Fang Rui, lighting up the lantern and holding with one hand, stepped into the abandoned room.
Step. Step.
Thus, the room beyond the rusted door lay bathed in the flickering glow of a lone latrine flame as its unstable light cast elongated shadows all over the floor, like grasping fingers.
Moreover, dust motes could be seen dancing in the stale air and settling upon forgotten objects—broken tools, rusted implements, shattered fragments of objects whose purposes had long since faded from memory.
Sneeze!
He sneezed as the dust went through his nose. 'All I see is nothing but crap.'
Fang Rui's gaze swept over the pile of scrap with indifference. Valuables or trash, it mattered little to him now.
He had come here for only one purpose, and that was because of his father's warning.
Still, crisp as the day it had been spoken:
"Never set foot here. This place isn't for children. Something dangerous lurks here. When it sees you, it might eat you.
What lies here? Nothing you need to see. Now go outside and play, and stop asking foolish questions. And don't even think about stepping within this place."
Back then, he had obeyed without question. But now, with death's shadow looming over him like a vulture circling its prey, blind obedience felt like chains around his ankles.
A dry chuckle escaped his cracked lips. "Sorry, Father… once again."
His father had been a Paragon—a True Qi Realm cultivator—a man whose past was buried deeper than the roots of ancient oaks. Though they had lived as shadows behind the light, Fang Rui had never pressed for answers.
Not that he hadn't been curious. The questions had burned within him, a slow smolder of doubt and wonder. But standing now at the threshold of the unknown, he felt the weight of that silence like a stone in his gut.
'Whatever. Now I am within the threshold of the unknown… let's see what lies here?' He thought inwardly.
Besides, he had always suspected something lay hidden here—something valuable. If not, then… something dangerous.
And if there was even the slimmest chance it could change his fate…
The thought sent a thrill through his veins.
'If not… then dying pathetically while playing with fire? Now that would be a fitting end, wouldn't it?' He smirked.
The words were silent, spoken only within the confines of his mind. Talking to himself had become a habit—when the world offered no allies, one's own voice was the only company to trust.
'Something dangerous, right?'
Steeling himself, Fang Rui took another step forward. He felt the cold creeping within his body, especially in his feet. As he moved deeper into the room, the cold stone bit into his bare feet.
'Anyway, why is this room so cool?'
His eyes scanned the debris-strewn floor.
Then—there.
In the farthest corner of the room, half-buried beneath decades of dust and decay, could be seen a metal box lay there. Unremarkable at first glance—but something about it made the air itself tremble.
Suddenly, his sixth sense alerted like a death bell.
The moment Fang Rui noticed it, the atmosphere felt like it was thickening and pressing against his skin like gravity. Thus, the hairs on his arms rose, prickling as if charged with electricity.
Uneasiness grew… as well as the curiosity.
"This is?"
The box seemed to breathe, its presence humming against his senses like a living thing. As if it was trying to say something to him…
Open it.
Truth be told, no one was telling him; he didn't even hear anything, except his desire… his desire to uncover the truth hidden beneath this room.
That's right. Fang Rui's desire to open it began to rise even more, but his gut was telling him not to.
Now he was in a dilemma, thinking about what to do next.
'Do it or not? What if, with my stupidity, I might release that which shouldn't be released?'
'Do I care?'
Goosebumps were prickling across his flesh, but instead of fear, a slow, feral smile stretched across his lips.
And it was,
Wide.
Unhinged.
'This is it.'
Excitement thrummed in his chest, wild and untamed. Whatever lay within could unravel the very fabric of his fate—he was certain of it.
As a child, he had tried—and failed—to reach this place countless times, not by physical barriers, but by something far more insidious: an instinctive dread that coiled in his gut like a venomous serpent, whispering of death, of despair, of horrors beyond comprehension.
Afraid? Of death? Not sure, but to disappoint his father's expectation? He didn't want to.
But not today.
Today was different.
Nothing matters to him now, at least.
All that remained was hunger—an all-consuming need to grow stronger.
And he would take the measures by his hand… by any means necessary.
With emotions churning like a storm inside him, Fang Rui took another step toward the strange coffin. He could see that dust was cascading from its surface, swirling in the dim light like the ghosts of forgotten years.
"I'm already a dead man walking," Fang Rui muttered,
"Whether I die here or rot in that damned Ominous Realm—what difference does it make? If this is the end, I might as well do something insane."
A laugh tore from his throat—unhinged—echoing off the stone walls.
What he didn't realize was that the transformation had already begun. The cracks in his resolve, the fury simmering beneath his skin—they were reshaping him, carving him into something new.
No, not new, but old.
Something his parents didn't want him to be.
He then put the lantern by the side.
And then,
With trembling fingers, he began to brush away layers of dust. Each swipe revealed more of the coffin's secrets. Minutes stretched into eternity as he worked, sweat beading on his brow and dripping onto the aged metal below.
Then—
There.
Beneath the grime, a faded engraving emerged: a masked warrior locked in battle against a monstrous demon, their clash frozen in time. The details were worn, their faces blurred as if eroded by centuries, yet the image pulsed with energy.
It felt alive.
A suffocating pressure bore down on him, sudden and crushing, as if the demon in the engraving had turned its gaze upon him. Fang Rui's breath hitched; his very soul recoiled.
But he didn't back down.
'Whatever's inside... I need to see it.'
Hesitation flickered—a primal instinct screaming at him to run—but the weight of his impending fate crushed it. The lure of the unknown was too strong. He had to know. Was there a secret hidden here? A corpse? A weapon? Anything at all?
Hands steady despite the unease thrumming through his veins, he slid the key into the lock.
Click. Clang.
The sound was deafening in the silence. The lid groaned open, and—
[ New Trait Added: Origin: Primordial Chaosbane ]
[ Trait Description: The void between stars whispers your name. The lawless ones hear it—and tremble. You are the scar upon the face of oblivion, the unmaker of the unmade. Chaos does not fear you. It should. ]
He barely read what was floating before him, as the strong smell of blood crept outside from that coffin.
"What the—?"
***
In the farthest corner of the world, and one of the forbidden places, the land of the forgotten:
"Hmm?"
Two eyes opened.
Deep. Endless. A yawning abyss that swallowed all light.
Millennia of slumber shattered as the void itself trembled. Energy crackled through the chamber, raw and untamed, and the air thickened with a presence so vast it defied comprehension.
Those eyes—those terrible, knowing eyes—blinked once. Twice.
Then, a voice.
Low. Resonant. Laden with the weight of forgotten epochs.
"Who dares?"
The words reverberated through the chamber, shaking the very foundations of the room.
"Who dares disturb this venerable one?"
Silence followed, heavy and suffocating.
Then—
A pause. A shift.
As if the entity had just noticed.
Something inevitable.
"Oh?"
"It has already begun…?"