Volume One: The Awakening of All Things, Where Every Season is Spring Chapter Eleven: The Destruction of Mandala, The Fury of White Bones, Despair Gives Birth to Hope!

With his inner energy protecting his entire body, Mo Wen took a deep breath and plunged into the pool. The icy water bit into his flesh, chilling him to the bone. Slowly, he sank deeper, the dim light of the depths barely illuminating the currents. He concentrated, sensing the direction of the flow, and began to explore, moving forward with the water’s guidance.

The stream narrowed through a small opening, becoming swift and turbulent. Mo Wen surged through, just as Wang Zhongyan had described. Beyond the narrow mouth, a hidden world awaited. Surfacing, Mo Wen strained his vision to see: the natural cavern soared several meters overhead, shrouded in utter darkness, with eerie winds howling through the void.

Leaping from the water, Mo Wen used his inner energy to dry his clothes. A narrow, winding path led deeper into the gloom. As he followed it, Mo Wen sensed a familiar aura.

It was the same as that of the Path of the Wraith.

Downstream, the dark river broadened and grew more rapid. At its widest point, a massive boulder jutted from the current, a single white flower blooming in a crack. Around the boulder, piles of white bones lay scattered, ghostly blue-green flames flickering among them.

Mo Wen carefully surveyed his surroundings but saw no sign of the wraith. The white flower swayed in the chill wind, surrounded by a faint, pale mist. Watching closely, he realized the mist gathered and dispersed rhythmically—the flower was breathing.

A memory stirred: an old case file from the archives. This was the Flower of the Other Shore.

Legend claimed that, upon death, a soul entered the Netherworld, and on the banks of the Styx grew the Flower of the Other Shore. Could the underworld truly exist in this world?

There was no time for further thought. The wraith’s schemes to lure evolvers up the mountain—was it all to feed this flower with blood and flesh? Better to destroy it now.

He struck out with his palm, inner energy bursting onto the flower. It emitted a chilling, low wail.

A woman’s weeping echoed through the cavern, making Mo Wen’s flesh crawl. The flower withered rapidly, until only shriveled, foul-smelling remains were left.

"How dare you!"

A furious voice reverberated through the cave. Mo Wen tensed, alert—was there a mastermind behind the wraith's ploys?

As the words faded, the bone piles beside the boulder stirred, assembling themselves into a great skeleton, its hollow eyes ablaze with netherfire, its jaw opening and closing.

"To destroy the divine flower—heaven and earth cannot save you!"

The skeleton advanced, joints creaking hideously, a wave of rot and stench preceding it.

"Die!"

Blue netherfire shot from the skeleton’s eyes, threading through the air like arrows. Mo Wen leapt, barely dodging, but the netherfire seemed sentient, veering to pursue him.

The ghostly flame grazed his side, burning through his sleeve, and threatened to consume him. Mo Wen forced out a surge of inner energy; the flames and energy clashed and evaporated, filling the air with the stench of scorched flesh.

A chill seized Mo Wen’s heart. His lava-like inner energy had always vanquished such evil, but the skeleton’s netherfire could dissolve it!

Not daring to underestimate his foe, he shielded himself with inner energy and struck again.

Within him, the black orb trembled, sending a mental warning—urging him to flee. Mo Wen felt he could still contend with the skeleton, but the orb’s admonition left no doubt. Without hesitation, he raced back the way he had come.

Reaching the cave entrance, Mo Wen plunged into the water, swimming upstream with all his strength, bursting from the icy pool.

Lin Xi and the others had been waiting anxiously and hauled him ashore at once.

Underwater, Mo Wen had felt as if a dagger pressed against his back—having destroyed the Mandrake, how could the bones let him go?

"Go!" He wasted no words, scooping Lin Xi into his arms and fleeing at full speed. Wang Zhongyan, quick to react, took Mi Lu and followed.

"You think you can destroy my divine flower and escape? Die!"

As they left the pool’s edge, a furious roar split the air. A colossal skeletal hand shot from the water, smashing down, sending rocks and dust flying, the ground quaking. Hundreds of evolvers sitting nearby were instantly buried by tumbling boulders from the cliffs! Fortunately, Mo Wen and his companions were just fast enough to escape the calamity.

A backward glance made Mo Wen’s scalp prickle, but he dared not linger. He kept running, heedless of the carnage behind.

From the pool, a giant skeleton leapt forth. Unlike the one in the cave, this one was massive and imposing, towering several meters high. With each step, its huge bones left corroded marks on the earth and stone, as if burned by acid.

Such power! Neither Murong Hong nor his attendant, the elder Divine Pivot, could compare. What kind of existence was this?

The giant skeleton pursued relentlessly. With no escape from the valley, Mo Wen and his companions were in mortal peril, several times nearly crushed by bone-white hands.

Anxious, Mo Wen saw Wang Zhongyan weakening, clearly unable to last much longer. Communicating inwardly with the black orb as he dodged, he begged for aid.

But the orb seemed to have lost its sentience, ignoring his desperate cries, until Mo Wen, frustrated, cursed it in his heart.

"Faithless thing, damn you!"

Reluctantly, the orb responded: this Skeleton King was beyond Mo Wen’s power, immune to all the rules of mist. There was nothing it could do.

Wang Zhongyan, already gravely wounded, was pale and barely conscious after their desperate flight. Lin Xi looked to Mo Wen for help. "Save Uncle Wang and Mi Lu!"

Mo Wen felt helpless—Lin Xi clearly had a deep bond with Mi Lu’s family, and besides, if this continued, he himself would soon be smashed to pulp.

He halted, set Lin Xi down, and shielded the others behind him, resolved to make a last stand. Almost immediately, a massive skeletal hand descended from above. Mo Wen raised both palms, inner energy flaring, forming a luminous barrier to protect them.

The shield, red as fire, shuddered under the blow, nearly cracking. Mo Wen felt a jolt of agony in his core, blood rising in his throat—he spat it out.

But the bone hand, upon touching the barrier, splintered at the fingers, while the giant skeleton howled in pain.

"Ah! Buddhist inner cultivation! That old wretch—so the legacy remains in this world?"

From the pool leapt a second skeleton—the very one Mo Wen had seen in the cavern. The smaller skeleton pointed at Mo Wen, its eyes burning with netherfire. "Father King, it’s this little bastard who destroyed the divine flower! I have waited five hundred years—now it’s all for nothing! I cannot accept this!"

The little skeleton shrieked, netherfire pouring from its eyes, searing the barrier of inner energy.

Bitterness filled Mo Wen’s heart. The small skeleton alone was formidable enough—what of this self-proclaimed king? Was this to be his end?

The netherfire gnawed at the barrier, thinning it rapidly. Desperate, Mo Wen drew every last ounce of inner energy to reinforce the shield.

He glanced instinctively at Lin Xi, forcing a wry smile. "Sister Lin, if I die here, does it count as dying in the line of duty? Will I be honored as a martyr?"

A look of resolve settled on Lin Xi’s face. Gently, she brushed the sweat from Mo Wen’s brow, leaned close, and whispered in his ear, "Little brother, meeting you has been a blessing."

Was this their final farewell? Mo Wen withdrew the barrier, ready to stake everything on one last fight.

A long sigh echoed through the valley—ancient, mournful, as if from the dawn of time.

"King of Fengdu, you have overstepped your bounds!"