Dawn on the fourth day cracked open with a thunderclap from beneath the Stormjade Basin. Lightning skittered across the basin walls in jagged arcs, illuminating the stone in pulses of eerie blue. But the thunder did not come from the heavens-it echoed from deep within the earth.
The runes on the tomb platform blazed.
From all four sect encampments, disciples surged from their tents and pavilions, eyes locked on the radiant glyphs spiraling to life above the Lightning Tomb. A grinding groan rolled through the ground as the central platform split open, stone petals sliding aside to unveil a descending staircase-storm-lit and lined with shimmering jade etched in lightning script.
The tomb had awakened.
Jian Mu stood at the head of the Verdant Moon Sect. "Remember-no infighting until we're inside. Once we cross that threshold, the tomb changes everything. Rules, space... even time."
Around him, sect leaders moved with decisive grace.
Zhen Yue of Green Spear led her disciples with quiet, calculating command. Yu Bailing of White Stone drifted forward like the calm eye of a storm. Feng Ao of Crimson Fog advanced with militaristic precision, his squad like a battalion on the march.
Shadow tightened his grip on his blade.
Jian Mu's voice dropped low as he turned. "The first trial scatters us. The Lightning Tomb divides every intruder. Don't fight the pull. Teams won't form again until the second layer. You face the first gate *alone.*"
Shadow gave a slow nod. "Understood."
---
Their boots struck the jade steps.
The sky *cracked*.
Light flared.
And the world *shattered*.
---
Shadow slammed into something soft-mist, dense yet yielding. Around him, a vast dreamscape unfurled-half fog, half starlight. Lightning rivers twisted through the air like serpents, and broken islands floated in suspended silence. Every step felt weightless, like walking on memories.
Then a voice echoed-not through the air, but inside his very soul:
> *"Trial One: The Echo of Thunder. Only those who can resonate with the storm may pass."*
Shadow exhaled and stepped forward, into the thunder's song.
---
Far away-yet within the same tomb-Jian Mu stood on a cliff of glistening black crystal. Hurricane winds howled across the plateau, and thunder-spears rained from the roiling sky in pulses of death. He lowered into a stance, his spear humming with stormlight.
> *"Trial One: The Tempest's Dance. Only those who move as the storm moves shall endure."*
Jian Mu grinned, wind cracking against his skin. "Then let's dance."
---
Yanmei emerged into a frozen cathedral of mirrored ice. Her breath misted. The frost underfoot sang with tension.
> *"Trial One: Stillness in Storm. Your saber must be calm, even as the sky weeps blood."*
She drew her blade. Her gaze was still, glacial. "Then let it bleed."
---
Xian Shu blinked into a shifting maze of floating talisman walls, each sigil sparking and flickering with chaotic light. With every step, the path changed.
> *"Trial One: The Labyrinth of Clarity. See through illusion. Grasp what is real."*
He smirked, cracking his knuckles. "Let's see if your riddles can keep up."
---
Luo Fei gasped as she landed in a greenhouse of living tempests. Trees pulsed with thunder; vines of wind coiled and writhed, and roots crackled with electric life.
> *"Trial One: Growth Within Chaos. Let power bloom or wither."*
She took a slow breath, feeling the storm in her lungs. "Let's see what grows."
---
Wen Hao arrived in silence.
An endless plain. No sky. No movement. Just a single, ancient spear buried in cracked stone. The world around him held its breath.
> *"Trial One: The Warrior's Solitude. Take up the forgotten weapon. Face what remains when all else is gone."*
Without a word, he walked forward.
---
Across the fractured tomb, disciples stood in separate worlds.
Alone.
Each path a crucible.
Each trial a secret.
Lightning did not merely illuminate-it *revealed.*
And what it revealed might break them... or forge them into something new.
---