Death Cultivator : Rise For Revenge!

Chapter 13

Huo Tian Xian returned to the White Cloud Valley in a state of utter exhaustion, yet his eyes burned with the fire of success. Li Yu rushed to him, embracing him with a sob of relief, her eyes lingering on his fresh wounds.

"Xian, you did it!" she cried, helping him sit by the small, crackling campfire.

"I did, Sister. I have the Reserve Key," Tian Xian rasped, his voice weary but triumphant.

Before Grandmother Qiu, Tian Xian quickly sketched the symbol he had discovered on the base of the shattered jar: an ancient sigil composed of seven broken lines encircling a central sphere.

Grandmother Qiu leaned in, her aged eyes flaring with a bright, sudden light as she beheld the drawing. She nodded slowly, her expression a complex mask of sorrow and understanding.

"This is the forbidden cipher of the Huo Ancestors," she explained, tracing the lines with a trembling finger. "Your father was a meticulously cautious Patriarch. He knew the White Shadow Gate would never relent."

She began to decipher the symbols one by one:

"The Seven Broken Lines represent the Seven Fading Dipper Stars of the Northern Heavens. They are the spiritual guides of your clan, now fragmented and forgotten by the world."

"The Central Sphere represents the Primordial Well of Life located beneath the Great Temple of the Huo Clan."

Li Yu gasped in disbelief. "The Well of Life? Beneath the temple? But Grandmother, that was merely a place for rituals! There was nothing special there."

"You are mistaken, Miss," Grandmother Qiu corrected her. "That Well is the convergence point where the earth's pure spiritual veins meet the cosmic Yin energy. It is a stable anchor point used by your ancestors to forge the very Spiritual Core that once acted as your shackle."

She tied the meanings together. "This Reserve Key is a map leading to a place no one would suspect—right under the enemy's nose, within the Huo Clan’s own borders."

Tian Xian closed his eyes, his mind racing. His father hadn't hidden the key in some distant, secret realm; he had hidden it in plain sight, deep within their own territory!

"This key points to a Hidden Underground Chamber beneath the Great Temple. That is where your father concealed what the White Shadow Gate truly seeks," Grandmother Qiu said, her gaze turning deadly serious.

"You mean the stolen Starlight Stone?" Tian Xian asked.

"No." Grandmother Qiu shook her head. "Remember Yan Su’s words: they seek the Reserve Key and they seek the stolen Starlight Stone. They are two separate entities. In that chamber lies the primary Huo Clan Legacy."

She lowered her voice, the tone turning dark and foreboding.

"I suspect that within that chamber lies the true source of ancient spiritual power guarded by the Huo Clan. It may be an artifact capable of controlling the Starlight Stone, or perhaps—something far more terrifying—the original source of the Demonic Seed that dwells within you."

Tian Xian felt his blood turn to ice. The deeper he dug into his family's secrets, the darker his origins became.

As they were strategizing their infiltration, Li Yu, who had been keeping watch, suddenly let out a shriek of terror.

"Xian! Look at the sky!"

Tian Xian and Grandmother Qiu looked up. Hovering above the mist-shrouded White Cloud Valley was a group of cultivators flying at high speed. They wore the same white robes as the White Shadow Gate, but with a striking difference: a Golden Eagle emblem emblazoned on their shoulders.

"Those aren't mere agents," Grandmother Qiu hissed, her face tightening. "That is an Elite Hunter Squad of the White Shadow Gate! They are only deployed for high-value targets!"

The group halted above the valley, and their leader—a man in golden-trimmed robes with a silver mask covering half his face—descended like a falling star. His aura was overwhelming, far surpassing that of First Elder Meng Shan.

"Huo Tian Xian," the man’s voice boomed, echoing through the valley. "You are a fool. You burned the clues before our eyes and maimed our finest agents. You have insulted the White Shadow Gate."

Tian Xian stepped forward, his Demonic Blade manifesting in his hand, weeping a dark-red aura that he had only just begun to master.

"I don't care if you're the White Shadow Gate or the Gates of Hell," Tian Xian roared. "You slaughtered my clan!"

The golden-robed man laughed—a cold, dismissive sound. "We care nothing for your clan. We care for the balance you have disrupted with your feral Demonic Energy. Surrender yourself and reveal where the Reserve Key leads."

The man then shifted his icy gaze to Grandmother Qiu.

"And you, Old Qiu. I know you have always meddled in affairs you should not touch. You have violated the laws of Neutral Cultivation!"

Grandmother Qiu let out a resigned sigh. "I have never been neutral in the face of injustice, Elite Commander."

"I see," the Elite Commander sneered. "Then you shall die alongside this demon-child. Both of you have overstepped your bounds."

The threat was absolute. The White Shadow Gate now recognized Grandmother Qiu as a formal enemy. The situation had turned catastrophic.

"We have to run, Grandmother!" Li Yu whispered, panicked.

Grandmother Qiu shook her head. "It is too late. This Commander will not let us flee. Tian Xian, we fight. Remember the War God’s Trace! Focus on your defensive techniques! Do not strike blindly!"

Tian Xian nodded. He knew this battle was more than just revenge; it was his first true test of life and death in mastering the Demonic Seed.

"I’ll make you regret calling me a demon-child!" Tian Xian shouted, lunging forward to face the Elite Commander, whose aura felt like a mountain poised to crush them all.