Chapter 11: The Golden Light
1704 Words
The forest had grown eerily quiet.
Even the insects that had filled the night with their songs had fallen silent.
Lin Chen stood at the edge of the ruined pavilion, his eyes fixed on the distant mountain where the golden light had appeared. Though it had lasted for only a heartbeat, he was certain he had not imagined it.
It was spiritual light.
Pure.
Ancient.
Unlike the aura of spirit beasts or cultivators, it carried an indescribable pressure, as though it had existed long before the Azure Cloud Sword Sect was founded.
He extinguished the last ember of the campfire with the tip of his boot.
"Such an aura shouldn't appear in the outer region of the Spirit Beast Forest."
His instincts told him that whatever had produced the light was either a priceless opportunity...
Or a deadly trap.
In his previous life, he had seen countless cultivators rush toward mysterious phenomena, blinded by greed. Most never returned.
This time, he would let experience guide him.
He moved through the forest without haste, carefully erasing his footprints whenever the ground became soft enough to preserve them. Every few dozen steps, he paused to observe his surroundings.
No broken branches.
No strange scents.
No traces of recent battle.
The golden light had not attracted many people.
That alone was unusual.
After nearly an hour of cautious travel, the terrain began to change.
The towering pines gave way to jagged cliffs streaked with pale veins of crystal. Thick vines hung from weathered rocks, while patches of luminous blue moss covered the ground.
The spiritual qi here was noticeably richer.
Lin Chen inhaled slowly.
"My cultivation is responding..."
The Voidheart Scripture stirred on its own, greedily drawing in the surrounding qi. It wasn't enough for a breakthrough, but every breath refined his foundation a little further.
He allowed the circulation to continue while advancing deeper into the valley.
A sudden flutter of wings broke the silence.
Several white birds shot into the sky from the trees ahead.
Lin Chen stopped immediately.
Birds rarely fled without reason.
He crouched behind a boulder and waited.
Moments later, hurried footsteps echoed through the forest.
Two outer disciples burst into the clearing.
Their robes were torn, and blood stained one man's sleeve.
"Hurry!" the injured disciple gasped.
"It's coming!"
Before his companion could answer, a deafening hiss echoed behind them.
The bushes exploded apart.
A giant serpent lunged from the darkness.
Its body was thicker than an ancient tree trunk, covered in dark emerald scales that reflected the moonlight. Two golden eyes burned with murderous intent.
The disciples screamed.
One tried to raise his sword.
The serpent struck first.
Its tail swept across the clearing with terrifying force.
Boom!
The unfortunate disciple was hurled into a massive tree.
He slid to the ground without moving.
The second disciple froze in terror.
His face turned deathly pale.
"N-No..."
The serpent opened its jaws.
Venom dripped from fangs longer than daggers.
Lin Chen frowned.
A Third-Rank Green Scale Python.
Far stronger than the Iron Fang Wolf he had encountered earlier.
At his current cultivation, defeating it head-on would be difficult.
Yet...
If he did nothing, the remaining disciple would certainly die.
The young man stumbled backward until his heel caught on a tree root.
He fell heavily onto the ground.
The python lunged.
At that instant—
A stone flew through the air.
Crack!
It struck the serpent's eye.
The beast recoiled with an enraged hiss.
Its massive head turned toward the source of the attack.
Lin Chen stepped out from behind the boulder.
The frightened disciple stared at him in disbelief.
"Run," Lin Chen said calmly.
The young man hesitated.
"But—"
"I won't repeat myself."
Understanding dawned in the disciple's eyes.
He bowed quickly before scrambling into the forest as fast as his legs could carry him.
Now only Lin Chen and the python remained.
The beast's injured eye bled steadily.
Its fury intensified.
With another violent hiss, it charged.
Lin Chen drew his iron sword.
Instead of meeting the attack directly, he dashed sideways, narrowly avoiding the serpent's jaws.
The python crashed into the boulder behind him, shattering it into countless fragments.
"So much raw strength..."
Lin Chen murmured.
Its weakness wasn't power.
It was speed.
Large spirit beasts often relied on overwhelming force, leaving brief openings whenever they overcommitted to an attack.
The python struck again.
Lin Chen retreated, weaving between ancient trees.
Each attack destroyed rocks and snapped thick trunks in half.
Yet none touched him.
Gradually, the serpent grew more agitated.
Its movements became increasingly reckless.
Lin Chen's breathing remained steady.
He wasn't searching for victory.
He was waiting for a single mistake.
The opportunity finally came.
The python lunged too far, embedding its massive head between two enormous rocks.
For a brief instant...
It was trapped.
Lin Chen's eyes flashed.
"This is it."
He sprang forward, his iron sword gathering spiritual qi as he aimed for the gap beneath the beast's jaw—the one place where its scales were thinnest.
Just as his blade descended—
A sharp whistle echoed from somewhere above.
Lin Chen's instincts screamed.
Danger!
He abandoned his attack and threw himself backward.
The next heartbeat, three black arrows slammed into the exact spot where he had been standing.
Each arrow was coated in dark purple poison.
Someone else...
Had been waiting for this moment.
The three poisoned arrows buried themselves deep into the earth.
Dark smoke rose from the arrowheads as the poison corroded the surrounding grass.
Lin Chen landed lightly several meters away, his gaze immediately sweeping toward the cliffs above.
"An archer."
"No... more than one."
A cold laugh drifted through the valley.
"So you really dodged."
A tall young man dressed in dark blue robes stepped onto a rocky ledge. He carried a black iron bow across his back, while a jade badge on his waist identified him as an outer disciple of the Azure Cloud Sword Sect.
Behind him stood two companions, each holding a sword.
Unlike Zhao Feng's hired killers, these men made no attempt to hide their identities.
The archer folded his arms.
"I've heard plenty about you lately, Lin Chen."
"You defeated Wang Hu."
"You embarrassed Zhao Feng."
"I wanted to see whether those rumors were true."
Lin Chen lowered his sword slightly.
"And shooting poisoned arrows from behind is your way of testing people?"
The young man smiled without embarrassment.
"In the cultivation world, only the living are right."
His eyes drifted toward the trapped Green Scale Python.
"Besides..."
"I wasn't aiming at you."
"I was aiming at my prey."
The python finally freed its head from the rocks with an earth-shaking roar.
Its injured eye glowed with hatred as it glared at everyone present.
The archer's expression changed.
"Now!"
His two companions leaped from the cliff, attacking from opposite sides.
One slashed at the serpent's tail while the other targeted its neck.
The python shrieked in pain.
Its enormous body whipped across the valley like a raging storm.
Boom!
The swordsmen were thrown backward.
One crashed into a tree, coughing blood.
The other barely managed to keep his footing.
The archer clicked his tongue.
"Worthless."
He drew another arrow and released it.
The shaft streaked through the air, striking the serpent just behind its wounded eye.
The beast roared again.
But instead of collapsing...
Its spiritual aura exploded outward.
The pressure nearly doubled.
Lin Chen's expression hardened.
"They've enraged it."
The archer frowned.
"What?"
"A wounded spirit beast fights to survive," Lin Chen said calmly.
"You've cornered it."
"Now it has nothing left to lose."
Almost as if responding to his words, the Green Scale Python opened its mouth.
A cloud of emerald poison burst across the valley.
"Retreat!"
The archer shouted.
It was too late.
The poisonous mist spread with terrifying speed.
One of the swordsmen inhaled a small amount before escaping.
Within seconds, his face turned pale.
He staggered before collapsing onto one knee.
The python lunged.
Its jaws snapped shut where the disciple had fallen.
A scream echoed through the valley before abruptly ending.
The remaining swordsman's courage broke.
He turned and fled without looking back.
The archer cursed under his breath.
"i***t!"
He reached for another arrow—
Only to realize his quiver was nearly empty.
The python had already locked onto him.
Its massive body surged up the rocky slope.
The archer fired twice in quick succession.
Both arrows struck.
Neither slowed the beast.
The cliff beneath his feet shattered.
He lost his balance.
For the first time, fear filled his eyes.
"No..."
A figure suddenly flashed past him.
Lin Chen.
With one hand, he grabbed the young man's robe and pulled him onto a nearby ledge.
At the same moment, the python's jaws slammed shut where the archer had been standing.
The beast crashed into the cliff below.
Rocks thundered into the valley.
The archer stared blankly at Lin Chen.
"You..."
"You saved me."
Lin Chen released his grip.
"I saved someone from dying."
"I haven't decided whether I saved a friend."
The young man lowered his head in shame.
"I... owe you an apology."
"My name is Luo Jian."
"I judged you based on rumors."
Lin Chen nodded.
"Then learn from today."
"Never underestimate your opponent."
"And never corner a spirit beast unless you're certain you can finish it."
Luo Jian gave a bitter smile.
"I'll remember."
Before either man could say more, the valley began to tremble again.
The golden light returned.
This time it didn't vanish.
A brilliant pillar of golden radiance burst from the heart of the valley, illuminating the entire forest.
Ancient runes appeared across the surrounding cliffs.
The rich spiritual qi became so dense that it was almost visible.
Both men instinctively looked toward the source.
Luo Jian whispered in disbelief,
"A secret realm..."
"No," Lin Chen corrected quietly.
His eyes narrowed as forgotten memories surfaced from his previous life.
"This is..."
"The entrance to an ancient inheritance."
As the final rune lit up, the ground slowly split apart.
Stone doors that had remained sealed for countless years began to rise from beneath the earth.
A wave of ancient pressure swept across the valley.
Someone...
Or something...
Had awakened.
- Writer
