Chapter 151: The Trap at the Core

Chapter 151: The Trap at the Core

The ceiling above Sector Four violently fractured.

BOOOOOOM!

Slabs of ancient basalt collapsed in a shower of pulverized stone, and a jagged strike of black lightning detonated in the center of the chamber.

Through the haze of dust and ozone, two figures descended.

The Ancient Being inhabiting Jules’s body landed first, the black scales beneath his collar shifting as his crimson eyes surveyed the cathedral-sized vault. Beside him, Qing Lian drifted downward, her emerald silk robes catching the dim light.

Lothe stood his ground, his Void Spear resting lightly in his grip, his spatial perception locked onto their every micro-movement.

"So," Lothe said, his voice carrying clearly across the quiet vault. "The defective host finally brought you to your grave."

The Being in Jules glanced at Lothe. A lazy, cold smirk pulled at his lips.

"Not defective," the Being replied, his voice vibrating with ancient, layered authority that rattled the stones beneath their boots. "I am the architect of this foundation. And you are trespassing in my chest."

His crimson eyes shifted past Lothe, locking onto the colossal silver-black heart suspended at the center of the room. The organ was beating violently, sending rhythmic shockwaves through the crystalline floor.

Qing Lian stepped forward, her silver fan snapping open with a crisp snap.

"My Lord, do not waste your breath on insects," she purred, her emerald gaze fixing on Lothe with cold, venomous intent. "I will dispose of the spatial variable."

The Being didn’t care. He offered no objection, simply stepping toward the beating heart.

Lothe tightened his fingers around his spear.

The Being stopped and tilted his head. "You intend to stop me, little mortal?"

Lothe looked straight at Qing Lian. "No. I’m going to kill her. You’re just the reason I have to hurry."

The Being let out a dry, low chuckle. "Amusing."

Without another word, he turned his back and walked toward the pulsating Core.

Lothe let him go. His entire focus was now locked onto the woman in front of him.

Qing Lian’s smile vanished, replaced by an expression of pure, lethal amusement.

"Let’s see how long that spatial trickery keeps your head attached."

SHUU—!

She vanished.

Lothe’s [Spatial Perception] flared. The world around him slowed to a crawl. He didn’t track her with his eyes; he felt the distortion in the air directly behind his left shoulder.

He spun on his heel.

CLANG!

The iron-hard ribs of her silver fan slammed into the shaft of the Void Spear! A concussive blast of Emerald Qi detonated from the point of impact.

BOOM!

The kinetic force drove Lothe sliding backward across the stone. Before his boots even settled, Qing Lian was already overhead, her silhouette silhouetted against the Core’s dark glow.

Her fan opened wide:

[Emerald Heaven Severing Fan!]

A massive, razor-sharp crescent of compressed emerald energy plummeted from above!

Lothe stepped into the empty air.

[Void Step — First Form: Spatial Anchor.]

His physical form blurred and dissolved. The emerald crescent tore into the floor, detonating a five-meter crater and showering the area with stone shrapnel.

BOOOOOOM!

Lothe reappeared ten feet to the right, but Qing Lian was already closing the distance. Her closed fan thrust forward like a spear, aiming straight for his throat!

CLANG!

Lothe parried with the butt of his spear, turning his torso to evade the follow-up strike. The razor-sharp edge of her fan grazed past his collar, slicing through the fabric.

He countered instantly.

SHING!

A thrust of black Void Qi pierced toward her ribs. Qing Lian twisted her body with fluid grace, the spear blade shearing off a fraction of her silk sleeve.

She laughed softly. "Your spatial movements are irritating."

Lothe leaped backward. "That’s the intention."

Qing Lian’s eyes narrowed into slits. She snapped both wrists outward, unleashing a tidal wave of poisonous energy.

[Emerald Serpent Fan Art!]

Dozens of spectral, venomous green serpents materialized from the mist, lunging at Lothe from every possible angle!

Lothe’s dantian roared.

[Void Spear Art — First Form: Rift Thrust!]

SHING! SHING!

Two thrusts obliterated the lead serpents into harmless mist, but the remaining beasts curved around his guard.

Void Step.

Lothe vanished again, reappearing directly behind Qing Lian. His spear swept in a vicious horizontal arc aimed at her spine.

CLANG!

Without turning around, Qing Lian snapped her silver fan open behind her back, cleanly blocking the strike. In the same motion, she spun on the ball of her foot and drove an elbow coated in heavy Emerald Qi straight into his chest plate!

BOOM!

The impact drove the air from Lothe’s lungs. He was sent flying across the chamber, crashing through a low basalt partition before using a spatial anchor to break his momentum.

Qing Lian gave him zero room to recover.

FWOOSH!

Her fan descended like an executioner’s axe. Lothe blocked with the shaft of his spear, the sheer weight of her Peak Core Formation cultivation driving his boots deep into the stone.

CRACK!

Lothe gritted his teeth, feeling the acidic poison in her Qi eating away at his spatial barrier.

[Void Spear Art — Second Form: Spatial Drill!]

A spatial blade erupted from his spearhead, bisecting the poison cloud and forcing Qing Lian to leap back three paces.

Lothe immediately backed away, his chest heaving, his muscles burning from the continuous strain.

He knew the cold mathematics of this fight: in a direct contest of raw Qi reserves, Qing Lian would grind him to dust within three minutes. She was faster, denser, and held an overwhelming advantage in cultivation.

So he changed the objective.

He stopped fighting to win. He began fighting to position.

Every parry, every retreat, every [Void Step] was calculated down to the millimeter.

A step to the left.

A spatial anchor behind a broken pillar.

A parry that forced her to pivot toward the eastern side of the room.

Qing Lian’s attacks became sharper, more aggressive, her fan carving deep trenches through the walls as she pursued him across the vault.

BOOM!

Her fan slammed downward again, locking against his spear shaft.

Lothe’s knees bent, the floor cracking beneath his weight. A trickle of blood leaked from the corner of his mouth as her mountain-like pressure bore down on him.

Qing Lian looked down at him with cruel satisfaction.

"You are slowing down, little boy."

Lothe coughed up a fleck of blood, but his dark purple eyes remained razor-sharp. "I am."

"Then yield."

"Why?"

Her emerald aura flared higher. "Because you cannot possibly win this fight."

Lothe’s bloody lips curved into a faint, mocking smile.

"I never planned on fighting you alone."

Qing Lian froze. A sudden, cold premonition brushed against her spine.

BOOM!

Lothe unleashed a localized spatial burst, breaking the weapon lock and instantly vanishing into thin air.

He reappeared twenty paces away, standing quietly on the opposite side of the chamber with his spear resting against his shoulder.

Qing Lian turned to face him, her fan raised. "You have run out of room to flee."

Lothe didn’t answer. He wasn’t looking at her.

He was looking at the floor beneath her boots.

Qing Lian frowned, her eyes drifting downward. "What are you looking at?"

Lothe met her gaze, his expression completely relaxed. "You are standing on the exact coordinate I needed."

Qing Lian’s pupils contracted. "What?!"

Lothe looked past her, nodding once toward the shadows near the perimeter.

"Now."

——————————

Moments Earlier...

Before the ceiling broke, before Qing Lian and the Ancient Being had even descended—Lothe and Professor Sy had already deduced the layout of Sector Four.

The beating silver-black heart was deeply integrated into the palace’s subterranean architecture. It was not a physical artifact that could be picked up; it was an energy engine. When the Being entered the chamber, the palace’s automated protocols would attempt to establish an energetic bridge between the Heart and the vessel.

Lothe couldn’t contest the Being’s raw soul power. But he could hijack the delivery conduit.

Together with Professor Sy, Lothe had laid a massive Siphoning Array directly into the floor of the Core chamber, hiding the runic circuits beneath the basalt tiles.

The setup required four anchors. Professor Sy held the primary structural node. Adrian used his floating metallic spheres to anchor the second node.

Nyren channeled her Ice Qi to stabilize the third node. Lucan completed the fourth coordinate.

Lothe’s role was the most dangerous: he had to act as the live bait, using his [Spatial Perception] to herd Qing Lian across the room until she was standing dead-center inside the hidden kill-zone.

She had never been hunting him.

She had been following his script from the very first strike.

——————————

[Recall Ends]

"Activate!" Professor Sy’s voice echoed like thunder through the cavernous vault.

The four defensive nodes flared simultaneously!

KRRRRRR—!

Adrian’s metallic spheres slammed into the stone, locking the perimeter. Nyren’s frost spread across the edges, sealing the exits, while Lucan drove his dual blades into the fourth node.

And directly beneath Qing Lian’s boots—

BOOOOOOM!

The hidden Siphoning Array ignited into blinding, radiant light!

Lines of crimson-gold leylines erupted from the floor, connecting in a massive, complex geometric matrix that locked onto Qing Lian’s dantian.

Qing Lian’s silver fan dropped half an inch. Her eyes widened in genuine, breathless shock.

The playful arrogance on her face shattered instantly.

The array was actively drinking her Qi.

The massive formation roared to life, using the Ancient Palace’s own subterranean power to clamp down on her meridians, pinning her feet to the stone with crushing gravitational force.

Across the glowing circle, Lothe wiped the blood from his jaw, his purple eyes burning with cold triumph.

"Got you."

THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.

Behind them, the silver-black heart beat with deafening fury, and the ancient palace began feeding the trap with its own bottomless energy.​