A silence heavy with residual power and unresolved tension settled over the chamber where the Primal Golems had been reduced to rubble. Xiao Lan's Umbral Phoenix Flame had extinguished, but the intensity of her aura, now firmly on the threshold of the Golden Core Realm, was a palpable reminder of her recent transformation. Jian Yue, along with a visibly nervous Feng Bin and a sullen, silent Ma Yong, watched Xiao Lan with a mix of fearful awe, blatant envy, and deep confusion. Jian Yue's gaze, however, constantly drifted towards Lin Feng, the insignificant outer disciple, with resentment he barely managed to conceal.
It was Glob, Lin Feng's peculiar creature, who broke the impasse. After absorbing the last wisp of chaotic energy from the destroyed golems, he produced a chirp of pure satisfaction and slid with surprising agility towards the section of the wall where the control array had shattered. There, a stone slab, previously unseen, had shifted slightly, revealing a narrow, dark opening. From it emanated an incredibly ancient air and chaotic energy of a purity Lin Feng had never before felt.
"A secret passage!" Jian Yue exclaimed, his eyes gleaming with the greed of an explorer sniffing out treasure. He took an instinctive step forward, his previous humiliation momentarily forgotten at the prospect of a new discovery.
But Xiao Lan's voice, cold and sharp as a winter wind, stopped him dead. "Senior Brother Jian."
He turned, a shadow of irritation crossing his face. "Yes, Junior Sister Xiao? Are we not going to investigate this new finding? Surely such a hidden place holds wonders."
"Indeed," Xiao Lan replied, unperturbed. "However, as you well know, the sect's rules for exploring uncharted territories are clear. Disciple Lin Feng," she gestured towards Lin Feng, who was surprised to be named so directly, "his familiar, Glob, and I were the ones who secured this inner chamber and neutralized its primary defenses. This passage is a direct consequence of our actions and Glob's peculiar discernment. Therefore, we have priority rights for the initial investigation."
Jian Yue clenched his fists. "Junior Sister Xiao Lan, with all due respect, we are inner disciples! Our experience and strength are considerably greater. Wouldn't it be more prudent and beneficial for the sect if we explored together? We could better protect you from any unknown dangers." His tone attempted to be solicitous, but the condescension towards Lin Feng was evident. His two companions nodded vigorously, trying to appear concerned for Xiao Lan's well-being.
Xiao Lan offered an almost imperceptible smile, one that didn't reach her eyes. "I appreciate your concern for my safety, Senior Brother Jian. However, the nature of the energies in this new passage," her gaze drifted to the opening, where the air seemed to subtly vibrate, "suggests that a very particular affinity is required, one that Disciple Lin Feng and Glob have already demonstrated they possess with the chaotic energies of this place. A numerous exploration might disturb the delicate balance or unnecessarily alert whatever lies beyond. It would be... counterproductive."
Her choice of words was impeccable. She didn't accuse them of being a hindrance but appealed to the "delicate nature" of the exploration. Jian Yue knew he was being elegantly dismissed, and the mention of Lin Feng's "particular affinity," though vague, was a thorn in his pride. He couldn't openly argue without appearing to challenge Xiao Lan's judgment or the sect's rules, especially after her recent overwhelming display of power.
"I understand, Junior Sister," he finally said, his voice tense. "Proceed with caution, then. We will secure this outer chamber and await news of your... findings." It was a way to save face, to maintain an appearance of control.
"We appreciate your diligence, Senior Brother," Xiao Lan replied with the same glacial formality. It was a clear dismissal.
With a final look charged with resentment towards Lin Feng, Jian Yue turned away. "Feng Bin, Ma Yong. We'll secure the perimeter. We wouldn't want any opportunistic beasts interrupting Junior Sister Xiao Lan's... important investigation."
The three retreated to a safe distance, whispering among themselves, their gazes repeatedly returning to Lin Feng with a mix of scorn and a new, perplexing suspicion.
Once the immediate tension subsided, Xiao Lan turned to Lin Feng. "That man will be trouble," she commented quietly. "His pride has been wounded. Be careful of him when we return to the sect."
"I will, Senior Sister," Lin Feng affirmed, grateful for how she had handled the situation.
"Now," she said, her attention returning to the passage, a spark of genuine excitement and scientific curiosity shining in her jade eyes. "I've explored the outer limits of the Basilisk Caverns on multiple occasions during my training in the Umbral Mountains. I always had a feeling there was something deeper, echoes of a very ancient power, but natural energy barriers or minor guardians always prevented me from advancing beyond the zone where we fought the Golems. Your familiar, Glob, has opened a door that was completely sealed to me. Whatever we find in there, Lin Feng, I never would have reached it without you two."
Her words, though spoken with her usual pragmatism, carried a weight of recognition that made Lin Feng's heart feel a little lighter. Glob, sensing the approval, let out a cheerful chirp and was the first to slither through the opening, his body leaving a trail of purple light that illuminated the way.
The passage descended in a gentle spiral. The walls weren't rough rock but a smooth, dark material that seemed to vibrate with latent energy. The air was dense, not oppressive, but charged with the pure essence of primordial chaos, so concentrated that Lin Feng felt his Chaotic Heart sing in resonance. It was a feeling of returning home, to a place of origin.
Finally, the passage opened into a vast, vaulted chamber, a sight that left them breathless. Columns of translucent black crystal, seemingly carved by divine hands, rose towards a ceiling lost in unfathomable darkness, each pulsing with an internal light resembling trapped stars. The walls weren't smooth but covered in intricate bas-reliefs depicting not battles or figures, but cosmic diagrams of energy flows, unknown constellations, and what appeared to be the fundamental structures of forgotten Daos. And throughout the hall, in circular niches or on elegant obsidian pedestals, rested tablets. Hundreds of them, made of starstone, fossilized dragon bone, soul crystal, and metals that glowed with all the colors of the firmament, each covered in a language of luminous, angular runes that seemed to twist and shift before their eyes.
A sanctuary of lost knowledge. A library of ancient chaos.
"Unbelievable..." Xiao Lan whispered, her voice barely a thread, her usual composure completely swept away by reverent awe. Even she, with her lineage and status, had never imagined such a place could exist. She approached the nearest tablet, one of black jade veined with gold, the runes on it glowing with a soft, pulsing light. "This language... it's older than the very foundation of the Nine Great Sects. This... this is from the Primordial Era, when the Dao itself was still taking form..."
She tried to focus her powerful spiritual sense, to read the runes. She frowned. "I can't decipher them. It's as if a veil of primordial energy protects them from ordinary perception. It resists my Qi, my intent."
Glob, meanwhile, had slithered towards a central pedestal where a single tablet of matte black material that seemed to devour light rested. He emitted an insistent vibration, looking at Lin Feng and then at the tablet.
"You want me to touch it, Little One?" Lin Feng asked, feeling an irresistible pull towards that particular tablet. Glob vibrated with an emphatic "yes."
With a glance at Xiao Lan, who was slowly advancing, her eyes gleaming with a mix of expectation and caution ("With extreme care, Lin Feng. The energy here is unfathomable"), he approached. He placed his hand on the cold, strangely smooth surface of the tablet.
The instant of contact, his Chaotic Heart didn't roar; it resonated. A wave of pure understanding, not of words but of fundamental concepts, flowed into him. He saw the birth and death of stars, the dance of creation and annihilation, the intrinsic balance at the heart of apparent disorder. It was overwhelming, but not destructive. Glob, clinging to his leg, began to glow intensely, and Lin Feng felt his small companion helping him anchor, filter that onslaught of primordial knowledge.
When the connection subsided, Lin Feng gasped, but his eyes shone with a new and profound understanding. "I... they're not words, Senior Sister. They're... essences. Chaos as pure potential. Order as one of its infinite manifestations..." His voice conveyed the difficulty of articulating something so vast.
Xiao Lan listened, fascinated. "It's amazing. You're accessing knowledge believed to be lost forever." But she saw the tension in Lin Feng, the effort it took him to process those "essences."
It was then that Lin Feng had an idea, a spark of intuition born from his recent experience with her during the Lotus ritual. If his chaotic energy could catalyze her power, could he, in some way, help her connect with this chaotic knowledge?
"Senior Sister," he said, a little hesitantly but with new confidence in his voice. "Forgive me if this is impertinent... but we've seen how my chaotic energy can interact with your Purifying Fire. And I was able to... feel these tablets in a way you described as inaccessible to your Qi. What if... what if we tried something similar here? If you touched this tablet," he pointed to the one he had just released, "and I... well, if I offered you my hand, perhaps my chaotic essence could act as a bridge, a catalyst for you, with your formidable spirit and your Fire Dao, to comprehend its contents in a more direct and safer way than I with my vague impressions."
The proposition left Xiao Lan momentarily speechless. She looked at Lin Feng, then at the tablet, then back at him. The audacity of the idea was as great as the risk. But the gleam in Lin Feng's eyes was not that of a reckless fool but of someone who had glimpsed a unique possibility.
"That's an incredibly bold theory, Lin Feng," she finally said, a strange mix of skepticism and growing excitement in her voice. "And exponentially dangerous. The energy of these tablets is far more concentrated and primordial than that of the Night Blooms. A direct connection could..." She didn't finish the sentence, but the danger was implicit.
"But the knowledge they contain..." she continued, her jade eyes shining with the light of the scholar she was at heart, "...could be the key to understanding not only your power but the very nature of the Dao at a level few have reached." She looked at the hand Lin Feng kept extended, not as a plea but as an offer. "Very well, Lin Feng. I accept your... impertinent but intriguing proposal. We will try with this very tablet. But at the first sign of instability, we will cut the connection. Understood?"
"Understood, Senior Sister," Lin Feng said, moving closer to her, his heart pounding with a mix of dread and almost dizzying euphoria.
Xiao Lan took a deep breath, her Umbral Phoenix Fire aura glowing softly around her. She placed a delicate yet firm hand on the black tablet. Then, with an almost imperceptible hesitation, she extended her other hand and took Lin Feng's.
The contact was different this time. It wasn't the accidental touch in the midst of battle, nor the functional grip of the Lotus ritual. There was a shared intention, a tentative but real trust.
"Channel your chaotic energy into me, Lin Feng," she instructed softly. "But not raw. Try to imbue it with the 'feeling' you got from the tablet, as if you wanted to 'translate' it for me. And I will try to use my Fire to 'read' through your connection."
Lin Feng concentrated. He summoned his chaos, but this time, he blended it with the echo of the understanding he had just received. He felt it flow through his hand into Xiao Lan's.
The instant their energies met and connected with the tablet, Xiao Lan's mind exploded with absolute clarity. The runes, previously incomprehensible, now sang to her. They were not just symbols; they were living, vibrant concepts that her sharp intellect and purified Dao could grasp and assimilate at astonishing speed. She saw the same energy flows Lin Feng had glimpsed, but with the perspective and structure of a high-level cultivator. She understood chaotic meditation not as a sensation but as an applicable technique, its principles revealing themselves to her with impeccable logic.
"Incredible!" she exclaimed in a whisper, her eyes closed but her face illuminated by a profound understanding. "The synergy... your chaos acts as a universal key, Lin Feng, unlocking the primordial language of the Dao! And my Fire interprets it, orders it!"
She felt her understanding of her own Umbral Phoenix Fire expand, how the traces of chaos she had integrated from the Night Bloom and the Lotus now resonated with this ancient knowledge, revealing new applications, new depths. It wasn't an advancement in her cultivation realm, for she was already on the threshold of the Golden Core; it was an advancement in her wisdom, in her foundation, an epiphany that could change the trajectory of her entire martial path.
Glob, at their feet, pulsed with intense light, absorbing the residual energy emanating from the tablet and their connection, his body subtly changing, becoming more translucent, the internal galaxies shining more brightly.
After what seemed like an hour but perhaps was only minutes, Xiao Lan withdrew her hand from the tablet, a sigh of pure astonishment escaping her lips. She looked at Lin Feng, and this time, the gratitude in her eyes was undeniable, deep, and sincere.
"Lin Feng," she said, her voice soft but vibrant with emotion. "What you just did for me... the knowledge we've unlocked... is a gift that goes beyond any material treasure. You've accelerated my understanding of the Dao by perhaps... decades."
Before Lin Feng could respond, the central blood-red crystal tablet, the one that had given him the vision of the Eradicators and the Guardian, began to glow with an ominous light. A tremor ran through the sanctuary, much stronger this time.
The Guardian of Knowledge was truly awakening.
And the same red tablet now projected a new set of luminous runes: the map, clearer this time, pointing towards a single exit on the farthest wall of the sanctuary, one they hadn't noticed before.
"Looks like our study session is over," Xiao Lan said, her brief moment of euphoria replaced by steely alertness. "And the Guardian doesn't seem pleased with those who consult its volumes without permission. Lin Feng, Glob, that map is our only chance. Let's go!"
Friendship could wait. Survival, once again, was the priority. But as they ran towards the new exit, with the ground trembling beneath their feet and an ancestral roar echoing behind them, Lin Feng felt that something fundamental had changed between him and the cold genius beside him. They had shared not only danger and power but also the wonder of discovery. And that, perhaps, was the first brick of a bond much deeper than a simple alliance.