Chapter 100: Chapter 100: The Inner Sect
The gates came into view long before Shen Yuan reached them.
They were towering slabs of black stone that rose over sixty feet into the sky, each one carved with sprawling formations that pulsed faintly with dim crimson light, like veins beneath dark skin.
Chains as thick as a man’s waist wrapped around the stone pillars flanking the entrance, not for structural support.
Unlike the worn wooden gates of the outer sect, these had never known decay.
No moss grew along their base. No dust settled on their surface. It was as if time itself refused to touch them, as if the formations woven into the stone actively repelled anything as mundane as erosion.
Two guards stood before the entrance, motionless as statues, spears planted upright at their sides.
They wore black armor lacquered so dark it seemed to swallow the afternoon light rather than reflect it, the sect’s emblem embossed faintly across their chestplates in silver thread.
Shen Yuan felt it before he saw their faces.
Killing intent.
This was not a wild bloodlust of a beast and not a reckless hostility towards Shen Yuan. They did not even know him until today.
It was their bodies, that were passively radiating killing intent but it was controlled and refined.
Like a blade sharpened thousands of times until it could split silk drifting through the air.
The invisible pressure spread from the two guards, saturating everything within thirty feet of the gate.
Even the wind seemed unwilling to pass through it.
Shen Yuan’s footsteps slowed naturally.
Not because he was afraid.
His body simply recognized danger before his mind did.
A cold sensation crept into his stomach.
An instinct he had carried from his previous life quietly awakened.
They looked at him with the same disinterested gaze one would use when looking at insects crawling across a road.
If he stepped out of line...
If he uttered one disrespectful word...
Shen Yuan had no doubt those spears would pierce his throat before he even realized they had moved.
The crimson formations upon the gates flickered.
The light pulsed once.
Twice.
Each pulse seemed to respond to the killing intent surrounding the entrance, as though the gates themselves were alive, silently judging every person who approached.
For a brief moment...
Shen Yuan even felt as though countless unseen eyes were staring at him from within the stone.
He stopped nearly twenty feet away.
Far enough to show respect.
Close enough to speak without raising his voice.
Shen Yuan lowered his head slightly.
His posture was neither overly submissive nor prideful.
Exactly what one would expect from an ordinary servant.
"This servant has been assigned to serve Senior Brother Bang Fo."
His voice remained calm despite the invisible mountain pressing against his shoulders.
"Pass." The moment they saw his robes, the guards knew Shen Yuan either had a mission in the inner sect or no business at all. From time to time, some fools would wander there without knowing where they are going but no one returned back.
’Did they forget me this soon?’ Reaching into his robes, Shen Yuan carefully withdrew the jade scroll. ’Looks like I am not even worth remembering to them or maybe they are just acting all high and mighty.’
He held it out with both hands.
"I request permission to enter before midnight, as instructed." Despite the thoughts going through his head, Shen Yuan showed proper manners and respect to them.
...
Neither guard moved, not even their eyes. The pressure only grew heavier.
Seconds slowly passed.
One.
Three.
Five.
Shen Yuan remained exactly where he stood.
His arms never lowered.
His breathing remained steady.
He did not attempt to circulate his qi against the pressure.
That would only be interpreted as resistance.
A servant resisting an Inner Sect guard...
Would die without anyone asking questions.
Finally...
One of the guards moved. Without speaking a single word, he stepped forward and took the jade scroll.
His gaze swept across it.
The crimson seal engraved upon its surface flickered faintly before returning to normal.
The guard looked at Shen Yuan only once.
Just once.
It felt as though that single glance had stripped away every secret he possessed.
Moments later, he returned the scroll.
He neither nodded nor spoke.
He simply shifted his gaze toward the gates.
Rumble...
The enormous chains wrapped around the pillars suddenly began to move.
Countless crimson runes lit up simultaneously, flowing across the black stone like rivers of blood.
A deafening metallic groan echoed throughout the mountain.
Slowly...
The massive gates parted.
A narrow path appeared between them.
The second guard finally moved.
Without sparing Shen Yuan another glance, he lifted one hand.
His fingers made a single motion as if telling him to go inside.
Shen Yuan silently accepted the returned scroll.
He bowed once toward the two guards before walking through the opening without another word.
Only after he had crossed the threshold did the massive gates begin closing behind him once again.
The thunderous sound echoed across the mountain.
Shen Yuan did not look back.
The moment Shen Yuan stepped past the threshold, the atmosphere of the inner sect settled over him like a completely different world.
Where the outer sect had been chaotic, disciples sparring in dusty courtyards, servants scurrying between errands, merchants haggling loudly over spirit stones, the inner sect was eerily quiet.
Wide stone paths wound between elegant courtyards, each one shielded by tall hedges or spirit-formation walls that hummed faintly with power.
Disciples passed him occasionally, robes far finer than anything worn in the outer sect, their auras alone enough to make the air feel thinner.
No one spared him a glance. A servant walking these paths was as unremarkable as a leaf blown by the wind.
Shen Yuan unfurled the jade scroll as he walked, silver eyes scanning the crude map etched into its surface—a route winding past the central training grounds, skirting the edge of a lake dotted with lotus formations, before ending at a modest residential district reserved for disciples of standing.
Third row. Seventh building.
He found it exactly where the map indicated, and stopped in his tracks for a moment despite himself.
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