Chapter 77 – Echoes of the Celestial Fusion
The scarlet mist that covered the gorge seemed alive, undulating as if it were breathing, concealing dangers and treasures forgotten by time. Han Feng was standing before the entrance of an ancient ruin, hidden in the depths of a cracked mountain, whose formations resembled giant claws trying to tear the sky apart.
In recent days, he had explored dozens of dangerous locations in the Western Region. The Celestial Corpse Sect was still searching for him in vain after the incident with the young master. Their methods of concealment had become almost perfect, but what worried him now was something different.
— The celestial energy... it's unstable — she murmured, frowning.
Since leaving the Southern Region, Han Feng had noticed small changes in the flow of vital essence between heaven and earth. At first, he attributed it to the natural difference between the regions, but as he moved into more isolated and ancient areas, the signs became more evident.
Tiny cracks in the night sky. Gu that vibrated alone within the opening of their cave. Fragments of consciousness that emerged in the dreams of the local cultivators.
"As if something... beyond this world were trying to manifest," he thought, his violet eyes shimmering in alertness.
He ran his hand along the hem of his dark cloak, silently activating a wisdom-type detection Gu, recently acquired in a dangerous exchange with an old hermit. It was a translucent creature in the shape of an eye that floated above his palm.
— Investigate the ruin.
The creature spun in the air and flew into the opening in the rocks, disappearing into the darkness. Han Feng waited in silence. Behind him, twisted trees trembled in the wind, as if they knew what lay beneath the earth.
Moments later, Gu returned. In his iris, there were images: stone halls corroded by time, demonic statuettes, and a central altar pulsating with black and red energy.
— Yin energy and... something else.
Han Feng entered.
The ruin had layers of ancient protection, but almost all of them were corroded. He cautiously advanced through tunnels of black stone, where ancient Gu-Masters probably performed secret rituals. The deeper he went, the stronger he felt that strange omen in the air. A kind of echo that didn't belong to that world.
He arrived at the main hall. In the center, the altar trembled slightly, covered in incomprehensible inscriptions. But among them, one in particular caught his attention: a symbol he had seen before… in the chaotic dream he had weeks ago, when he was cultivating under the full moon.
— The same pattern... — he whispered. — Is this really connected to the merging of worlds?
Suddenly, the altar trembled. A reddish-gray glow emerged, condensing in the air and taking the form of an amorphous shadow. She opened her "eyes" — two black holes that pulled everything around them — and stared directly at Han Feng.
"You... don't fully belong to this world..."
The voice echoed in his mind, like the whisper of a thousand spirits.
Han Feng felt an overwhelming pressure trying to crush his soul. But he remained steadfast.
— And you... are not from this universe — he replied.
He instantly activated two defensive Gu and one spiritual cutting Gu. Ethereal blades appeared around his body and advanced towards the entity.
The shadow screamed in silence and retreated. It seemed weak, incomplete... as if it were only touching the world temporarily.
In his mind, Han Feng understood something: this was not an ordinary enemy. It was a rift. An echo. A harbinger that the barriers between worlds were crumbling.
The detection Gu in his palm trembled and died.
Han Feng did not hesitate. He took an ancient scroll from his bag — an inheritance he had received from the hermit, sealed by a Gu of ancestral wisdom — and threw it onto the altar. The seal broke, and a golden light radiated, sealing the strange presence and making the hall tremble.
¡BOOM!
Part of the ceiling collapsed. Dust and rocks fell. Han Feng spun in the air and escaped down a side corridor, senses on high alert.
Hours later, now out of the ruin, he meditated in an improvised cave.
— What I saw… that is coming from another place. It's not common spiritual energy. It's something... mixed.
He clenched his fists. It was clear that the catastrophe was not just a simple war between sects or the collapse of a territory. It was something that would affect the very pillars of the world.
The next day, Han Feng set off. There were still many places to explore, many Gu to strengthen. His main Gu were more powerful than ever: the Moon Shadow Gu had reached a new level of synergy with the Swift Wind Gu and the Hideaway Gu.
But he knew that wouldn't be enough.
Soon the storm would come.
A few days later...
Han Feng was crossing a valley covered in purple mist. That area was avoided by almost all cultivators from the Western Region, but according to rumors, it contained a fragment of a sealed Immortal Gu — something that could give him an absurd advantage in the future.
While walking,the sky darkened suddenly.
The clouds began to swirl. Red lightning crossed the horizon.
— This phenomenon again? — Han Feng looked up.
The spiritual energy in the area was fluctuating. It was as if a second source of energy was trying to override the natural one. He felt a strange pressure... as if the very sky were being pulled by invisible forces.
And then, for a fraction of a second, he saw.
Two suns.
Yes, there was a second sun in the sky. Transparent. Invisible to most. But Han Feng, with his spiritual Gu and sharp soul, could see.
— This... is not a natural phenomenon.
He activated a Cosmic Vision Gu — one of the rarest he possessed — and observed the sky once more. Through the mystical lens, he saw two realities slowly overlapping.
On the other side of the fusion, there was a distorted landscape: floating mountains, triple moons, rivers of black flames.
— Another universe — he murmured.
Han Feng's heart raced.
The merger has begun.
Further north, in the Celestial Corpse Sect
— What was that?! — shouted an elder, looking up at the sky.
All the Gu masters present in the main hall felt a chill when they saw the red lightning and the distorted spiritual energy.
— The heavens are changing. This is not the work of an ordinary Gu-Master — commented one of the sect leaders. — It's as if the world is trying to transform itself.
They did not know that, at that very moment, in a distant universe, an old man with cold eyes — Wang Lin, from Renegade Immortal — was looking at the sky of his own world and saying:
— This is not the heaven I know. Something... or someone... is interfering with the laws.
And in another dimension, covered by mountains and all kinds of Gu, Fang Yuan, the cunning villain of Reverend Insanity, watched the skies crack.
— Heh… even the heavens are showing weaknesses. Maybe it's time to think... bigger