn't choose.
The lotus did.
It reached into him, pulling forward the moment he first realized what this world was—the red sky, the wind carrying the scent of blood, the strange constellations that didn't match Earth's records. That first voice of the system:
"Welcome, User: Echo-000."
And the moment he understood this was not a game.
The flower bloomed fully.
And screamed.
---
Glass shattered.
Rael fell forward, coughing blood.
The altar vanished. The crater returned.
But the flower remained—transformed.
It floated before him, now a spinning sigil, etched in bone and blood.
[You have Bloomed the Crimson Lotus.]
Trait Acquired: Lotus of Bone Flame (Unstable)
Effect: Marrow techniques infused with fire or bone Qi gain a 35% amplification. Causes recoil damage.
Bonus: You may consume spiritual memories as fuel to delay trait decay.
Warning: This is a Heretical Seed. Exposure will attract notice from Forbidden Sects.
Rael blinked.
Then stood.
---
Yue rushed to his side. "You're insane."
He grinned weakly. "Getting used to it."
The silent cultivator finally turned.
Just once.
Their eyes met.
For a split second, Rael felt something vast and old inside the man's gaze—like a canyon without bottom. The man nodded once.
Then vanished down the next corridor.
---
"Who is he?" Yue asked.
Rael didn't know. But his instincts screamed one thing.
Predator.
He tightened the grip on his dagger.
And followed.