Once the hole in the rock was large enough, the Blacksilver Knight climbed through and led the way into the chamber. Sage let it go first in order to trigger any traps or other surprises that might be waiting for him. He wasn’t foolish enough to test the waters himself if he didn’t have to. Sage followed the Blacksilver Knight into the chamber and found it to be quite small. The poison miasma was so thick that he could only see a few feet in front of himself, but he used the Law of Corruption to reduce the concentration and expand his area of vision.
As the miasma cleared, he realized the chamber was much smaller than he imagined. The chamber was hemispherical, with a formation inscribed upon the dome shaped roof, along with another far more complicated array upon the ground. At the center of this complex formation there was a solitary figure. It was a man sitting with his legs crossed and eyes closed, completely still like a statue. The man’s body seemed to be shrouded in shadow, making it hard to determine his features. Nothing happened when the Blacksilver Knight entered the array or approached the man, so Sage had it step aside and moved forward on his own. When he entered the array he felt a slight shift and energy started to circulate through the array, but he didn’t notice any changes.
He paused in place to examine what was going on, and he gradually deciphered that the energy came from below the ground and entered the outside of the array. It traveled through the many shapes and inscriptions and then when it reached the center of the array it entered the man at the center. Just as Sage seemed to make this connection, the eyes of the man shot open. When his eyes opened, the shadowy pallow faded away and Sage finally saw the face of the man. His skin was wrinkled and his face looked strained, yet there seemed to be youth and power in his eyes, but it rapidly faded away. The man smiled slightly towards Sage, but he didn’t seem to be looking at him, “You found me. Forgive me Master, for I failed you. You were right about me. I was too naive.”
The man shook his head and then his eyes focused and met Sage’s, “I was never rich enough to become a Core Disciple, but allow me to give you some help, Junior Brother. In exchange, you must take revenge for me against that accursed Hong Clan and Hei Clan.”
Before Sage could make sense of what was going, the light seemed to fade from the man’s eyes and his body rapidly withered away. In just a few seconds the strong and healthy looking fellow dried up, looking like a mummy without its wrappings. Then a ring flew out from the front of the man’s robe and landed in Sage’s hand. He looked down at it, and recognized it as a Storage Ring, crafted in a truly ancient style.
“Duo Tan. You poor thing. So this is where you fell?”
Sage turned around to face the voice that was coming from behind him, where he saw the projection of Guan Zhenyan. The ever relaxed and slovenly man had a wistful look in his eyes. Then he made the connection, “Was this man your disciple?”
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Guan Zhenyan didn’t bother to answer with words. He just nodded his head slightly and then glanced towards the ring in Sage’s hand. An annoyed look flashed across his face before he seemed to put it aside, “You have profited greatly. The Hong Clan and Hei Clan fell hundreds of years ago. Poor Duo Tan was avenged long ago, but he clung to the idea of revenge all this time.”
Then Guan Zhenyan disappeared from sight and Sage sent his consciousness into the Storage Ring he just received. The area within was massive, forming a cube 60ft on each side. He quickly did some calculating. A ring worth ten million? And he was poor?
Within the ring there were many multi-tier dressers. When he slid open the drawers, they were filled with many small jars and bottles. There were thousands of dried herbs, powders, and hazardous liquids. There were a few chests full of general equipment, and then Sage found the corner that seemed to hold the valuable objects. There was a small desk and chair with many Jade Tablets piled upon it, along with a few wooden mannequins holding a set of green armor and a few well preserved articles of clothing. Most notably there was an elaborate red dress beside an equally well made red robe.
He was drawn to examine the robe and dress first and he could only come to one conclusion. A wedding set. Was Duo Tan planning for marriage?
The man was trapped and died here who knows how long ago, so there was nothing Sage could do about it. He left the clothing alone and moved to the table full of Jade Tablets. Then he started to bring them out, one by one. Sending his consciousness into them and reviewing their contents. It was then he realized why Guan Zhenyan seemed annoyed. The majority of these Jade Tablets contained knowledge related to Poison Masters. He must have paid Guan Zhenyan an absurd amount of resources to gather so many techniques. This man truly was a disciple of that money grubber. Sage recognized the technique that Guan Zhenyan used to manipulate vapors, as well as a similar primer about laws and high rank cultivators.
I have to put these to better use than Duo Tan.
Then, Sage found a Jade Tablet that wasn’t a technique. It was much more like a last will and testament. Hong Ri and Hei Yue were killed by their own clans while embracing each other. While the two Clans hated each other, they hated the idea of anyone learning of this situation even more. The two young lovers created Icefire Valley as they died and in order to hide their shame from the world, the Hong and Hei Clan paid a large price to hire Duo Tan. He built this array to seal Icefire Valley for all of eternity so no one would learn of this farcical situation. Once Duo Tan was finished, they didn’t pay him, instead they ambushed him and struck him a mortal blow so there wouldn’t be any evidence of this ordeal.
Duo Tan survived, and sealed himself in with the array as a last act of desperation. The last shred of his will was all that remained, waiting for someone who could carry out his desire for revenge.
Time made a fool of them all. The Hong and Hei Clans were both destroyed and the formation that was supposed to last an eternity was damaged. This area became an opportunity for Nascent Souls once every few decades and Duo Tan clung to his last shred of desire for all this time.
His tragic situation has become a boon for me.
Duo Tan’s body shriveled further and then crumbled into dust, collecting in a small pile on the ground. Then Sage noticed that the pile was shrinking and he saw a slowly growing depression. The sort of shape that happened when a pile of sand was sinking into a hole. Out of respect, he collected the sand-like remains into the Universe Ring and found a hole at the center of the formation array. One that was releasing the greatest intensity of the Poison Miasma.
Have I finally found the source?