Chapter 44: The Hidden Secret of the Celestial Diagram
Han Feng remained hidden inside the isolated cave.
His breathing had finally returned to normal.
But his mind had not.
The ancient scroll was still inside the Forbidden Hall.
He had not stolen it.
He had not even been able to move it.
What he had taken was something far more dangerous.
Knowledge.
A fragment of knowledge had been forced into his consciousness when he touched the scroll.
And along with it...
a faint spiritual mark.
Han Feng sat cross-legged and closed his eyes.
The mark was still there.
It was extremely weak.
Almost impossible to perceive.
But he could feel it whenever he focused his spiritual sense on his consciousness.
What exactly did that scroll leave inside me?
He carefully examined it.
The mark did not appear to be an attack.
It did not interfere with his cultivation.
It did not drain his Qi.
Instead, it behaved almost like a residual imprint.
A trace left behind by the contact between his spiritual energy and the scroll.
Han Feng frowned.
If the Black Moon Sect can sense this mark, staying near the sect would be dangerous.
He immediately decided not to return.
At least not yet.
Then he remembered the images.
Six enormous points.
A dark center.
Opposing forces merging together.
And the ancient voice.
When the six paths answer...
Han Feng opened his eyes.
There was only one way to understand what had happened.
He needed to examine the residue more carefully.
The Residual Knowledge
Han Feng placed the Celestial Fragment beside him.
The moment it appeared, the spiritual mark inside his consciousness reacted.
A faint warmth spread through his mind.
The Celestial Fragment trembled.
Once.
Twice.
Then became still.
Han Feng's expression changed.
The fragment recognizes the same resonance.
He did not touch the fragment.
Instead, he carefully circulated a small amount of Qi through his consciousness.
The spiritual mark responded.
His vision blurred.
For an instant, the cave disappeared.
He saw a vast darkness.
Then—
six points appeared.
They were arranged around a central void.
Five were completely dark.
The sixth carried a faint golden light.
Han Feng's breathing slowed.
It was the same pattern he had seen in the Mountain-Sealing Array.
But this image was different.
The six points were not connected by ordinary spiritual channels.
Instead, thin lines extended from them toward the center.
And at the center...
there was something he could not see clearly.
Not an object.
Not a creature.
Something hidden behind layers of darkness.
Han Feng tried to approach it.
The vision immediately collapsed.
Pain struck his consciousness.
He opened his eyes.
Cold sweat covered his forehead.
It doesn't want me to see the center.
That realization unsettled him.
The Celestial Diagram was not simply recording history.
Some of its information was still being concealed.
Perhaps intentionally.
Visions of the Ancient Era
Han Feng slowly activated the Dual Chaos Larva.
He did not attempt to force the spiritual mark open.
Instead, he allowed the Larva to harmonize the conflicting energies surrounding it.
The vision returned.
This time, the images were clearer.
A battlefield stretched across an enormous continent.
Cultivators fought beneath a sky filled with shattered spiritual formations.
Some wielded Gu.
Others controlled pure Qi.
But neither side appeared to be fighting the other.
They were fighting something beyond them.
Han Feng saw two figures standing at the center of the battlefield.
One wore black and purple robes.
Violet light burned within his eyes.
The other wore white and golden robes.
In his hands was a scroll.
The same scroll.
Or perhaps...
another copy of it.
Han Feng could not tell.
The two figures stood opposite each other.
Between them floated a six-pointed formation.
The formation was incomplete.
One of its points glowed golden.
The others were dark.
Then the sky cracked.
A wave of darkness descended upon the battlefield.
The two figures turned toward it.
For the first time, Han Feng understood something.
They had not been fighting each other.
They had been preparing to face the same enemy.
An ancient voice echoed through the vision.
"Destiny is in motion."
The battlefield trembled.
"The balance will be broken."
Then another voice answered.
"When the six paths answer, the boundary will no longer remain closed."
Han Feng's eyes widened.
Boundary?
Before he could understand the meaning, the vision shattered.
Pain exploded through his consciousness.
He was thrown back into the cave.
His breathing became ragged.
The Dual Chaos Larva immediately returned to a dormant state.
Han Feng remained motionless for several breaths.
Then he whispered:
"That wasn't a prophecy."
His eyes narrowed.
"It was a memory."
That distinction mattered.
If the vision was a memory, then the words about the collision of realms might refer to something that had happened before.
Or something that was beginning to happen again.
The Six Paths
Han Feng took out a piece of ordinary paper.
He drew six points.
Then connected them to a central circle.
His expression became increasingly serious.
The Mountain-Sealing Array.
The Heart of the Ruins.
The Resonance Marker.
The Celestial Fragment.
The Celestial Diagram.
And now...
the Forbidden Hall scroll.
All of them seemed connected to the same ancient structure.
But the connection was still incomplete.
Han Feng stared at the drawing.
The Mountain-Sealing Array wasn't built to create the six paths.
He remembered the inscriptions from the ruins.
The Heart was older.
The Mountain-Sealing Array had been built later.
That meant the Black Moon Sect had inherited only part of the system.
Perhaps they did not even understand its original purpose.
Han Feng's gaze darkened.
Then what exactly does the Celestial Diagram represent?
A map?
A cultivation method?
A key?
Or a record of something that should never awaken?
He had no answer.
But he now had another clue.
The phrase:
When the six paths answer...
Han Feng slowly wrote it beneath the diagram.
Then he stopped.
His spiritual mark suddenly became warm.
Han Feng's expression changed.
Someone was approaching.
The Pursuit
A powerful spiritual sense swept across the mountains.
Han Feng immediately extinguished the cave's faint light.
He activated the Celestial Veil.
Then he suppressed his breathing.
The spiritual sense passed over the cave.
Stopped.
Then returned.
Han Feng's eyes narrowed.
They found the area.
But something was strange.
The spiritual pressure did not lock onto him directly.
It was searching.
Methodically.
As if the cultivator knew only that an unusual spiritual trace had appeared somewhere nearby.
Han Feng looked at the spiritual mark inside his consciousness.
They are following the residue.
Not his identity.
Not his exact location.
The residue left by the Forbidden Hall.
Han Feng immediately made a decision.
He could not allow them to establish a stronger connection.
He circulated the Dual Chaos Larva.
Then he used a tiny amount of Qi to distort the spiritual mark.
The effect was limited.
The mark did not disappear.
But its resonance weakened.
Outside the cave, the searching spiritual sense hesitated.
Then moved toward another direction.
Han Feng waited.
Several breaths.
Then several more.
Only after the pressure had completely disappeared did he relax.
So the mark can be suppressed.
But not destroyed.
That was another problem.
The Hidden Secret
Han Feng returned his attention to the Celestial Diagram.
He no longer attempted to force the spiritual mark to reveal more memories.
Instead, he simply observed it.
Gradually, he noticed something unusual.
The mark was not a complete symbol.
It was only one part.
A small fragment of a much larger pattern.
And that fragment looked remarkably similar to one section of the six-pointed formation.
Han Feng's eyes narrowed.
The scroll didn't mark me randomly.
Perhaps the mark was created because his spiritual energy had temporarily synchronized with the scroll.
Perhaps it was part of the scroll's protection.
Or perhaps...
it was a method of recognition.
He did not know.
But there was another possibility.
Han Feng looked toward the Celestial Fragment.
Maybe the scroll wasn't identifying me.
Maybe it was checking whether I could resonate with the Diagram.
That thought sent a chill through him.
The ancient guardian in the ruins had said:
"Recognition is not acceptance."
Han Feng had always assumed those words referred only to the Celestial Fragment.
Now he wasn't so sure.
Perhaps the ancient system itself had been testing him.
Not once.
But repeatedly.
The guardian.
The Resonance Marker.
The Heart.
The dormant golden Gu.
And now the Celestial Diagram Scroll.
All of them had reacted to him in different ways.
None had truly accepted him.
But none had completely rejected him either.
Han Feng clenched his fist.
"Who are you testing me for?"
There was no answer.
Only silence.
A New Danger
Han Feng stood.
He had learned enough for one night.
The Black Moon Sect knew that someone had entered the Forbidden Hall.
The Grand Elder knew that the Celestial Diagram Scroll had reacted.
And someone had already begun searching for the residual spiritual trace.
But they still did not know who the intruder was.
That advantage could not be wasted.
Han Feng packed his belongings.
The Celestial Fragment returned to his spatial pouch.
The Resonance Marker was carefully concealed.
The remaining Dark Moonstone stayed sealed separately.
Before leaving, Han Feng looked back at the cave.
He had originally planned to return to the Black Moon Sect and continue investigating from within.
That plan was no longer safe.
He needed distance.
And more information.
Perhaps there were records outside the sect that could explain the six paths.
Perhaps the Ruins of Eternal Night contained more clues.
Or perhaps...
the next node of the Mountain-Sealing Array had already begun to awaken.
Han Feng activated the Celestial Veil.
His presence faded.
He stepped into the darkness.
Far away, inside the Forbidden Hall, the ancient scroll remained suspended above the black jade altar.
The Grand Elder stood before it.
He had already confirmed one thing.
The scroll had not been stolen.
Nothing physical was missing.
But something had changed.
A faint golden line had appeared across the surface.
The Grand Elder stared at it for a long time.
"Someone resonated with it..."
His expression became solemn.
That had not happened for generations.
He reached toward the scroll.
The moment his fingers approached—
the golden line disappeared.
The Grand Elder's eyes narrowed.
Then, from somewhere deep beneath the Black Moon Sect...
came a faint pulse.
Once.
Twice.
The same rhythm Han Feng had felt beneath the Ruins of Eternal Night.
The Grand Elder slowly turned toward the ground.
His face became grim.
"The sixth path..."
He stopped.
He did not finish the sentence.
Because beneath the sect...
something had just answered.
Miles away, Han Feng suddenly stopped.
The Celestial Fragment trembled inside his spatial pouch.
The spiritual mark inside his consciousness became warm.
And somewhere beneath the distant mountains...
a second pulse answered.
Han Feng looked toward the darkness.
His expression hardened.
The scroll had not been stolen.
But its knowledge had reached him.
And now...
someone else had noticed.