Wang Lin, his countenance serene, turned his gaze upon the shattered stone tablet. He studied it with careful attention, then, with a subtle shift of weight, stepped closer, reaching its weathered surface.

Li Yuan followed closely behind, his eyes sweeping over the tablet and then lingering upon the ruins scattered about. A smile played upon his lips. “Methinks, good Xu, if I decipher aright, this so-called ‘Engine-Court’ was once a hub of commerce for immortals, a trading post of the Celestial Realm of Thunder before its fall.”

Wang Lin nodded, then strode calmly into the ruins. Remnants of grand pavilions lay scattered everywhere, the court vast, rivaling a mortal city in scale.

An eerie silence cloaked the ruined city, broken only by the mournful whisper of the wind whistling through shattered archways, its sound akin to weeping.

Upon the ground, the wind stirred only fleetingly, creating miniature dust devils that spiraled and dispersed, scattering particles of forgotten ages.

Around them, the remains of once-proud pavilions spoke of their former splendor, now marred and broken, some still clinging to the fading echoes of ancient seals and enchantments.

Wang Lin diligently searched the ruined city, yet found nothing of particular note. It was evident that others had explored this place during the Thunder Celestial Realm’s repeated openings.

“In such trading courts,” Li Yuan declared, his eyes gleaming with insight, “the grandest shop always faced the eastern quarter!”

The eastern reaches of the ruined city were the most ravaged, all semblance of shops lost amidst the rubble and shattered walls.

Li Yuan quickened his pace, arriving at the eastern ruins. He knelt, hefting a fallen slab of stone, examining it closely. Then, with nimble fingers, he wove a hand seal, as if divining secrets lost to time.

Wang Lin arrived, his expression unchanged. He unleashed his divine sense, sweeping the area, yet found nothing of significance.

After a moment, Li Yuan’s gaze sharpened. He pointed towards a specific spot within the ruins. “Good Xu, unleash your arcane powers upon that location!”

Without hesitation, Wang Lin raised his hand, and a bolt of violet lightning crackled forth, transforming into a raging dragon that plunged towards the spot indicated by Li Yuan. With a thunderous roar, the earth shuddered, and the ruins erupted in a shower of debris and shattered stone.

There, upon the ground, appeared a symbol radiating no discernible energy, a pattern etched into the earth, resembling a forgotten array.

A glint of curiosity sparked in Wang Lin’s eyes.

Li Yuan strode forward, studying the array. A smile crept across his face. “As I surmised, even immortal shops held hidden vaults. My insight has served us well.”

Wang Lin nodded. “It would seem that this vault array has languished for too long. The celestial energy that sustained it has faded, leaving it inert.”

Li Yuan knelt, brushing away centuries of dust from the array. After a moment of calculation, he nodded. “Indeed. And judging by the dust, this place has been untouched for ages. As you said, the array has lost its sustaining power, becoming a dead construct.”

He elaborated, “Such a ‘dead array’ is thus named. Lacking life force, it resists all attempts at direct manipulation. However, I possess a method to rekindle its spark! Grant me a short span of time, good Xu.” With that, Li Yuan settled into a meditative posture, biting the tip of his left finger. He inhaled deeply, then pressed his bloodied finger onto the array.

Primal energy pulsed from his left hand as his blood slowly seeped into the array, spreading and staining the ancient patterns.

Wang Lin stood silently, observing the ruins. A wave of melancholy washed over him. Surely, the Celestial Realm of Thunder had once been a spectacle of unparalleled grandeur, teeming with immortals. Otherwise, a trading court of this magnitude could never have come to be.

He imagined the scene from countless ages past: immortals arriving upon gleaming artifacts and celestial beasts, trading for their desired items, much like mortals bartering in a marketplace.

Those immortals could never have conceived that their celestial realm would one day crumble into dust.

A sigh escaped Wang Lin’s lips. He recalled the colossal handprint he had witnessed in the Celestial Realm of Rain, a single impression capable of rending the very fabric of the world.

“Alas, Li Yuan cannot journey to the Celestial Realm of Rain. Were he to, his arcane art of mind-constraints might unravel the secrets of that palm-strike’s power.”

Time trickled by. Li Yuan’s face grew pale as his blood continued to flow, saturating the array. Gradually, the patterns seemed to awaken, rippling with barely perceptible energy.

Li Yuan’s eyes flashed with triumph. He touched his left hand to his brow, and a thread of darkness emerged, transforming into a restrictive seal that settled upon the array. Li Yuan began to weave more hand seals, preparing to unleash further enchantments.

But at that precise moment, as the dark thread-seal touched the array, the entire construct erupted in a blinding pillar of light. The beam pierced the heavens in an instant, visible even from afar.

Li Yuan froze, his hand seal dissolving mid-gesture.

“How can this be…? A first awakening… it is truly a first awakening…?” Li Yuan murmured, staring at the light pillar, his eyes growing brighter with each passing moment. Wang Lin frowned. The appearance of the light had been too sudden, offering no warning and no time for intervention. And judging by Li Yuan’s surprise, the event had caught him off-guard as well.

“Li Yuan!” Wang Lin spoke calmly.

Li Yuan inhaled deeply. The light pillar began to dim, slowly retracting. It would soon vanish entirely. Wang Lin extended his divine sense, immediately detecting something within the beam.

A suppressed celestial energy throbbed within the light, fighting to break free.

“When an immortal array is opened correctly, such an occurrence is avoided. But when other means are used, a release of the array’s spirit often occurs upon its first awakening. Only by expelling this pent-up essence can one enter!” Li Yuan explained, his gaze fixed upon the fading light.

“First time?” Wang Lin asked, his eyes narrowing.
“Indeed,” Li Yuan rasped, his gaze fixed upon the glyph-etched circle beneath their feet. “The ancient ward has been breached… in a manner unforeseen. When the celestial beacon fades, we shall descend and uncover the secrets within!” He licked his lips, a predatory glint in his eyes.

Wang Lin nodded, his brow furrowing. He lifted his gaze, discerning two streaks of emerald light slicing through the heavens. A palpable aura of immortal essence emanated from them, drawn, no doubt, by the very beacon that had pierced the sky. Curiosity, or perhaps greed, steered them toward this hallowed ground.

With a swift, decisive motion, Wang Lin’s hand plunged into the shattered earth. A cloud of debris erupted, ancient stones crumbling to dust under his command. He flung the pulverized remnants outward, a whirlwind of grey that expanded with unnatural speed.

In the blink of an eye, a ring of stone-dust, a thousand paces in radius, encircled the crumbling ward. A barrier, both tangible and symbolic, against the encroaching world.

“Enter, and find death,” Wang Lin uttered, his voice a low, resonant hum that carried on the wind. His words, though softly spoken, struck the approaching figures like a thunderclap.

The two figures, their cultivation at the nascent stage of Ascension, felt their spirits quake. The very swords beneath their feet faltered. Fear, raw and primal, gripped them, and they halted their advance at the edge of the ashen circle, daring not to cross the threshold.

They exchanged a glance, pallid beneath the fading light, and with hasty bows, retreated their blades. “We are Zhao, of the Western Domains of Luo Tian,” one of them stammered, his voice trembling. “We heed the elder’s command, and shall not trespass.” The light diminished with each passing breath, Li Yuan stepped forward, his eyes blazing with anticipation.

Even from afar, the two interlopers watched with rapt attention, their eyes wide. Never had they witnessed such a spectacle, yet they instinctively knew – a treasure of untold power was about to be revealed.

Though fear kept them from claiming it, they would not squander the chance to witness such an unveiling. Perhaps it was the celestial beacon’s eruption of spirit energy, but the disruption in the spiritual currents resonated across the shattered continent. Every cultivator who beheld it knew, without doubt, that a treasure had been unearthed!

Driven by this singular thought, they converged upon the light’s source, with the Zhao family arriving first, owing to their proximity. Soon, streaks of vibrant hues pierced the sky, a convergence of figures drawn from all directions. Their cultivation varied, though none had attained the ethereal heights of Soul Transformation. Most were at the peak of Ascension.

As they arrived, they too, beheld the ring of stone-dust, and they too, halted their advance. They measured the scene with careful eyes, their gaze settling upon the dying light, and the avarice within them bloomed.

Yet when their eyes met Wang Lin’s, their faces shifted with immediate apprehension. An aura of profound power radiated from him, a presence they dared not challenge. They retreated, none daring to cross the ashen boundary.

Wang Lin, and even Li Yuan, paid them no mind. The beacon pulsed one last time, and in the blink of an eye, it vanished.

Where the ward once stood, a dark chasm opened in the earth, a wave of immortal essence rolling forth, powerful enough to touch even those who lingered beyond the barrier. A thousand covetous gazes, until now carefully hidden, focused on the abyss. A subtle energy stirred within the hearts of the onlookers, a mix of awe, greed, and trepidation.

Were it not for Wang Lin’s forbidding presence, they would have charged into the unknown depths. The lure of what lay within was too great for most cultivators to resist!

It was the unknown that truly tantalized. No one knew what awaited within that dark chasm, and it was precisely that uncertainty that inflamed their desires.

In that very instant, a tempest of sword energy ripped through the sky. A surge of primal power emanated from afar, rushing towards them with unbridled force. It seemed that the ashen barrier, though daunting, held no sway over this newcomer!

The assembled cultivators exchanged curious glances, their desires now battling with their sense of self-preservation. The raw power that thundered through the heavens could only signify one thing: a cultivator of the Second Step had arrived.

As the primal power intensified, a figure garbed in sun-yellow robes descended from the heavens, borne upon the light of a sword.