Chapter 134 - 92 : The Abyss Below (3)

Chapter 134: Chapter 92 : The Abyss Below (3)

Kael’s expression changed.

Ethan’s voice was suddenly filled with urgency and joy, so different from the rage that had consumed him moments earlier that the change itself became startling.

"Senior Brother, Sect Elder! Thank heavens! You finally came!"

Kael’s gaze shifted instinctively toward the direction Ethan was staring.

For a brief moment, the confidence on his face faltered. If someone had really arrived, then it could not be an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator. It could be someone who had spent many years in the realm, an experienced elder, or perhaps an older disciple whose cultivation had already reached a level far beyond Kael’s own.

The thought made his expression change slightly.

Kael’s Divine Sense was already spread through the surrounding area, yet the sudden change in Ethan’s behavior made him turn his head before he had fully considered what he was doing. If someone really had arrived, then the situation had changed completely.

And if the person approaching was truly stronger than him, then the confidence he had displayed so easily a moment ago might no longer be enough.

Kael began turning toward the distant sky, almost instinctively, and the change in him was subtle but unmistakable. The calm, high-handed air he had carried throughout the confrontation began to crack, the easy arrogance of someone who had stood above a weaker opponent suddenly losing its certainty. His posture remained proud, but the confidence behind it faltered as the possibility of a stronger Foundation Establishment cultivator entered his mind.

For the first time since he had arrived, the pride that had allowed him to look down on Ethan so easily showed a crack.

There was nothing.

Only the empty sky stretched beyond the cliff, pale beneath the afternoon sun, while the distant trees swayed gently in the wind as though nothing unusual had happened. Kael’s eyes moved across the horizon, searching for the figure Ethan had so suddenly called out to.

Nothing.

His expression froze.

Then the realization struck him.

"You’re..."

Kael turned back.

Too late.

Ethan was already moving.

The hesitation vanished from his body. Every bit of strength he possessed surged into his legs as he exploded forward, his feet striking the earth with enough force to crack the ground beneath him. His body shot toward the cliff at a speed that left a trail of dust and loose stones behind him.

Kael’s eyes widened.

"You!"

Ethan did not look back. He kept running, his attention fixed entirely on the edge ahead. Ten steps. The distance disappeared almost instantly. Five more. His body leaned forward as he pushed himself harder, and the cliff rushed toward him.

Three steps.

The edge was right there.

Behind him, the air suddenly changed.

The pressure that had been hanging over the battlefield with almost casual ease vanished, replaced by something far heavier. Spiritual energy erupted through the surrounding air with violent force, and the wind itself seemed to recoil beneath the sudden surge.

Kael had understood.

There was no curiosity left in that aura now.

Only fury.

"You dare!"

The roar shook through the wilderness.

Ethan reached the edge and finally turned.

Only once.

Kael stood upon his flying sword several dozen meters behind him, his robe whipping violently in the force of his own spiritual energy. One hand remained casually behind his back, but the other was raised before him, lightning already gathering around his fingers.

The sight was completely different from before.

The relaxed superiority was gone. So was the faint amusement that had remained on his face throughout the confrontation. His expression was twisted with rage and disbelief, his pride visibly wounded by the realization that a Late Qi Refining cultivator had actually deceived him.

Ethan looked directly into his eyes.

For one heartbeat, neither moved.

Ethan did not smile. He did not shout another threat. There was no need.

He simply looked at Kael, and in that silent gaze was everything he had left unsaid.

I remember you.

Kael’s hand came forward.

Lightning screamed through the air.

Ethan jumped.

The bolt struck the cliff edge behind him with tremendous force.

BOOM!

Stone exploded outward. A section of the cliff shattered beneath the impact, and Ethan’s body disappeared over the edge.

For one brief moment, he was suspended between earth and sky.

Then gravity took hold.

Ethan dropped.

The wind slammed into him as the cliff walls rose on either side, his clothes snapping violently against his body. He twisted in the air, trying to control his descent, but there was nothing beneath his feet and nothing within reach. The walls offered no ledge or branch, only jagged stones along with the open air.

He continued falling.

The world above began to shrink.

The broken edge of the cliff grew smaller, and Kael’s figure became little more than a dark shape standing against the bright sky. Ethan could still see the shattered stone falling after him, tumbling through the air before disappearing into the depths below.

He looked down.

There was still no bottom.

The darkness beneath him seemed to stretch farther than his eyes could follow. Sunlight reached only the upper sections of the enormous chasm before fading into the depths, leaving the lower walls swallowed in a darkness that seemed almost unnatural beneath the clear afternoon sky.

Ethan’s body continued dropping.

The wind grew stronger as his speed increased, tearing at his hair and robes until the sound around him became little more than a constant roar. The cliff walls rushed upward on both sides, revealing layers of dark stone, jagged outcroppings, and long vertical scars running down the rock.

Then, as he fell farther, the shape of the land above began to reveal itself. What had looked like a simple cliff from the ground was something far larger.

The two sides of the chasm stretched outward for an enormous distance, forming a vast wound that cut through the landscape. From above, the terrain no longer resembled a mountain split by erosion or a natural gorge. It looked like something had struck the earth with unimaginable force, tearing a gigantic scar across the land and leaving the broken edges standing on either side.

The wilderness around it remained almost completely untouched. Trees covered the distant slopes, mountains rose beyond them, and rivers and valleys continued through the landscape as they always had. Yet cutting through the middle of it all was that enormous wound in the earth, stretching across the land like a scar left by some unimaginable force.

At its deepest point lay the darkness into which Ethan was falling.

Only from above could the true nature of the place be understood. What had appeared to be a cliff was actually the edge of something far larger, a vast scar carved through the wilderness.

It was the place the cultivators of the region called the Forbidden Abyss.

Kael reached the edge moments later.

His flying sword stopped above the shattered stone, his robes settling as the violent surge of spiritual energy around him gradually faded. He looked down into the enormous scar carved through the earth, his expression still carrying the remnants of his anger.

From this height, there was no sign of Ethan.

Not even with Divine Sense.

Kael’s brows drew together.

The abyss below swallowed his perception before it could reach any meaningful depth, leaving only a vast, silent darkness beneath him.

He remained there for several breaths.

Then he gave a cold scoff.

"He jumped?"

His gaze lingered on the depths.

"What an idiot."

If Ethan had remained, Kael could have ended his life with a proper strike. The battle had already proven that the difference between them was absolute. Instead, Ethan had chosen to throw himself into a place that even cultivators treated with caution.

Kael looked down once more.

The Forbidden Abyss had existed for longer than anyone in the surrounding region could remember. Its depths were shrouded in old stories and warnings, and even Foundation Establishment cultivators avoided descending into it without good reason. No ordinary cultivator could simply fall into such a place and expect to survive.

The depths revealed no visible bottom, and there was nowhere below that offered even the slightest chance of a safe landing. For an ordinary cultivator, climbing back out of such a place would be almost impossible. Kael’s gaze lingered on the darkness for another moment before he finally turned away.

"Forbidden Abyss."

He clicked his tongue.

"At least you won’t become my problem anymore."

As far as Kael was concerned, the matter was finished. Even if Ethan’s strange regeneration could repair wounds that should have crippled a Qi Refining cultivator, there was little reason to believe it could save him from a fall into those depths.

The anger gradually left Kael’s face.

The confrontation had been intense, but it had also been brief. Already, the incident was beginning to settle into something he could leave behind.

His flying sword hovered beneath him, responding to his Divine Sense without requiring him to make any visible movement. Kael stepped forward and allowed the sword to carry him away from the abyss.

He resumed his journey toward the Lunar Echo Sect.

The mission he had been given remained ahead of him, and there was no reason to linger here any longer. As for the Blood Demon, that matter could already be considered settled.

One task was finished.

Kael stood upright upon the flying sword, one hand resting casually behind his back as the other joined it a moment later. His robes flowed freely in the wind, his long hair lifting behind him as he traveled through the afternoon sky with the ease of someone who had already stepped beyond the limits of ordinary cultivators.

For a moment, he looked every bit like the immortal cultivators he had once admired from below.

The wind flowed around Kael as the flying sword carried him steadily toward the distant horizon, the mountains stretching beneath him and the afternoon sun casting long shadows across the wilderness. And ahead, beyond the distant ridges, lay the territory of the Lunar Echo Sect.

Behind him, the Forbidden Abyss remained silent, its vast scar cutting through the earth beneath the clear afternoon sky.

Far below, Ethan was still falling.

The wind roared past him as the darkness swallowed him deeper into the abyss, the cliff walls fading into the distance above. He could still see the broken edges of the earth far overhead, but below him there was nothing except darkness.

Still no bottom.