Chapter 35: Spirit Energy

"...If they are, how do we rescue them?"

Silence.

The elders exchanged uneasy glances. No one knew what lay at the bottom. The sect’s records offered no clues. Many suspected hidden treasures below, explaining the perpetual aura. Countless had attempted to explore. Most vanished or retreated.

Jumping down meant likely never returning.

Then.

Hum.

Vespera raised her hand. A silver thread wrapped around her finger glowed. The spider-silk jacket she gave Theo remained tethered to her qi.

"Theo is alive."

"Stop her!"

"Vespera, don’t rush in!"

Vespera prepared to leap into the mist. The elders scrambled to restrain her.

Chaos erupted.

Malakor and Silas exchanged a glance. Their faces betrayed shock.

Malakor opened his mouth to speak. Silas silenced him with a glare.

"Return to your post," Silas ordered.

"Yes."

...

"Vespera knows I am alive."

Theo checked his jacket. The silk threads pulsed with warmth.

Falling through the mist distorted his sense of time and space.

One thing was certain.

They had fallen deep.

The aura grew heavier. It suppressed his meridians. It dulled his senses. The howling wind seemed distant.

Only the cool hand in his grasp kept him grounded.

He glanced at Liana.

Her eyes remained serene and detached.

Was she confident? Or simply unafraid of death?

"From this height, anyone but a chosen one would be reduced to paste."

"Not even scraps would remain."

"Even with my physique, the impact will break bones."

The legacy site couldn’t be explored without Liana.

If it were easily accessible, it wouldn’t have remained undiscovered for so long.

So. Liana couldn’t be harmed.

Driven by impulse, Theo pulled her closer.

Soft silk met his chest.

The steady rhythm of her heartbeat pulsed against him.

Liana blinked.

She didn’t resist. She watched curiously as Theo twisted his body. He positioned himself beneath her.

He is trying to cushion my fall?

Her tranquil mind wavered.

From this height, what difference would a human cushion make?

Never before had she been this close to a man.

In her previous life, generals knelt meters away. No one dared approach the Sovereign.

Liana gently bit her lip.

Moving recklessly might alter their trajectory.

In the end, she didn’t push the boy away.

****

It was impossible to tell how much time passed.

The sensation of weightlessness faded. Yet no solid ground met their boots.

Theo regained his bearings.

Behind them swirled a cloud of mist. It shimmered with silver lightning. This luminous barrier shielded them from the impact.

The light seeped from a narrow gap in a stone gate nearby.

"You can let go now."

A cool voice sounded beside his ear.

Theo blinked.

Liana’s face was close. He felt the warmth of her breath. Because he held her tight, he sensed the steady pulse of her heart through their clothes.

When people fall, they cling to anything within reach.

Theo felt awkward.

He worried unnecessarily and did something superfluous.

He cleared his throat. He released her and stood up. He pretended to survey the surroundings.

"Where is this? I never heard of a ruin beneath the gorge."

"You asked me to meet you. Was it to bring me here?"

"Yes."

Liana nodded. She offered no explanation.

"How did you know about this place?" Theo asked.

When people feel awkward, they ramble.

Liana lowered her eyes. "I saw it in my dreams."

If she considered her past life a dream, the statement was true.

Others could leap from the cliff a hundred times and never find this hidden gate. They would perish in the mist.

"Let’s go."

Liana reached for her waist. She found nothing. She had thrown her blade at Malakor.

"Use mine."

Theo handed her a plain steel machete. The blade bore several chips along the edge.

So he didn’t avoid the beasts after all.

Liana gave a nod. She strode forward, machete in hand.

Theo followed. He remained vigilant.

If this was a legacy site, trials awaited.

A chill wind swept past. It stirred a primal dread.

"Join me."

"Why do you live?"

"The marrow... give me the marrow."

Whispers drifted through the mist.

"Stay close," Liana said. Her voice remained clear.

"What are they?"

Theo scanned the area. Dark mists coiled. They revealed twisted faces.

In the past, Liana would dismiss the question. Today, she explained.

"When a cultivator reaches the peak of body refinement, they begin tempering their spirit. If an expert dies with regrets, a wisp of their spirit may persist. They become shadow wraiths."

"They cannot endure sunlight. They gather here."

Theo understood.

Many experts attempted to explore the gorge. They all failed.

Their regrets remained. They watched over the Thunder God’s Marrow.

The wind carried the wraiths forward. Liana struck.

Sword qi erupted. It blossomed into dozens of arcs.

Each stroke landed on a wraith. They reeled back.

Perfected Annihilation Sword Art.

And yet.

The attacks barely fazed the wraiths. They knocked them into the mist. The wraiths regrouped and returned moments later.

"Move faster. Wraiths are impervious to standard steel," Liana warned.

Before she finished, Theo moved.

His Primordial Abyssal Meridians opened.

Theo threw a punch.

His fist carried the suction force of a black hole.

The wraith lacked sentience. It had no idea what approached.

The wraith’s form dissolved instantly. It tried to retreat.

Theo’s fist pierced it.

The wraith vanished. Devoured.

"Your meridians absorb spirit energy?"