Chapter 57: The Secret of the Dark SoulThe Hidden Presence
Han Feng stood before the enormous stone door, his eyes fixed on the six ancient seals carved across its surface.
The pale light within the runes flickered irregularly.
One moment, they burned with faint brilliance.
The next, they almost disappeared.
Something was wrong.
Han Feng could feel it through the soles of his feet.
A deep vibration was traveling through the stone beneath him, slow and rhythmic, like the heartbeat of something buried far below.
Boom.
A second pulse followed.
Boom.
Han Feng's expression hardened.
The presence behind the door had not awakened completely.
But it was getting closer.
He had barely taken a step back when another sound reached his ears.
Footsteps.
Soft.
Controlled.
Coming from the corridor behind him.
Han Feng immediately activated the Art of the Celestial Veil.
His aura sank beneath the surface of his body, his breathing slowing until even the fluctuations of his spiritual energy became difficult to detect.
He moved into the darkness beside one of the stone pillars.
A figure appeared at the far end of the corridor.
A black hood covered most of his face.
He walked without hesitation.
Unlike the treasure hunters Han Feng had encountered outside, this man did not look lost.
He knew exactly where he was going.
That alone made Han Feng more cautious.
The stranger stopped before the stone door.
For several breaths, he simply stared at the six seals.
Then he slowly lowered his hood.
A pale face emerged from beneath it.
His features were sharp, almost sickly, and his dark eyes carried a strange exhaustion.
Han Feng noticed something else.
There was a faint spectral aura surrounding the man's body.
Not pure Gu energy.
Not ordinary Qi.
Something closer to spiritual energy that had been repeatedly exposed to death.
The man's lips curled slightly.
"So the eastern seal really has weakened..."
His voice was quiet.
Almost reverent.
Han Feng narrowed his eyes.
Eastern seal?
The man raised one hand and pressed his palm against the stone door.
Several runes immediately reacted.
The entire chamber trembled.
"You survived all these years..." the man whispered.
Then his fingers tightened around a small black amulet.
"Bai Clan may have abandoned this place."
His expression became colder.
"But I didn't."
Han Feng's gaze sharpened.
Bai Clan?
That name confirmed what he had already suspected.
The people outside the temple had not been the only ones searching for this place.
This man had come here with knowledge that far exceeded that of ordinary treasure hunters.
Bai Zhen slowly brought the amulet toward the nearest seal.
"After all these years..."
His voice became almost emotional.
"This is the closest I've ever come."
The amulet touched the rune.
For an instant, nothing happened.
Then—
Crack.
A thin fracture appeared across the first seal.
Han Feng's pupils contracted.
The man had not destroyed the seal.
He had activated something hidden within it.
Ancient inscriptions spread outward from the point of contact, connecting the first seal to the other five.
The six circles began to rotate.
Bai Zhen's expression changed.
"Wait..."
The entire chamber shook violently.
The black amulet in his hand suddenly cracked.
A wave of cold energy exploded from the door.
Bai Zhen was thrown backward.
Han Feng immediately formed a barrier of black flame in front of himself.
The collision forced him several steps back.
The temperature of the chamber dropped sharply.
Frost spread across the floor.
The six seals were still intact.
But something had changed.
One of them had gone completely dark.
Han Feng stared at it.
He didn't open the door.
He only broke one layer.
And yet the presence behind it had already reacted.
A low sound came from the other side.
Not a roar.
Not a voice.
A breath.
Long.
Slow.
Almost human.
Han Feng's hand tightened around his black flame blade.
Bai Zhen slowly rose from the ground.
Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
He looked at the damaged seal.
Then he smiled.
"It's awake."
The Lineage of Bai Zhen
Han Feng stepped from the shadows.
His blade appeared against Bai Zhen's throat before the man could react.
"Who are you?"
Bai Zhen froze.
For the first time, genuine surprise appeared in his eyes.
Then he laughed softly.
"You were here all along."
"I asked you a question."
The black flame around Han Feng's blade intensified.
Bai Zhen glanced at it.
Then at Han Feng.
"My name is Bai Zhen."
He paused.
"I am a descendant of the Bai Clan."
Han Feng's eyes narrowed.
"The people outside?"
"No."
Bai Zhen's answer came immediately.
"They belong to the main branch."
He lowered his gaze for a moment.
"My bloodline comes from an older branch."
Han Feng said nothing.
Bai Zhen continued.
"The main Bai Clan remembers the temple as a ruin."
His expression became bitter.
"My branch remembers it differently."
"Then why did they come here?"
"Because fragments of the old records survived."
Bai Zhen smiled faintly.
"Not enough to understand the truth."
"But enough to know that something was sealed beneath this mountain."
Han Feng's eyes moved toward the stone door.
"And you know what it is?"
Bai Zhen's smile disappeared.
"No."
That answer surprised Han Feng.
Bai Zhen looked toward the darkness beyond the door.
"I know what my ancestors feared."
He touched the cracked amulet hanging from his hand.
"They called it the Dark Soul."
Silence filled the chamber.
Han Feng remembered the inscription from earlier.
The Dark Soul does not grant destiny.
It reveals what destiny has already chosen.
His expression became even more serious.
"If you know so little, why did you break the seal?"
"Because waiting was no longer an option."
Bai Zhen looked directly at him.
"The seal has been weakening for decades."
"And the resonance that appeared recently accelerated it."
Han Feng's heart tightened slightly.
The resonance.
He immediately thought of the Celestial Diagram.
The Resonance Marker.
The ancient systems he had encountered in the Southern Region.
Bai Zhen noticed his expression.
"You felt it too, didn't you?"
Han Feng did not answer.
That was enough.
Bai Zhen's eyes darkened.
"So you're the one who brought it back."
Before Han Feng could respond—
Boom!
The stone door shook.
A black line appeared across its center.
Both men turned.
The damaged seal was no longer merely dark.
It was bleeding black mist.
The Hall Beyond
The stone door opened by itself.
Slowly.
Painfully.
No mechanism moved.
No hands touched it.
The ancient stone simply began to separate.
A wave of darkness flowed through the opening.
Han Feng instinctively stepped back.
Beyond the door was a vast circular hall.
Rows of ancient statues stood along its walls.
They had no recognizable faces.
Some resembled humans.
Others looked like beasts.
A few seemed to be neither.
At the center of the hall stood a black altar.
And above it floated a sphere.
A black orb.
It was not large.
Only the size of a human head.
But Han Feng immediately felt something wrong with it.
The orb was not radiating energy.
It was suppressing energy.
The Qi around it disappeared into its surface.
Even the spiritual fluctuations within the hall seemed to be swallowed.
Han Feng's eyes narrowed.
It's not an energy source.
It's a container.
Bai Zhen stepped forward.
His breathing became heavier.
"The Dark Soul..."
He sounded almost afraid.
Han Feng stopped him.
"Don't."
Bai Zhen glanced back.
"You don't understand."
"I understand enough."
Han Feng pointed his blade toward the orb.
"That thing is still sealed."
Bai Zhen's expression changed.
Indeed.
Thin chains of ancient light surrounded the black orb.
Six chains.
Six points.
The same arrangement Han Feng had seen before.
His Celestial Diagram pulsed inside his consciousness.
Once.
Twice.
Then the orb answered.
Boom.
Han Feng's pupils contracted.
The resonance was unmistakable.
The Dark Soul was reacting to him.
Not to Bai Zhen.
To him.
The Dark Soul
The black orb suddenly cracked.
A thin line appeared across its surface.
Then another.
Bai Zhen took a step backward.
"No..."
The cracks spread.
But instead of breaking apart, the orb began releasing black mist.
The mist poured into the hall.
It covered the floor.
Climbed the statues.
Wrapped around the altar.
Then—
Two red points appeared within the darkness.
Eyes.
Something slowly emerged from the mist.
It had the vague shape of a human.
But its body constantly shifted between solid and translucent.
At times, Han Feng could see a tall figure wearing ancient robes.
At others, there was nothing but smoke.
Its face never remained the same.
Young.
Old.
Male.
Female.
Human.
Something else.
Han Feng's expression became extremely cautious.
This was not a normal spiritual remnant.
There was no stable soul fluctuation.
No complete body.
No recognizable cultivation realm.
It was as though the thing existed only as an imprint.
A memory that had somehow refused to disappear.
The entity opened its eyes.
Its gaze passed over Bai Zhen.
Then stopped on Han Feng.
For several breaths, it said nothing.
Then its voice echoed throughout the hall.
"Who..."
The statues trembled.
"...brought..."
The six chains vibrated.
"...the resonance..."
Han Feng's heart skipped a beat.
"...back?"
Bai Zhen's face turned pale.
"You..."
He stared at Han Feng.
"You awakened it."
Han Feng ignored him.
His eyes remained fixed on the entity.
"What are you?"
The figure tilted its head.
A faint smile appeared.
"That..."
The voice seemed to come from everywhere.
"...is the question."
The black mist suddenly surged.
Han Feng raised his black flame blade.
The Celestial Dark Flame erupted around his body.
But the entity did not attack.
Instead, it extended one hand.
The entire hall changed.
Han Feng's surroundings disappeared.
For a single instant, he saw something else.
A battlefield.
Bodies.
Blood.
A younger version of himself standing alone beneath a gray sky.
Then—
The scene changed.
A man named Li Tianhao.
His previous life.
His ordinary life.
His death.
His final moments.
Han Feng's expression froze.
The vision disappeared immediately.
He returned to the dark hall.
His breathing had become heavier.
It showed me my past.
The entity stared at him.
"You buried it."
Han Feng's fingers tightened around his weapon.
"What did you do?"
"I showed you what was already there."
Bai Zhen stared at him in confusion.
"What did you see?"
Han Feng did not answer.
The entity's red eyes remained fixed upon him.
"The Dark Soul does not grant destiny."
Its voice became quieter.
"It reveals what destiny has already chosen."
Han Feng remembered the inscription.
The words were identical.
But now he understood something important.
The inscription had never been a promise.
It had been a warning.
Bai Zhen stepped toward the altar.
"Then give me the Dark Soul."
The entity turned toward him.
For the first time, something resembling contempt appeared in its eyes.
"You still believe you can possess it?"
Bai Zhen stopped.
"I waited my entire life."
"And that is precisely why you are unprepared."
The black mist suddenly erupted.
A wave of invisible force struck both cultivators.
Han Feng crossed his arms and reinforced his body with Qi.
Even so, he was thrown backward.
His shoulder slammed against one of the stone pillars.
Pain shot through his body.
Bai Zhen was thrown even farther.
The entity remained motionless.
"You came seeking power."
Its gaze moved between them.
"But the Dark Soul does not belong to those who seek power."
The six ancient chains suddenly began to glow.
One.
Two.
Three.
Han Feng's Celestial Diagram reacted violently.
The six points within the diagram rotated.
The same pattern appeared beneath the black orb.
Han Feng's expression changed.
Six points...
Again.
This was not coincidence.
The temple.
The Nine Tombs.
The Resonance-Anchor.
The Mountain-Sealing Array.
The ancient fragments.
All of them were beginning to resemble pieces of the same forgotten system.
But before Han Feng could connect the clues—
Crack.
A second seal broke.
The entire temple shook.
Far above them, something enormous roared beneath the mountain.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
Bai Zhen looked toward the entrance in horror.
"The outer seals..."
Han Feng's eyes sharpened.
The entity smiled.
Not with amusement.
With certainty.
"You opened one door."
The black mist began spreading toward the remaining seals.
"Now something else has begun to open."
Han Feng's expression darkened.
He finally understood the real danger.
The Dark Soul was not the only thing sealed beneath the temple.
It might only be the first lock.
And they had just loosened it.
Han Feng tightened his grip on his blade.
He had come to the Western Region searching for answers.
But once again, the ancient world had answered by giving him a much more dangerous question.
What else was buried beneath the Dark Soul?