Silence did not mean peace in the underground.
It meant preparation.
The hall gradually emptied after Elder Mu's announcement, cultivators dispersing into smaller groups, their voices low, their expressions sharpened by unease. The fading glow of the ancient gate left behind more questions than answers, and no one believed that what had stirred beneath the stone would simply return to sleep.
Chang Lee sat on a cold stone bench near the eastern wall, rubbing his palms together slowly. The jade pendant hung against his chest, unusually warm, as if it had retained a fragment of the gate's fading light.
Yuan Tao plopped down beside him with a dramatic sigh. "So," he said, staring at the ceiling, "on a scale from 'we'll be fine' to 'we are absolutely doomed,' where are you?"
Chang Lee didn't answer immediately. He was listening.
Not with his ears—but with that faint, unfamiliar sensation that had been growing since the pendant awakened. The underground felt… layered now. As if beneath the familiar tunnels and chambers, something else stirred, quietly adjusting itself around them.
"I think," Chang Lee said finally, "we're standing on a bridge that hasn't decided whether it wants to collapse yet."
Yuan Tao blinked. "That was… disturbingly poetic. I liked you better when you cleaned floors."
Chang Lee snorted despite himself.
Footsteps approached.
Elder Mu stood before them, his staff resting lightly against the stone. Behind him were three others—cultivators Chang Lee recognized only vaguely.
The first was a tall, broad-shouldered man with a scar that split his left eyebrow. His presence was heavy, grounded, like an immovable boulder. His name was Han Kuo, a former Elite candidate who had survived the initial dragon assault by sheer stubbornness.
The second was a woman with short, tied-back hair and alert eyes that never seemed to stop moving. Qiu Ren, sharp-tongued and sharper-minded, known for scouting dangerous terrain long before the invasion.
The last was younger—no older than Chang Lee himself—with pale skin and fingers stained faintly blue from alchemical residue. Mei Lin, a support cultivator who specialized in detection arrays and subtle formations.
"You," Elder Mu said, nodding at Chang Lee, "are coming with us."
Yuan Tao straightened instantly. "Hey, if he's going—"
"You are also coming," Elder Mu added flatly.
Yuan Tao grinned. "Knew it."
Chang Lee's stomach tightened. "Where?"
Elder Mu did not answer right away. Instead, he turned and began walking toward a narrower tunnel branching away from the main hall. The others followed, and Chang Lee and Yuan Tao exchanged a glance before hurrying after them.
Only once they were deep enough that the ambient chatter faded did Elder Mu speak.
"We are sending eyes to the surface."
The words hit harder than any shout.
Yuan Tao stopped walking. "Now?"
"Not openly," Elder Mu replied. "And not to engage."
Han Kuo cracked his neck. "Recon only."
Qiu Ren smirked. "Which means running if anything sneezes too loudly."
Chang Lee swallowed. His chest tightened, not from fear alone, but from something sharper—anticipation.
"The surface has changed," Elder Mu continued. "We felt it through the gate. Through the formations. Through the earth itself."
Mei Lin spoke softly, almost to herself. "The spiritual pressure patterns are wrong."
Chang Lee frowned. "Wrong how?"
She looked up at him. "Simpler. But heavier."
Elder Mu nodded. "The dragons do not cultivate like we do. They impose."
They stopped before a sealed stone door etched with ancient markings. Unlike the grand gate, this one was narrow and unassuming, easily overlooked.
"This exit predates the clan," Elder Mu said. "It was carved for scouts, messengers… and cowards."
Yuan Tao raised a hand. "I feel personally attacked."
Han Kuo chuckled once.
Elder Mu's expression remained grave. "Once you cross, you will not be protected by the underground formations. If you are seen, you may be hunted."
Chang Lee felt the pendant pulse faintly.
"I'll go," he said quietly.
Everyone turned to him.
Yuan Tao opened his mouth, then closed it. "I mean—obviously you'll go. I'm just surprised you didn't hesitate."
Chang Lee met Elder Mu's gaze. "If the surface is changing… then hiding won't stop it from finding us."
For a long moment, Elder Mu studied him.
Then he nodded. "Very well."
The stone door slid open with a muted grind.
Cold air rushed in.
Not smoky. Not scorched.
Fresh—but wrong.
The ascent took longer than Chang Lee expected. The tunnel sloped upward gradually, winding through layers of earth that felt older, denser. Mei Lin paused several times to activate small arrays, her fingers moving with practiced ease.
At last, faint light appeared ahead.
Qiu Ren raised a fist, signaling them to stop.
She crept forward alone, peering through a narrow crack in the stone.
Her breath hitched.
"It's… intact," she whispered.
They emerged cautiously.
The sky above was no longer the deep blue Chang Lee remembered.
It was pale. Thin. As if washed out.
The land stretched before them—fields flattened, forests thinned, rivers redirected into unnatural paths. In the distance, enormous silhouettes moved slowly across the horizon.
Dragons.
Not flying.
Resting.
Anchoring themselves into the land like living mountains.
Han Kuo muttered, "They're nesting."
Mei Lin knelt, pressing her palm to the soil. Her face paled. "They're changing the spiritual veins."
Chang Lee felt it too now—the cultivation flow was different. Slower. Heavier. Every breath of qi felt like drawing water through mud.
Yuan Tao grimaced. "I feel like the world put on ankle weights."
Elder Mu's voice was low. "This is not coincidence."
They moved carefully, sticking to broken terrain and natural cover. No one spoke unless necessary.
Then they saw them.
Humans.
A small group—armed, organized, wearing mismatched armor reinforced with unfamiliar materials. One carried a banner marked with a crude dragon sigil.
Chang Lee's heart pounded. "They're… working with them?"
Qiu Ren shook her head. "Not servants. Contractors."
One of the humans laughed loudly, kicking aside rubble. "Easy patrol. No resistance."
Another replied, "Of course not. Anyone smart went underground or died."
Chang Lee clenched his fists.
Elder Mu raised a hand sharply.
They retreated silently, retreating back toward the tunnel.
But as Chang Lee turned—
The jade pendant flared.
A sudden pressure slammed into him.
High above, one of the resting dragons lifted its head.
Its massive eye opened.
And it looked directly at the mountain.
Directly at him.
Chang Lee staggered, blood pounding in his ears.
"Move!" Elder Mu hissed.
The ground trembled.
Far away, a roar echoed—not loud, but deliberate.
Curious.
Interested.
As they vanished back into the tunnel, Chang Lee knew one thing with terrifying certainty—
They had not gone unnoticed.
And next time…
The surface would come looking
The descent back into the underground felt longer than the ascent.
No one spoke.
Even Yuan Tao, who usually filled silence as if it personally offended him, kept his mouth shut. His usual grin was gone, replaced by a tight, thoughtful line.
Chang Lee's chest still burned.
Not from exertion—but from the lingering pressure of that gaze.
It hadn't been murderous.
That terrified him more.
The tunnel sealed behind them with a muted grind, layers of stone sliding back into place as Mei Lin reactivated the concealment arrays. The faint tremor of the surface faded, but the feeling of being noticed did not.
Han Kuo finally exhaled. "That wasn't a warning roar."
Qiu Ren nodded grimly. "It was a marker."
Yuan Tao frowned. "A what?"
She glanced at him. "A way of saying: I know where you are."
Yuan Tao swallowed. "I liked it better when dragons just burned things."
Elder Mu's pace never slowed. "This confirms our fear. The surface is no longer chaotic."
Chang Lee clenched his fists. "It's organized."
"Yes," Elder Mu replied. "And worse—delegated."
They entered a smaller chamber lit by dim spirit-lamps. Several elders looked up as the group returned earlier than expected.
One of them, Elder Shen, rose immediately. "You felt it too, didn't you?"
Elder Mu nodded. "The pressure shift is undeniable."
Mei Lin stepped forward. "The cultivation environment above has changed fundamentally. It resists refinement."
Elder Shen's brows furrowed. "Resists… how badly?"
Mei Lin hesitated. "A child with average talent might take twice as long to sense qi."
Silence fell.
"And someone like Chang Lee?" Elder Shen asked quietly.
Every gaze turned toward him.
Chang Lee stiffened.
Mei Lin met his eyes. "Three times."
Yuan Tao blurted out, "That's robbery!"
No one laughed.
Elder Mu rested his staff against the ground. "This confirms it. The dragons are not merely ruling. They are reshaping the world to suit their growth."
"And slowing ours," Elder Shen said grimly.
Chang Lee felt the weight of it press into his bones.
A slower path.
A longer climb.
But also… fewer shortcuts.
Fewer reckless prodigies burning themselves out early.
Elder Mu looked directly at Chang Lee. "This environment will punish impatience. But it will reward persistence."
Chang Lee nodded slowly. "Then we adapt."
Yuan Tao slapped his shoulder. "See? This is why I stick with you. You say things that make suffering sound intentional."
Despite everything, a few weary smiles appeared.
But the relief was thin.
Elder Shen gestured toward the deeper tunnels. "We should assume scouts will follow. Human or otherwise."
Qiu Ren crossed her arms. "Then we move our schedules up."
Han Kuo cracked his knuckles. "About time."
Elder Mu's gaze sharpened. "No. Not open mobilization."
"Then what?" Yuan Tao asked.
Elder Mu's eyes flicked briefly to Chang Lee's pendant.
"We prepare quietly," he said. "And we begin identifying those who can endure the new pace."
Chang Lee felt the jade grow warm again.
This time, it did not pulse randomly.
It responded.
Somewhere deep underground, stone shifted.
A door—not the great gate, but something older and narrower—creaked open by a hair's breadth.
Chang Lee felt it before anyone spoke.
Elder Mu's breath caught.
"So," Elder Shen murmured, "it has chosen."
Chang Lee swallowed.
Chosen for what… he did not yet know.
But one thing was certain:
The underground was no longer merely hiding.
It was awakening.
And above them, far beyond stone and soil, something massive adjusted its coils—
As if preparing to move.