The worms' screeches lingered in my skull, a relentless assault on my senses, each cry a psychic dagger that threatened to unravel my focus.
We'd fallen deeper into the earth, the darkness swallowing us whole, broken only by faint glimmers from glowing moss that clung to the stone walls, casting eerie green veins across the cavern.
Unlike the ice-slick chambers above, this place was raw stone, its surfaces rough and ancient, etched with carvings that seemed to hum with forgotten power. The air was thick with a strange spiritual energy—not just cold, but dense, almost alive, pressing against my chest like a living weight.
I staggered to my feet, my body aching from the fall. My cultivation had spared me broken bones, but every muscle screamed in protest.
Li knelt beside Ryu, shaking him urgently.
"Wake up, Ryu! We're not safe yet!"
Ryu groaned, his eyelids fluttering, but he remained lost to the world.
I extended my spiritual sense, probing the cavern for threats. The space was vast, its ceiling lost in shadow, the walls stretching into the distance like the halls of some ancient deity. The moss's faint glow revealed more carvings—scenes of battles, rituals, and strange beasts that sent a chill down my spine.
The spiritual energy here was oppressive, a sluggish current of water qi that felt like wading through a stagnant river. My meridians strained under its weight, my fire qi struggling to circulate. I felt exposed, vulnerable, as if the cavern itself watched us, waiting for a misstep.
"Kai, back-to-back!" Li shouted, his voice taut with urgency.
He hoisted Ryu onto his shoulder, his eyes scanning the darkness.
I nodded, pivoting to face the opposite direction, my sword raised. The worms' screeches grew louder, closer, their pursuit unbroken despite our fall.
I flung a spark of fire, its light revealing the nightmare: the stone floor writhed with worms, their dog-sized bodies slithering with unnatural speed, their snowy fangs glinting like blades in the dim glow.
"They don't stop," I muttered, my grip tightening on my sword.
My spiritual energy was a flicker, Dance of Embers reduced to embers indeed. I'd have to rely on skill alone, but against this horde, would it be enough?
Li thrust an ice spear into the ground, spiritual energy surging. A wave of frost spread, freezing dozens of worms in their tracks, their bodies crackling under the icy grip. But the screeches persisted, more worms pouring from cracks in the walls, the ceiling, every shadowed crevice.
"We need a plan," I said, my voice sharp with urgency.
"We can't fight this many blindly."
Li nodded, his eyes narrowing with focus.
"I'll create ice walls to funnel them."
"You clear a path."
I agreed, moving with precision, my sword striking like a viper. Each slash targeted the worms' weak point—between their jaws and segmented bodies, where they split most easily. But the severed halves continued to writhe, crawling toward us with relentless hunger.
"They don't die!" I shouted, frustration mounting.
"Slow them with ice!" Li called, his hands weaving seals at a furious pace.
A massive ice wall rose, blocking the worms' advance, its surface gleaming like polished crystal. But the worms burrowed through, their fangs tearing at the ice, cracks spreading like spiderwebs.
"Ryu, wake up!" Li bellowed, his voice raw with desperation.
Ryu groaned, his eyes half-opening.
"The spirits… say go down," he whispered, his voice barely audible.
Li's face twisted in disbelief.
"You've lost it! Down is a death trap!"
"The spirits don't lie," Ryu murmured, his gaze distant but resolute.
I didn't trust his cryptic words, but the worms gave us no time to debate. The ice wall shattered, shards flying as the horde surged forward like a living tide.
"Kai, hold the formation!" Li shouted, his voice cracking.
I nodded, positioning myself to shield Li and Ryu, my sword a blur of motion. The worms were relentless, their coordination terrifying. They moved as one, some feinting to draw my blade while others burrowed to flank me, their screeches a psychic assault that threatened to break my focus.
I adapted, shifting to a defensive stance, conserving energy with precise strikes. I aimed for the largest worms, disrupting their formation, but their numbers were overwhelming. They attacked from all angles—ground, walls, even dropping from the ceiling in a writhing cascade.
I ducked a lunging maw, rolling to the side, and drove my sword upward, pinning a worm to the wall. Its halves thrashed, but I was already moving, slashing through another wave. My breaths came in ragged gasps, my muscles burning, sweat freezing on my skin in the frigid air.
"Kai, we need to bottleneck them!" Li shouted, his hands glowing with spiritual energy as he formed another ice wall, narrower this time, forcing the worms into a tighter space.
I nodded, seizing the opportunity. I targeted the worms at the front, my sword carving a bloody path, each strike calculated to slow their advance. But their screeches grew louder, a psychic storm that made my vision blur. I gritted my teeth, focusing on the rhythm of my blade, each swing a defiance against the horde.
Li's hands moved faster, his face pale with exertion.
"I need time for a bigger technique!"
"Hold them for two minutes!"
I didn't respond, my focus consumed by the fight. I shifted tactics, using the cavern's terrain to my advantage. I lured the worms toward a cluster of stalagmites, their jagged forms creating a natural barrier. I darted between them, slashing and retreating, forcing the worms to navigate the obstacles, slowing their advance.
But the horde adapted, some climbing over the stalagmites, others burrowing beneath. A worm erupted from the ground, nearly catching my leg. I twisted, my sword severing its head, but another lunged from the side. I parried, the impact jarring my arm, and kicked it back, buying a moment to regroup.
"Almost there!" Li shouted, his voice strained.
I glanced back, seeing him weave a complex seal, spiritual energy gathering like a storm. The worms sensed it too, their screeches rising to a fever pitch, their attacks growing frantic. I fought with everything I had, my sword a whirlwind, but my body was reaching its limit, each movement slower, heavier.
Finally, Li thrust his ice spear into the ground. A deafening crack split the air, the stone floor fracturing beneath us.
"Hold on!" he shouted as we fell again, the world tilting into darkness.
"Couldn't you aim sideways?" I groaned, rolling to absorb the impact.
We landed in a new stone cavern, lit faintly by glowing moss. A few worms fell with us, but I dispatched them with quick, brutal slashes, their bodies collapsing in lifeless heaps. The spiritual energy here was denser, almost suffocating, as if the cavern itself breathed.
"You didn't think of that?" I snapped, glaring at Li.
"Alright, alright," he mumbled, sheepish.
"We're out, aren't we?"
I didn't reply, my chest heaving. A wet slap echoed, then another, followed by the brain-rending screeches.
"They're still coming!" Li shouted, his voice tinged with panic.
I spun, my sword ready, the screeches clawing at my mind.
"What do the spirits say now?" Li demanded, turning to Ryu.
Ryu pointed vaguely, his voice barely a whisper.
"There."
Pale flickers lit the air, faint but guiding—likely the spirits' work. The light was dim, but it revealed a dark tunnel ahead. Trusting spirits wasn't my preference, but with the worms closing in, we had no choice.
We ran, the screeches pounding my ears, my sword growing heavier with each swing. Li left fields of ice spikes to slow the horde, their points glinting like deadly stars. The worms' pursuit faltered as the ice vanished, the stone walls resisting their burrowing.
"Did we lose them?" I panted, my lungs burning.
"Thank the Heavens! And the spirits," Li said, glancing at Ryu.
"Did they mention how we get out?"
"Keep going," Ryu mumbled, his mind elsewhere.
"Did they say that, or is that your idea?" Li grimaced.
I shared his doubt, but the stone corridor was our only path, its air thick with stagnant qi, like a pool of still water. What secrets lay hidden in this ancient labyrinth, and would they lead us to salvation or destruction?
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