The Warden let out a guttural, earth-shaking roar, a sound born from centuries of bloodshed and torment , deep, resonant, and filled with the agony of ages long buried. 

Its monstrous claws tore through the swirling mist like razors through silk, but Jiang Xuan had already vanished , a phantom blur of crimson energy and shifting shadow, moving faster than thought.

His blood sang with power , boiling and alive , resonating with the ancient force now awakened within him.

The pulse of the Relic surged violently through his veins , each heartbeat a war drum heralding the storm of chaos about to break , unstoppable, uncontainable.

[Relic Surge Stable: Phase Shift Active.]

[Warning: Bloodline Overload Imminent.]

Didn’t matter.

He was done running , done hiding.

The Warden swung a rusted blade of ancient bone , its motion slow yet devastating. 

The cavern walls split apart , stalactites crashing down like shattered pillars, shattering into dust upon impact. 

Jiang Xuan ducked beneath the monstrous strike with inhuman speed, his palm flaring with abyssal energy , dark and seething.

[Soul Engulfing Heaven Art: Void Rend. ]

A spear of pure black light shot forward like a bolt of midnight lightning, piercing the Warden’s chest with a sickening crunch . 

The beast staggered, thick black ichor spraying from the wound like corrupted lifeblood. 

Its crimson eyes burned brighter , rage and primal hunger twisting into a single, unrelenting will , to kill.

But Jiang Xuan was already above it, moving like a phantom born of war.

The jade relic fragment in his hand blazed with a harsh, searing light, its glow cutting through the gloom like a dying star reborn. 

Ancient runes bled from its fractured surface, crawling outward like veins of forgotten power, forming a twisting sigil that warped the air around him , bending reality itself.

[Relic Fragment Active: Blood Seal Breaker. ]

His system chimed coldly within his mind.

[Target Lock: Ancient Seal Core detected within Hostile Entity. ]

So that’s where it was , the heart of the seal, buried within this ancient abomination all along.

Jiang Xuan’s body moved on pure instinct, guided by the Predator’s Instinct unlocked moments ago. 

His form blurred like a shadow cast by death itself as he crashed down onto the Warden’s massive head, his fist plunging forward with unrelenting force. 

The Relic sigil , glowing with searing light, drove straight between the beast’s blazing crimson eyes.

A shockwave detonated , violent, blinding, and deafening.

The cavern walls buckled under the pressure , cracks racing like lightning through stone and earth. 

The ghostly mist shrieked and scattered, as if fleeing from the unleashed power.

The Warden let out one final, strangled roar , a sound of agony and defiance swallowed by the void , before its monstrous form imploded , dissolving into a storm of black mist and dust from forgotten ages .

In its place, hovering in the air, floated a sphere of pulsating crimson light , the core fragment of an ancient, long-forgotten seal, humming with restrained power.

[System Alert: Ancient Seal Fragment Acquired. ]

[New Skill Unlocked: Blood Seal Breaker - Level 1. ]

The moment his fingers brushed the crimson sphere, a searing pain lanced through his palm , sharp and all-consuming. 

His blood boiled beneath his skin , surging with violent energy. 

The jade relic shard burned white-hot , then melted into his flesh as if it had always belonged there , merging the two ancient forces in a fusion of power both forgotten and forbidden.

The cavern trembled violently once more , as if the mountain itself had drawn breath.

Far beneath the earth, ancient mechanisms long buried groaned to life , gears of stone and veins of forgotten blood clicking into place after centuries of silence. 

An array of glowing, blood-red runes ignited across the ground like veins catching fire, spreading outward in a web of pulsing light. 

At its center, a massive sealing formation began to take shape , vast, intricate, and terrifyingly powerful.

[Mistveil Core Seal Reactivating. ]

Too late.

Jiang Xuan’s power had already seeped into the seal’s foundation , tainting its integrity , unraveling centuries of binding force with the raw, corruptive touch of his awakened bloodline.

High above, Sect Elder Qiu’s eyes snapped open in alarm, his meditation shattered by a pulse that resonated through every fiber of the mountain. 

He felt it , the unnatural tremor, the surge of forbidden energy rising from the depths.

“Who is down there? ”

Beside him, Venerable Shan appeared like a shadow, his face drained of color, his voice grim.

“The Mistveil Depths … it’s compromised.”

Across the sect grounds, alarms erupted , clanging bells and flashing formation lights signaling an emergency no elder had prepared for. 

Disciples scrambled in confusion, elders rushed to their formations, and fear gripped the mountain like a tightening vice.

In the shadows beyond the cavern, the cloaked figure remained still, half-hidden beneath a veil of silver mist. 

Their voice, low and cold, cut through the silence like a blade.

“Begin Phase Two. He’s ready. ”

And far below, amidst the rising blood mist and collapsing ruins , Jiang Xuan grinned through the searing pain , his lips curled in defiance, his eyes burning with hunger.

More power.

More blood.

He wasn’t done yet.