CHAPTER 36 — THE BROKEN TELEPORT
Light ripped apart.
Jason Wu felt his body stretched into threads, then compressed, then twisted again. Teleportation—real teleportation—was supposed to be smooth if done correctly.
This was not done correctly.
Leon screamed beside him, "MY FACE—! I CAN FEEL MY FACE GETTING TURNED INTO NOODLES!"
Wei Qing yelled, "That's your normal face!"
Longwu Sword hissed,
["Stop whining, boy. The teleport is collapsing—brace!"]
A burst of golden light detonated.
Then—silence.
Jason crashed onto a hard stone surface, tumbling until his shoulder hit a boulder. He gasped, half-dazed.
"Everyone… alive?"
Leon raised a trembling hand. "Present… physically. Mentally? Debatable."
Lan Yuren landed with a grunt. Wei Qing fell on top of him.
Li Xueyin sat with crossed legs, coughing blood.
Jason pushed himself up, blinking at the world around them.
And froze.
---
### A LAND WITHOUT SKY
"This… isn't Azure Ridge," he whispered.
Above them was not a sky.
It was a ceiling—vast, uneven, stretching into darkness with floating mineral clusters glowing faint purple. Massive stone pillars rose like the ribs of an ancient titan. Streams of luminous water flowed upside-down along the ceiling before dripping upward into glowing cracks.
Wei Qing looked around in awe. "An underground world?"
Li Xueyin shook her head. "No. This isn't natural. It's a collapsed pocket dimension."
Lan Yuren frowned. "Which means the old teleport platform must have been linked here a long time ago…"
Jason muttered, "And we found the shortcut."
Leon swallowed. "Can we go back…?"
Longwu Sword scoffed,
["Sure. Just rebuild a multi-dimensional transport array with broken stones and your combined lack of talent."]
Leon pouted. "I felt personally attacked by that."
---
### A DANGEROUS DISCOVERY
Jason kneeled beside Li Xueyin. "Are you okay? You look pale."
"I'm fine," she said, wiping the blood with her sleeve. "The teleportation wasn't stable. Your resonance forced it open, but also destabilized it. We're lucky we didn't get scattered across ten different continents."
Leon blanched. "Is that… possible?"
Li Xueyin answered calmly, "More than possible."
Longwu muttered,
["Honestly, I'm shocked none of you arrived as half a torso."]
Wei Qing bowed, "Jason, thank you. If not for your resonance, we would've been captured."
Jason shook his head. "We got lucky. And something tells me the Extraction Force isn't done."
Lan Yuren scanned the area. "Speaking of which… do you hear that?"
Jason listened.
Silence.
No wind.
No beasts.
No echoes.
A dead world.
But at the very edge of hearing—something faint.
A ticking sound.
Like metal fingers tapping stone.
Longwu's tone sharpened.
["Jason. Something else arrived with you."]
---
### FOLLOW THE LIGHT
Li Xueyin pointed toward the distance, where a faint golden glow pulsed.
"That direction. The energy signature is similar to the Wu resonance."
Jason blinked. "Mine?"
"No. Older. Stronger."
Leon squeaked, "Str-Str-Stronger than Jason?! What kind of monster lives here?!"
Jason steadied his breath. "Whatever it is, we need answers."
Lan Yuren nodded. "Stay close. We move."
They walked across stone bridges suspended over bottomless chasms. Purple luminescent plants glowed on the edges, as if breathing. Occasional stone statues—broken, with ancient robes—were scattered like sacrifices.
Jason stopped at one statue.
Its face was missing, but its stance was familiar.
A sword stance.
One Jason had been practicing since childhood.
Wei Qing whispered, "This is…"
Li Xueyin murmured, "A Wu ancestor. Or someone connected to their path."
Longwu Sword hummed low.
["…It shouldn't be here."]
Jason shivered. "Why not?"
["Because this stance wasn't created yet."]
Leon blinked. "Meaning… time travel?"
Li Xueyin squinted at the statue's cracks. "Not time travel. Interference."
Lan Yuren looked at Jason. "Whatever your lineage is hiding… it's deeper than anything in the mortal clans."
Jason swallowed hard.
---
### THE KEEPER OF THE DIMENSION
They reached the golden light.
A stone altar stood in the center of a circular platform. Ancient runes curled around it like flowing rivers. At its top floated a small orb of golden energy—pulsing in a steady rhythm.
Jason felt his chest throb in response. "It's resonating with me…"
Li Xueyin's eyes widened. "Jason—stand back."
But it was too late.
The orb flared.
Golden light burst outward, engulfing the entire chamber.
The air tore like fabric.
A figure materialized above the altar.
Tall. Clad in an ancient robe embroidered with swirling constellations. Hair like drifting starlight. Face masked with a cracked golden visor.
The voice echoed deep and layered:
**"Descendant of Wu."**
Jason staggered. "Y-You know me?"
**"I know your blood."**
Leon whispered, "OH COME ON! NOT AGAIN!"
The figure continued:
**"You have stepped into the Remnant Vault.
A place sealed off from fate."**
Jason narrowed his eyes. "Who are you?"
The figure slowly lowered, touching the ground.
**"I am the Keeper of the Vault.
And I hold what the Extraction Force fears most."**
Lan Yuren's eyes widened. "You mean…"
The Keeper raised his hand.
A sigil appeared—a glowing mark shaped like an ancient eye.
Jason felt his heart skip.
Longwu Sword hissed,
["Jason… that's a Wu Primordial Seal."]
Jason inhaled sharply. "How can that exist here?!"
The Keeper pointed at Jason.
**"You seek to understand your destiny.
Then survive the truth."**
The ground shook.
Walls cracked.
The golden orb shattered into dozens of shards—each turning into a swirling blade of energy.
The Keeper's voice thundered:
**"Let the Trial of Resonance begin."**
Leon screamed, "WHYYY DO WE ALWAYS TRIGGER TRIALS BY ACCIDENT?!"
Jason raised Longwu Sword.
His blood hummed.
His fate roared.
And the trial descended.