Pathway

Zhang Xiu Ying sat behind the closed doors as she gathered herself after a gruesome encounter with the dreads. What in heaven's tears, got into them? How could entities like that even existed? She asked herself thoughtfully. They were more than mere mutation, they were heavens forsaken. Despite her advancing due to the energy water, she had only managed to escape them by pushing vast amount of chi and her divine energy into her evasion technique.

The defensive formation on her robe had been exhausted after bearing much of the brunt of the dreads. Even with the robe, she had barely escaped with long scratches and slahes to her body. That was mainly due to her own evasive skills. Checking her body properly, she put one bloodroot medicinal pill into her mouth as she tilted her backwards. The injuries were nothing that medicinal pills couldn't take care of.

After resting for a while, she examined her sorroundings. She was in an alleyway that led to a large emerald hall. She noticed there were images and symbols lining the alleyway up to the large hall. Looking closely at the images and symbols, she felt a tug at her memories. There was something about this that looked familiar but she couldn't place her hand on it. She proceeded cautiously, towards the center of the hall while she continued to observe the images and symmbols.

The massive doors and walls of the hall, had no image or symbol. Only the floors. As she entered the massive hall, she noticed that the images and symbols had intertwined to form a spiralling image all over the floor of the hall. Fourteen images and fourteen symbols. Eyes farting back and forth, realization dawned on her as she remembered the words of uncle Luoyang.

"Images you see, the shadows you don't. Symbols you notice, the signs you don't. On the path you thread, are the threads of your path. As you thread the path, a spiralling threads you see."

Titan's torso!

Zhang Xiu Ying had seen something like that inside the mountain abode of uncle Luoyang. Although, this one was much more bigger than the one inside uncle Luoyang mountain. The only visible thing about the images and the symbols, was their beauty. The deadly arrays of pure-grade heavenly formation they contained, wouldn't be noticed at all. After seeing her lost in the seductive illusion of the images and symbols, uncle Luoyang had told her about the godly arrays. She clearly remembered what he had called the arrays.

Infernal lock.

Quite different from what she initially thought of them. When she first saw them, she thought they were just magical images. It was to her utter surprise when she eventually learned about them. Once activated, this array was one of the most deadly and dangerous heavenly arrays. And, much more difficult to fully understand, if not impossible.

Arrays like this could only be in place by a god or higher entity, to protect immense treasures and artifacts. Could they be protecting the martial legacy? Possible. But, there was no way she would face an array like this? Inspite of her advancement, she knew little of formations to be able to deactivate this one.

"I'll be careful, if I were you."

The demigod turned to the sight of a tall old man in a black-green robe with a divine aura emanating from his body. The human appearance could only mean one thing,  an Asura demigod. Coiling out from under his robe and resting its head on his shoulder, was a Thorne viper, his divine beast.

"Uh?"

"The heavens Infernal lock and it's already active. Any wrong step and you'll be locked in the infernal chains. Given, for a million years but I reckon your soul wouldn't be the same again, after that long in those chains. All these you already know, I believe."

She materialized her phoenix sword as she took a few steps back. Flaming force-field bust into life around her as she kept her gaze on the demigod before her.

"Relax, Asura. No need for all that. If I meant you harm, I don't think you'll still be alive. Though, you've reached the gates of the peak-stage nascent soul, you are still a late-stage nascent soul. But you see me, believe it when I say I'm something else entirely. So, you can relax. By the way, It seems you're surprised to see me here. Hmm. You probably thought you were the only one here, didn't you? Well, sometimes I'm surprised I'm still here too. Hehe."

He laughed painstakingly, as he stared at the demigod. He walked up to the edge of the huge image at the center of the hall, keenly observing the details of the image.

"Once, we were many here. I can't even remember how many years ago that was. One thousand? One million? The time is not that important. What matters is that,  now, only I remain. You see, these pictures are prisons. Once locked inside, the time would have to pass to be free. Imagine being locked in infernal chains for a thousand, needless to say a million years. Strange, you'll say? Yes, strange it is. Many years facing the infernal lock and I tell you, this one is meant to incapacitate all."

The Asura shook his head solemnly as he continued to look at the image.

"So close, yet, so far away."

Raising his head up, he turned in the direction of Zhang Xiu Ying who had relinquished her flaming force-field. But he could still see her being extremely cautious. With eyes still fixed on Zhang Xiu Ying, he pointed upwards at the floating scroll.

"I believe you are after that legacy too, Asura. I know you've earned the right to be here, to take a shot at the legacy, but I tell you this Asura, this lock is a different thing entirely. It's a world of its own. You see it floating harmlessly, but the dangers are of godly plane. I know you have no reason to believe my words as we are after tge same thing, but this?"

Was it pity she saw in his eyes? Why would she need him to pity her? It wasn't a do or die affair for her. If she couldn't get the heavens' forsaken legacy, she would simply leave this place and go home. What was the need for pity in that? Even the Thorne Viper had hint of pity in its eyes. Did they think she was insane like them?

"If I can, why not? But it appears that I can't. I know what the heavens infernal lock is and I know it's beyond me. So, it's all yours."

"Mhm. A good resolve, to be sincere, but do you know what martial arts this legacy entails? No you don't. You see, Asura, in this world of cultivation, only the strongest can truly survive. And this... this legacy, is what you should have. If you want to be one of the surviving ones. You may think you are strong by your own standard, but let me tell you, there are many stronger than you. And some of them, won't need an excuse to kill you. You'll need a martial arts technique like this one."

Zhang Xiu Ying stared at the demigod in contemplation before folding her arms.

"So, what do you want me to do? You said it's dangerous, of which I know, yet you want me to have it. Is that not like courting death? If I'm dead, to what purpose will the legacy be? And moreover, we are talking about a legacy. A very special one from the looks of it, which made it even more glaring as we already know. Only one can have the legacy and from the way it appears, you are stronger than me. So, whats the purpose of me wasting my time here when you'll be the one having it, if at all?"

The demigod smiled and nodded at her.

"Ah, important question you ask, demigod. Hm. The more I think about it, the more I see your point. Alright, let me put it this way. If you help me get the legacy, I will make a vanishing copy for you. That I assure you, whatever happens after that will be on you."

A vanishing copy. Though, it was time limited, it was good enough. Despite the fact that she would need a grandmaster scribbler to transfer the content into a true scroll, this was the best she could get as long as the scroll is concerned.

"Alright, what help do you need?"

"When we first arrived here, we thought these images were just formations we could disable here inside this hall. We were wrong. Many lives were lost before we realized what it was we were dealing with. You see, these images are not just formations, they are blackholes. Each image, from the entrance of the gates to the center of this hall, are elemental destinations. In each of these destinations, are fragments of the key. To survive the blackholes, life-essence is required. I have exhausted mine and there is one more image I need to complete to get the last fragment of the key. That's where I need your help."