Chapter 28: Ancient Chamber

The ground above continued to tremble for another ten minutes as the Abyssal Armored Chimera raged in vain, tearing into the petrified ridgeline with all its might. Massive boulders broke loose from the mountainside and came crashing down, their heavy impacts echoing through the stone.

At last, the beast retreated.

Its heavy, rhythmic footsteps gradually faded into the distant mountain, leaving behind an eerie silence.

Inside the narrow stone crevice, Shadow One’s dormant plate armor flickered to life.

Two violet flames ignited beneath the visor with a faint hiss.

Lucian slowly rose to his feet, remotely controlling the commander’s body through his consciousness.

The air inside the fissure was completely free of the acrid, containing miasma that poisoned the Thousand Mountain Forest. It was cool and bone-dry, carrying the faint, ancient scent of stone that had remained untouched by sunlight for countless millennia.

Lucian glanced over his shoulder.

The fissure had sealed itself tightly behind him after he squeezed through, leaving only a dark corridor descending deeper into the earth.

The passage appeared to have been carved naturally from black basalt. There were no tool marks on the walls, yet the stone was unnaturally smooth beneath his touch.

Almost as if some immense, blinding heat had melted the tunnel into existence countless ages ago.

Curiosity getting the better of him, Lucian tightened his grip on the greatsword and ventured deeper into the passage.

His footsteps were silent and measured. He let the passive perception of the Shadow Kill Secret Canon spread through the darkness, sensing every ridge, every dip, and every subtle change in the terrain.

Five minutes passed.

Then ten.

Then fifteen.

The corridor descended at a steep twenty-degree angle, burrowing at least two hundred meters beneath the mountain’s roots. Just when Lucian expected the passage to narrow into an impassable dead end, the stone suddenly opened up.

He stepped through the arched entrance and stopped.

A circular chamber stretched out before him, roughly thirty paces across.

Unlike the rough basalt tunnel, the walls here were constructed from smooth, geometric slabs of deep obsidian. Every surface, the floor, the walls, even the domed ceiling forty feet above was covered in thousands of microscopic geometric runes.

They were nothing like the modern federal array circuits.

Nor did they resemble any runic script taught in contemporary martial high schools.

The runes were primordial, etched with an austere, angular elegance. A faint amber resonance pulsed through them, barely visible to the naked eye, yet strong enough to keep the encroaching dampness of the earth at bay.

At the exact center of the chamber stood an elevated gray-stone dais.

And atop that dais sat a man.

Lucian’s grip tightened around the hilt of his greatsword, the violet flames of his eyes narrowing to sharp points.

The figure sat cross-legged in a meditative lotus posture, his spine straight as a spear. His head was tilted slightly upward, eyes gently closed, his expression utterly calm. There was no trace of pain or terror on his face. Long, silvery white hair cascaded over his shoulders like flowing silk.

He wore a loose battle robe woven from a dark material Lucian couldn’t identify. It was neither cotton nor leather, nor did it resemble the alloy-threaded fabrics favored by modern Martial Artists.

Faded embroidery traced the cuffs and collar, depicting celestial star paths and nine-ringed solar disks. The patterns had weathered countless years, yet remarkably, not a speck of dust clung to the fabric.

The man looked as though he had simply drifted into a peaceful afternoon nap.

Lucian didn’t lower his guard.

Holding his breath, he extended his spiritual senses and carefully probed the man’s vitality.

Nothing.

No heartbeat.

No breath.

Not even the slightest rise and fall of his chest. More unsettling was the complete absence of biological decay.

The man’s skin remained smooth and pale, resembling refined mutton-fat jade. There wasn’t a single wrinkle, blemish, or sign of deterioration.

Lucian stepped onto the dais.

His boots clicked softly against the stone floor, the sound echoing through the silent chamber.

"Senior?" he called.

His voice bounced off the walls before fading into silence.

The man didn’t respond.

Lucian reached out with the flat of his blade and lightly tapped the hem of the man’s robe.

The fabric didn’t budge. It remained firm and perfectly in place.

Stepping closer, Lucian noticed two objects resting with the figure.

Cradled in the man’s right palm was an ancient, yellowed manual made from coarse, scaled beast hide. Its edges were frayed and brittle, yet several jagged, bronze-colored glyphs remained visible across the cover.

They were completely new to modern eyes.

The second object hung against the center of the man’s chest, suspended from a simple cord braided from dark sinew.

A pendant.

It was an unadorned, thumb-sized locket carved from pitch-black jade.

Lucian leaned closer, studying it carefully.

Unlike ordinary black jade, which possessed an oily, reflective surface, this stone seemed to swallow every trace of light that touched it.

Tiny silver dots were etched across its surface, arranged into spiraling stellar constellations. Their patterns seemed to shift with a subtle, hypnotic depth whenever Lucian viewed the pendant from a different angle.

There was no doubt about it.

This was a relic of extraordinary antiquity.

Lucian slowly raised his gauntleted hand. He intended to touch the man’s shoulder gently, just enough to determine whether any dormant spiritual essence remained preserved within the ancient body.

The moment his fingertip touched the jade-like skin of the man’s shoulder...

A hairline crack appeared.

Before Lucian could pull his hand back, the fracture spread like a spiderweb across the man’s face, neck, and chest.

Whoosh.

There was no sound of breaking bones.

Without the slightest warning, the entire body, the pristine flesh, silver hair, ancient battle robes, and the skeleton beneath , collapsed into fine gray ash.

Within two breaths, millions of years of preserved time finally collected their debt.

The physical form dissolved completely, leaving behind a neat, circular mound of dust atop the stone dais.

Only two things remained untouched.

The yellowed beast skin manual.

And the black jade locket.

Lucian stared at the mound of ash for a long moment, a faint chill creeping down his spine.

"Even someone who managed to preserve his flesh for countless ages couldn’t escape the passage of time..."

Lucian lowered his head in a slight, respectful bow toward the ashes, silently paying his respects to the long-departed predecessor.

He carefully left the ancient manual exactly where it was. Then he reached down and picked up the black jade locket by its braided cord.