The stench of blood and burnt flesh clung to the air as Li Yao and Yan Mu pressed on, leaving behind the ruins of the cell block- and the weight of their failure.
Though they had struck down the demonic lieutenant, their victory felt hollow. Most of the captives were already gone, snuffed out by a trap neither of them had foreseen. Grief twisted in Li Yao's chest, but there was no time to dwell. Every heartbeat carried them closer to the central chamber, where the ritual pulsed with dark power.
"You cannot stop the Master!" the dying lieutenant had shrieked, his bone claws flailing even as his life bled away. "Your struggles are futile!"
But Li Yao and Yan Mu refused to let those words become prophecy.
Yan Mu wiped the blood from his swords, his jaw clenched. "We move."
Li Yao nodded. "The central chamber is ahead, but the there are more demonic cultivators guarding it. We're not done yet."
As they advanced, the passageway narrowed into a bottleneck. From the shadows emerged more demonic cultivators- snarling figures wielding twisted weapons, tattoos of dark rituals carved into their skin. These were no elite fighters, but their eyes gleamed with madness, and their numbers threatened to overwhelm.
"Fall into formation!" Yan Mu called, stepping into the vanguard. His swords blurred as he moved, twin streaks of silver lightning. Sparks crackled around his body, each slash sending arcs of electricity dancing along the corridor walls.
Li Yao followed close behind, fists wrapped in shimmering Qi. He used his footwork to weave through gaps in the enemy line, striking surgically. When overwhelmed, he unleashed talismans to disrupt the cultists' momentum. A Flame Burst Talisman exploded in a tight radius, forcing several foes to stumble backward, their robes aflame.
The skirmish stretched on. Despite their efficiency, the duo began to feel the strain.
It was then that disaster nearly struck.
A hulking brute surged from a side tunnel, wielding a massive demonic axe carved from black iron and bone. He moved with terrifying speed for his size, catching Yan Mu mid-swing. The axe whistled through the air, heading straight for Yan Mu's exposed back.
"Yan Mu!" Li Yao cried, reaching out instinctively.
But the blow never landed.
A warm, golden light flared from within Yan Mu's inner robes- his master's protective talisman activating just in time. The barrier it conjured flashed into existence like a dome of sunlight, absorbing the blow. The axe rebounded with a deafening clang, throwing the brute off balance and splintering the weapon's edge.
The shield flickered violently, then shattered like glass, the final thread of its spiritual power spent.
Yan Mu didn't hesitate. He turned, his swords striking in a deadly arc, and severed the brute's head with a clean, decisive motion. Blood sprayed across the walls. The momentum returned to their side.
Li Yao exhaled, sweat beading on his brow. "That was too close."
Yan Mu gave a sharp nod. "Let's not rely on second chances."
With no time to recover, they pressed onward, their bodies bruised but their will unbroken.
Eventually, they reached a vast stone doorway. Beyond it, the central chamber.
The heavy air within pulsed with corrupted Qi. Carved from the mountain's heart, the chamber resembled an ancient sacrificial temple. Pillars marked with infernal runes encircled a raised dais. Atop it, a bloodstained altar held several motionless forms- victims of the ritual, their lifeforce slowly draining into the runes below.
At the center of it all stood a cloaked figure, tall and imposing. Even before he turned, they could feel it- the oppressive pressure of a Foundation Establishment cultivator at the mid stage close to peak realm.
"The leader," Li Yao said quietly. "Mid-stage. The ritual… it's amplifying his aura."
As if hearing him, the figure turned slowly. His face was hidden beneath a hood, but crimson light gleamed from beneath the shadows.
"So the rats arrive at last," the man said, his voice cold and smooth, like oil over stone. "Too late, too weak. The offerings are already accepted. You will serve as the final catalysts."
He raised a hand, and a wave of dark Qi surged outward. It was not an attack but a show of power- suffocating, heavy, primal. Yan Mu's feet slid back an inch, and even Li Yao's breath caught in his lungs.
Yan Mu gritted his teeth and stepped forward. "For those you've butchered, we will end you."
Lightning burst from his swords as he charged. The cloaked man countered with a conjured scythe of bone and Qi, the two weapons clashing in a shower of sparks. The chamber quaked with their exchange, and though Yan Mu held his ground, it was clear he was outmatched.
Li Yao's mind raced. They couldn't defeat this monster in a direct fight, not yet. But there had to be a way to level the playing field.
Then he remembered.
"The compass!" he whispered, reaching into his satchel and pulling free the Grade Two Formation Compass given to him by his master..
It was an artifact of illusions- a tool not of brute force, but of cleverness.
"Brother Yan! Hold him, ten seconds!"
Yan Mu didn't look back. "Done."
Li Yao knelt, pouring spiritual energy into the compass. The engraved runes on its surface lit up, glowing in tandem with his heartbeat. He spun the compass in his palm, directing it toward the dais.
"Formation Art: Phantasmal Mire!"
A surge of shimmering energy exploded from the compass, washing over the enemy. The space around the ritual leader distorted- walls twisted, shadows lengthened, and the air became thick with illusion. The dais transformed into a nightmare landscape of writhing roots, vanishing steps, and endless reflections.
The leader paused, his scythe flickering. "An illusion formation?" he murmured. "Crude… but effective."
Despite his disdain, the effect was immediate. He blinked, eyes darting, trying to discern what was real. Even if he saw through it mentally, his senses were compromised.
That was the opening they needed.
"Now!" Li Yao shouted.
Yan Mu surged forward, twin swords blazing like twin lightning bolts, while Li Yao, empowered by his cultivation, unleashed his most precise axe strikes- targeting the demonic leader's legs and blind spots. He also threw a suppression talisman into the center of the ritual array, hoping to destabilize its effect.
The two of them struck as one, an unstoppable force meeting a momentarily blinded wall of darkness.
Their gamble had begun.