Chapter 105: Meeting Nyren Again

Chapter 105: Meeting Nyren Again

Her voice was calm.

But the poisonous pressure behind it made the surrounding cultivators tense.

"That person has already become a variable in the expedition. I don’t want an obstacle appearing later."

The two cultivators accepted the order and immediately left the chamber.

Their figures moved through the corridor, following the faint energy trail left behind by the destroyed Warden.

Qing Lian watched them disappear.

Her expression remained cold.

The Emerald Venom Corps had dealt with many dangerous cultivators before.

But whoever had destroyed the Warden had done so without leaving a clear identity behind.

That meant the person was either highly skilled...

Or hiding something.

Neither possibility pleased her.

——————————

Lothe stepped through the archway beyond the chamber where the Slate Warden had fallen.

The moment he crossed the threshold, the surroundings changed.

The floor beneath his feet disappeared.

For a brief moment, he felt his body becoming weightless.

There was no sensation of falling.

No sense of direction.

The space around him was simply stretched thin, carrying him forward through a lightless passage.

Lothe immediately activated [Spatial Perception].

His perception extended only a short distance before being swallowed by the surrounding darkness.

The darkness was not ordinary.

It did not merely block his sight.

It interfered with his perception.

Even the sound of his breathing seemed distant.

Lothe remained still, allowing the strange passage to carry him forward.

He did not know where the palace was sending him.

That uncertainty was dangerous.

But the Ancient Palace’s formations were far too complex to disrupt blindly.

————————————

After several seconds, a faint light appeared ahead.

It was dim and crimson, flickering like the glow of a distant flame.

The passage pushed Lothe toward it.

He didn’t resist.

The moment he passed through the light, his feet touched solid ground.

Lothe landed in a crouch.

He immediately scanned the surroundings.

He stood in a massive stone chamber.

The ceiling disappeared into darkness above, while several enormous columns surrounded the room. Each column was carved with strange faces, their mouths open as if silently screaming.

A faint metallic scent filled the air.

Blood.

Lothe’s gaze lowered.

Dark-red liquid flowed through narrow grooves in the stone floor, forming several connected patterns.

The liquid did not move naturally.

It was being guided by the lines carved into the floor.

An ancient formation.

Lothe narrowed his eyes.

Another formation.

He did not know its purpose.

He also did not intend to touch it.

A distant roar suddenly echoed through the chamber.

Lothe looked toward the center of the room.

Several stone constructs were attacking someone.

The figure moved through them with graceful, precise movements.

Ice exploded across the floor.

One construct froze completely before shattering into pieces.

Another raised a stone weapon, but a wave of frost covered its arm and forced it to the ground.

Lothe’s eyes narrowed.

He recognized that fighting style.

The silver hair.

The cold Qi.

The elegant ice techniques.

"Nyren," he muttered.

She was surrounded by more than twenty constructs.

Unlike the Slate Warden, these creatures were smaller and faster. Their bodies were made of black stone, and red Runes pulsed across their chests.

Nyren’s breathing was slightly heavy.

A thin cut marked her cheek, while a crack had appeared across one of her ice shields.

She had already destroyed several enemies, but more continued emerging from the edges of the chamber.

Above the battlefield, a faint red glow gathered around the engraved columns.

Lothe studied it with [Qi Sight].

The energy was moving from the constructs into the formation beneath the floor.

Every time Nyren destroyed one, the remaining creatures became slightly stronger.

They’re connected, Lothe realized.

The battle was not simply a fight against twenty constructs.

The formation was distributing the energy between them.

The longer the fight continued, the more efficient they became.

Nyren raised her sword.

A large amount of Ice Qi gathered around the blade.

"Frozen Crescent!"

A huge arc of ice swept across the chamber.

Several constructs raised their weapons to block it.

BOOM!

The ice arc struck them, freezing their bodies from the waist down.

Nyren immediately moved forward to destroy them.

But the formation beneath the floor brightened.

The remaining constructs absorbed the energy released by the frozen ones.

Their movements became faster.

One of them suddenly appeared behind Nyren.

Its stone blade descended toward her back.

Lothe’s fingers moved. Three Talismans slipped from his sleeve. He did not use his Void Spear nor did he did use [Void Step].

He only flicked the Talismans into the air.

[Binding Talisman.]

The papers transformed into thin purple chains.

FWOOSH!

The chains wrapped around the construct’s arm, stopping the blade less than an inch from Nyren’s back.

Nyren’s eyes narrowed. She had sensed the attack.BBut someone else had stopped it first.

She glanced over her shoulder.

At the far edge of the chamber stood a young man dressed in simple black robes.

His face looked unfamiliar.

His features were plain enough to be forgotten.

But his eyes were cold and focused.

Lothe did not look at her.

His attention remained on the formation beneath the constructs.

Nyren’s expression became cautious.

She did not know who he was.

Lothe raised one hand. A second Talisman flew toward the floor. [Interference Array.]

The Talisman landed between two red Rune pathways.

Purple light spread across the ground.

The formation flickered. The constructs staggered.

Nyren immediately understood the opportunity. She raised her sword and released another wave of Ice Qi.

"Frozen Crescent!"

This time, the attack struck the weakened constructs directly.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

Several stone bodies shattered at once.

The formation released a low, painful vibration.

Lothe’s eyes sharpened. The creatures were not being created by the formation.

They were being strengthened by it.

But why?

What was the chamber preparing them for?

He did not know.

Every time he analyzed another section, the palace only gave him another question.

The remaining constructs turned toward him.

Their red eyes lit up.

Nyren’s expression changed.

"You have their attention now."

Lothe calmly produced another Talisman. "Then destroy them while they’re distracted."

Nyren glanced at him.

His voice was cold and emotionless.

He spoke like a scholar commenting on an art rather than a person fighting beside her.

Still, his timing was precise.

Nyren turned back toward the constructs.

"Fine."

The stone creatures charged both of them.

Lothe’s hands moved rapidly.

Talismans flew through the air, landing on the floor, walls, and pillars.

Each one activated a different Rune.

A slowing field.

A binding line.

A redirection barrier.

A pressure seal.

Lothe did not overpower the constructs.

He divided them. Separated their formation links. Forced them into narrow spaces.

Nyren destroyed them one after another.

Ice spread across the floor as her sword moved.

The constructs tried to surround her, but Lothe’s Talismans disrupted their coordination.

One attacked from above.

A purple barrier redirected its blow into the ground.

Another lunged toward Nyren’s side.

A Binding Talisman caught its leg and pulled it off balance.

A third attempted to attack Lothe.

He stepped aside and placed a talisman on its chest.

"Seal."

The red Rune on the construct dimmed.

Nyren’s sword passed through its neck. The final construct roared and slammed both hands into the ground.

The chamber shook.

The blood-filled grooves beneath the floor began glowing brightly.

Lothe’s expression changed.

"Move away from the center!"

Nyren leapt backward.

Lothe threw five Talismans around the central formation.

[Three-Point Locking Array!]

The Talismans connected.

The energy in the floor was forced into a narrow circuit.

Instead of spreading through the chamber, it was compressed into the formation’s center.

Lothe’s eyes followed the energy.

For an instant, he saw something beneath the floor.

A second structure. Buried far below.

Then the image vanished.

The formation released a violent shockwave.

Lothe raised a barrier.

Nyren formed an ice wall.

BOOOOOOM!

The chamber shook as the remaining construct shattered.

Dust filled the air.

When it cleared, the red glow beneath the floor had disappeared.

Silence returned.

Nyren lowered her sword.

She looked toward the black-robed stranger.

"You saved me."

Lothe brushed dust from his sleeve.

"You were standing inside an incomplete formation."

"That doesn’t answer my question."

"I disrupted the formation because it was interfering with my analysis."

Nyren stared at him.

His tone was cold.

His expression was unreadable.

Yet his Talismans had protected her without hesitation.

"Who are you?" she asked.

Lothe looked toward the center of the chamber.

"An explorer."

"That’s vague."

"It’s sufficient."

Nyren’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Before she could question him further, a faint sound echoed from the corridor behind Lothe.

Tap.

Then another.

Tap. Tap.

Lothe’s gaze shifted toward the darkness.

Through [Spatial Perception], he sensed two approaching energy signatures.

They were not constructs.

They were cultivators.

And their energy carried the same poisonous presence he had felt outside the palace.

Lothe calmly picked up the remaining Talismans from the floor.

Nyren noticed the change in his expression.

"What is it?"

"More trouble."

The faint sound of footsteps drew closer.

A green mist began seeping into the chamber.

Lothe looked at Nyren.

"Can you still fight?"

Nyren tightened her grip on her sword.

"Yes."

"Good."

He turned toward the approaching darkness.

"Then don’t stand in my formation."

The poisonous mist thickened.

Two silhouettes appeared at the end of the corridor.

Behind them, pale-green light flickered.

Lothe’s expression remained cold and scholarly.

But his fingers were already arranging the next array.​