Han Yu opened his mouth again to tell them to move back, but then he felt it.

HUMMM

A pulse of Qi... strong, rhythmic, and sharp. It rolled through the ground like a wave.

HUALA

He froze, and a split second later, the ground beneath their feet began to glow.

The faint outline of symbols appeared on the moss-covered flagstones, flickering like ghostly fire. The light was bright, almost blinding, and in that moment Han Yu realized they had triggered something that had been dormant for centuries.

"What's happening?" one of the disciples shouted, his voice trembling with panic.

"I don't know!" another cried, taking a step back.

But Han Yu's eyes were locked on the glowing symbols.

They weren't random markings. They were runes: ancient, complex, and nothing like the ones commonly used in modern formation arrays. The more he looked at them, the more unfamiliar they seemed, yet there was something buried in his memory that stirred.

They weren't there before.

"Shit..." Han Yu's stomach dropped as realization dawned on him.

They had been so distracted by the death that they hadn't noticed the faint, hidden inscriptions beneath the soil. Whatever the orb was, it had not only killed Jun but also activated the rest of the mechanism.

His voice came out louder now, edged with urgency. "Step back! Don't touch anything!"

HUALAAAAA!!!~

But it was useless, as the runes began to thrum with life, glowing brighter with each pulse.

The sound grew louder, like a deep vibration rising from the depths of the earth. It wasn't just Qi anymore... it was spatial energy. Han Yu could feel it clearly now, the distortion in the air, the way it twisted his perception of distance.

He recognized the sensation instantly. He had felt it before—during teleportation through the main tomb's portal. It was unmistakable.

His eyes widened in alarm. "Get back! It's a teleportation array!" he shouted, his voice echoing across the ruins.

But his warning came too late.

WHOOSH

The ground flared to life, and a sudden pull seized them all. It was like an invisible hand had grasped their bodies, yanking them forward with irresistible force. The air twisted, space folded, and the world around them shattered like glass.

"UGH!" Han Yu's vision blurred into streaks of color as the sensation of weight vanished.

His stomach lurched violently, as if he were falling endlessly. He could not even draw breath. It felt like being crushed and stretched at the same time, his body squeezed into something smaller than a grain of sand, only to be pulled apart again.

Wu Shuan shouted something, but his voice was lost in the roaring hum of spatial distortion.

Then, as suddenly as it began, it ended.

The crushing pressure vanished, and gravity returned all at once. Han Yu barely had a moment to brace himself before he slammed face-first into the ground.

THUD

SPLAT

He hit something wet and cold, mud splattering up around him. His head rang from the impact, and for a few seconds, all he could hear was the dull throb of his own heartbeat in his ears.

"Ugh…" He groaned softly, pushing himself up with trembling hands.

His face and robes were smeared with dirt, but that was the least of his concerns. His body still ached from the disorienting teleportation, his senses scrambled by the violent shift.

It took him several breaths to reorient himself. When his vision cleared, the first thing he noticed was that the air felt different. The spiritual qi density was heavier here... much thicker than the area near the shrine.

The light was dimmer too, filtered through the thick canopy of towering trees. Mist clung to the ground like a living thing, coiling between twisted roots and moss-covered stones.

He looked around quickly.

"Wu Shuan?" he called out, his voice echoing faintly. "Anyone?"

No answer.

He turned in a slow circle, scanning the surroundings with both his eyes and spiritual sense. There were no signs of his companions. No familiar auras, no movement other than the lazy drifting of fog.

Just silence.

Han Yu's heart sank as realization set in. The teleportation array had not just moved them...it had scattered them. He was alone.

He clenched his fists, forcing himself to stay calm. "Think, Han Yu," he muttered to himself under his breath. "Panicking won't help."

The forest around him was eerily quiet. Even the usual sounds of birds or insects were absent. The trees were unnaturally tall, their bark gray and twisted, and the mist that filled the air carried a faint metallic scent.

Something about this place felt wrong. The Qi here was too dense, but not in a nourishing way though... it was heavy, suffocating, as though tainted by something unseen.

Han Yu took a careful step forward, testing the ground.

SMUSH

It squelched beneath his boots, sticky with layers of moss and decaying leaves. Every instinct he had screamed danger, but he needed to find out where he was and more importantly, where the others had gone.

He touched his communication jade slip instinctively, but the surface was dim and lifeless. No glow, no response. The inner realm's turbulent Qi was interfering again, cutting him off from everyone.

"Damn it," he muttered through clenched teeth.

He straightened up, looking at the sky or what passed for one here. It was barely visible through the dense canopy above, only a faint, sickly light leaking through. It was hard to tell if it was real sunlight or just part of the inner realm's false illusionary sky.

Taking a deep breath, Han Yu steadied himself.

His mind raced through possibilities. The teleportation array could have taken them anywhere within the inner realm, perhaps even to another sealed sub-region. If that was the case, there could be more traps here... or worse, more of those deadly shrines.

He pressed his hand against a nearby tree trunk, trying to steady his thoughts. The bark was cold to the touch, almost unnaturally so, as if the life within it had long since vanished.