Chapter 98: The Gate Opens

Chapter 98: The Gate opens

General Ashford rushed out of the building.

"What happened?"

A soldier pointed toward the southern perimeter.

"Something breached the outer detection line!"

A second alarm sounded.

This time, it came from the direction of the Ancient Palace.

Everyone turned toward the distant structure.

At first, nothing appeared to have changed.

Then a faint mist began spreading across the land surrounding the palace.

It was dark green.

Thin.

Almost invisible.

But as it moved across the ground, the vegetation it touched began to wither.

Professor Sy emerged from the command building, his face turning pale.

"The miasma..."

Lemo’s expression sharpened.

"What about it?"

"It’s expanding."

The green mist continued crawling outward.

Slowly at first.

Then faster.

Soldiers began retreating from the outer perimeter.

Several defensive formations activated, sending waves of energy across the ground.

The moment the formations touched the mist, they flickered violently.

Some shattered immediately.

Others continued burning, but the light around them began to dim.

"Fall back!" General Ashford ordered.

His voice spread across the entire base.

"Move the outer units toward the inner wall!"

The soldiers scrambled to obey.

The younger cultivators stepped out of the command building, watching the spreading miasma.

Nyren raised one hand.

A wall of ice formed between the base and the approaching mist.

The green fog touched the ice.

HISS!

The ice began melting.

Nyren’s expression became solemn.

"It’s reacting to elemental energy."

"Then don’t feed it more," Oren said.

He raised his hand.

The air in front of the ice wall compressed violently, pushing the miasma backward.

For a few seconds, it worked.

Then the mist divided.

One part continued moving toward the base.

Another part curved around the ice wall.

Oren’s expression hardened.

"It’s adapting."

Lothe observed the movement through [Qi Sight].

The mist was not spreading randomly.

It was following the Qi pathways in the defensive formations.

"It’s being guided," he said quietly.

Seana looked at him.

"By what?"

Lothe stared toward the palace.

He couldn’t see the source.

But he could feel a distant will hidden within the miasma.

Something was testing the defenses.

Something was learning how the humans responded.

Then a soft sound drifted through the air.

Tap.

A single black point appeared at the edge of the miasma.

Then another.

Then another.

Several figures slowly emerged from the green mist.

They stood far beyond the military perimeter, too distant for ordinary soldiers to identify them.

But Lothe’s spatial perception caught their silhouettes.

Deep-green robes.

Grey robes.

Light-green uniforms.

The same people who had attacked them earlier.

Seana’s expression turned cold.

"They found us."

"No," Lothe replied.

His eyes narrowed.

"They followed the convoy."

One of the distant figures raised a silver fan.

Even from kilometers away, the gesture was unmistakable.

The forest wind suddenly changed direction.

Qing Lian’s voice carried across the distance, amplified by poisonous Qi.

"You can run, little insects."

Her gaze seemed to pass over the soldiers, the sect leaders, and the entire military base.

"We’ll meet again soon."

The miasma surged.

Then the figures disappeared into it.

The fog stopped spreading.

After a few seconds, it began retreating toward the Ancient Palace.

The alarms slowly fell silent.

No one in the base spoke.

The first confrontation had not even begun.

Yet both sides had already found each other.

Lothe looked toward the Ancient Palace.

Behind its sealed gates, countless Runes continued to pulse.

The structure had summoned outsiders.

It had drawn the military.

It had attracted cultivators from across the country.

And now it had become a battlefield waiting to happen.

Seana moved closer to Lothe.

"What do we do now?"

Lothe’s gaze remained fixed on the distant palace.

"We wait."

"Wait?"

"The palace is testing everyone."

He looked toward the military base.

"Before anyone enters, we need to learn how it responds."

Seana nodded slowly.

Nearby, Jules Drackar watched the retreating miasma with a hidden smile.

The arrival of the foreign cultivators had changed everything.

And in the confusion, he had found the perfect opportunity.

His gaze moved toward Elowen, Morran, and the other independent cultivators.

Once we enter the palace...

His fingers tightened.

Some of them won’t be coming back out.

Far away, deep inside the Ancient Palace, a sealed door opened by the width of a finger.

A single eye appeared behind it.

Watching.

Waiting.

Listening to the heartbeats of everyone gathered outside.

——————————

The Ancient Palace remained silent after the foreign cultivators disappeared into the retreating miasma.

For several seconds, the entire research base remained frozen.

The soldiers stood along the walls with their weapons raised, while the younger cultivators stared toward the palace with sharpened expressions.

No one dared to relax.

The words spoken by the green-robed woman still echoed across the battlefield.

You can run, little insects.

It was not a threat made in anger.

It had sounded more like a promise.

General Ashford turned toward the military officers stationed nearby.

"Report."

One of the soldiers immediately stepped forward.

"General, the outer detection formations have stabilized. No hostile energy remains within the perimeter."

"What about the miasma?"

"It’s retreating toward the palace."

General Ashford looked toward the distant structure.

The dark-green fog had already vanished from the surrounding fields. Only faint traces remained near the palace walls, coiling around the foundation like poisonous smoke.

Professor Sy stood beside the General, his face tense.

"They weren’t trying to attack us," he said.

Lemo Drackar glanced at him.

"What makes you say that?"

"If they wanted to attack, they would have done so while the miasma covered the base."

Professor Sy pointed toward the Ancient Palace.

"They wanted us to know they were here."

Estelle’s eyes narrowed.

"Intimidation?"

"Perhaps."

Professor Sy adjusted his glasses.

"Or they wanted to observe our response."

A cold silence followed.

The implication was obvious.

The enemy had been studying them.

Their formations.

Their abilities.

Their defensive patterns.

And perhaps even their reactions.

Roan Blackwood slowly placed one hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Then we can assume they know about the expedition."

"They likely knew before arriving," General Ashford said.

Lemo’s expression grew darker.

"Which means we can’t waste any more time standing outside."

He turned toward the palace.

"We enter today."

General Ashford’s eyes sharpened.

"We don’t know if the gates are safe."

"We don’t know anything," Lemo replied. "That has never stopped us before."

"You’re eager to send the younger generation into a formation that already swallowed an entire team."

Lemo’s gaze became cold.

"And you’re eager to let foreign cultivators claim whatever is inside?"

The two men stared at each other.

The atmosphere between them became tense again.

Jules Drackar stepped forward.

"Father is right. We came here to explore the palace. If we continue waiting, the other side may reach the inner chambers before us."

Adrian Blackwood scoffed.

"Other side?"

Jules glanced toward him.

"You heard what they said. They came from somewhere beyond this world. If they entered the palace before us, do you really think they’ll leave anything behind?"

"Maybe they’ll leave your body," Adrian replied.

Jules’ face twisted with anger.

Justin immediately reached out and stopped him from responding.

"Don’t lose your temper."

Jules clenched his teeth.

Nyren ignored the exchange.

Her attention remained on the palace.

Something had changed.

The Runes along the outer walls were no longer pulsing in the same rhythm as before.

Their energy had become faster, sharper, and more organized.

She narrowed her eyes.

"The palace is preparing something."

Professor Sy looked toward her.

"What did you notice?"

"The energy in the walls is moving toward the gates."

Everyone turned toward the Ancient Palace.

At first, nothing happened.

Then the sky above the palace darkened.

The crimson clouds began rotating slowly, forming a massive vortex above the structure.

A deep sound echoed through the land.

BOOOOOOM.

The ground beneath the research base trembled.

The soldiers struggled to remain standing.

Several vehicles shook violently, while loose equipment fell from their storage racks.

The Ancient Palace’s towering gates began to move.

They opened inward with a sound like a mountain splitting apart.

GRRRRRRRRRR—​