Yun Lintian took the first step—carefully avoiding an almost invisible ripple in the air. The others followed in single file, their breaths held.
Behind them, Qian Jinglei and her group watched intently.
Nie Tong's frost energy coiled protectively around Ling Xuan. "Stay close."
Xiong Yu grabbed Xiong Ba's shoulder, his voice uncharacteristically tense. "Don't wander."
Step by step, Yun Lintian guided them forward. At one point, he held up a hand, stopping them just as a temporal distortion flickered across their path—a trap that would have aged them centuries in an instant.
Tang Wei's watery form trembled. "This place... it's even more dangerous than I remembered."
Yun Lintian didn't respond. His focus remained razor-sharp as he navigated the deadly corridor.
A low, resonant hum filled the air. The runes on the walls brightened, shifting like living ink.
Long Chen's voice was tight with alarm. "The formations are activating!"
Yun Lintian's eyes narrowed. "Someone triggered something."
Before anyone could react, the hallway twisted—the walls bending like liquid, the floor tilting violently.
A trap they hadn't seen.
And it was swallowing them whole.
Yun Lintian reacted instantly. His left hand shot out, silver light erupting from his palm as he activated the Seed of Time's power.
A shimmering barrier of temporal energy expanded around the group, shielding them just as the hallway's distortion wave crashed down. The moment the wave struck the barrier, the surroundings began flickering wildly—
One moment, they stood in a grand, pristine hallway of the Sacred City's golden age, filled with divine murals and glowing runes.
The next, the walls crumbled into ruins, aged by countless millennia.
Back and forth the vision shifted—past and present overlapping chaotically.
Long Chen's face paled. "If we'd been caught in that..."
Xiong Ba swallowed hard, his eyes filled with terror. Even Nie Tong and the other two True Gods were no exception.
Yun Lintian's eyes blazed gold as he maintained the barrier, his Eyes of Heaven scanning for the trap's trigger. Yet strangely, he found nothing.
This was indeed not triggered by them.
The temporal tide lasted nearly ten breaths before receding. When it faded, the group found themselves standing in a completely different hallway—one with blackened walls and a ceiling veined with glowing crimson cracks.
Tang Wei's watery form rippled violently. "This... this isn't part of the palace's original design."
Long Qingxuan's azure eyes narrowed. "The corruption runs deep here."
Yun Lintian lowered his hand, the barrier dissipating. His expression was grim. "The palace's temporal laws are unstable. Someone—or something—has tampered with its core."
Linlin's ears flattened. "Nian Shi?"
Before Yun Lintian could answer, a new sound echoed through the corridor—
Black liquid oozed from the ceiling's cracks, sizzling as it hit the floor. Where it landed, the stone corroded instantly.
Qingqing gasped. "That's—!"
Tang Wei was shocked. "Chaos corruption."
The same energy that had destroyed the Sacred City.
"Chaos corruption?" Long Chen was puzzled.
But before he got an answer, a low, guttural growl reverberated through the hallway. From the shadows ahead, crimson eyes ignited—dozens of them.
Qian Jinglei's voice was barely a whisper. "Temporal Phantoms... but corrupted."
The creatures that emerged were monstrous—half-faded like ghosts, their forms flickering between past and present, but their claws and fangs dripped with the same black corruption.
Xiong Yu's axe flared with blood-red energy. "Battle formations!"
Yun Lintian, however, stepped forward alone. His right hand clenched—
The Heaven Sunderer materialized in a burst of crimson light, its edge humming with primordial power.
"Stay behind me," he said quietly.
The first phantom died before it could react, split cleanly from skull to waist by the greatsword. The second and third fell just as fast, their corrupted forms dissolving into black mist.
Yet for every one slain, two more emerged from the darkness.
Long Qingxuan's draconic aura erupted as she joined the fray, her azure claws tearing through phantoms with lethal precision.
Linlin transformed into her White Tiger form, her roars shaking the hallway as she ripped apart enemies. Qingqing whirled through the air, wind blades slicing cleanly through corrupted flesh.
Even Tang Wei fought, his liquid form hardening into razor-sharp projectiles.
Yet the horde seemed endless.
Yun Lintian's frown deepened. This isn't working.
With a thought, he activated the Seed of Time again—
Silver light pulsed outward. The nearest phantoms froze—then began rewinding, their movements reversing unnaturally until they vanished entirely, erased from that moment in time.
The others stared in awe.
But Yun Lintian's face showed no relief. "This is just the beginning. The deeper we go, the worse it'll get."
He turned to Tang Wei. "You said you could lead us. Which way?"
Tang Wei pointed shakily toward a branching path ahead. "The central chamber... it should be that way. But—"
Tang Wei's form trembled. "The corruption... it's changing the palace's layout. I don't know if the path still exists."
Yun Lintian's grip tightened on the Heaven Sunderer.
Yun Lintian's eyes flashed with silver light as the Seed of Time pulsed within his core. The Heaven Sunderer trembled in his grasp, its edge humming with primordial power.
"Stand back," he ordered.
The others retreated instantly—all except Long Qingxuan, who remained at his side, her azure draconic aura flaring in preparation.
With a deep breath, Yun Lintian raised the greatsword high—
And slashed downward.
A crescent of silver energy tore through the corrupted hallway, ripping apart the very fabric of time itself. The blackened walls screamed as the temporal energy binding them unraveled, revealing a jagged path forward.
Tang Wei's liquid form rippled violently. "Incredible… You're forcing a path through the palace's laws!"
Yun Lintian didn't hesitate. He stepped forward, walking along the unstable rift he had created. The others followed cautiously, their expressions tense.
The corridor warped around them, reality itself protesting the violation. But Yun Lintian's will was absolute. The Seed of Time stabilized the path, ensuring they wouldn't be lost in the chaos.
Tang Wei floated beside him, his watery form flickering as he scanned their surroundings. "This way... the reception chamber should be ahead."
Yun Lintian didn't respond. His focus remained on maintaining the path, his grip on the Heaven Sunderer unwavering.
A massive door materialized before them, its surface etched with celestial runes. Unlike the rest of the palace, it was untouched by corruption, pristine as if frozen in time.
"This is it," Tang Wei confirmed. "The outer hall's reception chamber."
Without a word, Yun Lintian pushed the door open—
And stepped into silence…