CHAPTER 23: THE ABYSS RISES
791 Words
The morning sun failed to pierce the thick fog rolling over the Eastern Peaks. Birds did not sing. Even the wind dared not speak. Something ancient and vile slithered beneath the surface of the earth.
Ye Qing stood atop the watchtower of the Azure Dragon Sect, his black robe fluttering as he gazed across the horizon. Behind him, rows of elite disciples armed with spirit-forged weapons waited in full battle formation. Their faces were pale, not from fear—but from the pressure radiating from what approached.
Suddenly, the mountain trembled.
From beneath the valley, black-scaled serpents erupted—each one as thick as a warhorse, their eyes glowing a cold, poisonous green. Riding atop them were cloaked figures, their armor dripping with a dark aura.
The Abyss Serpent Clan had arrived.
And they didn’t come to negotiate.
---
“Archers! Form the Vermilion Line!” shouted Elder Junzi, his spiritual pressure igniting as arrows imbued with fire essence formed above the disciples.
Ye Qing raised a hand. “Hold.”
Everyone froze.
From the enemy ranks, a monstrous figure stepped forward—clad in serpentine armor, his face half-covered in a silver mask. His aura was that of a Half-Saint, but darker… fouler.
He raised a twisted black spear and pointed at Ye Qing.
“I am Hei Yue, Third Fang of the Abyss Clan. You carry the will of the Blood King… You will hand it over, or we shall bury this mountain under rivers of venom.”
Ye Qing stepped off the tower, floating slowly to the battlefield. The Crimson Monarch Spear materialized in his grip.
“I don’t make deals with worms,” Ye Qing said calmly. “And you are far beneath a dragon.”
With a cry that cracked the air, Hei Yue hurled his spear.
Ye Qing vanished.
In the next breath, thunder exploded.
The two clashed mid-air, their strikes sending shockwaves that leveled trees and split the earth. The disciples below scattered as black mist and crimson flames raged like battling typhoons.
Elder Mei slammed her staff into the ground. “Form the Heavenly Defense Array! Don’t let the serpents breach the inner gates!”
The sky turned dark as more abyssal cultivators poured out of hidden portals, bringing spirit beasts infused with toxic qi.
Yet within the chaos, Ye Qing’s presence burned like a sun.
His cultivation, now in the Heaven-Severing Realm, allowed him to fight across dimensions of force. Each movement of his spear wasn’t just martial—it was divine defiance.
He roared and summoned the Blood King's Wings, slashing dozens of abyssal warriors with a single spin. He used the Heaven-Slaying Dao not just to kill—but to dominate.
Hei Yue coughed blood.
“You… this power…!”
Ye Qing pointed his spear at the masked man. “You trespass on sacred land and threaten my sect. You insult my bloodline. For that—you die here.”
He invoked the forbidden technique: Crimson Reign.
A rain of blood-red swordlight fell from the heavens, piercing through enemy lines. Screams echoed as serpent riders disintegrated in mid-air.
The tide turned.
The Azure Dragon Sect disciples rallied, cutting down wave after wave of the invaders.
Hei Yue tried to retreat into a void rift—but Ye Qing was faster.
“No one escapes Heaven’s Judgment.”
He speared through Hei Yue’s chest, pinning him mid-air. The rift collapsed.
---
Hours later, the battlefield was still. Corpses of abyssal beasts smoldered under cleansing fire. The Eastern Peaks, though scarred, still stood.
Inside the Sect Hall, Bai Zheng gathered the elders.
“This wasn’t just an attack,” he said gravely. “It was a test.”
Elder Wuxian nodded. “The Abyss Serpent Clan never acts without the backing of someone greater.”
“They wanted to measure Ye Qing’s power,” Mei added. “And now that they know…”
“They’ll escalate,” Bai Zheng finished.
---
That night, Ye Qing sat alone beneath the Wishing Tree, a quiet place high above the main hall. Blood stained his robes, though none of it was his.
He closed his eyes.
“The Blood King’s path is steeped in corpses.”
“How many more must die before I reach the truth?”
A presence appeared beside him.
Luo Yan, holding a flask of spirit wine, sat down.
“Whatever path you're walking, brother,” he said, “you’re not walking it alone.”
They drank in silence.
Above them, the stars shifted unnaturally.
---
Far in the west, in the forbidden tombs of the Fallen Sky Sect, a voice stirred from within a sealed coffin.
“The Heaven-Slayer has risen…”
“Then the world must burn again.”
- Writer
