Chapter 2 The Primordial Qi
1161 Words
Henry drowned in despair.
He couldn't even wiggle a finger—his body had completely locked up.
Straining with all his might, he lifted his gaze, desperate to witness the cataclysmic battle above.
A colossal hand materialized from the void, its fingers like mountain peaks. The golden coffin shuddered with violent energy before slamming into the towering digit.
Simultaneously, the thunder-wreathed sword and azure cauldron unleashed their devastating assaults.
"BOOOOM—"
The entire Wraithrealm of Shattered Souls trembled under the trio's clash, resonating with an otherworldly drone.
In an instant,
The giant hand vanished. The azure cauldron surged forward, overwhelming its foes as it inverted like a devouring maw above the coffin.
Helpless, Henry watched spatial distortions ripple outward like shattered glass, the void itself fracturing... then shattering.
The shockwaves tore through countless gravesites until—in a flash—four luminous barriers erupted skyward: white, obsidian, jade, and violet.
They coalesced into a monolith darker than the abyss itself, its shadow blotting out the heavens.
Moments later, the titanic palm blotted out the sky in its crushing descent.
As the battle reignited, spatial distortions intensified.
The void itself crumbled into oblivion!
The monolith shuddered violently—like a guardian avenging its desecrated domain—before hurtling toward the clashing trio. With one earth-shattering impact,
It scattered all three combatants like embers before a typhoon!
Capitalizing on the chaos, the golden coffin lunged like a predator seizing prey—rocketing straight toward Henry's paralyzed form.
"Of all the rotten luck!" Henry's mind screamed as realization dawned. "Why must fortune always forsake me?!"
Just as sword, cauldron, and palm rematerialized,
The coffin's maw gaped wide, swallowing Henry and his trusty shovel whole.
Dazzled by the coffin's blinding golden glow, Henry nevertheless saw the external chaos with eerie precision.
Three reality-rending attacks pursued them, only for the monolith to effortlessly bat them aside.
In this fleeting respite, the golden coffin became a lance piercing the gloom—streaking toward two towering mausoleums in the *Forbidden Wind Ravine*.
Neither the towering stone monument nor the violet-radiant mausoleums of the Forbidden Wind Ravine acknowledged the golden coffin's passage.
Beyond those twin tombs lay the most forbidden zone of the Wraithrealm of Shattered Souls!
There gaped a nine zhang, seven chi, and two cun wide black abyss.
"We're done for..." Henry's eyes screwed shut in despair.
This was the Rebirth Cave - the final journey for departed souls!
The cave stood as the sole exit from this shattered realm for the Tomb-Burial Sect.
To enter meant enduring azure tempests that annihilated flesh and crystalline rains that scoured the spirit - all to reach rebirth's distant shore.
No matter one's former glory or cultivation achievements, crossing this threshold erased all traces of past and present.
This was the land of absolute demise - where no living soul had ever returned!
Only two paths offered safe passage:
First: Be ferried across by a Tomb-Burial guide conducting rebirth passages.
Second: Serve as gravekeeper for 3,690 years until one's hair turned completely white - only then would heaven grant reincarnation's blessing.
Henry's forehead bore exactly sixty silver strands - not even a fraction of the required count. How could he not panic?
*Vwoop*
The resonant sound echoed through the shattered realm as the golden coffin breached the cave's maw.
Time itself seemed to freeze...
After an eternity, Henry warily peeled his eyes open - and gasped.
The Rebirth Cave's interior defied all horrific expectations.
Where he'd imagined monochrome devastation,
Sapphire-hued annihilation winds glittered while soul-cleansing rains fell in crystalline brilliance - a surreal, mesmerizing spectacle.
*Hummm*
The coffin trembled silently as each droplet struck, sending ripples across its gilded surface.
"Wait... is that Jadevein Immortal Stone?"
"By the heavens! And Mindforge Sand with Pure Spirit Water too?"
The golden coffin cut through the storm like a gilded blade, its wake shimmering with reflected treasures.
This was no death trap—it was a veritable treasure trove!
"So many treasures... what a freakin' waste..."
Henry fidgeted inside the golden coffin, torn between awe and heartache.
His jaw dropped as he watched a Skygold Stone—hard enough to rival divine artifacts—turn to dust in seconds under the raging storm. Any lingering greed evaporated instantly.
No treasure's worth a dead man's grip.
He knew their safety hung on this monstrous coffin that had smashed through the void, battled three celestial relics, and defied that towering monolith.
Suddenly, a spectral fish darted before the coffin—ink-black above, sun-gold below, a perfect divide between purity and chaos.
"Holy s**t! Holy s**t! HOLY—!"
"Is that... Primordial Heaven-Earth Qi?!"
Henry's triple curses laid his shock bare as his inner greed demon woke right back up.
Though no worldly sophisticate, sixty years of burying legends had left him with mountains of arcane tomes. One passage from *The Chariot Edict* flashed through his mind: *"From primordial chaos emerged the dichotomy—clear and turbid entwined, heaven and earth manifest."*
This was the cosmos' rawest spiritual energy—the purest force in existence!
The coffin rippled violently, snaring the fish like a cowboy roping a steer. Golden waves lashed out, dragging their catch inside with ruthless yanks.
Henry gaped. "This thing's not just strong—it's a total thief?!"
Before he could blink, the ripples morphed into a massive hand that shoved the wriggling fish right into his gut.
"Kid, absorb this Primordial Qi now. Whether we escape Rebirth Cave depends on you!"
A radio-host smooth baritone resonated in Henry's mind—deep, velvety, commanding.
[Hold up... it's handing me this?!]
His heart raced, drowning out his questions. Focusing inward, he saw the fish zipping through his dantian like it paid rent.
The fish shimmered with celestial black above and earthy yellow below—a perfect fusion of heaven and earth, clarity and turbidity distinct yet harmonized.
"Holy crap, we're rich!"
This Primordial Heaven-Earth Qi defied all laws—formless yet boundless, holding immeasurable value for cultivators.
"You've got two breaths' time to claim this Qi," the baritone voice snapped again in Henry's mind, "or I'm tossing you out!"
Before the words faded, the golden coffin's ripples surged violently, its lid rattling like it might burst any second.
[To hell with it—all or nothing!]
Gritting his teeth, Henry prepared to channel the Tomb-Burial Sutra from his gravekeeper's legacy.
"Hold it!"
The voice practically growled, laced with frustration. "You'd waste Primordial Heaven-Earth Qi on that trash technique? What a damn shame!"
Trash? Henry nearly cursed aloud.
Cultivation methods, Dao decrees, artifacts and souls were ranked across four tiers—Mortal, Calamity, Immortal, Divine—each split into lower, middle, upper and supreme grades.
Even if gravekeepers' systems differed from orthodox cultivators, the Tomb-Burial Sutra was a legit peak Calamity-grade artifact! How the hell does that qualify as 'trash'?
[Wait... how does this guy know my legacy?]
A sickening feeling of being exposed washed over Henry. He felt equal parts furious and humiliated.
- Writer
