Chapter 22: Fate Hangs in the Balance, Questioning the Heavens

Li Chen and Lin Ying were caught in a perilous situation while exploring the ruins of an ancient relic, facing what seemed to be an unavoidable doom.

Suddenly, the flagstone beneath Lin Ying’s feet gave way. She let out a cry of alarm as she lost her balance. Li Chen acted with lightning speed, pulling her into his arms just as they both plummeted into a bottomless, pitch-black abyss. The air within the hole was filled with biting, eerie winds, and the darkness was absolute, save for the faint glow from the light they held, which barely illuminated the path ahead. On the cavern walls, ancient runes flickered with a ghostly blue light, as if some unknown power were stirring from its slumber to watch these two intruders, signaling that an even more terrifying trial was yet to come.

Li Chen produced a night-luminescent stone, and the darkness was instantly replaced by a brilliance as bright as day. By this light, they examined their surroundings. There were signs that no one had set foot here for eons; moss clung to the cave walls, and weeds that favored dark, damp places grew thick upon the ground.

The two followed the ten-foot-wide tunnel forward. In some sections, the path was obstructed by collapsed earth and stone, requiring some effort to bypass. After walking for an unknown duration, the passage suddenly opened up. As they stepped into the clearing, they realized they had reached the end of the tunnel: a ten-foot-wide open space, dominated by a circular teleportation array, thirty feet in diameter.

After a thorough inspection, they confirmed that the array was perfectly intact; it had simply exhausted its energy. They fed ten thousand high-grade spirit stones into the mechanism. Since the methods and incantations for activating and deactivating such arrays were universal and had remained unchanged for millennia, Li Chen cast the necessary spell. The array immediately shimmered and roared to life. Lin Ying hesitated, asking, "We don't know where this leads—could it be dangerous?" Li Chen gave a bitter smile and replied, "There is no place more dangerous than where we are now. Let us leave first and worry about the rest later."

Clasping hands, they stepped into the array together. Li Chen triggered the final incantation, a pillar of light shot toward the heavens, and the two vanished. When they reappeared, they found themselves standing in the center of an identical thirty-foot-wide ancient teleportation array, trapped within a sealed barrier. They exhausted their respective powers trying to break through, but the barrier remained unmoved, showing barely a ripple.

Li Chen could not help but laugh bitterly, "We have just escaped the wolf's den only to fall into the dragon's lair!"

Lin Ying shook her head and sighed, "This barrier has endured for countless ages, yet its energy remains this formidable. It is clear that its original master valued security above all else, guarding against both destruction and unwanted intrusion."

Li Chen observed, "It is powered by primordial stones, and in massive quantities at that. Combined with the seal, the loss of spiritual essence is negligible unless the array is activated."

"Ying, you are familiar with arrays. See if you can find a way to break it!" Li Chen felt helpless; he only possessed a superficial understanding of such things.

Lin Ying examined the barrier repeatedly but found no clues. She retrieved a manual on arrays from her storage ring and, while consulting it, began directing Li Chen, "Attack here, attack there, strike the space between these two points..." Another day passed, and the two remained at an impasse.

By the third day, Li Chen’s frustration had peaked. He drew the Supreme Blade, a weapon gifted by his ancestor for his protection, and with all his might, he raised it high and brought it crashing down. The barrier remained unscathed, glowing with a lustrous purple light, but a faint "cracking" sound emanated from within the teleportation array itself.

Lin Ying cried out in joy, "I understand! I know now! The energy source for this barrier is hidden within the teleportation array itself. We only need to dismantle the array and extract the primordial stones."

They set to work, digging downward. When they had excavated three meters deep, they breached the spiritual seal. A powerful purple radiance surged into the sky, so intense that it blinded them. A moment later, they peered into the deep pit; a hazy, violet glow shimmered below, though they could not fathom just how many primordial stones were stored within.