Chapter 34: In the Depths of the Mist
The wind howled through the Misty Shadow Mountains, carrying biting cold between the twisted trees.
Han Feng moved slowly through the darkness, one hand occasionally pressing against his ribs.
The wounds from his previous confrontation had not fully healed.
Every deeper breath reminded him of the black-robed cultivator's blade.
That enemy had been different from the trackers Han Feng had encountered before.
Faster.
More experienced.
And, most importantly, capable of reading the disturbances created by his techniques.
Han Feng narrowed his eyes.
Next time, surviving won't be enough.
The thought lingered in his mind as he continued deeper into the mountains.
The black talisman he had destroyed was still fresh in his memory. The strange tracking technique, the enemy's ability to predict his movements, and the reaction of the dormant golden Gu afterward had left him with more questions than answers.
Who had sent that man?
Why were they searching for him?
And why had the dormant Gu reacted when the tracking talisman was destroyed?
None of the pieces fit together yet.
But Han Feng had learned one thing.
The people searching for the Celestial Pattern were not all working together.
That made the situation even more dangerous.
He slowed his pace.
The forest ahead had become strangely quiet.
No insects.
No distant spirit beasts.
Even the wind seemed weaker.
Han Feng stopped.
His spiritual perception spread through the surrounding trees.
Nothing.
He waited.
Still nothing.
Then—
Crack.
His eyes sharpened.
The sound had come from beneath him.
Han Feng immediately stepped backward.
The ground exploded.
A massive body burst through the soil, sending stones and dirt flying in every direction.
Han Feng twisted his body in midair.
A gigantic serpent emerged from the earth, its scales dark enough to blend with the night. Purple light flickered beneath its scales, while two enormous eyes locked onto him.
A Shadow Mist Serpent.
Han Feng's expression became serious.
He had seen records of this spiritual beast before.
It was not merely powerful.
It was extremely sensitive to spiritual energy.
And its venom could interfere with Qi circulation.
Bad.
Han Feng landed on a tree branch.
The serpent raised its head.
Its tongue flicked through the air.
Then it disappeared.
Han Feng's pupils contracted.
Too fast.
He immediately activated the Art of the Celestial Veil.
A blur passed beneath him.
The serpent's jaws snapped shut where his body had been a moment earlier.
The impact shattered the tree.
Han Feng jumped away.
The serpent twisted unnaturally in midair and struck again with its tail.
He crossed his arms.
Boom!
His body was thrown backward.
Pain exploded through his injured ribs.
Han Feng crashed into a tree trunk and nearly lost his balance.
He gritted his teeth.
His previous injuries were slowing him down.
If he allowed the battle to continue like this, he would eventually lose.
The serpent opened its mouth.
A cloud of purple mist poured from between its fangs.
Han Feng immediately retreated.
The mist touched a nearby tree.
The bark blackened almost instantly.
His expression changed.
Poisonous spiritual mist.
He could not afford to be touched.
The serpent charged again.
This time, Han Feng did not retreat in a straight line.
He changed direction three times, using the trees to obstruct the creature's vision.
The serpent smashed through them one after another.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Wood exploded across the forest.
Han Feng watched carefully.
He was not trying to overpower the beast.
He was studying it.
Every attack followed a pattern.
Before lunging, the muscles near its neck contracted.
Before releasing the poisonous mist, the purple light beneath its scales intensified.
And whenever it changed direction, its body became slightly slower for a fraction of a second.
There.
Han Feng's eyes narrowed.
A weakness.
But reaching it would be difficult.
The serpent suddenly opened its mouth.
Purple mist flooded the area.
Han Feng held his breath and pushed off the ground.
At the same moment, he activated the Dual Chaos Larva.
Only a tiny amount of its power entered his body.
His muscles strengthened.
His movements became sharper.
He did not allow the Gu to release enough energy to expose his true cultivation.
The serpent struck.
Han Feng stepped aside.
Its fangs missed his shoulder by inches.
He immediately struck its lower jaw.
Bang!
The serpent's head tilted upward.
But instead of retreating, it twisted its body around him.
Its tail slammed into Han Feng's back.
He was thrown through the air.
Before he could regain control, the serpent opened its jaws again.
Han Feng's expression hardened.
There was no time to dodge normally.
He activated the Spectral Void Palm.
Several images of himself appeared around the serpent.
The beast hesitated.
One illusion moved left.
Another moved right.
A third appeared behind it.
The serpent attacked the closest image.
Its fangs passed through empty air.
But the beast immediately stopped.
It had noticed something.
Its purple eyes turned toward Han Feng.
It can distinguish the illusions.
Han Feng's heart tightened.
The serpent charged directly toward him.
He barely avoided the attack.
Its fangs grazed his sleeve.
A burning sensation spread across his arm.
Poison.
Only a trace had touched him, but his skin was already beginning to numb.
Han Feng's expression became cold.
He could not drag this battle out any longer.
His eyes moved toward the ground.
The area beneath the serpent was already damaged from its previous attacks.
A network of cracks spread beneath its body.
Han Feng suddenly understood.
He had been trying to create an opening.
But he did not need to create one.
The serpent had already created it for him.
Han Feng deliberately retreated toward a narrow section between two large rocks.
The serpent followed.
Its massive body squeezed into the confined space.
Han Feng waited.
One second.
Two.
Then the serpent lunged.
Han Feng stepped aside at the final moment.
The serpent's head slammed between the rocks.
The ground beneath its body collapsed.
Its massive frame dropped partially into the fissure.
For an instant, it was trapped.
Han Feng moved.
He activated the Spectral Void Palm.
Instead of attacking the serpent directly, he struck the damaged ground beneath its neck.
BOOM!
The rocks collapsed.
The serpent's body became pinned beneath several tons of stone.
It struggled violently.
The entire mountain slope trembled.
Han Feng's face paled.
He could not maintain this for long.
The serpent's body began forcing the rocks upward.
Han Feng gathered his Qi.
Not enough to reveal his true strength.
Just enough.
He compressed it into his palm.
Then he struck the base of the serpent's skull.
BOOM!
The serpent roared.
Its body convulsed.
Han Feng struck again.
And again.
On the fourth strike, the purple light beneath its scales flickered.
Then disappeared.
The enormous creature finally became still.
Han Feng stood motionless for several breaths.
His chest rose and fell heavily.
His injured ribs burned.
His arm was partially numb from the venom.
He immediately sat down and circulated Qi through his body, slowing the spread of the poison.
Only after several minutes did the numbness begin to fade.
Han Feng opened his eyes.
The serpent was dead.
But something was wrong.
The creature had not simply been guarding this area.
Its body had emerged from beneath the ground.
And when it had attacked, Han Feng had sensed something strange beneath the soil.
He stood.
Slowly, he approached the place where the serpent had emerged.
His spiritual perception descended into the earth.
There was something below.
Not a spirit beast.
Not a formation.
Something else.
Han Feng began removing the broken stones.
Several layers beneath the surface, his fingers touched something cold.
He stopped.
A piece of black jade emerged from the soil.
It was no larger than his palm.
Ancient runes covered its surface.
Han Feng's expression changed.
The Celestial Fragment inside his spatial ring suddenly trembled.
At the same moment, the dormant golden Gu inside his storage container pulsed once.
Han Feng immediately became cautious.
He did not touch the black jade directly.
Instead, he observed it with spiritual perception.
The jade was not another fragment of the Celestial Diagram.
At least, not exactly.
Its surface contained a familiar pattern.
Six points.
One central line.
And a broken circular mark surrounding them.
Han Feng's breathing slowed.
He had seen these symbols before.
Inside the ancient altar.
Inside the Celestial Fragment.
And in the visions he had experienced after touching the inheritance.
But this object felt different.
It contained no inheritance.
No powerful surge of energy.
It was more like...
A key.
Or perhaps a marker.
Han Feng carefully brought the jade closer to his Celestial Fragment.
The reaction was immediate.
The fragment trembled.
A faint spiritual pulse traveled between them.
For a brief moment, a thin line of light appeared across the black jade.
Then a scene flashed through Han Feng's consciousness.
An ancient mountain range.
A vast formation buried beneath the earth.
Six points surrounding a central position.
Five were completely dark.
One emitted a faint golden glow.
Then the vision changed.
A group of black-robed figures stood around the formation.
One of them held a black object similar to the talisman Han Feng had destroyed.
Another figure said something, but the voice was too distorted to understand.
Then—
The entire vision shattered.
Han Feng opened his eyes.
His breathing was heavier.
He stared at the black jade.
This was not a piece of the Celestial Diagram.
It was connected to the same system.
But how?
And why had a Shadow Mist Serpent been sleeping above it?
His gaze shifted toward the corpse.
Perhaps the serpent had not been guarding the jade intentionally.
Perhaps it had simply been drawn to the spiritual energy beneath the mountain.
Or perhaps...
Someone had placed it there.
Han Feng's expression became colder.
He carefully wrapped the black jade in a cloth before placing it inside his spatial ring.
He did not dare directly absorb its energy.
Not yet.
Too many things were connected to it.
The Celestial Fragment.
The dormant golden Gu.
The ancient altar.
The six-pointed formation.
And the mysterious organizations searching for the Celestial Pattern.
The pieces were beginning to form a pattern.
But the more the pattern became visible, the more dangerous the situation seemed.
Han Feng looked toward the deeper mountains.
He had originally intended to return toward the Black Moon Sect and investigate its ancient records.
Now he was no longer certain that would be enough.
If the Black Moon Sect possessed information about the Celestial Pattern, someone else might already know that he was searching for it.
And after the battle with the black-robed cultivator, Han Feng could no longer assume that remaining hidden would protect him forever.
He touched his injured ribs.
I need information before I make another move.
But before that, he needed somewhere safe enough to recover.
The mountains were becoming increasingly dangerous.
Han Feng activated the Art of the Celestial Veil once more.
His aura gradually disappeared into the surrounding darkness.
He turned away from the serpent's corpse.
Then stopped.
For just an instant, the dormant golden Gu pulsed again inside his storage container.
Han Feng's eyes narrowed.
It was not reacting to the black jade anymore.
It was reacting to something farther away.
Something he could not sense.
He remained still.
The forest was silent.
Then, somewhere deep within the Misty Shadow Mountains—
Boom.
A distant tremor passed through the earth.
Han Feng looked toward the source.
His expression became solemn.
There was something else beneath these mountains.
Something far older than the serpent.
And judging by the reaction of the dormant Gu...
It had just awakened.