Han Yu's eyes grew sharp, his expression calm but focused.

He whispered under his breath, "Emotion Severing Slash."

With a single swing of his hand, a crescent of shimmering silver energy shot forward, colliding directly with the invisible barrier.

Booom

The impact was sharp and resonant. The air shuddered violently as light rippled across the surface like a wave on water. For a brief moment, a faint lattice pattern of light appeared across the barrier's invisible face, proof that the attack had at least made contact.

Humm

But the excitement was short-lived. Within seconds, the light dimmed, and the barrier returned to its still, flawless state. There was no crack, no shimmer of damage, not even the faintest distortion left behind.

Han Yu stared at it silently for a moment before exhaling through his nose. "So that's how it's going to be."

He refused to stop there. The silvery light surged around him again as he prepared another Emotion Severing Slash.

Boom

Then another.

Boom

And another.

Boom

Each strike was precise, landing in the exact same spot as the one before.

The barrier flared brightly every time, reacting with a hum so deep that it made his bones vibrate. The air around him grew heavy with residual energy, and the ground beneath his feet was covered in a fine layer of dust from the constant spiritual pressure.

BOOM

After the eighth strike, he finally stopped.

"Haah... No use..." His breathing was ragged, his vision slightly blurred.

Nearly a third of his Soul Qi was gone, and the barrier still stood as flawless as before. There was not a single mark left by his attacks.

Han Yu clenched his fists, a bitter smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "So much for that idea."

He sat down heavily on a nearby rock, wiping the sweat from his forehead. His chest rose and fell in steady, frustrated breaths.

He had used this same Soul Skill before to shatter array barriers created by other cultivators. Even powerful formations had faltered under its precision. But this... this was something else entirely. It was like striking the heavens themselves.

For a long moment, he simply stared at the barrier, lost in thought.

A quiet sadness washed over him. He had been so close to believing that brute force might offer an answer, but the truth was clearer now. Whatever power maintained this dome was far beyond his current ability to challenge.

He sighed softly. "Guess I'll have to think of another way."

Just as he started to stand, the ground beneath him began to rumble.

TREMBLE

At first, it was subtle, just a faint vibration under his feet. Then it grew stronger, shaking the stones around him. Pebbles rolled down from nearby slopes, and the trees began to sway violently.

Han Yu froze, his instincts screaming a warning.

"Not again," he muttered.

The next second, the entire ground convulsed.

RUMBLE

The earth split open a few meters away, and a deafening roar filled the air. Han Yu was thrown off balance and fell hard onto his side.

THUD

The tremors intensified, so strong that even the barrier behind him began to shimmer faintly under the pressure.

TREMBLE TREMBLE TREMBLE

He tried to get up, but another quake threw him back down. The world seemed to tilt beneath him as he rolled across the dirt, clutching his halberd tightly.

Dust and fragments of stone filled the air, stinging his eyes and lungs. Through the haze, he could barely see the faint ripples spreading across the barrier's surface, as if it was reacting to the seismic force.

Han Yu gritted his teeth and crawled toward the nearest tree, using it as support to steady himself. The tremors continued for another minute before slowly beginning to fade.

When it finally stopped, he remained still for a moment, breathing hard. His heart pounded in his chest, and his ears still rang from the echo of the quake.

"How many times will this happen?" he whispered, glancing around warily.

The land had changed again. Fissures crisscrossed the ground, splitting rocks and trees apart. The barrier remained unmoved, silent and unbroken, as if mocking his helplessness.

Han Yu's gaze lingered on it, a storm of frustration and dread swirling in his mind. The earthquakes were getting worse. The tomb had awakened. The entire inner realm was shaking apart and he was trapped within it.

For the first time in a long while, Han Yu felt a flicker of genuine fear creep into his heart.

Still, he clenched his jaw and forced himself to stand. "No… not yet. I'm not giving up here."

He dusted himself off and looked once more at the invisible dome that held him prisoner. Somehow, some way, he would find a way out, no matter how impossible it seemed.

Han Yu steadied himself as the last tremor subsided, dust drifting lazily through the air around him.

His palms were covered in grit and faint scratches, and his breathing was uneven. The barrier loomed beside him, silent and impassive, its invisible surface as pristine as ever despite the chaos raging across the land.

He took a step forward and began walking along its edge again.

He had no destination in mind, but moving at least kept his mind from sinking into helplessness. The forest that once surrounded the tomb had turned into a fractured wasteland, with entire swaths of ground torn apart by the continuous earthquakes.

Every few moments, another tremor would hit, forcing him to brace himself against his halberd.

Some of the quakes were mild, making him merely stumble. Others were powerful enough to send trees collapsing and stones rolling down slopes. Once, a particularly violent shake tore open the ground only a few meters ahead of him.

The fissure widened in seconds, stretching outward until it reached nearly a hundred meters across. Han Yu could only stare as the earth crumbled into the darkness below, swallowing everything in its path.

He glanced toward the barrier instinctively. The edge of the fissure seemed to pass right through it, distorting the air faintly as if the quake had affected even the energy that bound the realm. His heart leapt with sudden hope.

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