The Labyrinth of the Ancients
Huang Di set out into the forest with the purpose of retrieving his Return Amulet, a crucial artifact he had hidden after escaping his pursuers. After five days of accelerated travel, he finally arrived, in the morning, at the area where he believed he had left it. However, it took nearly until late afternoon to locate the mark he had made.
What he found, however, was a stone inscribed with a message written in blood:
“If you want her back, come to the Coliseum in Casa Boom city in six months. Signed: You know who.”
“That damned Ye Jue...” Huang Di cursed, his voice echoing through the forest. “When will he leave me in peace? That madman has shit for brains!”
He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. After regaining his composure, he reflected:
“What I have to do now is simple... become stronger. Only then can I resolve this.”
With renewed spirit and a new goal in mind, Huang Di continued his journey. However, he soon became lost and stumbled upon a place that had not been there before in the forest: a vast arrangement of stones stretching for hundreds of kilometers, organized in the shape of a labyrinth.
Curious, he approached and was amazed by the engravings on the stones. The carvings depicted prehistoric beasts, high-level cultivators, dragons, demons, and even figures that appeared to be gods amid colossal battles.
Upon entering the labyrinth, he hesitated. Though determined, he feared he might not find his way out. As a precaution, he began marking the walls at every turn to avoid becoming completely lost.
After hours of exploration, Huang Di decided to rest. On the second day inside the labyrinth, he heard distant noises. He took a defensive stance, but after several tense minutes, all returned to silence. He thought it might have been hunters confronting beasts and resumed his rest. The following morning, he continued his exploration.
Huang Di had not forgotten his primary mission in this world: to find rank 5 or higher treasures worth at least one thousand large cultivation stones, a significant amount even for cultivators of the Earth level.
Reviewing the dimensional bags of the rank Earth leaders he had defeated days before; he found a true fortune. The contents included cultivation stones of various sizes: small, medium, large, and even some perfect ones. He recalled the conversions:
1 medium stone = 100 small stones
1 large stone = 1,000 medium stones
1 perfect stone = 10,000 large stones
Adding everything, there were approximately:
10 perfect stones,
2,520 large stones,
500 medium stones.
An invaluable fortune, sufficient to sustain years of intensive cultivation or even form a small personal force.
As he walked through the labyrinth, the carvings on the walls became more intricate. They seemed to tell a story, a distant era when cultivators, mystical beasts, and gods battled side by side. Huang Di stopped before an impressive image: cultivators of supreme realms facing a colossal creature, a grotesque fusion between dragon and demon.
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“These must have been the ancient times...” he murmured. “When the world was ruled by beings of unimaginable power.”
He felt small before the grandeur of the scenes. He continued forward, fascinated by what he saw. The engravings seemed more than mere art, they were historical records, carved to transcend millennia.
A doubt arose in his mind: were they merely myths... or forgotten truths?
Something deep inside told him it was real, and that, in some way, it was more connected to that past than he had imagined.
The Seal of the Dragon
Continuing his journey through the labyrinth, three more days had passed, and Huang Di felt increasingly drawn to the figures carved into the stones, as if they were calling out to him, revealing hidden truths that guided him toward the heart of the mystery.
After hours of walking, he arrived in the afternoon at a vast circular space, its floor marked by ancient symbols that seemed to narrate a story from forgotten eras. Despite the wear of time, the formation was surprisingly well preserved, emanating an aura of power and mystery.
From the center to the edges, various drawings covered the ground, and as he approached, Huang Di felt a chill run down his spine. The images seemed almost alive, as if ready to strike him should he dare come too close. Still, his courage outweighed his caution. Determined to uncover what lay before him, he stepped forward.
Upon reaching the formation, he saw four imposing figures:
A Dragon in the East,
A Tiger in the West,
A Tortoise in the North,
And a Phoenix in the South.
At the center, a yin-yang symbol pulsed softly, as if sealing something hidden and imprisoned beneath the formation.
This scene stirred a distant memory: when he was just a boy, he had found a chest full of treasures in a cave near the orphanage. That chest bore the same mythical figures. The moment he touched one of the objects, all the treasures vanished, and he fell into a weeklong fever. It was during that time he met the Emerald Elder, who helped him recover and awakened in him a new perception of martial arts and the spiritual world.
While reflecting on those memories, he noticed that his legs, almost instinctively, carried him closer to the formation’s center. What he didn’t realize was that the carved mythical beings were silently observing him, as if waiting for something… or someone.
As he approached the yin-yang symbol, a colossal structure suddenly rose from the ground, forcing Huang Di to halt in his tracks.
It was a nine-story pagoda, made of radiant metal that outshone even gold. A mystical aura enveloped the entire structure, and a large golden dragon engraved on its exterior appeared almost alive, ready to break its prison and soar freely into the sky.
Huang Di stood breathless before the grandeur of the scene.
After the initial shock, everything around him seemed to return to normal, except for the structure now floating above the yin-yang seal.
Resolutely, he drew nearer. Soon he noticed four golden gates, each bearing the symbol of one of the four mystical beasts, positioned at the cardinal points.
The pagoda hovered in the center, towering above the ancestral seal.
One of the locks was open, the Phoenix Gate, and within it, a red key bearing the phoenix symbol remained embedded, glowing with energy.
That was when Huang Di remembered something important: among the items he had found in his childhood, inside the mysterious chest, there had been a blue key shaped like a dragon.
His heart racing, he approached the Dragon Gate. As he neared within a meter, the figure of the Eastern Dragon took form, emerging as a colossal, translucent being that rose into the heavens.
The creature’s roar echoed throughout the labyrinth, causing the stones to tremble and the surrounding vegetation to shake.
“G-gods...” Huang Di muttered in astonishment, stumbling backward and landing on his backside.
At that moment, Huang Di’s body radiated a brilliant light, and something emerged from within him in the form of a key. The key grew, expanding until it reached the dragon. Upon seeing the key and the young man who possessed it, the dragon smiled meaningfully and, with a majestic motion, merged with the key, which then glowed with a life of its own.
The key began to descend, slowly shrinking until it fit perfectly into the Dragon Gate’s lock. As it clicked into place, the mechanism activated with a deep, resonant sound. A great flash of light erupted through the area, engulfing Huang Di entirely. Within seconds, he vanished into the light, and when it finally dissipated, everything had returned to normal.
Except for one detail: Huang Di was no longer there.
