Chapter 605 - 376: Light and Dark

The massive stone doors groaned shut behind them, sealing with a heavy, hollow thud that echoed into absolute silence.

The threshold did not open into a simple throne chamber.

Instead, the expanse widened into a colossal, circular arena of polished sun gold stone that seemed to form the interior base of an impossibly ancient tower.

High above, spiraling stone galleries rose into seven distinct ascending tiers, each level separated by swirling vortexes of golden mist and barrier arrays inscribed with archaic Clear Universe Imperial Writing.

Qing Yan approached the writings, "Sister Yunxi, what does this say?"

Qian Yunxi took a step forward and began reading it, "...to those who passed and wished to obtain the inheritance, you mist climb the tower. Each floor is guarded by a sentinel of the ancient celestial host, totaling seven trials of escalating lethality."

Qing Yan frowned, "Hmm. This is going to be a bit troublesome."

Qian Yunxi shook her head, "I’m going. You don’t have to follow me."

Qing Yan immediately changed his expression and smiled, "That can’t be. Sister Yunxi, there is strength in numbers. It will be dangerous if we are separated."

’I don’t know about that...’ though Qian Yunxi, as she shook her head and walked towards the tower.

Qing Yan didn’t mind her reaction and quickly followed after her.

*

*

Inside the tower.

Standing in the center of the first floor, waiting upon a dais inlaid with geometric solar mandalas, was their first opponent.

It was a warrior that towered over them like a carved monument of divine wrath.

His armor was forged from unblemished celestial gold, cast with embossed reliefs of roaring lions and weeping stars.

From his shoulder blades stretched a pair of immense, feathered wings woven from blinding golden fire, their rhythmic beats stirring the stagnant air into howling drafts that smelled of ozone and incense.

In his right hand, he held a massive two handed broadsword whose edge was not made of metal, but a solid beam of compressed solar plasma that hissed as it burned through the fabric of the surrounding atmosphere.

His eyes were twin spheres of molten bronze, devoid of pupils, staring down at the two interlopers with ancient, merciless judgment.

"Who shall stand before the face of the Holy One?" The guardian’s voice thundered, rolling across the stone floorboards like an avalanche of iron bells. "I am Michael, the Sword of God, the Archistrategos of the Heavenly Host! He that overcometh shall inherit all things, but the fearful and the unbelieving shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone!"

Qing Yan and Qian Yunxi who stood before him immediately went into a battle stance.

Without a second of warning, Michael moved.

His massive frame blurred into a streak of pure, blinding gold!

BOOM!

The stone beneath his sabatons shattered into dust as he crossed fifty yards in a fraction of a millisecond, his golden greatsword descending in a vertical, world cleaving arc aimed straight down the center of Qian Yunxi’s skull!

"Dodge!" Qian Yunxi shouted, her instincts screaming an immediate warning.

She engaged her six wings, snapping them backward with a sharp burst of holy radiance, vaulting sideways across the polished stone.

CRACK!

The blade of Michael cleaved into the floor where she had stood an instant prior, sending up a geyser of burning hot molten rock and concussive shockwaves that rattled the marrow of her bones!

Before she could even stabilize her footing to draw her Holy Sword from her ring, the golden giant pivoted with terrifying, fluid agility, his left wing lashing out like an iron blade coated in solar fire, sweeping horizontally toward her ribs!

"Get away from her!"

A ferocious roar cut through the deafening roar of the flames!

A blur of dark azure light intervened, moving with a terrifying, instantaneous velocity that tore a vacuum through the air.

CLANG!

A curved scimitar made of midnight blue star steel collided directly with Michael’s armored wing!

The resulting shockwave tore across the first floor, ripping up rows of stone flagstones and turning them into flying gravel.

Qian Yunxi skidded to a halt twenty yards away, her eyes widening in sheer, unadulterated shock as she stared at the figure who had intercepted the blow.

It was Qing Yan.

His robes whipped violently in the gale, but beneath the torn silk, an overwhelming, suffocating aura surged outward in concentric, azure-tinted waves!

The air around his boots rippled and twisted, displaying the distinct, unmistakable manifestation of spiritual compression!

He... he is at the Spirit Ascension realm?!

Qian Yunxi’s breath caught in her throat.

She was the revered Holy Maiden of the Spirit Hall, subordinate to the Shen Clan and, dare she say, a trusted confidante of Shen Haoran.

She was nurtured with the finest spirit herbs, ancient scriptures, and spirit stones of the Eastern Region and with the help of Shen Haoran, yet even after her recent breakthroughs due to the baptism of the first trial, her cultivation only stood firmly at the 7th stage of the Nascent Soul realm.

Between the Nascent Soul and the Spirit Ascension realm lay an insurmountable gulf—a chasm of comprehension and core transformation that usually required centuries of secluded meditation to cross!

Yet Qing Yan, a quiet disciple who had always lingered in the background with modest, unremarkable strength, was now suppressing the air with the unmistakable authority of a Spirit Ascension expert!

’How is this possible?’ she thought, her mind reeling. ’He hid his strength so deeply?’

Qing Yan did not look back at her. His eyes were wild, a manic, triumphant smirk dancing on his lips as he leaned into the clash.

In his mind, translucent blue system windows were flashing rapidly, executing commands at lightning speed.

[Unique Skill: Titan’s Might activated! Strength attribute increased by 300%!]

[System Item: Abyssal Steel Saber equipped. Durability: Indestructible!]

"You won’t touch her while I’m breathing!" Qing Yan yelled, his voice laced with manic fervour.

With a brutal twist of his wrists, the dark scimitar in his grasp flared with a pitch-black aura that seemed completely foreign to the holy light of the tower.

He deflected the archangel’s golden wing, stepping inside Michael’s guard, his left palm thrusting forward with a burst of spatial distortion!

"Void Shatter Palm!"

BANG!

A concentrated vortex of distorted space hammered into Michael’s breastplate!

The three meter tall guardian was pushed back three paces, the embossed lions on his chest denting inward with a hollow, metallic groan!

Michael did not stumble. He dug his golden heels into the stone, his molten bronze eyes locking onto Qing Yan with wrath.

"Thou hast trusted in thy wickedness; thou hast said, None seeth me!" Michael bellowed, his voice echoing with divine thunder. "Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee! Therefore shall evil come upon thee, and thou shalt not know from whence it riseth!"

Michael’s golden greatsword flared with an unbearable, blinding heat!

He swung the blade in a wide, sweeping horizontal slash.

The attack was not merely a physical swing; a colossal, hundred foot crescent of divine, purifying solar plasma erupted from the edge, sweeping across the entire width of the arena like a falling curtain of judgment!

"Dodge it!" Qian Yunxi cried out.

She knew she could not stand by in shock.

Discarding the questions about Qing Yan’s sudden ascension, her six wings flared with pristine white gold light, launching her into the air.

"Radiance of the Dawn!"

She swung her Holy Sword downwards, unleashing three rapid, intersecting crescents of holy solar fire, aiming directly for the joints of Michael’s right arm to disrupt the devastating follow-through of his strike!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Her attacks slammed into Michael’s shoulder, exploding in showers of golden sparks that forced the giant’s blade downward by a fraction of an inch!

Taking advantage of the opening, Qing Yan tapped into his interface once more.

[Extra Skill: Shadow Step!]

His body flickered out of existence, bypassing the sweeping wave of plasma and reappearing directly above Michael’s head!

In his hands, a pair of pitch black throwing spikes hummed with spatial-rending poison.

[System Item: Soul-Piercing Needles (Rare)!]

"Die, you oversized statue!" Qing Yan roared, driving the needles down toward Michael’s neck!

CLANK!

Michael didn’t even look up. His massive golden wings snapped upward, wrapping around his head and shoulders like an impenetrable dome of interlocking golden shields!

The needles struck the divine feathers, snapping into fragments of black metal against the sacred light!

"He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity!" Michael’s voice boomed from within the cocoon of his wings. "The sword of the Lord is filled with blood; it is made fat with fatness!"

The wings burst outward with an explosive detonation of holy fire!

The concussive blast caught Qing Yan mid-air, tossing his Spirit Ascension frame backward like a ragdoll.

Blood sprayed from Qing Yan’s lips, his azure robes catching fire as he skidded across thirty yards of stone, crashing hard against the perimeter wall!

Michael landed with a thunderous crash, turning his burning bronze gaze toward Qian Yunxi.

"Daughter of the line, thou dost wield the wings of the dawn, yet thy light is weak! Weigh thyself in the balances, and be found wanting!"

Michael leaped into the air, his golden wings beating with hurricane force, bringing his greatsword down upon Qian Yunxi with the speed of falling lightning!

The air pressure alone pinned her boots to the stone, the crushing gravity threatening to snap her bones before the blade could even land!

Qian Yunxi gritted her teeth, the pride of the Spirit Hall and the resonance of her ancient bloodline roaring to life inside her chest.

She did not retreat.

She crossed her six wings before her chest, forming a multi layered shield of solid, white gold solar crystals, pouring the entirety of her Nascent Soul cultivation into the defense!

CLANG-CRACK!

The greatsword struck her winged barrier with earth-shattering force!

The outer two wings shattered into showers of golden embers, the sheer kinetic shock driving her knees down into the stone!

A sharp, agonizing crack sounded from her left shoulder, and a line of dark blood trickled from the corner of her lips.

Yet she held her ground, her remaining four wings burning brighter, locking the giant’s massive blade in place!

"Qing Yan! Now!" she gasped, her voice strained to its absolute limit.

Across the arena, Qing Yan pushed himself up from the rubble, wiping the blood from his chin.

His eyes burned with frantic, desperate venom.

He couldn’t let her fall. If she died here, the inheritance was lost, and his twisted obsession would turn to ash.

"System!" Qing Yan shrieked in his mind. "Burn my auxiliary life points! Activate [Overlord’s Retribution]! Maximum output!"

[Warning: Consuming 20% of Host’s vitality!]

[Overlord’s Retribution activated! Attack power multiplied by 500%!]

A dark, terrifying vortex of purple and black energy erupted from Qing Yan’s chest, tearing through his robes!

He lunged forward, moving at a speed that tore the sound barrier to shreds, and in his hands, the dark scimitar expanded, turning into a thirty-foot blade of pure, reality-cracking spatial malice!

"LET HER GO!"

Qing Yan roared as he drove the massive spatial blade directly through Michael’s unarmored flank, beneath the joint of his right wing!

SKRRRR-BOOM!

The spatial blade pierced the golden flesh! Dark, corruptive energy flooded into Michael’s divine body, causing the giant’s armor to crack and hiss with acidic black smoke!

Michael let out a low, rumbling groan, his grip on his broadsword wavering for the briefest fraction of a second.

Qian Yunxi seized the opening with ruthless precision!

"Return to the dust!"

She unsealed the final reserve of her core, her four remaining wings detonating into an ocean of blinding, pristine white gold light!

She drove her sword straight upward through the opening created by Qing Yan’s strike, plunging the golden steel directly into Michael’s throat!

CRACK!

A sound like a crystal mountain shattering echoed through the vast circular chamber!

The three meter tall archangel froze.

The molten bronze light in his eyes flickered, gradually turning into pale, fading embers.

The plasma greatsword in his grip dissolved into golden motes of dust that drifted away on the wind.

He looked down at Qian Yunxi, and for the first time, the harsh, judgmental wrath vanished from his weathered features, replaced by a faint, sorrowful reverence.

"I have fought a good fight... I have finished my course... I have kept the faith..." Michael murmured, his voice dropping into a gentle, rustling whisper. "Henceforth there is laid up for thee a crown of righteousness..."

With those final words, the colossal golden armor cracked along a thousand seams.

POP.

The first floor guardian detonated into a magnificent cloud of sparkling golden light, leaving behind only an open archway leading to the ascending spiral staircase of the second tier.

Qian Yunxi collapsed to her knees, leaning heavily on her sword, gasping for breath as fresh blood dripped from her lips onto the cracked stone.

Her wings were bruised and battered, two of them taking time to slowly re-manifest from her spiritual sea.

Beside her, Qing Yan fell flat onto his back, his chest heaving violently, coughing up mouthfuls of dark blood as the backlash of his system skill ravaged his internal organs.

The dark, terrifying aura around him receded, leaving him looking pale, frail, and exhausted once more.

They had won.

Under their combined might, pushing their cultivation and hidden techniques to their absolute limits, they had barely scraped by with their lives.

Qian Yunxi wiped the blood from her chin, looking up toward the winding staircase that led into the swirling golden mist of the higher floors.

A deep, cold dread settled into the pit of her stomach.

This was only the guardian of the first floor.

There were six more sentinels waiting above them.

If the very first gatekeeper was a three meter tall celestial archangel who wielded such power and required a Spirit Ascension expert and a Nascent Soul fighting together to overcome...

Just how terrifyingly strong were the guardians waiting on the higher floors?