Chapter 47 – Call of the Orb
Jin's eyes snapped open.
The world was quiet. No wind. No chirping birds. Only silence… and the faint warmth of the orb within his soul, pulsing gently like a heartbeat.
He sat up slowly, disoriented. He was still in the clearing where the monolith had crumbled—but now, it was gone. No trace of stone or shadow. Not even dust.
He looked to his right. Gorr stood vigil, body crouched and aura pulsing protectively. The beast's new features were sharper now in the light—his once rocky hide had morphed into smooth obsidian-like plating with silvery veins that shimmered when he moved. His claws had lengthened, laced with space essence, and his eyes now glowed with a strange dual color: one silver, the other a deep, abyssal purple.
"Gorr…" Jin murmured, rising to his feet. "How long was I out?"
The beast didn't answer with words, but nudged him forward gently, a rumble in his throat. Jin understood.
Time was still ticking.
The vision of the celestial war haunted him. The destruction. The blood. Zeke's silhouette looming above countless fallen cultivators. His heart still pounded from the vision.
What was that? Who exactly is Zeke? Was I seeing the future? Or the past?
He didn't know. But one thing was clear—he was involved in something far greater than himself.
And it was coming.
He shook the thoughts away. Lingering here was a risk. If those shadows were tied to the orb or the monolith, more might appear. He needed answers… and power.
---
The forest changed as Jin moved deeper into the realm. Trees here stretched higher, twisted by the abundant elemental essence. Strange creatures watched him from a distance, their eyes filled not with malice, but caution.
They could feel Gorr.
His companion now gave off a terrifying pressure, not due to his cultivation—which Jin could sense was still in the early-stage Adept Realm—but from his bloodline. It bent space subtly around him. Small attacks Jin tested by throwing rocks would simply curve away before impact. And then there was the second element—the unknown one.
He couldn't identify it.
Not ice, lightning, darkness, or anything recorded in the elemental libraries. Yet, whenever it pulsed, Jin's instincts screamed danger.
Gorr could not use it yet—but Jin sensed it was not meant to be cultivated. It was a bloodline weapon, a dangerous element that will make Gorr to truly awaken his complete bloodline, hidden in the core of Gorr's being, ready to be unleashed and cause destruction.
Even now, Gorr moved cautiously, suppressing that strange pulse. As if instinctively aware of its cost.
They traveled for three more days without encountering anyone. Jin was searching for more ruins, but so far, nothing emerged. His master had only known of the first two ruins. Anything else would have to be found by luck, deduction—or blood.
He stood one evening at the edge of a cliff, scanning the vast Grand Ascension Realm below. Mountain ranges curled like sleeping dragons. Forests stretched endlessly, rivers glowing with elemental brilliance snaking between them.
He sighed. "Too vast…"
But just as he turned, something flickered in the distance—a brief light on a far peak. A structured glow. Not natural.
"A barrier?" Jin whispered.
He closed his eyes and focused his wind element through a rare spell: Falcon's Sight. His vision sharpened, crossing miles in moments—and there it was.
A ruin. A dome of cracked barrier essence surrounding a crumbling temple built into the mountain face. But that wasn't what made Jin's breath hitch.
There were people.
At least fifteen figures gathered outside. And more inside, fighting. He could sense the fluctuating battle aura even from this distance.
Jin opened his eyes, smirked faintly. "Looks like I'm late to the party."
Then he frowned.
A familiar energy pulsed near the ruin. One that sent a chill through his spine.
Poison.
Just like the technique he saw in the library months ago. But this was no simple poison cultivator—this aura was thick, violent, and refined.
He'd seen it once before.
Back during the trial, when one of the southern sects' inner disciples had fought using dual elements—wind and poison.
"Luminous Peak Sect," he muttered.
Which meant the major factions were now hunting the ruins as well.
And Jin was deep in their territory.
He stepped back, then looked at Gorr.
"We need to scout first. Then… if the opportunity arises, we strike."
But just as he turned to leap from the cliff, the orb pulsed again—and a single word echoed in his mind.
"Devour."
Jin froze.
"Devour… what?"
The orb remained silent.
But now he couldn't shake the feeling—that whatever lay within that ruin was not just treasure or ancient techniques.
It was something meant to be consumed.
Something… calling to him.
He clenched his fists and leapt into the night sky, Gorr warping beside him. Wind gathered under his feet, speeding him across the trees, closing the distance with terrifying speed.
The real trials of the Grand Ascension Realm were just beginning.
And as the stars wheeled above and shadows churned below, Jin knew this truth:
He was no longer the hunter.
He was the storm.