Liu Yun stood alone in the vast chamber, the Earth Shattering Sword held ready as the wall nearest the entrance tunnel began to crack and bulge. The tracking sigil on the blade glowed more intensely now, resonating with the approaching Administrators.
He closed his eyes briefly, centering himself and drawing upon what little he had learned of the Sixth Technique. The mountain's presence encompassed him—ancient, patient, but now stirring with a defensive anger at the Protocol's intrusion.
The wall exploded inward in a shower of stone fragments. Through the dust stepped the female Administrator with the silver-lined face, her expression as impassive as before despite the earlier setback. Behind her came her five colleagues, each bearing the distinct modifications that marked Protocol leadership—crystal eyes, metallic skin grafts, cultivation-enhancing implants forbidden to ordinary citizens.
"Liu Yun of the Eastern Forests," the lead Administrator stated. "Surrender the covenant artifacts and submit to memory extraction."
Liu Yun shifted stance, the Earth Shattering Sword responding to his movements. "You know I can't do that."
"Then you have chosen termination," she replied without emotion. "The mountain sanctuary will become your tomb."
Liu Yun allowed himself a thin smile. "The mountain may have other ideas."
He struck without warning, not at the Administrators but at the chamber floor beneath them. The Earth Shattering Sword plunged deep into the stone, and Liu Yun channeled every bit of the technique's power he had managed to internalize. Unlike his previous controlled applications, this time he embraced the technique's true nature—to shatter.
The chamber floor fractured in a rapidly expanding web of cracks. The Administrators scattered instantly, their enhanced reflexes allowing them to leap clear of the initial collapse. But Liu Yun wasn't aiming for a direct hit—he was changing the battlefield.
As sections of the floor gave way, the black lake's water surged into the newly created gaps. Steam erupted where the water met the heated deeper rocks, rapidly filling the chamber with an obscuring fog. Liu Yun used the momentary confusion to sprint toward the eastern tunnel Jiang Tao had indicated.
"Sector containment protocol initiated," he heard one Administrator announce through the chaos. Metallic spheres rolled across the chamber floor, expanding into a glowing network that began to clear the steam.
Liu Yun pushed harder, the sword in his hand growing heavier with each step. He realized belatedly that the tracking sigil was draining his energy—a secondary function beyond mere tracking. The Protocol was more insidious than he had imagined.
The eastern tunnel mouth loomed ahead, a dark promise of escape. Three more strides and he would reach it.
A silver blur intercepted him—the female Administrator moving with unnatural speed. Her palm struck his chest with precisely calculated force, sending him skidding backward across the fractured floor.
"Covenant participant capture prioritized," she announced to her colleagues. "Formation seven."
The six Administrators moved with practiced coordination, forming a hexagonal pattern around Liu Yun. Each raised a hand, silver lines or crystal implants glowing as they established a containment field.
Liu Yun felt the pressure immediately—not just physical force but a cultivational suppression that made his connection to the mountain waver. The Earth Shattering Sword grew dull in his grip, its power muted by the Protocol technology.
"Your covenant is built on incomplete information," the female Administrator said. "The Protocol prevents catastrophe."
Liu Yun struggled against the containment field, his options rapidly diminishing. "If that were true, you wouldn't fear its reset."
Something flickered across the Administrator's silver-lined face—the first genuine emotion Liu Yun had seen from her. Doubt? Concern? It vanished too quickly to identify.
"The founders were naive," she stated. "They underestimated humanity's capacity for self-destruction."
The containment field tightened, forcing Liu Yun to his knees. The weight of the Earth Shattering Sword dragged his arm downward until the tip touched the fractured floor.
In that moment of connection, something unexpected happened. The sword, though suppressed by Protocol technology, still maintained its fundamental link to the mountain. As its tip touched stone, Liu Yun felt a surge of communication—not in words but in sensations, images, knowings.
The mountain was offering him another way.
Without fully understanding what he was doing, Liu Yun drove the sword's tip deeper into the crack, not with force but with intent. He wasn't fighting the Protocol's suppression—he was bypassing it entirely, speaking directly to the mountain through the most primal connection.
The Administrators sensed the change. "Anomalous energy pattern detected," one reported. "Containment field integrity compromised."
"Impossible," the female Administrator replied. "All cultivation techniques are suppressed within the field."
But Liu Yun wasn't using cultivation techniques—not in the way the Protocol defined and regulated them. He was surrendering to the mountain's will, becoming a conduit rather than a controller.
The floor beneath him suddenly liquified, not breaking apart but transforming into a quicksand-like consistency. Liu Yun began to sink, the Earth Shattering Sword leading his descent.
"Subject escaping!" An Administrator moved to intercept, but the transformed stone responded only to Liu Yun, hardening instantly when the Administrator attempted to follow.
As Liu Yun sank deeper, the last thing he saw was the female Administrator's face, now openly showing frustration and something else—a reluctant respect.
Then darkness engulfed him, the mountain swallowing him whole as the stone resolidified above.
He fell through a narrow vertical shaft, sliding rather than falling freely, the mountain guiding his descent. The Earth Shattering Sword led the way, carving a path where none had existed before.
After what seemed like minutes of breathless descent, Liu Yun tumbled into a small cavern illuminated only by faint bioluminescent fungi. His body ached from the impact and the strain of the unusual escape, but he was alive—and free of the Administrators' containment.
The tracking sigil on the sword still glowed, but dimmer now, its signal presumably hindered by the tons of rock between Liu Yun and the surface. He would need to find a more permanent solution, but for now, he had earned a moment to recover and plan.
As his eyes adjusted to the dim light, Liu Yun realized he wasn't in a natural cavern. Ancient pillars lined the walls, carved with the same strange symbols he had seen in the higher tunnels. He had descended into something far older than the Earth Vein sanctuary—perhaps older than the Protocol itself.