Li Wu learns the Hollow Lotus Tomb

Li Wu and Chen tumble onto a floating stone terrace. Behind them, the gateway swirls open, calm for one thin breath. Ahead, the crystal air shivers with pressure, and the path forward vanishes into drifting islands.

Then the shadow line arrives at the cavern mouth. Dark-clad cultivators spill into view on the far side of the vortex, testing the opening with hooked qi. The gateway flickers under the strain.

Heat burns through Li Wu's channels as the ascent settles in his core. He plants his stance at the terrace edge, the open gateway behind him, and the crystal wind bends around his qi.

The nearest shadow cultivator answers with a cold rush of black qi, and the gateway surges. Li Wu must keep the opening stable long enough to stop the breach, or the new realm becomes the battlefield.

Li Wu lets the new realm settle, and the pressure leaves his spine in one controlled breath. The black rush at the gate falters as if struck by an invisible wall, and the nearest shadow cultivators stagger back in the air.

Their hooked qi shreds against his presence, scattering into wisps that fail to latch onto the threshold. The calm vortex around the gateway tightens instead of breaking, holding its shape around Li Wu's flow.

Master Wei plants himself harder on the terrace and squares off toward the wavering line, while the Shadow Cultivators recoil another step, their cautious advance turning uncertain.

The crimson lattice on Li Wu's skin glows once, then steadies under the strain. The gateway remains open, but the breach loses its bite.