Chapter 45: The Screaming Shadow
The shriek echoed across the valley like a blade ripping through glass. Trees bent in submission. Essence trembled. Even the flowing rivers of energy paused momentarily—as if reality itself recoiled from the sound.
Jin stopped cold.
Gorr growled low, fur bristling, his space-element-infused aura flaring instinctively. His mirror-like eye reflected not the landscape, but a ripple of unseen movement—something neither beast nor human.
"What... was that?" Jin whispered, his voice barely audible over the lingering echo.
It wasn't a beast's roar.
No, beasts roared with instinct.
That sound was calculated.
Hunting.
Gorr slowly shifted, scanning the horizon. His instincts—sharpened by his bloodline awakening—were on edge. He pawed the ground twice, then looked up at Jin with unblinking eyes. Whatever it was, it was close.
Jin extended his spiritual sense cautiously. The Grand Ascension Realm was a volatile place. A moment's lapse could mean death. But what he felt now wasn't just danger—it was emptiness. A void in the spiritual plane.
No essence.
No life.
Just... silence.
A hole in the world.
Gorr suddenly launched to the side, grabbing Jin by the collar of his robe with his teeth and blinking out of existence.
They reappeared two hundred meters away, crouched behind a jagged outcrop of obsidian-like rock.
Jin sucked in a breath. "What the hell—"
Then he saw it.
Descending from the crimson clouds was a figure—no wings, no feet. It floated, cloaked in tatters of black mist that constantly tore apart and reformed. Its head was shrouded in a mask of bleached bone, cracked and half-eroded. No eyes. No face.
And yet... it looked directly at where they had just stood.
A silent hum followed. Not sound—but sensation. Jin clutched his chest as his heart skipped a beat.
"What is that thing...?" he muttered.
Gorr bared his fangs and gave a low trill—an instinctive warning. Not a threat. A predator had arrived.
The figure hovered lower, its robes never touching the ground. Essence around it vanished, as though consumed. Plants wilted. The rocks beneath it began to crack from pressure alone. It exhaled once—and the mist spread out in tendrils.
Jin's eyes widened. It was searching.
And then, without a word, it turned away.
The mist curled back around it, and it floated toward the eastern mountains.
Gorr didn't move until the thing had vanished behind the hills. Even then, he remained still, his body humming faintly with restrained power.
Jin slowly rose, tension leaving his muscles in waves.
"What... the hell was that?"
He didn't expect an answer—and none came.
But his mind raced. That creature didn't belong to any known realm or race. It didn't emit essence. It consumed it. Was it a guardian? A remnant? Or something far more sinister?
He turned to Gorr. "Let's move."
They travelled in silence, darting from ridge to ridge, always keeping to the shadows. Jin activated a low-level wind concealment technique, which masked their aura and scattered their scent.
The landscape shifted subtly now. Essence rivers grew darker, almost sluggish. The air had a metallic tang, and the trees grew twisted and blackened. All signs of a battle fought long ago.
Eventually, they reached a cliff that overlooked a small basin of green fog.
Below, three figures were engaged in battle.
Jin narrowed his eyes.
Two from the Blazing Phoenix Sect—he recognized their red robes and the fiery halos above their heads. The third figure wore midnight armor veined with blue—a core disciple of the Howling Storm Sect.
The battle wasn't even. The two Phoenix disciples were clearly losing.
Jin squatted low. "Let's watch."
The armored youth from Howling Storm raised his hand, lightning sparking along his fingers. With a sneer, he shouted, "Flame children, you should've brought your Sect Head!"
A spiraling lance of storm and frost roared forward, smashing through their fire barrier.
One of the Phoenix disciples was struck full-force. He slammed into a tree, coughing blood. His essence flickered erratically—his dantian cracked.
He wouldn't live long.
The second disciple gritted his teeth, fury in his eyes. "You'll pay—!"
Before he could finish, the armored youth vanished, reappearing behind him in a burst of wind. A swift chop to the neck sent the disciple crashing to the ground.
Jin's eyes narrowed.
"He's strong... mid-stage Adept Realm, probably approaching late stage. Not bad."
He could step in. Intervene. Save the survivors.
But he didn't.
He watched.
The Howling Storm disciple looked down at the fallen duo, disappointed. "Is this all the Phoenix Sect has to offer? Pathetic."
He was about to turn away when he froze.
His head slowly tilted.
He looked up—directly at Jin.
Jin's heart skipped.
Gorr blinked them fifty meters back just as a lance of lightning crashed where they stood.
"You think you can spy on me?" the youth roared, appearing above the cliff with crackling eyes. "Come out, coward!"
Jin stepped forward.
Calm. Silent.
He didn't need words.
The wind around him bent in spirals. His eyes gleamed gold, a subtle hum of all elements gathering around him.
The armored youth frowned. "Who the hell are you?"
"Jin," he replied.
That name sent a visible tremor through the Howling Storm disciple. "You're the one who destroyed Tavren's arm?!"
Jin smiled faintly. "Only his arm?"
The youth's face twisted in fury. "Good. I was told to look out for you. Now I get to collect your corpse."
Lightning sparked. Wind howled. A cyclone of storm energy formed behind the youth.
Gorr appeared beside Jin, now radiating a calm but potent pressure. The very space around him bent unnaturally.
The youth faltered. "A... spatial beast?"
Jin cracked his knuckles. "You picked the wrong target."
The two stared at each other. Then the armored disciple charged.
Jin didn't flinch.
Fire surged behind him. Wind danced around him. Earth steadied his stance. Water curved like a shield.
He was ready.
But just before the clash—
That shriek echoed again.
Both fighters froze.
The youth's face drained of color. "That... again?"
Far above, clouds turned black.
And from the sky, the bone-masked figure descended again—only this time, it wasn't alone.
Three more shadows followed.
Jin's blood chilled.
This wasn't coincidence.
They were gathering.