Re-birth: The Beginning after the End - Chapter 99

Chapter 99: HEART OF THE SIXTH REALM

They closed in around them like liquid darkness, swallowing all light until Li Hua could barely see her own hands. Soon, they emerged into a realm drained of all color, a world that defied mortal comprehension. The transition felt like being pulled through the fabric of existence, each breath stretching into infinity until reality snapped back into place.

The Sixth Realm lived up to its name. Monochromatic landscapes stretched endlessly, creating an atmosphere outside of time. Buildings rose like shadows against a pewter sky, their architecture ancient and forbidden. Every surface, from stone paths to twisted trees, reflected shades of grey, both beautiful and unsettling.

Mo Tao stumbled, his usual grace failing him. “Remind me again why we had to use your method?” he groaned, steadying himself against a granite pillar. “Surely, you have a less… dramatic way of moving between realms.”

Li Hua ignored his complaints, captivated by their surroundings. The air pulsed with ancient power, thick with spiritual essence moving like fog. Paths wound through impossible geometries, leading to grey gardens blooming in eternal twilight. Fountains cascaded in silver sheets, their waters catching light from nowhere.

“Welcome to the Heart of the Sixth Realm,” Mo Xing said with quiet authority. The architecture here followed rules as old as cultivation itself. Buildings faded and shifted like mirages, windows revealed impossible vistas, and doorways led to spaces that shouldn’t exist. Each step felt like walking through layers of history, whispers of the past alive in the ground beneath them.

“This place… it feels unreal. Like it’s alive,” Li Hua said, curiosity blazing in her eyes.

Mo Xing gave a faint smile, his gaze sweeping the surroundings. “It is, in a way. The Keepers built this sanctuary to hold the most dangerous knowledge in all the realms. It exists outside time and space, beyond understanding—even for those who created it.”

Li Hua studied the intricate, glowing patterns etched into the walls, their light pulsing like a heartbeat. Just as she opened her mouth to ask another question, something froze her in place. Her gaze locked onto Mo Xing, and her breath caught.

“Your eyes…” she whispered, her voice tinged with disbelief.

Mo Xing turned slowly, his movements deliberate, yet there was a certain ease to him, a subtle undercurrent of mischief as if he were savoring some private joke. His gaze caught hers, and Li Hua felt pinned under its intensity, though now there was a flicker of something teasing in his molten, shimmering amber eyes.

“Little tempest,” he said softly, his voice a deep current of warmth that sent a shiver down her spine. “It seems I’m not the only one who stands out in this realm. Your eyes… they shimmer like sunlight on crystal, reflecting a prism of celestial colors.” His lips quirked into a faint, devilish smile.

Li Hua blinked rapidly, her mind reeling. Her chest tightened as her thoughts became a chaotic storm. My eyes? Her hand instinctively brushed the corner of her eye, but her fingers found nothing out of the ordinary.

Why is he looking at me like that? she thought, her heart racing. The way he stared at her—like she was some fascinating, extraordinary puzzle—made her feel flustered and exposed, as though her every secret lay bare under his gaze. And yet, there was something maddeningly playful in his expression, like he knew exactly how much he was unraveling her. She swallowed hard, forcing herself to focus, to shift her attention away from the magnetic pull of his gaze.

Her eyes flickered to the glowing walls around them, desperate for distraction. “This place…” she murmured, her voice faint, almost an echo of her earlier self. “It feels like it holds everything… and nothing at the same time.”

Li Hua struggled to process the scope of it all. Even tracking the movement of shadows made her head spin as they flowed in directions defying natural law. A simple walk across the courtyard became an exercise in trust as distance and time folded and unfolded at will.

Mo Xing gestured toward a path that seemed to dissolve into mist. “Old Tang is up ahead.” He paused, studying her. “The way can be… challenging for those unaccustomed to this realm’s nature. Would you prefer I carry you again, little tempest?”

“No,” Li Hua replied firmly, though her gaze tracked the way the path seemed to fade in and out of existence.

A flash of movement caught her eye—something crystalline and fast, like light bouncing off a mirror. Her instincts took over before her mind could process what she was seeing. She pivoted sharply, daggers materializing in her hands as she stepped backward into a defensive stance.

Only it wasn’t an attack at all—just a wisp of spiritual essence dancing through the grey landscape. But her sudden movement had already carried her backward, right into Mo Xing’s chest. His hands steadied her reflexively, warm against her waist even through her robes, then lingered a moment too long before he stepped away with deliberate grace.

“Careful, little tempest,” he murmured, his eyes darkening with an emotion Li Hua refused to name. “The realm can be… deceptive.”

She shot him a glare sharp enough to cut steel as she moved forward, putting careful distance between them. She refused to acknowledge the way her skin tingled where his hands had touched her, focusing instead on the path ahead.

The path to Old Tang’s study twisted through reality like a serpent’s coil, sometimes stretching endlessly before them, other times contracting until it seemed to vanish entirely. After what felt like both seconds and centuries, they arrived at an ancient door marked with runes that pulsed with power—the entrance to Old Tang’s domain, where knowledge forbidden to all but a chosen few was kept.

Li Hua reached for the door, but Mo Xing’s hand shot out, catching her wrist in a gentle but firm grip.

“Old Tang responds… unpredictably to unauthorized touch,” Mo Xing said, releasing her hand with a playful reluctance that made her want to roll her eyes. His fingers trailed away from hers like lingering summer warmth. Ancient characters began to glow along the doorframe as he pressed his palm against its surface, each symbol brightening in sequence until they formed a complete circuit. She could have sworn the characters danced with extra enthusiasm under his touch. “Even for those accompanied by one of the keepers.”

“Are you a keeper?” Li Hua asked, studying his profile. Something about the way he moved through this secret realm spoke of intimate familiarity.

Mo Xing’s lips curved into that particular smile that always made her wonder if he was laughing at a joke only he understood. “No, but…” His eyes sparkled with mischief as he glanced her way. “I am familiar with the Keepers of this realm.” The way he said ‘familiar’ suggested volumes of unspoken stories.

“I’ll wait here,” Mo Tao announced, taking a deliberate step back from the doorway with theatrical caution. His eyes darted between Li Hua and Mo Xing, catching something in their interaction that made his usual grin widen further.

The door dissolved like smoke in wind, revealing a vast chamber that seemed to extend infinitely in all directions. Towering shelves of grey stone stretched upward until they vanished into shadow, each laden with scrolls, manuals, and artifacts that pulsed with barely contained power. The air here felt even thicker than outside, heavy with the weight of accumulated knowledge that Old Tang had gathered over countless centuries.

“Stay close,” Mo Xing’s rich voice carried that particular blend of warning and invitation that always made her pulse quicken traitorously. He stretched with the fluid grace of a warrior at rest, power rippling beneath the surface of his casual demeanor. The movement drew her eye to the broad planes of his shoulders, the controlled strength in every line of his form. “Old Tang’s study reorganizes itself constantly.”

When he glanced back at her, those honey-brown eyes held worlds of mystery behind their playful gleam. His smile curved with that dangerous charm that seemed designed specifically to unbalance her usually steady composure. “What looks like a straight path forward might lead you centuries into the past, or into sections containing knowledge that mortal minds were never meant to comprehend.”

The casual way he treated even the most dangerous situations should have infuriated her more than it did – and perhaps that was the most infuriating thing of all. Instead, she found herself studying the controlled power in his movements, the way danger seemed to acknowledge him as an equal rather than a threat.

As if to emphasize his point, a distant shelf suddenly shifted, rotating impossibly through space before settling into a new configuration.