Chapter 35: The Shadow over the Black Moon Sect
Night had completely swallowed the Misty Shadow Mountains.
Han Feng moved through the darkness without making a sound.
His injuries from the previous confrontation had not fully healed. The wounds along his ribs still burned whenever he moved too quickly, and the venom that had entered his body during the battle with the Shadow Mist Serpent had left behind a faint numbness.
But he could not stop.
The black jade he had found beneath the serpent had changed everything.
It was not a fragment of the Celestial Diagram.
It was not an inheritance.
It was something else.
And the more Han Feng thought about it, the more certain he became that the Black Moon Sect knew something about it.
That was why he had returned.
Not as an Outer Disciple.
Not as Han Feng.
But as a shadow.
He reached the outer perimeter of the Black Moon Sect and stopped beneath a crooked tree.
Several patrols moved through the darkness.
The sect's defensive barrier stretched across the mountain like an invisible net. Every few breaths, faint spiritual fluctuations passed through the forest.
Han Feng waited.
He observed the patrols for nearly half an hour.
Only when two groups crossed paths did he move.
His figure blurred.
The Art of the Celestial Veil concealed his aura while Ghostly Shift carried him across the barrier during a brief fluctuation.
He landed silently on the other side.
No alarm sounded.
Han Feng did not relax.
The Black Moon Sect was built for people who lived in the shadows.
If he made one mistake here, hiding his cultivation would not save him.
He stayed close to the buildings and avoided the main paths.
As he moved deeper into the sect, an unfamiliar sensation appeared.
A faint pressure.
Not spiritual energy.
Something older.
Han Feng stopped.
His eyes narrowed.
The pressure was coming from beneath the sect.
There is something underground.
He followed the sensation while maintaining a safe distance from the patrols.
Eventually, he saw a figure moving through the darkness.
Elder Zhu Han.
Han Feng immediately stopped.
Zhu Han was accompanied by two Inner Disciples.
They did not speak.
Instead, they crossed a secluded courtyard and entered an old temple that appeared to have been abandoned for decades.
Han Feng waited until the door was almost completely closed.
Then he moved.
A thin layer of spiritual energy gathered beneath his feet.
Ghostly Shift.
He slipped through the narrowing gap.
The three figures continued downward.
Han Feng followed from a distance.
The stairs descended far deeper than he had expected.
Stone replaced wood.
Then the walls became covered with ancient markings.
Some were familiar.
Six points.
A broken circle.
Two opposing currents intertwined around the center.
Han Feng's expression became serious.
The same pattern.
He had seen it inside the ancient chamber.
He had seen it in the Celestial Fragment.
And he had seen a similar formation in his visions.
But this time, something was different.
The markings were not simply part of a diagram.
They formed a network.
The stairs finally ended.
Han Feng crouched behind a stone pillar and looked into the chamber ahead.
His breath almost stopped.
A gigantic circular altar occupied the center of the underground chamber.
Six stone structures surrounded it.
Each was connected to the central altar by a narrow channel carved into the floor.
Five of the six channels were completely dark.
But one glowed faintly gold.
Han Feng's eyes narrowed.
Six nodes.
The realization came instantly.
The six points he had seen before were not merely symbols.
They represented six locations.
Six ancient spiritual nodes.
Six anchors spread throughout the Misty Shadow Mountains.
Zhu Han stood beside the altar.
The two Inner Disciples remained several steps behind him.
"The eastern node is still dormant," one of them said quietly.
"The southern one as well," the second replied.
Zhu Han's expression was grim.
"And the northern node?"
"No reaction."
"What about the western one?"
The disciple hesitated.
"It awakened first."
Han Feng's gaze sharpened.
The western node.
The same direction from which he had obtained the black jade.
Zhu Han slowly looked toward the golden channel.
"It should never have awakened first."
The older voice made Han Feng freeze.
Someone else was in the chamber.
An old man stood in the shadows on the opposite side of the altar.
Han Feng had not sensed his arrival.
His cultivation was impossible to determine.
The old man slowly stepped into the faint golden light.
His face was old and expressionless.
"According to the records," the old man said, "the nodes were supposed to awaken according to a predetermined sequence."
He pointed toward the altar.
"But the western node awakened first."
The Inner Disciple lowered his head.
"Yes, Elder."
"Why?"
"We don't know."
The old man's eyes became colder.
"Then find out."
Silence filled the chamber.
Han Feng remained motionless.
The old man walked toward the altar.
"This formation was built long before the Black Moon Sect existed."
His fingers brushed across one of the ancient symbols.
"It was not created to provide power."
Han Feng's eyes narrowed.
The old man continued.
"It was created to contain something."
The words sent a chill through Han Feng.
Zhu Han lowered his voice.
"The Mountain-Sealing Array."
Han Feng memorized the name.
Mountain-Sealing Array.
The old man nodded.
"The altar beneath this sect is only the control point. It is not the source of the formation."
He pointed toward the six channels.
"These six nodes extend through the Misty Shadow Mountains. Together, they form the outer structure of the seal."
Han Feng stared at the formation.
So the enormous structure he had sensed beneath the mountains was not centered beneath the Black Moon Sect.
The sect was only sitting above one part of it.
A control point.
A place where the remaining fragments of an ancient formation could still be monitored.
The old man continued.
"If even one node collapses, the pressure on the remaining five increases."
One of the Inner Disciples swallowed.
"And if more than one awakens out of sequence?"
The old man did not answer immediately.
His gaze moved toward the golden channel.
"Then something has interfered with the seal."
Han Feng's expression became colder.
Something.
Not someone.
The old man seemed to choose his words carefully.
"The western node did not simply awaken on its own."
Zhu Han frowned.
"The records mention an external resonance."
"Yes."
The old man looked toward a stone pedestal beside the altar.
There was an empty indentation on its surface.
"The western node was once connected to a Resonance Marker."
Han Feng's hand unconsciously moved toward his spatial ring.
The black jade inside it became warm.
His eyes narrowed.
The black jade...
The old man continued.
"The marker was lost three centuries ago."
Zhu Han looked surprised.
"And the sect never found it?"
"No."
"Where was it last recorded?"
The old man's expression darkened.
"The Misty Shadow Mountains."
Han Feng's breathing slowed.
The pieces were beginning to connect.
The serpent.
The black jade.
The western node.
The ancient formation.
The old man walked toward the empty pedestal.
"The Resonance Marker does not power the Mountain-Sealing Array."
He paused.
"It locates the nodes."
Han Feng's eyes widened slightly.
The black jade was not an activation key.
It was a locator.
A tool created to identify the positions of the ancient nodes hidden throughout the mountains.
The old man placed his palm above the empty indentation.
"If the marker is brought close enough to one of the ancient nodes, the formation can recognize its resonance."
Zhu Han looked toward the golden channel.
"And that is what happened."
"Yes."
"Then whoever possesses the marker..."
"Can find the remaining nodes."
Silence.
Han Feng slowly tightened his fingers.
So they are searching for the black jade because they want the nodes.
Not because it was a fragment of the Celestial Diagram.
Not because it contained an inheritance.
The distinction mattered.
But another question immediately followed.
Why did the western node awaken?
The old man seemed to ask the same question.
"The marker should only reveal the location of a node."
He stared at the golden channel.
"It should not awaken it."
The chamber became completely silent.
Han Feng felt a faint pulse beneath his spatial ring.
Once.
Twice.
The dormant golden Gu inside his possession responded.
His expression changed.
No.
The altar suddenly trembled.
A faint golden line appeared along the western channel.
Then it moved.
Slowly.
Across the floor.
Toward the direction of Han Feng's hiding place.
Han Feng's body went rigid.
The line stopped.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then the black jade inside his spatial ring became hot.
The altar reacted.
A thin golden light rose from the western node and extended toward him.
Not toward the room.
Not toward the entrance.
Toward him.
The old man's head snapped in his direction.
"Someone is here."
Han Feng immediately activated the Art of the Celestial Veil.
At the same instant, the dormant golden Gu pulsed violently.
The altar responded.
One of the other five channels flickered.
The eastern node.
For less than a breath, a faint golden light appeared.
Then it disappeared.
The old man's expression changed for the first time.
"The eastern node..."
Zhu Han stared at it.
"It reacted."
The old man slowly turned toward the western node.
"No."
His voice was quiet.
"It did not react to the marker."
His eyes moved toward the darkness where Han Feng stood hidden.
"It reacted to its bearer."
Han Feng's heart sank.
They found me.
But there was something even worse.
The eastern node had never reacted before.
Yet it had reacted after Han Feng entered the chamber.
The black jade had not simply revealed a location.
His presence had caused the formation to respond.
And if that was true...
Then the Celestial Fragment, the black jade, and the dormant golden Gu were connected somehow.
But how?
Han Feng did not have time to investigate.
Several spiritual fluctuations suddenly appeared outside the chamber.
More people were approaching.
Zhu Han turned toward the entrance.
"Seal the chamber."
The two Inner Disciples immediately moved.
Han Feng's eyes scanned the room.
There were too many people coming.
He could not fight his way out.
Not without exposing far more strength than he was willing to reveal.
His gaze landed on several old spirit stones scattered beside the altar.
An idea formed.
Han Feng quietly released a trace of Qi.
Then another.
Then another.
He sent the traces in three different directions.
One toward the eastern passage.
One toward the northern wall.
And one toward the chamber entrance.
The traces were deliberately weak.
But to a tracking technique, they would look like fragments of a fleeing cultivator's aura.
The first footsteps entered the chamber.
"Someone is inside!"
Han Feng moved.
The moment the attention of the cultivators shifted toward the false traces, he slipped behind a stone pillar.
His body blurred.
Ghostly Shift.
He crossed the chamber and entered a narrow maintenance passage hidden behind the altar.
The passage was barely wide enough for one person.
Han Feng squeezed through.
Behind him, voices erupted.
"Search the eastern side!"
"No, the aura went north!"
"Don't let him escape!"
Han Feng continued deeper.
Only when he was far enough away did he slow down.
His breathing was heavier.
His ribs hurt.
But he was alive.
He looked down at his spatial ring.
The black jade was still warm.
The Celestial Fragment remained silent.
For several seconds, nothing happened.
Then—
The dormant golden Gu pulsed.
Once.
Twice.
Han Feng frowned.
He carefully took out the Celestial Fragment.
A faint golden line appeared across its surface.
His pupils contracted.
It was the same six-pointed formation.
The same six positions.
But something had changed.
One of the six points was no longer dark.
A second point had begun to glow.
Han Feng stared at it.
Then, from somewhere deep beneath the Misty Shadow Mountains, came a sound.
Not an explosion.
Not a roar.
A heartbeat.
Thump.
The ground beneath his feet trembled.
Han Feng's expression changed.
Thump.
The Celestial Fragment suddenly became hot.
Han Feng immediately suppressed its aura.
Thump.
Something beneath the mountains had heard the resonance.
Han Feng slowly looked toward the darkness ahead.
For the first time, he understood the true purpose of the Mountain-Sealing Array.
It was not merely protecting the mountains.
It was not merely controlling ancient spiritual energy.
It was keeping something contained.
Something that had been sleeping beneath the Misty Shadow Mountains for countless years.
And somehow...
It had just learned that Han Feng was here.
Han Feng closed his hand around the Celestial Fragment.
His expression became grim.
Whatever was beneath the mountains...
It was no longer completely asleep.