A pale gray dawn spread across the horizon, veiling the Soultear Plains in a lifeless mist. The battlefield lay silent in the wake of the battle, strewn with fractured earth, scorched spirit stones, and the remnants of broken formations. Smoke rose in slow, spiraling columns. The rift still pulsed above the altar, its expansion halted—but not sealed.
Li Yi knelt on the cracked ground, one knee pressed to the dirt, his robes torn and soaked with sweat and blood. His mist-blade lay shattered beside him, shards still humming with residual chaos energy.
Around him, the army stood still, breathless. No one dared to speak.
Lan Qing'er was the first to break the silence, rushing to his side and placing her palm on his back. A warm current of healing Qi surged into him.
"Don't move. You overextended your soul," she whispered, voice taut with concern.
Li Yi's lips curled into a faint smile. "He retreated."
"He will return," murmured Elder Wen, his face dark as storm clouds. "We stopped the rift from growing, but we didn't seal it. It's still open. Still... watching us."
Overhead, the sky had turned from violet to an eerie ashen hue, as if the heavens themselves bore the scars of their battle. Lightning flickered soundlessly within the clouds, like spectral veins beneath a dying skin.
Mo Ruyan stepped forward, her saber still dripping with abyssal blood. "We must erect a temporary seal. If the Void Heir returns with reinforcements, this battlefield will become our tomb."
Li Yi forced himself to rise, every muscle screaming in protest. "I'll draw the runes."
Lan Qing'er grabbed his wrist. "No. You've done enough. You nearly burned your divine soul. You need rest."
"There's no time for rest," he said. "I saw what's behind the crack. It's not just demons—it's an entire army. The Abyss is waiting."
---
Hours Later
In the center of the battlefield, a temporary stronghold had been constructed—a vast formation dome of shifting runes and reinforced spirit pillars. Inside, the top cultivators and tacticians gathered around a projection array, analyzing the current state of the rift.
"It's stable for now," said Formation Elder Huo Liang, adjusting his monocle. "But it's resonating with Void ley-lines beneath the plains. If we don't sever that resonance, it will eventually reopen."
"How long?" asked Xue Lian.
"Days. Weeks at most. Depends on external influence."
Li Yi frowned. "Then we need to find the source of that resonance and destroy it."
"Impossible," scoffed Elder Jian. "The ley-lines are ancient—formed during the first era of this realm. If they've been corrupted by the Void, there's nothing we can do short of reshaping the land itself."
"Then we reshape it," Li Yi replied flatly. "We don't let the Abyss rise again."
Elder Jian fell silent.
Lan Qing'er stepped forward, holding up an old scroll. "I found a record from the ancient battle ten thousand years ago. The cultivators of that era forged divine anchors—massive spiritual keystones capable of suppressing Void energy for centuries."
She unfurled the scroll to reveal diagrams of towering monoliths inlaid with divine metal and soul-forged jade.
"There are three of these anchors still buried in this realm. If we awaken them, we can form a Tri-Seal Formation strong enough to suppress the rift permanently."
Mo Ruyan nodded. "Where are they?"
"One is beneath the Frostspine Peaks, another under the Thousand Veil Lake, and the last rests deep inside the Crimson Flame Abyss."
All three sites were hundreds of thousands of li apart—each guarded by its own dangers.
Li Yi looked around the room. "Then we split into three groups. We awaken the anchors. We meet back here and complete the seal."
---
Team Division
Frostspine Peaks: Lan Qing'er, Elder Wen, and ten elite disciples.
Thousand Veil Lake: Mo Ruyan, Elder Jian, and a water-aligned formation team.
Crimson Flame Abyss: Li Yi, Xue Lian, and a team of fire-resistant body cultivators.
Each team departed with urgency, teleporting away through high-tier spatial talismans gifted by the allied sects.
---
Journey to the Crimson Flame Abyss
The landscape changed as they approached.
Gone were the gentle winds and soaring mountain ranges of the Qingxuan region. Here, the earth was red, scorched, cracked, and smoking. Sulfur hung heavy in the air, and volcanic fumes erupted in pillars from distant fissures.
They traveled on foot the final stretch—spatial arts rendered unstable by the volatile spiritual density.
"Is it true what they say?" asked one disciple, wiping ash from his brow. "That this land was once home to a fallen star?"
Xue Lian nodded. "It was. The core of that star burned for a thousand years before it sank beneath the earth. It created the abyss. And the flame has never died."
They reached the chasm's edge by dusk.
The Crimson Flame Abyss stretched endlessly below, a gaping maw of fire and smoke. Lava flowed like rivers down its sides, and ancient chains of obsidian hung from sky-piercing rock spires.
In the very center, half-buried in molten rock, a towering monolith pulsed weakly—a remnant of divine power. The third anchor.
But it was not unguarded.
Between them and the anchor stood a beast—massive, serpentine, with four wings of obsidian bone and eyes like molten suns.
It roared once, and the sky cracked.
---
The Battle
The creature was a Lavaborn Wyrm, an ancient spirit beast corrupted by both fire and Void essence.
Li Yi didn't hesitate.
He leapt forward, summoning the remains of his mist-blade. It reformed mid-air, drawing on the last reserves of his Chaos Core to stabilize its form.
"Distract it!" he shouted. "I'll reach the monolith!"
Xue Lian and the others engaged the beast, luring its attention with coordinated strikes, spirit talismans, and high-grade artifacts.
Li Yi weaved through firestorms and collapsing platforms, his robes turning to ash at the edges. He activated the Chaos Steps—a divine movement art unique to his bloodline—allowing him to skip across spatial pockets like stones over a river.
At last, he reached the monolith.
It was asleep.
He placed his palm against it and channeled his Chaos Qi into the ancient runes.
They resisted at first. Then they recognized his bloodline.
A deep hum echoed across the abyss. The monolith flared to life, runes lighting up like a miniature sun.
The Lavaborn Wyrm screamed.
It lunged toward him.
But it was too late.
Li Yi turned, his blade infused with the awakened monolith's power.
He whispered:
> "Ashes to ashes."
He struck once.
The blade carved through fire and flesh, through Void and soul.
The Wyrm fell, and the abyss trembled.
---
Elsewhere
Lan Qing'er and Mo Ruyan succeeded as well, each anchor awakened in fire, water, and ice.
Three beams of light shot into the sky from distant lands, converging above the Soultear Plains.
The world shuddered.
The rift pulsed once—and began to shrink.
But the Abyss did not give up so easily.
The Void Heir returned.
And he was not alone.
---
End of Chapter 34