A blur of darkness shot through the opening left by the retracting golden branches. Ace's figure flickered through the collapsing chamber, his senses sharp as the rumbling echoes from behind.
The moment he crossed through, he felt the weightlessness of free fall. Below him stretched a vast expanse of shimmering water—an unfamiliar lake, unlike anything he had ever seen.
Each ripple cast tiny reflections of the sky, like a mirror to the stars, but what truly stunned him was the white lotuses floating across its surface, glowing faintly in the dim light.
Ace's instincts flared as he twisted midair, landing effortlessly on a small patch of land nestled at the heart of the Lotus Lake. The instant his feet touched the ground, an invisible ripple pulsed through the ancient remnant, carrying an ominous tremor throughout its depths.
The entire underground structure shook violently, sending dust and debris crashing down from its ceilings. Cracks slithered across the ruined corridors, and deep groans reverberated from the ancient walls as if they were unwilling to endure this disturbance any longer.
Far above, Jake and his party were busy making preparations when the sudden tremors nearly knocked them off balance.
"What the hell is happening?!" Killian shouted as he was startled while he steadied himself.
Before anyone could answer, a deafening CRACK split through the air. A section of the passage caved in, forcing the party to scatter in a hurry. Raging clouds of dust filled the space, and the unmistakable sound of mechanisms activating sent a shiver through their spines.
"Something is wrong!" Jake's expression darkened as he turned towards the source of the disturbance.
His gaze suddenly locked onto the distance beyond the now fractured terrain—a lone hooded figure standing on a serene patch of land amidst the glowing lake, which was completely empty a moment ago. Jake's eyes widened with disbelief.
"Someone is in the center of the lake!" Jake roared with agitation, drawing everyone's attention.
Killian, Helmir, and Leia instantly reacted before others could, and they looked towards the center of the lake and saw Ace's hooded dark figure standing there.
Ace was also feeling anxious when he felt intense glares on him, and he turned around and finally spotted Jake and his party; his heart raced when he noticed they were looking at him, especially those black fate points. 'Shit!' Ace knew he was exposed because of the damage he had unwittingly caused. His presence had disrupted the balance of the entire ancient remnant, yet for some reason, here, in the heart of the lake, he remained untouched.
However, he also noticed that those guys didn't directly rush towards him. Ace mused, his eyes narrowing slightly, and he also felt an intense reaction from his cultivation heart.
"What kind of formation is this…?" He finally noticed the strangeness of this lake and that those lotuses were arranged in an array pattern. Because of the heavenly runes, he could tell this formation wasn't manmade but naturally formed.
However, he didn't have time because, from the other side of the lake, Jake's group had gathered; their faces were dark with rage.
"Who the hell is he, and how did he get there!?!" Killian's spiritual sense gushed out as he wanted to destroy Ace's soul, but to his shock, the moment his spiritual sense entered the boundary of the Lotus Lake, it instantly vanished. His expression changed, "Not good! The lake is restricting my spiritual pressure and law sense!"
The others were startled while Jake's eyes flickered with calculation before he turned towards one of the more impatient cultivators. "You, try to attack him with everything you have! Do this, and I'll take care of you!"
The cultivator, an Ascension Grandmaster, hesitated, but with Jake's cold gaze pressing down, he had no choice. He bolted towards the Lotus Lake, channeling spirit Qi into his feet to walk across the water's surface while many talismans appeared around him.
However, the moment he stepped on the water, he felt like he had crossed an invisible threshold—SHHRRKK!!
A chilling force surged through his body. His limbs froze, his expression twisted in agony, and without warning—BOOOM!
A powerful backlash struck him. His body flung backward like a broken doll, crashing onto the rocky ground with a sickening thud. Blood sprayed from his mouth, and his complexion turned deathly pale.
The party instinctively took a step back, eyes wide with disbelief. Even Jake and Leia looked taken aback.
"So…this is a natural formation?" Leia's voice held a trace of unease.
On the other hand, Ace, who was watching the scene unfold, was startled when a strange expression appeared on his face, and he suddenly realized the truth.
"This formation…I'm… completely safe here!" When he realized this, a slow smirk formed on his lips as he swept his gaze across the furious yet powerless cultivators glaring at him. No one could touch him in this place.
Jake's fists clenched. "Damnable! He's just standing there while we can't do a thing!"
Killian seethed with frustration. "That formation is protecting the island. We can't cross it before the fruit is ripped."
Jake's expression darkened further. "Then we need to figure out how he got there! There has to be a secret passage. Search this entire place; even if we have to dig, we need to get there, or things might become complicated! And figure out who the hell he is!"
Since Ace was safe, he ignored their heated glares. His focus had already shifted to something far more important.
A singular fruit hung suspended at the very center of the small landmass, nestled within a delicate web of radiant vines. It was unlike anything Ace had ever seen.
A fruit encapsulated by swirling starlight, as if the cosmos itself had been compressed into a tangible form. The soft glow pulsed like a celestial heartbeat, its aura brimming with a Qi so pure and overwhelming that even standing near it stirred his very being.
Ace's pupils constricted as he finally found the source of the agitation in his cultivation heart.
His heart pounded. He knew he had stumbled upon a treasure of immeasurable value—his lips curled into a smirk as the glow of the fruit reflected in his eyes…
At this moment, he asked the system, "System, what is that fruit? Apprise it for me!"