Part to the power of the universe

CHAPTER 4

THE HIDDEN CHAMBER BENEATH THE CITY

Xuan Tian left home before dawn the following morning.

He told his mother he was going to school early. In truth, he intended to investigate the abandoned railway site mentioned in the historical record.

The journey took nearly an hour.At the end of a neglected service lane stood a rusted fence.

Beyond it lay the abandoned railway construction site.

Xuan Tian climbed through a gap and examined the ground.Ordinary people would have seen nothing but rubble, broken concrete, and a few rusted machines.

He sensed something else.A faint pressure beneath his feet.

It was weak, but unmistakable,Spiritual energy.

He followed the sensation toward a concrete structure partially buried beneath the earth. A metal door stood at its entrance, secured by an old chain.

The chain was thick enough to resist ordinary force.

Xuan Tian touched it,a small pulse of energy passed through his fingers.The lock clicked open.

He pushed the door aside and descended a narrow staircase.The air grew colder with each step.

At the bottom, he found a circular chamber carved into stone. Strange symbols covered its walls. Some resembled ancient cultivation inscriptions, others were unfamiliar even to him.

At the centre stood a black crystal embedded in a stone,The crystal was identical in colour to the star that had destroyed his universe.

He approached carefully.The crystal emitted no visible light, yet the air around it seemed to bend.

He placed his palm against its surface.The chamber shook,a wave of energy surged into his body.Xuan Tian dropped to one knee.

His meridians burned as the energy forced its way through them. The Celestial Origin Scripture activated instinctively, guiding the incoming power into his lower abdomen.

For several seconds, he could barely breathe,Then the surge stopped.The crystal became dull.

Xuan Tian remained motionless, waiting for the energy to settle,He could feel the difference immediately.

His meridians were no longer entirely blocked. The first few pathways had opened, and his body had absorbed enough spiritual energy to reach the initial stage of Qi Gathering.It was a modest achievement by the standards of his former world.

On Earth, it was extraordinary.He rose and examined the pedestal,An inscription had been carved into its base he brushed away the dust.

The ancient characters formed a sentence:

WHEN THE HEAVENS FALL, THE GATE SHALL OPEN. WHEN THE GATE OPENS, THE DEVOURER SHALL AWAKEN.

Xuan Tian's expression hardened.He recognised the warning.It belonged to a civilisation that had existed before the rise of the Nine Celestial Realms.

He had once encountered references to that civilization in forbidden archives. Its members had mastered the art of absorbing energy from stars, but their experiments had destroyed entire worlds.

They had vanished before his birth,he had assumed their knowledge was lost forever.Now their symbols were appearing on Earth.A low vibration travelled through the chamber,The crystal had begun to pulse.

Xuan Tian stepped back for a moment, an image appeared above the pedestal,a vast black sphere surrounded by broken stars.Then a voice echoed inside his mind.

THE VESSEL HAS RETURNED.

He froze,The voice was neither male nor female. It sounded distant, as though it were speaking from the other side of an enormous void.

THE FIRST SEAL HAS WEAKENED.

The image vanished.The crystal fell silent,

Xuan Tian stared at it for a long time.He had been transported to Earth during the destruction of his universe. He had awakened in a dying body. Now he had discovered a relic associated with the same force.

The possibility that these events were connected could no longer be ignored.He turned to leave,then he noticed a small metallic object on the ground beside the pedestal,It looked like a broken ring.

He picked it up,the instant his fingers touched it, a thin line of golden light appeared across its surface,A series of unfamiliar symbols flashed into existence.

Beneath them was a single name.XUAN TIAN.

He stared at the ring.Someone or something had known he would come here.

By midday, he was back at school.His increased strength made ordinary movements feel effortless, but he concealed the change as much as possible.

He had learned long ago that revealing power too early attracted unnecessary enemies.Unfortunately, trouble found him anyway.

During lunch, Victor Hayes entered the cafeteria with four older boys.He stopped beside Cooper's table.

"You've been avoiding me."

Xuan Tian continued eating.

Victor slammed his palm against the table."I said I'm talking to you!"

The cafeteria fell quiet.

Xuan Tian placed his spoon down."What do you want?"

Victor smiled."I want an apology. In front of everyone."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then you'll learn what happens when you embarrass me."

Xuan Tian looked at the four boys behind him. They were taller and stronger than Victor, but none appeared particularly skilled.

He sighed."You're making the same mistake twice."

Victor's smile disappeared,He signalled to the largest boy.The boy grabbed Cooper's shoulder.

Xuan Tian moved his hand beneath the table and touched the boy's wrist. A controlled pulse of energy travelled through the man's muscles.

The boy's grip vanished.He stumbled backwards, knocking into Victor,before either could react, Xuan Tian stood.

"Tell your friends to stop interfering with me."

Victor stared at him, unsettled by the strange ease with which Cooper had escaped.

"You think you're untouchable?"

"No."

Xuan Tian leaned closer."I simply know the difference between a threat and an inconvenience."

He picked up his tray and walked away.This time, no one laughed.

But as he left the cafeteria, he noticed a teacher standing near the door, watching him with unusual interest.

The teacher's eyes briefly settled on the metallic ring in Cooper's pocket.Then he looked away.

Xuan Tian continued walking.He had just discovered that the city held secrets older than its recorded history.

Now he was beginning to suspect that someone at his school knew about them.