C1002 Lucky
Deep within Veilfall Canyon, Yu Yuan sat firmly on the ground, backlit by a network of brilliant space rifts that interwove like an immense spider web. At the heart of this web, a grayish-white stone was ensnared, seemingly bathed in the enigmatic forces of time magic, absorbing a peculiar power with a voracious intensity.
Hiss! Hiss! Hiss! The sound of new space rifts forming echoed through the canyon, as if slashed open by blades of light. The once shadowy valley now glowed with the light from the rifts, the tumultuous spatial waves within stirring the Voidweaver's own, Benin.
Benin's hair whipped about wildly as her bloodline responded, lifting her feet off the ground. The bloodline patterns within her, like chains of finely carved crystal, shone with a blinding divine brilliance. The myriad natural imprints of her lineage were unveiled, displaying their otherworldly intricacies.
"Space lock, wall repair, flash step..." A host of new blood magic abilities burst forth, branding themselves into the depths of Benin's being. Overcome with excitement, she hastily concentrated, eager to grasp the nuances of the blood magic that had just emerged.
"What?" Meanwhile, Hart, a strapping youth from the Silverscale Tribe, finally regained his composure. "What's happened here? Why have so many space rifts appeared in Veilfall Canyon while we were away?"
Grace, of the Moonlit Wanderers, her slender eyes reflecting the moon's essence, snapped out of her daze first. "It was the human's doing with that stone!"
At her words, Baruch and Singh of the Crypt Clan turned their gaze to the grayish-white stone. Tears streamed down their faces as they cried out in anguish, their minds overwhelmed by the sensation of being scrutinized by ancient giant dragons, as if they were mere insects that could be crushed at a whim.
Merely gazing upon the stone felt like a grave disrespect, a transgression.
"It's that stone!" The Crypt Clan brothers exclaimed together.
Their reaction caused both Hart and Grace to avert their eyes from the stone, choosing instead to observe the sprawling spider web behind Yu Yuan and Yu Yuan himself.
In their eyes, Yu Yuan, who sat in meditation, exuded a vitality as vast as the ocean, making him seem as towering as a mountain.
A true powerhouse!
They quickly formed an opinion, remaining discreetly vigilant, contemplating how to explain themselves once Yu Yuan opened his eyes.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The mountain peaks flanking the canyon split open, revealing caves of various sizes.
Hart glanced around, recalling ancient tales: "Legend has it that during the heyday of the Nirvana Realm, many caves were carved into the mountains surrounding Veilfall Canyon to serve as sanctuaries for travelers to meditate and discuss matters."
Prompted by his words, Grace and the two brothers from the Crypt Clan began to look around.
They noticed that several peaks within the valley had inexplicably begun to fracture, exposing a series of caves.
"Let's explore these caves. Keep an eye on Benin!"
Baruch, eager to discover if the newly revealed caves held any ancient artifacts, informed Hart and then, with Singh in tow, they split up to investigate different caverns.
Prompted by their departure, Hart and Grace turned their attention to the Voidweaver, Benin, detecting something unusual about her bloodline.
"Benin has reaped a tremendous benefit from the oddities of this place!" Grace of the Moonlit Wanderers sensed quietly before her eyes sparkled with a mix of envy and admiration. "Her blood magic seems to have been awakened. She's incredibly fortunate."
"I have this premonition that the Nirvana Realm is about to undergo numerous changes because of the human man before us!"
Hart inhaled deeply, mulling over his thoughts before shaking his head in dismissal, then murmured, "Odd, I can sense the distinct scent of the Silverscale Tribe's blood on him. It's as if an ancestor of my tribe left behind their lifeblood to fortify his physique."
"Don't spout nonsense," Grace chided.
"I was just speaking off the cuff," Hart replied with a shrug.
For some reason, the emergence of numerous fissures in Veilfall Canyon sparked a sense of anticipation within them.
They were eager for more extraordinary events to unfold, hoping to glimpse a way to leave this contentious land at the earliest opportunity.
After a short pause.
Whoosh!
Singh from the Crypt Clan burst from a cave, standing before Hart and Grace, his small and unsightly frame shaking violently. "There, there's something in there..."
He pointed at the cave from which he had just emerged, stuttering, unable to complete his sentence.
"What's going on?" Hart's nerves were on edge.
"Deep inside that cave, there's a stalactite hanging from the ceiling. It's falling apart, and inside... inside there's someone waking up!" Singh seemed to muster all his energy to finally get the words out.
"I, I've explored even more caves!"
Baruch burst out of another cave in a similar state of panic, just as anxious as Singh. "It's like someone who had been meditating in a nearby cave was suddenly encased in stone and lava. And now, the stone that entombed them is cracking and falling away, and they're..."
Roar!
A deep, bloodthirsty roar exploded from the cave Singh had fled from.
At the sound of the roar, Hart's scalp tingled, his heart plummeted into an icy abyss, and he managed to say with a choked voice, "Lucky us, we've hit the jackpot."
"Don't joke about this!" Grace snapped.
"Do you remember what I just told you?" Hart said, his face etched with bitterness. "It looks like some have survived in the Nirvana Realm and turned into those monsters. They were sealed away before, with all their vitality and souls cut off. But now, they've broken free from their seals."
Upon hearing this, not only Grace and the two brothers from the Crypt Clan but even Benin, who had been reveling in the joy of her blood magic awakening, snapped to attention. "You've got to be kidding!"
Boom!
A massive figure burst through the narrow cave entrance, shattering the rock. A demon, as Hart had described, stood at the mouth of the cave, panting heavily with deep red eyes the size of their fists.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The murky air of the Nirvana Realm, laden with dozens of psionic powers and mostly harmful to flesh, rushed into him as he gasped for breath.
More tiny stones fell from the crevices in the demon's skin as he shook and flailed his arms in irritation.
Pah! Pah! Pah!
The pebbles struck the adjacent cave walls and the hard ground, punching holes as thick as fingers.
Hart and Baruch exchanged glances, each recognizing the other's inner turmoil.
If the mere shaking of his body could dislodge pebbles with such force, how fearsome must the combat power of this frenzied demon be?
"It was transformed by a Stoneborn warrior," Grace of the Moonlit Wanderers revealed just as a three-meter-tall Stoneborn behemoth shot out like a cannonball, thundering down between Baruch and Singh.
Singh from the Crypt Clan, who was nearest to the creature, frantically tried to burrow into the earth to escape. But he had forgotten that his people were naturally at a disadvantage on this rocky terrain, especially against the pure tactics of the Stoneborn warriors. He invoked his blood magic, attempting to meld into the ground, only to find that the earth, which should have softened at his command, was as unyielding as refined iron. The ground remained unchanged.
Meanwhile, the rampaging Stoneborn monster bared its teeth and with a forceful stomp, unleashed a horrific surge of vital energy that erupted from the ground and sent Singh rocketing into the air. Dazed and disoriented, he found himself plummeting back towards the Stoneborn behemoth.
In an instant, the Stoneborn warrior surged skyward, colliding with him with devastating force. Crack! Singh's bones shattered, and he was dead before his body even hit the ground.
Boom! Boom! Boom! At that moment, the cave entrance on the other side of Baruch's exploration site burst open, revealing three monstrous figures, indistinct but clearly not of the Stoneborn lineage, standing at the threshold.
Benin, Grace, and Hart watched Singh's lifeless body with horror, while the three demons, lips caked with dust, eyed them with a hungry gaze.
In the midst of this chaos, Yu Yuan, who had been sitting in meditation, silently opened his eyes to survey the scene before him, then closed them once more.
