CHAPTER 29 — THE HEART NEXUS AWAKENS
The shifting corridor spat the team out onto a hovering platform—wide, circular, and illuminated by faint veins of blue light pulsing beneath the stone. Every pulse echoed like a heartbeat.
*THUMP.*
Jason Wu exhaled slowly. "We're close. Too close."
Li Xueyin stepped beside him and adjusted her talisman compass. The needle trembled violently, pointing toward a massive archway made of curved, interlocking stones. Each fragment hummed softly, as if singing a forgotten melody.
"The Heart Nexus lies beyond that gate," she said.
Leon gulped. "So… the giant beating rock wants us to walk through the creepy ribcage doorway. Good. Wonderful. Let's all ignore the fact that this feels like a monster's mouth."
Longwu Sword vibrated with irritation.
["Leon, if fear were cultivation, you'd be an immortal by now."]
Leon threw his hands up. "And if sarcasm were spirit stones, you'd be rich!"
Jason snorted. "Enough. Stay alert."
Lan Yuren's gaze swept the surroundings. "No guardians yet. Which means the danger hasn't begun."
Wei Qing's spear tightened in her grip. "Guardians always appear before the core. We should—"
The ground rumbled.
A slow, deep vibration—different from the breathing walls.
Jason felt it through his bones.
*THUMP… THUMP… THUMP.*
Li Xueyin whispered, "This… isn't the labyrinth. This is something else."
Jason stepped forward, studying the movement. The pulses were rhythmic, almost deliberate—like footsteps.
"Everyone ready," Jason said.
Leon squeaked, "No."
---
### THE FIRST SIGN OF THE GUARDIAN
A fissure split across the opposite edge of the platform.
Stone cracked. Light spilled out.
Something was rising.
Jason gripped Longwu. "Guardian incoming."
Longwu's tone sharpened.
["Not just any guardian. Boy… this one feels ancient."]
The fissure widened until an enormous figure pulled itself from the abyss—a humanoid giant made entirely from layered stone slabs, each carved with glowing runes. Its chest glowed with a swirling cluster of symbols that rotated like a clock.
Wei Qing exhaled shakily. "A Rune-Titan… a real one."
Lan Yuren's eyes widened. "Impossible. Those were extinct centuries ago."
Jason muttered, "Guess someone forgot to tell this one."
The colossal guardian stood tall—eight meters high—and slowly turned its head toward them, runic eyes burning with cold indifference.
Leon whispered, "Maybe if we don't move, it won't see—"
The Titan roared.
A shockwave rippled across the platform, sending Leon flying backward like a rag doll.
Jason caught him midair. "Leon! You good?!"
Leon's voice trembled. "I think my soul left my body for a second…"
Longwu hummed thoughtfully.
["Well, tell it to come back. We're not done."]
---
### THE RUNE-TITAN STRIKES
The Titan stomped forward, each step shaking the entire platform.
Li Xueyin pulled out five talismans simultaneously. "Everyone spread—this type of guardian relies on rune-sequences. If we break the pattern, we weaken it!"
Jason nodded. "On it!"
The Titan slammed its fist downward. Jason dodged, but the impact created a shockwave that forced him to leap again to avoid falling off the platform.
Lan Yuren slashed at the Titan's ankle. Sparks flew. The guardian didn't even react.
Wei Qing thrust her spear toward a glowing glyph on its knee. The rune flickered—but then reignited stronger.
Wei Qing gasped. "It… repairs itself!"
Li Xueyin's fingers flew across her talismans, drawing complex patterns in the air. "Then we don't break the runes—we overload them!"
Jason turned to her. "Tell me what to hit!"
She pointed to the rotating glyph-cluster on the Titan's chest. "The heart rune! If you strike it while I activate the sequence, we force it into overload!"
Jason breathed deeply. "Time it."
Leon shouted from behind a stone pillar, "Jason, please don't die! I can't handle the inheritance paperwork!"
Jason sprinted toward the Titan.
---
### THE CLASH OF RUNES
The Titan swung its massive arm horizontally. The wind from the swing alone nearly knocked Jason off his feet.
"Jason, NOW!" Li Xueyin yelled.
Five talismans ignited around her, forming a geometric formation that shot beams of stabilizing light toward the Titan's chest runes.
The glyph cluster slowed.
Jason leapt, Longwu Sword glowing bright.
Longwu whispered,
["Steady your breath. Channel the flow from chapter twelve's form-reversal training."]
Jason inhaled.
His qi synchronized with his heartbeat.
*THUMP.*
He slashed downward.
*CLANGGG—*
The blade struck the chest glyph.
Blue sparks exploded outward, and the Titan staggered backward, cracking the platform beneath its weight.
Wei Qing shouted, "You destabilized it! Again!"
Jason leapt back, dodging a wild swing that cut a canyon into the floor.
Li Xueyin repositioned, unleashing another talismanic barrage. "Jason! Hit the second glyph! The one turning clockwise!"
Jason moved instantly—vaulting off falling debris, sliding under a fist, and slashing up toward the glyph.
The Titan roared, light flickering wildly across its runes.
Leon cheered from behind safety, "YES! HIT IT AGAIN! HIT IT LIKE IT OWES YOU SPIRIT STONES!"
Jason did exactly that.
Longwu Sword carved a burning arc across the heart rune.
This time, the glyph shattered.
---
### THE TITAN FALLS… AND SOMETHING ELSE AWAKENS
The Titan froze.
Then collapsed—its body dissolving into harmless fragments of stone and fading light.
Leon peeked out. "D-Did… did we win?"
Jason wiped sweat from his forehead. "Looks like—"
The platform vibrated again.
Much stronger than before.
Li Xueyin stared in horror at her compass. "No… no, this can't be right."
Wei Qing asked, "What's wrong?"
"The heart glyph wasn't the Titan's core," Xueyin whispered. "It was a SEAL."
Jason's blood ran cold. "A seal for what?"
The archway ahead cracked open.
A second heartbeat thundered—deeper, heavier.
*BOOOOOOM.*
Then a voice—not human, not beast, but something between—echoed through the cavern:
**"THE WU BLOODLINE… HAS COME."**
Longwu Sword hissed sharply,
["Boy… prepare yourself.
The Nexus remembers your ancestors."]
The gate opened completely.
And something enormous opened its eyes inside the darkness.