Stone dust still drifted gently through the ruined corridor where Shaurya had slain Gou Yan. The golden glow of his Divine Form had long faded, leaving only faint traces shimmering around him like the last breaths of a dying flame.

Shaurya rolled his shoulders once, exhaling through his nose.

His external injuries were healed thanks to Elder Wan's medicinal pill…

but deep inside—beneath bone and muscle—

something still throbbed.

A tender ache.

A weight.

A reminder of how hard Gou Yan had hit.

Wang Tian cracked his knuckles loudly.

"HOOOOH!! That was such a fight! Sect Master, you were INSANE!"

Luo Chen smirked, adjusting his sword sheath.

"You mean Shaurya carried you, dumb giant."

Wang Tian's face twisted. "Oi—what was that?!"

Shaurya smiled faintly.

The air felt lighter now.

The tension of battle had faded.

Now there was only the warmth of laughter and footsteps echoing across broken stone.

The Sanatan Flame Sect slowly regrouped, forming a loose procession behind their master.

No one was injured anymore.

No one looked afraid.

Instead, they felt something like awe.

Hope.

Confidence.

Shaurya walked ahead, hands in his pockets, shoulders relaxed.

But every few steps, his eyelid twitched—

a ripple of pain from inside.

Internal injury.

The kind only time could heal.

Lin Shu noticed but didn't speak.

Instead, she quietly matched his pace, keeping close enough to catch him if he stumbled.

The hall stretched long and quiet, lit only by flickering flames from cracks in the walls.

They turned left, then right, then down a narrow passageway carved into the castle's ancient heart.

The atmosphere was calm.

Too calm.

It made the disciples begin to chat.

Xiao Rui whispered first.

"Are we… seriously okay? No more enemies?"

"Hopefully," Sheng Lu sighed.

Luo Chen replied dryly, "In this place? Not a chance."

They walked for several more minutes.

Eventually, they reached a long pathway—polished, smooth, unnaturally clean compared to the rubble behind them. It stretched like a spine through the castle, leading toward a single destination.

At the end stood a massive gate.

The disciples stopped.

Even Shaurya raised a brow.

The gate was enormous—

towering higher than a mansion, wide enough for a caravan to pass through, carved with ancient spirals and dragons twisted like coiled storms.

The surface wasn't stone.

It shimmered like a mixture of obsidian and moonlight, reflecting faint distorted silhouettes.

Strange symbols glowed along the frame—

ᚾ ᚨ ᛁ ᚱ

ᛊ ᛖ ᛏ

Elder Wan murmured,

"This… is Old World Script. The kind used by the ancient clans before the empire existed."

Wang Tian stepped forward, nodding seriously.

"I've got this."

He braced both hands on the gate.

Luo Chen grabbed the other side.

The disciples leaned forward.

Shaurya exhaled.

"Guys—"

Wang Tian grunted.

Veins bulged.

Aura flared.

Luo Chen's arms trembled as he pushed with all his strength.

The gate didn't move.

Not even a vibration.

The disciples behind them burst into laughter.

"Hahaha!!"

"So weak!"

"You two couldn't push open a pantry door!"

"Is that all the mighty Wang Tian has?!"

Wang Tian's face turned red.

Luo Chen glared daggers at the group.

"Shut up before I slice all of you!"

But the teasing only grew louder.

Wang Tian turned to Luo Chen.

"…We blow it up?"

"Oh yes," Luo Chen growled. "We DEFINITELY blow it up."

They both raised their fists—

ready to release enough energy to obliterate the door.

Shaurya sighed.

He stepped between them, resting one hand on each of their heads.

"Stop."

"But—"

"No."

He walked to the gate, placed his hand on one half—

And pulled.

The massive gate glided open effortlessly with a smooth wooooooooosh.

Shaurya looked over his shoulder with a calm expression.

"Not always push.

Sometimes… pull."

Silence.

Then—

The entire sect burst into laughter.

Even the elders cracked up.

Elder Liya wiped tears from her eyes.

"Oh heavens—You Dumb Emperor, you really are hopeless!"

Wang Tian covered his face.

Luo Chen stared at the floor, humiliated.

Shaurya smirked and walked inside.

The others followed.

The hall beyond the gate was massive—

cold, dark, silent.

A huge chamber shaped like a dome, ceilings lost in shadows.

It was completely empty.

Not a single artifact.

Not a single statue.

Not even dust.

Just… void.

"Nothing?" Wang Tian muttered.

"Strange," Luo Chen said softly.

Shaurya narrowed his eyes, senses sharp.

Something felt wrong.

Terribly wrong.

He scanned the chamber—

pupils dilating slightly.

Then—

FWOOOOOM!!

Torches burst to life around the circumference of the room.

One after another, flames ignited in a circle, illuminating the hall with dancing orange light.

The floor trembled.

No—

The castle trembled.

Stone shook.

Dust fell.

Cracks ran along the ancient walls.

Xiao Rui gasped.

"W-What now?!"

Elder Wan screamed,

"GUARD UP!!!"

Shaurya's eyes widened slightly as he slid his hands back into his pockets.

His voice was calm.

"Stay steady."

The ground bulged.

The walls shifted.

Something deep beneath the castle awakened.

Howling Abyss Sect

Xia Xu and her group jerked upright as their pool chamber shook violently.

"What the hell—?!"

"We're moving?!"

They grabbed onto stone pillars as the entire room shifted sideways.

Moonlight Pavilion

Meng Liyu's eyes snapped open.

Her disciples screamed as the ground split and moved like a living beast.

"This is no puzzle…

This is a metamorphosis."

Jade Kingdom Royal Palace Team

Prince Ren stood with his Cultivators, blade drawn.

The hall twisted around him, walls sliding, ceiling stretching upward like molten steel.

Crimson Mist Kingdom Team

Blood-colored lights flickered across their chamber.

A general shouted,

"The castle is alive!! GET AWAY FROM THE WALLS!"

Other Sects, Other Clans

All across the floating labyrinth, sects and clans panicked.

Rooms rotated.

Floors detached.

Chains erupted from the ground.

People screamed.

People ran.

Chaos everywhere.

BACK TO SANATAN FLAME SECT

The ground shook violently.

Tiles rose up like floating platforms.

Chains burst from the floor.

Disciples screamed as the chains shot up and wrapped around their ankles, dragging them onto rising platforms.

"HEY—WHAT—!!"

"MASTER!!"

"We're being lifted—!!"

Walls split like jaws opening.

New passages formed.

Old ones vanished.

The castle wasn't rearranging rooms.

It was rebuilding itself entirely.

Lin Shu shouted,

"EVERYONE STAY CLOSE—!!"

But it was too late.

Floating ground tiles lifted disciples one by one and rushed them down different paths.

"NOOO!!"

"WE'RE BEING SEPARATED!!"

"HELP—!!"

Shaurya stepped forward.

He clenched his fist, golden aura gathering—

But the ground beneath him cracked open.

He looked down—

A blinding orange light erupted from the split stone.

"…Tch—"

He fell.

"SHAURYA!!!" Lin Shu screamed.

He looked up, shocked—

But the ground sealed shut instantly, cutting her voice off.

His eyes hardened as he plummeted into the orange radiance.

The light swallowed him whole.

THE CASTLE'S WRATH CONTINUES

Around the castle, the chaos intensified.

Corridors twisted like serpents.

Ceilings stretched and retracted.

New bridges formed in mid-air.

Every sect, every group—

pulled apart.

Terrified.

Breathing heavily.

THE GIRLS' GROUP

A whirl of air snapped around the women:

Muo Qian

Su Quan

Jun Hua

Xu Ran

Xiao Lian

Xiao Lian whimpered.

"Sister… I'm scared…"

Immediately, the other four stepped closer—

forming a barrier around the little girl.

"Stay in the center, Lian," Su Quan said softly.

Xu Ran clenched her sword.

"Muo Qian. Jun Hua. Defensive formation."

Walls around them shifted violently.

The floor dropped—

then lifted—

then spun.

A final jerk—

And they were thrown into a new hall entirely.

Silent.

Dark.

A heavy metal gate tore open behind them with a shrill screech.

"Who—?!"

From inside the torn gate emerged—

Huge, bulky men covered in bandit tattoos.

Their eyes widened as they saw the girls.

A hungry grin spread across their lips.

"Heh… looks like luck is finally on our side."

"Five beauties…"

"Soft-looking too…"

Their steps echoed as they approached.

The girls tightened their circle.

Swords raised.

Eyes cold.

Xu Ran whispered,

"No matter what happens—protect Xiao Lian."

Xiao Lian trembled—but nodded.

The bandits advanced.

And the hall darkened.

Scene Shift again —

Two women stood alone in a pitch-black hall.

Only the sound of dripping water echoed.

"Where are the others…?" Elder Liya whispered.

Before Lin Shu could answer—

THUD.

A sound behind them.

Then—

THUD.

Another.

Then…

Two enormous eyes snapped open in the darkness.

These eyes were three-tiered, layered like concentric rings:

The outer ring glowed molten orange, swirling like heated magma.

The middle ring burned dark gold, pulsing in a slow heartbeat.

The innermost pupil was a razor-thin vertical slit, like a serpent forged in fire.

The beast took one single step forward—

THUD.

The ground shook.

Dust fell from the ceiling.

Even Lin Shu's grip tightened.

Now the shadows peeled away—

And its shape emerged.

Nearly twelve feet tall, almost reaching the ceiling.

Its shoulders were as wide as two grown men.

A towering, hunchbacked silhouette that filled the hall like a mountain blocking the moon.

Its muscles were carved like black iron, each one bulging like a coiled boulder ready to explode.

Its skin was not natural.

It looked like obsidian plates melted and fused together, cracked in patterns like volcanic rock.

Between each crack, fiery lines pulsed, glowing like veins filled with magma.

When it breathed, embers drifted from its mouth and nostrils.

The beast's face was a grotesque fusion of:

A predatory wolf,

A demonic ape,

And a volcanic dragon.

Its jaw was elongated, filled with enormous obsidian fangs.

Two long tusks curved upward from its lower jaw, each as thick as a forearm and glowing faintly red at the tips.

A mane of black, matted fur ran down its head, but streaked with fiery streaks that glowed whenever it breathed.

The arms were its most terrifying part.

Each was as thick as a tree trunk.

But the forearms were covered in layered volcanic armor, like overlapping plates of molten stone.

Each claw was nearly a foot long, curved, razor-sharp, dripping sparks as if heated from inside.

On its back were three jagged ridges, each one glowing faintly like a dying furnace.

Every few seconds, a wave of heat radiated from them, making the air ripple.

Its leg Thick, heavy legs that looked capable of smashing through stone walls with raw strength alone.

Black talons scraped the ground, leaving glowing scratches.

Lin Shu's breath caught.

Elder Liya gripped her sword tightly. Face turned pale.

"L–Lavafang Demon Beast…?

Lin Shu whispered quietly,

"Shaurya… please be safe."

The beast opened its jaws—

A roar shook the hall.

The two women braced themselves.

Wang Tian, Luo Chen, Xiao Rui, Sheng Lu, Elder Feng Yu, Elder Wan—

All stood in different sections of the chamber, separated by rising floors and newly formed walls.

"WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?!"

"THE CASTLE IS REWRITING ITSELF!!"

"MASTER SHAURYA—!!"

Every face showed fear.

Uncertainty.

But also determination.

Meanwhile,

Shaurya fell deeper and deeper through the orange light.

Energy currents pulled him downward like a vortex.

His expression serious. He draws out his Meteorite Sword

He clenched his jaw.

"So this is… the next stage?"

He flipped mid-fall, trying to regain balance.

The deeper he fell, the brighter the light became.

It pressed against his skin—warm, powerful, ancient.

He narrowed his eyes.

"I don't know what you're planning…"

He curled one fist, golden aura flickering around it. His grip tighten on the hilt of his Meteorite Sword.

"…but it is not use against me."

The vortex roared—

And swallowed him whole.

TO BE CONTINUED…

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