The fire serpent descended with a roar, filling the underground hall with red light.
Flames rolled across the ancient floor and dyed the rows of corpses a burning crimson. The temperature rose violently, blackening cracked stone and melting the pale frost marks Fang Lin had left behind. Huo Lan stood behind the flames, her dark red robes snapping in the heated air, her eyes bright with killing intent.
"Let us see how long you can hide!"
Qin Yuesheng moved at the same time. His sword Qi flowed outward like a silver river, clean and continuous, not attacking wildly but sealing Fang Lin's left and right paths with precision. Meng Shi charged from the front, his broad body covered in a dark stone-like sheen as each step shook the ground.
Fire, sword, and body force pressed toward Fang Lin together. Against ordinary Qi Conjunction cultivators, this combination would have crushed the battle before it truly began.
Fang Lin's eyes remained calm.
He stepped forward instead of retreating.
Frost Wind swept out, and a pale sword line cut through the air, meeting the fire serpent head-on. The moment frost and flame collided, steam exploded across the hall. Huo Lan sneered, thinking his ice had been swallowed, but Fang Lin had already vanished through the edge of the steam.
Flowing Wind Steps carried him like a shadow slipping through a broken curtain.
Qin Yuesheng's expression changed. "Behind!"
It was too late.
Fang Lin appeared beside a Crimson Flame Hall disciple who had been preparing to attack from the side. Before the disciple could turn, Fang Lin's palm landed on his chest. Wind Break Palm erupted in silence first, then in violence.
The disciple's ribs collapsed inward. His body flew across the hall and smashed into a stone pillar, blood spraying from his mouth before his aura vanished completely.
For half a breath, the hall fell silent.
Then panic erupted.
"He killed him!"
"He really killed a sect disciple!"
Huo Lan's eyes widened in disbelief. A recruited cultivator killing a disciple of the three sects was courting death in Rivercloud City. Even inside the Demon Sealing Ruins, it was still courting death.
But Fang Lin did not care.
They had attacked to kill him. Once that line was crossed, there was no reason to pretend that this was still a small dispute.
Qin Yuesheng's face became cold. "You dare kill disciples of the Rivercloud sects?"
Fang Lin turned his head slightly. His voice was calm, almost too calm for the blood spreading behind him. "You came here to kill me. Why should I let you live?"
The words were quiet, but several disciples felt cold from head to toe.
Meng Shi's expression grew heavier. "He is serious."
Huo Lan's anger overcame the unease in her heart. "Kill him!"
The sect disciples moved at once. River Sword Sect disciples formed a sword array, silver sword Qi linking between them like threads of water. Crimson Flame Hall disciples gathered flames in their palms, while Black Mountain Gate disciples rushed forward with heavy bodies, trying to trap Fang Lin in place. The recruited cultivators retreated in fear, some hiding behind broken pillars, others glancing toward the sealed entrance only to remember the black vines still covered it.
Above the altar, the dark mist churned slowly.
It watched.
It did not interfere.
Fang Lin's aura rose and settled at Late Qi Conjunction Realm, no longer hidden behind the weak mask of Lin Mo. The moment his true cultivation spread, Qin Yuesheng's gaze sharpened.
"Late Qi Conjunction?"
Huo Lan's face darkened.
Fang Lin gave no answer. Frost Wind moved, and his figure slipped into the sword array.
The River Sword Sect disciples reacted quickly. Their swords flashed together, forming a silver net meant to trap his movement, but Fang Lin's perception had already seen the gaps. He took one step, then another, passing between three sword lights by the width of a finger.
Frost Wind turned, and one disciple's wrist flew into the air. Another sword came from behind. Fang Lin leaned aside, avoided the blade, and struck backward with his elbow. Nine Nether Phantom Body erupted through that short movement, and the disciple's chest caved in with a muffled crack.
Before the body fell, Fang Lin had already moved again. Wind Break Palm struck the center of the sword array, and compressed wind exploded outward, shattering the silver formation instantly.
Qin Yuesheng's expression changed.
This was not simply speed. It was not only strength either. Fang Lin was reading the battle formation faster than they could form it.
Qin Yuesheng rushed forward, his sword carrying river-like momentum. Every strike followed the previous one, smooth and continuous, giving Fang Lin almost no room to breathe. Fang Lin met him directly, Frost Wind colliding with the silver sword again and again. Cold Qi spread through the air, and Qin Yuesheng's river sword Qi flowed around it, trying to wash away the frost traces.
For several breaths, the two exchanged more than twenty moves.
Then Qin Yuesheng suddenly felt something wrong.
His sword slowed.
Only slightly.
But enough.
The frost marks around him had connected without him noticing. Fang Lin stepped in, his palm pressing toward Qin Yuesheng's chest. Qin Yuesheng's pupils contracted, and he twisted his body at the last moment. The palm missed his heart but struck his left shoulder.
Wind Break Palm erupted.
Blood burst from Qin Yuesheng's mouth. His shoulder shattered, and he flew backward, crashing into the ground with his sword nearly leaving his hand.
"Senior Brother Qin!"
River Sword Sect disciples cried out, but Fang Lin did not chase him.
Huo Lan had arrived.
Her fire serpent split into three, attacking Fang Lin from different directions. At the same time, she threw out a red talisman. The talisman burned in midair and transformed into a flame cage that dropped around him.
"Burn!"
The three fire serpents rushed into the cage, swallowing Fang Lin completely. For a moment, flames covered everything. Huo Lan laughed coldly, but her laughter stopped almost immediately.
Inside the flame cage, a dark pressure spread. A pale sword light cut through the fire, and Fang Lin walked out with the edges of his sleeves burned and several scorched marks across his skin. His body remained steady. Nine Nether Phantom Body had endured most of the flames, while the cosmic energy hidden beneath his flesh suppressed the invading fire Qi before it could spread deeper.
Huo Lan's face changed. "Impossible."
Fang Lin raised his eyes.
His calm frightened her more than anger would have.
She stepped back.
Fang Lin moved.
Flowing Wind Steps carried him through the fading flames. Huo Lan clenched her teeth and formed another fire palm, but Frost Wind arrived first, piercing through her right shoulder. Cold Qi entered her meridians and froze her fire Qi for an instant.
That instant decided everything.
Fang Lin's left palm struck her abdomen. Wind Break Palm shattered her protective Qi, and Huo Lan's body bent forward violently before flying backward. Blood sprayed from her mouth as she crashed into the altar steps, her aura collapsing into chaos.
She was not dead.
But she could no longer fight.
Meng Shi roared. His body expanded slightly, and the stone-like color across his skin deepened. He charged toward Fang Lin like a moving mountain.
A Black Mountain Gate disciple shouted, "Senior Brother Meng, crush him!"
Meng Shi's fist descended.
Fang Lin did not dodge. He raised his palm and met the blow head-on.
The collision shook the ground beneath them. Cracks spread from Fang Lin's feet, and a shockwave rolled across the hall. Meng Shi's eyes widened. He had expected Fang Lin to be sent flying, but Fang Lin remained standing, his arm trembling slightly, but his posture unbroken.
"How is your body this strong?"
Fang Lin's gaze remained indifferent. "Not strong enough."
Meng Shi did not understand the words.
Then Fang Lin stepped forward and struck him with his shoulder.
Nine Nether Phantom Body erupted in a dull, heavy impact. Meng Shi staggered, and Fang Lin's sword followed. It did not cut his throat. It cut across his knees.
Blood sprayed.
Meng Shi's legs buckled.
Before he could fall, Fang Lin's palm landed on his chest. Wind Break Palm erupted, cracking apart the stone-like layer around Meng Shi's body and sending him flying backward into several Black Mountain Gate disciples. They collapsed together in a pile of broken armor, blood, and muffled groans.
The three leaders had fallen.
The remaining sect disciples froze.
Fear finally overcame greed.
Someone shouted, "Run!"
But there was nowhere to run. The door was sealed. The hall was a cage.
Fang Lin turned toward them, his expression unchanged. The disciples who had attacked him felt their scalps go numb.
A River Sword Sect disciple trembled. "Wait! This is a misunderstanding! We were following orders! We did not truly want to kill you!"
Fang Lin looked at him.
Frost Wind moved.
A pale line crossed the disciple's throat, and blood spilled down his robes as he fell.
"You drew your sword," Fang Lin said.
Another disciple screamed and attacked desperately. Fang Lin stepped aside and cut him down.
Then the massacre began.
It was not wild, and it was not driven by anger. That made it more terrifying. Fang Lin moved with quiet precision, killing those who had attacked him, crippling those who tried to form arrays, and cutting down anyone who reached for talismans or hidden weapons. Those who begged after launching killing moves were ignored.
Frost Wind left pale lines in the darkness. Wind Break Palm shattered bones and organs. Flowing Wind Steps made him impossible to surround. Nine Nether Phantom Body allowed him to endure attacks that would have crippled ordinary cultivators, while his soul perception caught every hidden dagger, every talisman movement, and every desperate sneak attack before it fully formed.
One by one, the sect disciples fell.
Blood spread across the ancient floor.
The recruited cultivators watched from the edges of the hall with pale faces. Some trembled. Some covered their mouths. Some could barely breathe. They had thought the three sect disciples were powerful. They had thought Fang Lin was only one hidden cultivator with some ability.
Now they understood.
This person was a monster.
Not the loud kind. Not the arrogant kind. The silent kind. The kind that killed only after deciding killing was necessary, which somehow made him even more frightening.
One recruited cultivator who had shouted earlier about the promised treasures looked at the corpses on the ground and swallowed hard. A short while ago, he had wanted justice from the three sects. Now, he only wanted to survive long enough to regret coming here.
Fang Lin stopped.
Around him, the hall had become almost silent. Qin Yuesheng lay against a broken pillar, barely conscious. Huo Lan coughed blood near the altar steps. Meng Shi knelt on the ground, unable to stand. Most of the ordinary sect disciples who had attacked were dead, while a few had been crippled beyond battle.
Fang Lin had not touched most of the recruited cultivators. Two had tried to attack during the chaos, hoping to profit from confusion. They had died quickly. The rest remained alive.
He looked at them.
"Stay away from me."
No one dared answer.
They nodded quickly, some so hard it looked painful.
Fang Lin turned back toward the altar.
The dark mist above it churned, and laughter echoed through the hall.
"Good. Very good."
Fang Lin looked up. "You enjoyed watching?"
"Darkness does not enjoy," the remnant said. "It reveals."
Fang Lin's eyes were cold. "You sealed the exit."
"They would have killed you even if I did not."
"That does not answer me."
The dark mist became silent for a moment before laughing softly. "You are sharp. Good. Anger without thought is useless. Strength without suspicion is food."
The black eye within the mist opened again. The corpses around the hall began sinking slowly into the ground, and blood started flowing toward the altar. Fang Lin's gaze sharpened.
The few that were alive were panicking.
The moment he noticed it, the blood stopped.
The remnant sighed. "So cautious."
Fang Lin raised Frost Wind. "If you try to use them as sacrifice, I will cut the altar first."
The hall became quiet.
The recruited cultivators felt their hearts nearly stop. Threatening the remnant inside an ancient demonic ruin sounded insane no matter how they thought about it. But the dark mist only laughed.
"You may try."
Fang Lin did not move.
The remnant continued, "You passed the first question. You have shown that you do not kneel before power. You have shown that you kill when killing is required. Now comes the second."
The black eye opened wider.
Darkness spread again.
This time, Fang Lin did not lose his senses immediately. Instead, the hall around him twisted. The corpses vanished. The altar vanished. The recruited cultivators vanished.
He stood in a familiar place.
Green Bamboo Sect.
The outer arena.
Countless disciples surrounded him, but the scene was different. Bodies covered the platform. Xu Ren. Sun Jie. Shen Ku. Chen Hao. Luo Chen. Han Zhi. Xuo Mu. Xue Ji. Li Shan. Murong Yue. Bai Qing. Zhao Feng.
Even Feng Jiu'er stood at the edge of the arena, blood staining her robes.
All of them looked at him with empty eyes.
A voice sounded from above.
"Second question. When darkness protects what you value, whom will you sacrifice?"
The scene shifted. Enemies appeared around the arena, faction disciples, elders, unknown cultivators, Rivercloud sect disciples, and countless blurred faces. All of them rushed toward the people Fang Lin knew. A blade moved toward Xuo Mu. A sword pierced toward Xue Ji. Fire surrounded Feng Jiu'er.
At the same time, a dark power appeared in Fang Lin's hand.
With it, he could save them.
But each time he saved one, another person behind him would die.
The illusion forced choices upon him. Save Feng Jiu'er or Xuo Mu. Save Li Shan or Xue Ji. Save himself or everyone else. The pressure struck his soul like a hammer, cruel not because it was strong, but because it tried to make cruelty seem wise.
A weaker cultivator would break. A sentimental cultivator would drown. A cruel cultivator would abandon everyone and call it strength.
Fang Lin watched silently.
His eyes were calm, but his soul turned cold.
The illusion wanted him to choose sacrifice. It wanted him to accept that darkness protected through loss. It wanted him to believe power required offering people he valued.
Fang Lin stepped forward.
The dark power in his hand pulsed.
He crushed it.
The entire arena trembled.
The voice paused.
Fang Lin's thought spread through the illusion.
I do not sacrifice what is mine to satisfy darkness.
The attacks continued. Blades neared throats. Fire neared flesh. Fang Lin's soul pressure erupted, and the silver spiritual sea appeared behind him like a vast mirror.
His voice was silent, but absolute.
If I lack strength, I become stronger. If enemies come, I kill them. If I cannot save everyone today, I remember the debt and pay it back tomorrow. But I do not call weakness a choice. I do not dress surrender as wisdom.
The illusion cracked.
The empty-eyed figures of his friends shattered one by one. Feng Jiu'er's image was the last to disappear. For a brief moment, she looked at him with clear eyes, and something in Fang Lin's chest tightened quietly.
Then she vanished too.
Darkness returned.
Fang Lin stood before the altar again. His breathing was slightly heavier. The second question had attacked deeper than the first, not because it tempted his greed, but because it touched the part of him that still remembered faces.
The dark mist above the altar had shrunk again.
This time, its voice carried more seriousness.
"You reject sacrifice."
Fang Lin replied coldly, "I reject being forced into false choices."
"Darkness often gives only cruel choices."
"Then I cut open another path."
The remnant was silent.
Then it laughed, not mockingly, but almost approvingly.
"Good."
Qin Yuesheng, barely conscious against the broken pillar, stared at Fang Lin in disbelief. He had no idea what Fang Lin had experienced. He only saw the dark mist tremble after Fang Lin answered.
Huo Lan coughed blood and tried to move, but cold Qi still sealed her meridians. Meng Shi lowered his head, his face pale. The recruited cultivators did not dare speak.
The black eye turned deeper.
"Third question."
The hall changed again.
This time, there was no sect, no friends, no enemies. Only endless darkness.
Fang Lin stood alone.
There was no ground, no sky, no sound. Even his body felt distant. Only his soul remained.
Then he saw himself.
Another Fang Lin stood opposite him with the same face, the same eyes, and the same aura, yet darker, colder, and sharper. The other Fang Lin smiled faintly.
"You are too restrained."
Fang Lin looked at him silently.
The other Fang Lin raised his hand, and darkness gathered around his fingers. "With your soul, your body, your perception, and your secrets, you could have killed Chen Hao earlier. You could have crushed Xu Ren completely. You could have taken more from the sect. You could have forced Feng Jiu'er to tell you what she knows. You could have used everyone."
His smile deepened.
"You call it caution, but is it not fear?"
Fang Lin did not answer.
The other Fang Lin walked closer.
"Third question," he said, and his voice became the remnant's voice. "When darkness becomes you, who remains?"
A terrifying pressure descended.
The other Fang Lin attacked without warning. Frost Wind appeared in his hand. Flowing Wind Steps, Wind Break Palm, Nine Nether Phantom Body, and Frost Trace Sword Art all unfolded with ruthless precision.
Everything Fang Lin knew, the shadow used.
And it used them more viciously.
Fang Lin blocked the first sword, and the impact shook his soul. This was not a battle of body, but a battle inside his consciousness. If he lost here, something might enter his soul or replace part of it.
His eyes became cold.
The shadow attacked again, faster and more vicious than before. Its movement wasted nothing.
"You want power," the shadow said. "Then become power."
Fang Lin dodged and countered. Their palms collided, shaking the darkness around them.
The shadow laughed. "Why pretend to be different? You killed them without hesitation. You enjoyed their fear."
Fang Lin's gaze did not waver. "I killed because they chose death."
The shadow appeared behind him. "Convenient words."
Fang Lin turned and cut. The shadow blocked, and their swords locked together.
The shadow leaned closer. "You think you are master of yourself, but every step you take leads deeper into darkness."
Fang Lin looked into its eyes. "Then I will walk deeper."
The shadow smiled.
Fang Lin continued, "And remain myself."
His soul power erupted. The Soul Metamorphosis Technique circulated with terrifying clarity, and the silver spiritual sea appeared again. This time, it did not only defend.
It pressed down.
The shadow's smile faded.
Fang Lin stepped forward. "You are not me."
He struck with Frost Wind. The shadow blocked, but Fang Lin's left palm moved at the same time. Wind Break Palm formed, and his soul pressure locked the space for a breath.
The palm landed.
The shadow's chest cracked, and darkness spilled out.
It stared at him. "If you reject me, you reject the darkness."
Fang Lin raised his sword. "No."
His eyes were calm.
"I reject being controlled by it."
Frost Wind descended.
The shadow split apart.
Endless darkness shattered.
Fang Lin opened his eyes.
He stood before the altar. The third question had ended. The black mist above the altar no longer looked vast. It had compressed into a palm-sized dark flame, and the black eye within it slowly closed.
For the first time, the remnant's voice lost its mocking tone.
"You passed."
The hall trembled. Ancient formation lines lit up across the floor, pillars, chains, and walls. The sealed door behind them shook, and the black vines withdrew slightly, though they did not fully open. The recruited cultivators fell to the ground, unable to withstand the pressure.
Qin Yuesheng's face turned ashen. Huo Lan's eyes filled with fear. Meng Shi stared at Fang Lin as if he were looking at something impossible.
The dark flame floated down from above the altar and stopped before Fang Lin.
"Take it."
Fang Lin did not reach out immediately.
The remnant laughed softly. "Still cautious after passing three questions."
Fang Lin replied, "Especially after passing three questions."
The dark flame flickered. "This legacy is not a chain. It is a key. Whether it opens a path or a grave depends on you."
Fang Lin looked at it for several breaths. His darkness affinity stirred violently, and inside his spiritual sea, the grey stone pulsed. It was not warning him. It was not resisting.
It was recognizing.
Fang Lin slowly raised his hand.
The dark flame touched his palm.
Darkness flooded into his body.
His meridians trembled, his soul shook, and his spiritual sea roared. The grey stone released a pulse at the critical moment, stabilizing everything before the darkness could scatter through him uncontrolled.
Information surged into Fang Lin's mind. Ancient characters. Demonic chants. Shadow movement. Darkness circulation. A scripture hidden beneath layers of sealed memory.
The first part of a true darkness inheritance.
Fang Lin clenched his teeth.
The pain was not physical. It was as if night itself were carving marks into his soul. But he did not retreat. He refined it, suppressed it, and forced the inheritance to settle without surrendering himself to it.
The dark flame entered his spiritual sea and hovered near the grey stone, though it did not dare touch it. Smoky mist moved around the stone, and the dark flame became quiet.
The altar cracked.
The ancient corpses around the hall lowered their heads.
The broken chains trembled.
For a brief instant, Fang Lin felt the entire underground hall breathe with him.
No.
Not only the hall.
The ruin.
Somewhere deep inside the Demon Sealing Ruins, something ancient seemed to open one eye. Fang Lin saw flashes of countless chambers, sealed gates, corpse beasts, black mist paths, and hidden formations.
Then the vision vanished.
His strength was too weak. He could only sense a fragment. But even that fragment was enough to shake his heart.
This ruin was not simple.
It was not merely a ruin.
Before Fang Lin could think further, the dark flame's voice sounded faintly inside his mind.
"Legacy bearer. Survive the remaining days. Then claim what your strength allows."
The voice faded.
Fang Lin slowly opened his eyes. His pupils were dark for an instant before returning to normal. The pressure in the hall disappeared, leaving silence behind.
Everyone stared at him.
No one dared move.
Fang Lin lowered his hand. Frost Wind remained in his grip. His aura was still Late Qi Conjunction Realm, but something about him had changed. It was subtle and deep, like a shadow had finally found its owner.
Qin Yuesheng's lips trembled. "You... obtained it?"
Fang Lin looked at him.
Qin Yuesheng immediately felt death and shut his mouth.
Huo Lan tried to crawl backward.
Fang Lin turned toward her.
Her face went pale. "Wait..."
Fang Lin walked forward.
"You wanted to kill me."
Huo Lan's voice shook. "I am a Crimson Flame Hall disciple. If you kill me, the sect will not let you go."
Fang Lin stopped before her. His expression was calm, and that calm made her feel colder than his sword.
"You still do not understand."
Huo Lan froze.
Fang Lin raised Frost Wind. "Your sect already planned to kill everyone here."
Her eyes widened. Perhaps she understood something at the last moment. Perhaps she only realized that the people above her had never treated even her as fully safe.
Then the sword fell.
Blood spread across the altar steps.
Fang Lin turned toward Qin Yuesheng and Meng Shi who were trembling.
Neither spoke.
The recruited cultivators lowered their heads in terror. Some were shaking so badly they could not stand. Fang Lin did not explain anything to them. There was no need.
He looked toward the sealed door.
The vines slowly opened for him.
Not fully.
Just enough.
The ruins were no longer treating him the same way.
But outside this hall, three hidden Middle Spirit Foundation geniuses had entered the ruins. The three-day deadline still remained. The three sects had already drawn their knives.
Fang Lin stepped toward the exit.
Behind him, the black altar cracked further. In his spiritual sea, the dark flame burned quietly beside the grey stone.
The real hunt inside the Demon Sealing Ruins had begun.
Only this time, the hunters did not know what they had awakened.