The group descended ever deeper into the caves. Branching paths split off every so often and it quickly became hard to tell which one continued the path they were on, and which led in to a different tunnel. Every so often, they had the benefit of a dead cave mantis to mark the correct path, but increasingly, they had to rely on their techniques.

  Yan Shirong proved the most useful in that regard. The gloom lurking outside Chen Fei’s light provided ample shadow qi for him to draw upon and fuel his constructs. He’d have as many as a half dozen skeletal birds flitting through the shadows, scouting the tunnels on either side.

  Chen Fei likewise provided useful guidance. She was more attuned to the flows of the qi down here—earth, metal, and their combined subtype of mountain. Certain dead ends were just obvious to her, and she guided them along the paths where the flows of qi were the strongest, as that had been the path the mysterious cultivator had taken.

  Likewise, He Yu could use the Peerless Judgment, but he quickly found it to be far less useful down here than either Yan Shirong or Chen Fei’s abilities. Still, he could discern a thing or two about the dead cave mantises, including the fact that the slight wrongness he’d first felt was indeed the result of a bonded demon core.

  After some time, the sound of running water came from somewhere up ahead. He couldn’t tell how far away it was, given that his hearing was now so much sharper than any mortal’s. All he could tell was that it came from somewhere further down the same tunnel they were in. The others heard it too. A mix of apprehension and cautious optimism descended over the group.

  Eventually, they emerged into a massive cavern stretching off into the darkness—and the source of the water. An underground river sprang from the rocks near the tunnel they’d just emerged from, carving its way through the living earth. The same fluorescent moss from above was far more abundant here, and so were the spirit stones. Pools of pale white light marked the riverbanks as the water coursed ever deeper into the earth.

  “Well, it’s certainly not the way out, judging by the slope,” Li Heng said.

  Despite his agreement, He Yu didn’t say anything. He was too taken aback by the sight. Despite being underground, it was like he’d entered a strange world, buried beneath the earth and hidden from those above. A giddiness he’d not felt since he’d first come to the sect bubbled up within him. One that was welcome, given their circumstances. This was a place straight out of the stories.

  Tan Xiaoling pointed. “There, one of the cave mantises.”

  They made their way to the beast. The spattering of ichor around the fallen cave mantis was still wet and glistening. It hadn’t been long since the beast was slain. The sense of wrongness from its killer’s demon core clung to the area, along with a faint trace of earth and metal.

  The presence of metal allowed him to relax, if only a little. The combination of earth aspected qi and demon core was too close to Sha Xiang for his liking. But she didn’t cultivate any metal, so far as he knew. Her presence was earth and fire, with a small touch of mountain. He’d been worried that they would run into her down here, but it seemed that was less likely than it once had been. It seemed heaven had graced them with a small boon, at least.

  He relayed the news to the others. They seemed just as relieved as he did. Although they were nearly all in the Fourth Realm by now, Tan Xiaoling and Li Heng had both suffered humiliating defeats at her hands. If her time in the sect was any indication, she could very well have formed her own Golden Core by now. As much as he hated to admit it, He Yu recognized her talent.

  They followed the river for some time, picking their way through the forest of pale, glowing spires of spirit stone. He Yu was tempted to call a halt. It would benefit them to take time to rest, cultivate and restore themselves. But they’d made up their mind. It would be best to keep moving. The last thing they wanted was to be attacked while they were unprepared. For all they knew, the mysterious cultivator that was down here with them could be watching at that very moment.

  Upon asking, he learned everyone else was of a similar opinion. So they pressed on.

  The subterranean river flowed gently downward, with pillars of faintly glowing spirit stone veins on either side. As with the tunnels higher up, occasional slain cave mantises let them know they were at least going in the right direction. He Yu didn’t like that they were going deeper, though. If they wanted to get out of the caverns, they would need to start ascending, eventually. The river would follow the law of earth, so following its course would only lead them deeper.

  If there was one benefit to their current course, it was the rich qi filling the caves. The numerous and potent spirit stone veins allowed the group to absorb unaspected qi from the environment as they followed the river. While it wasn’t as effective as stopping and cultivation properly would have been, it was far better than nothing. Plus, it didn’t carry any risk of backlash like taking more pills would. As the group pushed forward, everyone gradually perked up as they were restored by the steady trickle into their dantians.

  After an uncountable amount of time in the giant alluvial cavern, they came to its end. The river itself kept going—a small tunnel, just large enough for each of them to squeeze through one at a time, marked its course ahead. A short distance away, a larger tunnel yawned in the face of living rock that rose out of the gloom. The gouges around the larger tunnel’s entrance were all the sign they needed as to which way to proceed.

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  He Yu stepped towards the entrance. A faint impression of earth and metal brushed against the edge of his spiritual perception. It clashed against another impression of solely earth—a battle was underway up ahead.

  “I think we’ve found our foe,” he said.

  Cautiously, they moved forward. They soon emerged into another large chamber, this one clearly a nest of some sort. Husks of shed chitin littered the ground. Pearlescent egg-sacs clung to the walls. At the far end, the demon-core cultivator did battle with the largest cave mantis they’d yet seen.

  Or rather, finished his battle.

  As they came into the cavern, the cultivator ripped one of the mantis’s scythe-like arms from its shell and used it to decapitate the beast. The mantis fell to the cave floor with a heavy crunch, and the cultivator turned to He Yu and his friends.

  His spirit was a wild mix of earth and stone and the telltale influence of the core itself. A rocky expanse, with spires like swords erupting from the cracked ground. The inky black influence of the core—tendrils of red-stained black shadow—crept over the earth and climbed the sword-spires. His spirit was that of a Golden Core, late stage by the weight it gave, but it was tangled up upon itself.

  The cultivator’s expression was crazed, his eyes gleaming with madness and hate. Without hesitation, without a word, he launched himself at He Yu and his friends. A massive spiked club appeared in his hands as he shot across the distance, his spirit howling in confusion and rage as he closed the gap. Five presences bloomed out in response. A storm, a frozen winter’s night, a mountain of iron, a cyclone of sand, and a mass of teeming shadow.

  He Yu placed himself in between his friends and the demon core user. The Cloud Emperor’s Peerless Judgment filled his sight and his mind with truth. He’d only meant to use the perception technique to see the shape of the core user’s attack, to best place the Spring Rain Mirror. But as was the technique’s purpose, he saw the truth of things.

  The core user was maddened, truly. Frenzied, given over in whole to the demon core. He was little more than a puppet, dancing on the strings held by a piece of Jin Xifeng. This was the fate of a core user who failed to overcome the core’s strength, the core’s desire. This was what would have happened to Sha Xiang if Yi Xiurong had let their fight continue. For all he knew, Sha Xiang had succumbed to this madness long ago. He wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

  The core user’s spiked club slammed into the Spring Rain Mirror. The Mirror cracked, then shattered. Only a hasty formation of the Bracing Wind allowed He Yu to effectively block by catching the attack on his guandao.

  “Vile! Hated! You carry its touch!” The crazed cultivator locked eyes with He Yu.

  An avalanche crashed down upon the demon core user. Chen Fei followed up her initial attack with a kick at the core user’s midsection. Her whole body was encased in the bulky construction of the Titan’s Panoply. Each blow accompanied by a flash of formation characters. Earth and metal and mountain pressed down on the world with crushing force as her combined assault sent the core user sailing away from them.

  Tan Xiaoling overtook the core user, her sandstorm billowing around her and her paired dao flickering with tongues of black flame. The core user righted himself quickly, and beat back Tan Xiaoling’s flashing sabers, his own techniques launching jagged spikes of metal at her with each swing of his club.

  With a flex of his spirit, He Yu activated the Empyrean Ninefold Body Tempering and blasted forward with the Sky Dragon’s Flight. Crackling heaven arced from his blade, left jagged black scores from his passage, and surged across his limbs. Heaven’s Descending Blade reached out, brilliant streaks of lightning casting golden light over the nest chamber.

  The core user met He Yu’s technique with a palm strike. A shockwave of churning earth and heaven qi burst out from the impact. The core user lifted his chin, and for a moment his eyes became almost lucid.

  “You carry it.” Two voices spoke. One human, one something else. The eerie combination of the two voices sent shivers down He Yu’s neck, but he couldn’t help but ask.

  “Carry what?”

  His only answer was a roar filled with rage and pain. The core user launched himself at He Yu once more, and it was all he could do to defend. Tan Xiaoling slid into the core user’s blind spot and scored a pair of cuts across his back. The acrid scent of burned flesh filled He Yu’s nostrils. The core user ignored his attacker, his attention fully focused on He Yu.

  Pouring all his training and experience into his defense, He Yu barely held the core user off. Another assault from Tan Xiaoling actually pulled a fraction of his attention from He Yu, but only enough to push her back. Then he launched another relentless rain of blows toward his true target.

  What did he carry? Nothing that he could think of. None of his treasures were all that special. None of the meager supply of medicines in his storage treasure were of any great value. Why would the core user be so relentlessly focused on him?

  Chen Fei erupted from the gloom of the cavern once more, the crushing power of her attacks finally forcing the core user to focus on someone other than He Yu for a moment. Along with Tan Xiaoling, they both had the core user on the back foot within an exchange of less than half a dozen techniques.

  The advantage was still in his favor; it seemed. He was more advanced than either of them. Tan Xiaoling was equal to He Yu, at the middle Fourth Realm, and Chen Fei still stood in the early stage. The user stood close to the peak—but he also had the benefit of the demon core. Sha Xiang’s demon core had allowed her to fight beyond her capacity, and this core user was no different. He also wasn’t in control, and whatever power the core contained cascaded off of him, unrestrained and uncaring for what damage it did to its host. All that it absorbed would simply return to Jin Xifeng, anyway. If the core destroyed its host and hastened that return? It was only fulfilling its ultimate purpose.

  The user and the core screamed as one. Another wave of power crashed over He Yu as the core’s wrongness asserted itself more fully. A black shadow, reminiscent of Sha Xiang’s Four Demon Fists, partially emerged from the core user. The user himself went limp as the partially separated core puppeted his unresponsive body. Spiritual copies of the user’s weapon appeared in each of the core’s hands. Wrongness radiated off the pair, and the manifested core looked at He Yu with two burning eyes.

  “When I shatter your cultivation, I will do so in my mother’s name.”