Void Veins: The Forbidden Ascension

Chapter 39: The Original Guardian and the Sunken Ruins

The tremors grew violent, shaking the tower to its very foundations. Fine cracks in the floor widened in seconds, sending chips of stone clattering down. Shen Kui tried to stand, but his weakened legs could not hold against the swaying ground; he staggered sideways. Lin Ye slipped an arm around his mentor’s shoulders, bearing the older man’s weight with a strength he had not known he possessed.

“We must go down—now,” Shen Kui gasped, his breath coming short and fast. “If the Original Guardian wakes fully and reaches the surface, it will tear this isle apart root and branch—us with it. The only way to soothe it is to give it what it craves: pure, stable Void energy.”

“And where shall we find such a thing?” Lin Ye asked, though deep down he already knew. He felt the other presence within his mind tense, as if holding its breath.

“From us,” Shen Kui answered, meeting his eyes with profound sorrow. “From the jade bound to your chest. From Valerius.”

Valerius’s voice erupted instantly, sharp with suspicion and fury. “This is a trap, Shen Kui! You have always been cunning—luring us underground, sealing the way back, and meaning to cage me forever in the dark beside that thing!”

“Silence!” Lin Ye snapped inwardly, his gaze fixed on the bookshelf wall that had shifted to reveal a hidden doorway. “Staying above is to be buried alive. Going down gives us a chance—however small.”

He guided Shen Kui toward the dark opening. A rough stone spiral staircase descended into the earth, its steps narrow, slick, heavy with damp and the scent of wet soil. Faint, unsettling reddish light glowed from far below. They descended carefully, their footsteps echoing in the vast vertical emptiness as if piercing the planet’s very belly.

Deeper still, the air grew hot and thick. The stone walls shifted from pale grey to burning brick-red, then to glossy black like melted glass—obsidian forged in primordial heat. The rumble became unmistakable: slow, heavy, colossal breathing, as if some giant pair of lungs expanded and contracted far beneath them.

Some fifty metres down, the stairs ended at the edge of a cavern of staggering size. The ceiling vanished into darkness above. At the chamber’s heart lay a pool of blinding white radiance—not lava, but liquid, churning pure Void energy, simmering and rolling, casting waves of heat against their skin.

Crouched at the pool’s edge was a being that stole their breath away.

This was the Original Guardian. It stood five metres tall, hewn from blocks of jet obsidian fused with roots as old as the world, woven into living stone-flesh. No eyes, no nose, no mouth—only a single vertical slit at the centre of its face, glowing with brilliant white light, rising and falling in time with its slow, sleeping breath. Its power alone pressed against their chests.

“Hail…” Shen Kui called, his voice trembling, yet he stepped forward and released Lin Ye’s arm. “We come bearing an offering.”

The Guardian did not stir. The light within its slit flickered slowly, uninterested.

“The energy must be given freely,” Shen Kui whispered to Lin Ye, never taking his eyes from the colossus. “Draw the power from the jade. Channel it toward the creature. That alone will quiet its hunger.”

Lin Ye’s hand tightened. Releasing Void energy meant opening the door to Valerius—letting him reach further, sense more, perhaps seize even greater control. Yet he looked at Shen Kui, standing firm despite his fear, ready to give everything, and knew there was no other way.

He closed his eyes, pressing his right hand to his chest, directly over the warm Black Jade. “Valerius—give me your power. Now.”

“Are you mad?” Valerius retorted instantly. “If I release it, our bond loosens! You could cast me out, fling me into the void before I am ready!”

“That is the risk,” Lin Ye said coldly, eyes still shut. “Or we perish here together. The choice is yours.”

Silence stretched. Then a low growl—and suddenly, a torrent of violet light surged from the jade, coursing through Lin Ye’s body, bursting from his open palm in a pillar of brilliance that shot toward the Guardian.

The white glow in the creature’s slit flickered faster. Its massive head turned slowly, sensing the offering. The slit widened, drinking in the violet energy as dry earth drinks rain. The tremors faded. The heavy breathing steadied. The light dimmed to a gentle glow. The Original Guardian slept once more.

Lin Ye sagged, breathless, cold sweat coating his skin. They had done it. But relief was fleeting.

From the shadows behind the colossus stepped a figure—tall, lean, moving with easy familiarity as if at home.

“Thank you for the delicious meal,” the figure said. His voice was sharp, smug, and horribly familiar.

He stepped into the pool’s glow. Julian. His eyes narrowed in a cruel smirk. And he had not come alone. Behind him, lined in the gloom, stood Viper with a thin, terrible smile, and dozens of translucent forms—Hollow Ones—hissing softly, poised to strike.

“We tracked your energy signature from the surface,” Julian said, strolling closer. “So bright… so powerful… impossible to miss.” He raised a hand and rolled something heavy across the stone floor, stopping right at Lin Ye’s feet.

It was Merchant Chen’s head. Still pale, eyes wide, mouth agape as if screaming in eternal silence.

“You have proven your strength,” Julian said, his tone hardening. “So welcome to the club, Lin Ye. Now—let us discuss how power shall be shared. And what place you shall hold under our leadership.”

Lin Ye stared at the severed head, then at Julian and his uncountable forces. He stepped back, placing himself between Shen Kui and the intruders, realising the true danger had only just begun.