Chapter 36: The Secret Method of the Underworld
Han Feng moved through the narrow passage beneath the Black Moon Sect, keeping his breathing steady.
The main underground chamber was already behind him.
But he had not escaped the Black Moon Sect yet.
Behind him, the voices of the elders echoed through the stone corridors.
"Search the eastern passage!"
"Check every side tunnel!"
"The intruder is still somewhere beneath the sect!"
Han Feng's expression remained calm.
His escape from the main chamber had bought him time, but not freedom.
The false Qi traces he had created were already drawing the search parties in different directions. One trace led toward the eastern passage, another toward the northern corridor, while the weakest one lingered near the chamber entrance.
They would eventually realize the traces were false.
He needed to be gone before that happened.
Han Feng continued forward.
His injuries from the battle with the Shadow Mist Serpent made every movement uncomfortable. The wounds along his ribs had not fully recovered, and his spiritual energy was far from its peak.
A prolonged battle inside the Black Moon Sect was impossible.
He needed another exit.
The passage ahead narrowed.
Han Feng slowed.
A faint vibration traveled through the stone beneath his feet.
Thump.
He stopped.
The same heartbeat he had heard beneath the mountains.
His eyes narrowed.
The vibration had come from deeper underground.
Then the ancient walls trembled.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
A thin crack appeared across the stone beside him.
Han Feng immediately stepped back.
The crack widened.
A faint golden light leaked through it.
His gaze sharpened.
The Mountain-Sealing Array.
The awakening of the eastern node—or perhaps the disturbance caused by his presence—was affecting the ancient structure beneath the sect.
The stone wall shifted.
Not enough to collapse.
Enough to reveal a narrow opening.
Cold air flowed through it.
Han Feng's eyes narrowed.
Air?
He approached carefully.
The opening was not a natural crack.
Behind it was an ancient passage.
And unlike the tunnel he had been following, this one had not been used recently.
Han Feng hesitated.
It could be a trap.
But the sound of approaching footsteps reached him from behind.
He had no time to investigate from a safe distance.
He entered.
The stone slab slowly shifted back into place behind him.
A moment later, several Black Moon Sect disciples rushed into the previous corridor.
"His aura was here!"
"Search the walls!"
Han Feng heard them through the stone.
He did not move.
His breathing became almost imperceptible.
After several seconds, the voices faded.
Only then did he continue.
The ancient passage descended deeper into the mountain.
Han Feng's spiritual sense spread forward.
No living presence.
No recent spiritual fluctuations.
But there was something else.
Ancient inscriptions covered the walls.
Han Feng stopped.
These markings were different from the six-node formation.
They were older.
Much older.
Some described meridian pathways.
Others showed complex circulation patterns.
Han Feng's eyes narrowed.
This isn't part of the Mountain-Sealing Array.
He brushed away the dust covering one section.
The symbols beneath it formed a complete sequence.
A cultivation method.
Han Feng hesitated.
He should continue toward the exit.
Yet the moment his fingers touched the stone, a faint wave of dark Qi entered his body.
The Celestial Diagram inside his consciousness trembled.
The Dual Chaos Larva Gu reacted.
The Celestial Transmutation Gu became slightly warmer.
Han Feng immediately withdrew his hand.
His expression became serious.
The inscriptions were responding to him.
That was not a coincidence.
He glanced toward the passage behind him.
The search parties were still looking for him.
But this ancient passage appeared to be completely isolated from the main underground complex.
He had perhaps only a short window.
Han Feng placed his palm against the inscription again.
This time, he prepared his spiritual energy in advance.
A strange sensation flooded his consciousness.
Ancient characters appeared one after another.
Not ordinary words.
Instructions.
Meridian routes.
Breathing patterns.
Spiritual circulation.
And finally, a name.
Dark Chaos Refinement.
Han Feng's pupils contracted.
The technique was not designed to absorb ordinary spiritual energy.
It drew upon the unstable energy flowing through the underground region.
That energy was extremely dense.
But it was also chaotic.
Left untreated, it could damage the meridians, corrupt the dantian, or cause spiritual deviation.
Dark Chaos Refinement solved this problem by separating the chaotic energy into different layers.
The violent portion was suppressed.
The unstable portion was refined.
The remaining energy was converted into usable Qi.
Han Feng's heart beat faster.
This technique can refine the energy beneath the mountains.
That explained why it had been hidden so close to the ancient seal.
But then he noticed something disturbing.
The technique was incomplete.
Several sections of the circulation diagram had been deliberately erased.
Han Feng frowned.
He tried to reconstruct them using his spiritual sense.
Nothing.
The missing portions had not been destroyed by age.
They had been removed intentionally.
Someone didn't want this technique to be complete.
He continued reading.
The next section described the method of stabilizing the refined energy.
A living spiritual source.
Han Feng's expression darkened.
The original technique required the cultivator to draw vitality from a living creature and use it as a stabilizing medium.
Spirit beasts.
Cultivators.
Even ordinary humans.
In other words—
The complete technique could be turned into a method of killing to cultivate.
Han Feng immediately stopped circulating his Qi.
"No."
His voice was barely audible.
He had no intention of building his cultivation on the lives of others.
But he did not abandon the technique.
Instead, he studied the remaining inscriptions.
There must be another way.
His gaze fell upon his spatial ring.
The Celestial Fragment.
The Resonance Marker.
The Celestial Transmutation Gu.
And the Dual Chaos Larva Gu.
Two opposing forces.
Chaos and transformation.
The words from the ancient inheritance returned to his mind.
The key to ascension lies in the fusion of chaos and destiny.
Han Feng's eyes narrowed.
Perhaps the living essence was only one method of stabilizing the chaotic energy.
An ancient method.
A crude method.
But perhaps not the only one.
He carefully released a tiny amount of Qi.
Then he activated the Dual Chaos Larva Gu.
A thread of chaotic energy appeared.
Han Feng immediately used the Celestial Transmutation Gu to guide it into a controlled circulation.
The reaction was immediate.
The dark Qi surrounding the inscription trembled.
The ancient symbols brightened.
Han Feng's expression changed.
The technique was responding to his Gu.
But the reaction was unstable.
The chaotic energy collided with his Qi, sending a sharp pain through his meridians.
Han Feng immediately cut the circulation.
Pain spread through his dantian.
He took several slow breaths.
Too dangerous.
If he forced the technique now, he could damage his foundation.
He would not take that risk.
Still, he had learned something important.
His two Gu could interact with Dark Chaos Refinement.
The original sacrifice requirement might not be the only possible solution.
Han Feng memorized the remaining symbols.
Then he noticed a tiny mark beneath the final section.
It was not part of the cultivation method.
It was the same six-pointed symbol he had seen on the Mountain-Sealing Array.
His expression became solemn.
Dark Chaos Refinement is connected to the seal.
A tremor suddenly passed through the passage.
Thump.
Han Feng froze.
The heartbeat was closer now.
The ancient inscriptions flickered.
For an instant, one of the erased sections became visible.
Han Feng's eyes widened.
There was a sentence hidden beneath the missing portion.
Only part of it remained readable.
"...when the sixth node awakens..."
The inscription disappeared.
Han Feng's expression became grim.
The six nodes were not merely maintaining the seal.
Their awakening followed a sequence.
And if the sixth node awakened—
Something would happen.
Something the ancient creators of the formation had considered too dangerous to leave in plain sight.
Then another tremor came.
Thump.
This time, the wall behind Han Feng cracked.
A section of stone fell away.
Behind it was another narrow passage.
Han Feng immediately noticed something.
The cold air was stronger there.
The passage was connected to the outside.
But before he could move, he heard voices from the corridor he had entered from.
"They found another trace!"
"They're coming this way!"
Han Feng's eyes sharpened.
The search had reached the ancient passage.
He had seconds.
He turned toward the newly opened route.
The second tremor had weakened the old stone structure enough to create an opening, but the passage beyond it was unstable.
He had no choice.
Han Feng entered.
Behind him, the first passage filled with distant footsteps.
"He's here!"
"Search the tunnel!"
Han Feng moved faster.
The ancient passage sloped upward.
His injuries burned.
He ignored the pain.
Every few steps, fragments of old stone fell from the ceiling.
The Mountain-Sealing Array was still reacting.
The deeper tremors had weakened the ancient structure, but they were also revealing a route that had been sealed for countless years.
Han Feng finally saw faint moonlight ahead.
He accelerated.
A final section of stone blocked the opening.
He pushed against it.
It shifted.
Cold mountain air rushed inside.
Han Feng slipped through the gap and emerged between two enormous rocks on the mountainside.
He immediately activated the Celestial Veil Art.
His aura disappeared.
Then he moved.
He did not take the shortest route away from the sect.
Instead, he crossed a stream, climbed over a rocky ridge, and deliberately changed direction several times.
Only after traveling several hundred meters did he stop beneath the branches of an ancient tree.
The Black Moon Sect was hidden behind the mountains.
No pursuit had reached him.
Han Feng finally released a slow breath.
He looked at his spatial ring.
The Celestial Fragment remained silent.
The Resonance Marker was still warm.
Then—
Thump.
The ground beneath his feet trembled.
Han Feng's eyes narrowed.
Far beneath the Misty Shadow Mountains, another heartbeat answered.
Thump.
The Celestial Fragment suddenly became hot.
Han Feng immediately suppressed its aura.
He stared toward the distant mountains.
The thing beneath them was becoming more active.
And now he understood something important.
His escape had not been caused by luck.
The altar had awakened the formation.
The formation had disturbed the ancient underground structure.
That disturbance had opened a forgotten passage.
And the same disturbance had allowed him to discover Dark Chaos Refinement.
Everything was connected.
The cultivation method.
The six nodes.
The Mountain-Sealing Array.
The Celestial Fragment.
The Resonance Marker.
And whatever slept beneath the mountains.
Han Feng clenched his fist.
He had entered the Black Moon Sect looking for answers.
Instead, he had discovered a secret the sect itself barely understood.
And one question troubled him more than any other.
Why had an ancient cultivation method been hidden beside a seal?
Why had its final warning mentioned the sixth node?
And most importantly—
What would happen when all six nodes awakened?
Far beneath the Misty Shadow Mountains, something answered.
Thump.
Han Feng's expression hardened.
Whatever was sleeping beneath the mountains...
It was no longer completely asleep.