Chapter 119: The Five Blades

Chapter 119: The Five Blades

The ancient chamber trembled violently.

BOOM!

Another massive section of the basalt wall slammed inward, grinding against the bedrock with deafening force.

Asher’s eyes narrowed into sharp, almost golden slits. "Jules!"

"I know!"

Silver lightning sparked violently around Jules’s palms. He slammed both hands onto the stone floor with a furious yell.

CRACKLE!

Streams of silver lightning surged through the ancient flagstones, crawling across the glowing runic pathways like hunting serpents.

Asher’s perception expanded, tracking the electrical current through the floor. His brows furrowed. "The entire chamber is connected."

Jules spat a mouthful of dust, glancing at him. "What?"

"The walls. The floor. The ceiling." Asher’s hand tightened around the hilt of the sword at his waist. "This isn’t a defensive formation surrounding the room."

His eyes sharpened with realization. "The room itself is the formation."

Jules clicked his tongue in frustration. "Then shatter it!"

"I’m trying to decode its structure first!"

"We don’t have time for a lecture!"

BOOM!

Another seismic shudder rocked the hall, and three massive stone blades detached from the ceiling, plunging downward like falling guillotines!

Asher moved instantly.

CLANG!

His sword cleared its sheath in a flash of brilliant light. Dense, golden Metal Qi wrapped tightly around the steel as he swung upward in a clean, vertical arc.

CRACK!

The falling stone blade was cleaved clean in two, the pieces crashing harmlessly on either side of him.

Jules stared at him for a brief second, his eyes widening slightly. "You’re getting faster."

Asher didn’t answer. His total focus remained on his weapon and the energy pathways in the floor.

In the past, he had relied entirely on raw metal manipulation—shaping shifting blades and throwing shields. But recently, through the life-and-death pressure of the palace, he had begun to grasp a different truth.

The sword was not merely an external tool or a lump of metal.

It was an extension of his meridians. His path. His unyielding will.

His golden Metal Qi no longer just wrapped around the steel; it flowed through it, fusing with the blade until the metal hummed at the exact frequency of his soul.

One sword. One edge. One direction.

Asher exhaled slowly, his eyes locking onto a specific junction on the far wall. "There."

He pointed his blade toward the left side of the hall. "That formation channel is feeding the entire mechanism."

Jules grinned, a ruthless edge returning to his eyes. "Finally."

BOOOOM!

A blinding wave of silver lightning erupted from Jules’s body, sweeping across the floor toward the designated node.

——————————

Meanwhile, in an adjacent subsidiary sector...

The situation was no less dire.

Three young women were completely surrounded by a phalanx of towering stone constructs. Each construct stood nearly three meters tall, their basalt bodies covered in pulsing crimson runes, their broadaxes moving with terrifying, mechanical precision.

"Annelle!" Ambiel’s commanding voice echoed across the hall.

The second sister, Annelle, responded instantly. Wind Qi exploded beneath her boots like a detonating spring.

WHOOSH!

Her figure blurred, vanishing from her spot a fraction of a second before a colossal stone axe pulverized the flagstones beneath her.

Annelle reappeared directly behind the construct’s neck. Her slender fingers flicked through the air.

SHING! SHING! SHING!

Dozens of razor-thin wind blades shot from her fingertips, slicing into the construct’s runic joints. The stone soldier staggered, its red runes flickering, but it refused to fall.

"Still too dense!" Annelle frowned, leaping backward.

Another stone soldier charged from her flank, raising its heavy hammer. But before the blow could descend—

WHOOSH!

A long, leather whip wrapped in roaring Wind Qi snapped through the dark, wrapping tightly around the construct’s wrist.

Ambiel yanked hard, pulling the giant off balance. "Now, Arvessa!"

A brilliant crimson-gold streak flashed across the battlefield like a falling star.

BOOM!

Arvessa’s flaming sword drove straight into the construct’s chest core! Searing Fire Qi exploded through its stone frame, and the moment Ambiel’s Wind Qi mixed with the flames, the fire erupted into a roaring tempest!

FWOOSH!

The construct was blown apart from the inside, stone fragments showering the hall.

Arvessa landed lightly on her toes, her fiery eyes scanning the shadows. "Two more!"

Ambiel reeled her whip back, her sharp gaze sweeping the perimeter. "Three."

Arvessa raised her sword, a tempest of wind and fire swirling around her blade. "Then we destroy three."

Just as the sisters prepared to charge—

THUMP.

A deep, heavy pulse vibrated through the bedrock beneath their boots.

All three sisters froze.

The three remaining stone constructs suddenly stopped mid-stride, their red runes dimming rapidly.

THUMP!

A second pulse rippled through the floor. The ancient runes covering the walls flickered wildly before losing their light entirely.

Ambiel’s eyes narrowed into slits. "What was that?"

Annelle looked up toward the ceiling archway. "The central formation... it lost power."

Arvessa lowered her sword slightly, her brow furrowing. "Is it a trap?"

"No." Ambiel stared at the dead runes. "The power was forcibly cut."

CRACK-BOOM!

One after another, the three giant stone soldiers collapsed into harmless piles of inert rock.

The sisters exchanged stunned glances.

"Someone triggered a major mechanism in another sector," Ambiel said thoughtfully, her eyes turning toward the open western corridor.

Annelle wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead, a faint smile touching her lips. "Whoever they are... they just saved us a lot of trouble."

Arvessa looked toward the corridor where the blue energy was flowing. "Should we investigate?"

Ambiel nodded, her wind whip coiling back onto her belt. "We move together. Stay alert."

——————————

Sector Three — Central Archive...

CRACKLE!

Jules unleashed a final, violent surge of silver lightning into the wall node. Simultaneously, Asher stepped forward, his blade flashing with brilliant gold.

CLANG!

Asher’s sword struck the central node, driving his refined Metal Qi deep into the structural flaw.

Metal Qi and Silver Lightning collided inside the formation’s core.

For one terrifying second, absolute silence fell over the chamber.

Then—

KRRRRRR!

The entire wall structure shuddered violently before the red light died out. The grinding gears went silent, and the heavy defensive barriers slowly retracted into the ceiling.

BOOM!

Silence returned to the archive.

Jules sank onto one knee, breathing heavily as the silver lightning faded from his skin. "That... was close."

Asher slowly sheathed his sword, his expression unreadable. "You nearly overloaded the entire chamber."

"But I didn’t," Jules scoffed, wiping his brow.

"You almost killed us both."

Jules stood up, shrugging with arrogant indifference. "Almost doesn’t count."

Asher’s eyes turned cold. "You’re an idiot, Jules."

Jules laughed, a mocking sneer curling his lips. "And you’re becoming increasingly annoying, Blackwood."

Before Asher could respond, the sound of light, rapid footsteps echoed from the corridor behind them.

Both men spun around instantly. Jules’s sneer vanished, and Asher’s hand returned to his sword hilt.

Three figures emerged from the blue-lit archway.

Asher’s eyes widened slightly as he recognized their attire. "The Argon sisters."

The three women came to a halt. Ambiel’s sharp gaze locked onto Asher, recognizing his family’s distinct golden aura almost immediately. "Asher Blackwood."

Annelle’s eyes shifted toward the man beside him. "And Jules Drackar."

Arvessa looked between them, her fiery sword still held loosely at her side. "You two were the ones in the adjacent sector?"

Jules crossed his arms, his arrogant demeanor instantly returning. "So the famous Argon family finally stumbled their way here."

Ambiel’s expression remained entirely composed. "We could say the same for you."

Jules’s eyes narrowed. He had never liked the Argon family.

Among the noble lineages, the Argons were notoriously independent. Ambiel, in particular, had never treated the Drackar family with the deference Jules felt his bloodline deserved. She didn’t flatter him, she didn’t fear his family’s influence, and she spoke to him as an equal.

To a proud noble like Jules, that was an insult.

"Don’t misunderstand," Jules said coldly, raising his chin. "We didn’t disable this formation to save you."

Ambiel raised an eyebrow, her tone entirely dry. "I was never under the impression that you were capable of thinking about anyone other than yourself, Second Young Master Drackar."

Jules’s face thrashed red. "You—"

"Enough," Asher interrupted, his stern voice cutting between them.

He didn’t care about their petty factional rivalries. His focus was entirely on the stone floor beneath their boots.

The formation they had just disabled was no longer silent.

The ancient runes weren’t glowing red anymore—they were pulsing with an eerie, pitch-black luminescence. Five circular patterns suddenly lit up on the flagstones.

One directly beneath each of them.

Asher’s pupils contracted to pinpricks. "Move!"

BOOOOM!

Black light erupted from the floor before anyone could step out of their circle.

Five spatial portals opened simultaneously beneath their feet, dropping the ambient temperature to absolute zero.

Slowly, five dark silhouettes stepped through the black light.

They wore long, hooded robes made of pure shadow, their faces completely obscured. In each of their hands, they held an identical, dark steel sword that emitted a chilling, suffocating killing intent.

Executioner Puppets.

Jules’s silver lightning instantly flared across his arms once more.

Arvessa raised her sword, wind and fire igniting along the steel.

Annelle’s figure blurred as Wind Qi enveloped her feet.

Ambiel’s leather whip uncoiled with a sharp crack, wind wrapping tightly around its length.

Asher dropped into a low, stable sword stance, his golden Metal Qi flowing down his blade like liquid sunlight.

Five enemies. Five circles. Five young cultivators.

Ambiel glanced at the group, her voice dropping into a lethal register. "It seems the palace insists on killing ua in one move."

Jules sneered, his silver lightning crackling wildly. "Just stay out of my way, Argon."

Ambiel didn’t even look at him. "Try not to die, Drackar."

Before Jules could bark another insult, one of the black-robed figures vanished from sight.

BOOM!

Asher’s sword swept upward instinctively.

CLANG!

A black steel blade slammed against his golden edge, sending a concussive shockwave rippling through the hall. Asher’s boots skidded back three inches, his eyes gleaming with fierce intensity.

Strong.

The remaining four puppets moved simultaneously!

Silver lightning collided with a black blade! Fire and wind erupted in a blinding storm! A whip snapped like thunder through the shadows!

The battle for Sector Three had begun.

And far beneath their feet, deep within the subterranean womb, the silver-black cradle pulsed once more, hungrily drinking the chaotic clash of their five distinct energies.

THUMP... THUMP...

Something in the dark was growing stronger.​