Chapter 2

Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/PazjBDkTmW

You can buy coins here to unlock advanced chapters: https://gravitytales.com/coins-purchase-page/

Chapter 2 – Outside the Luo Manor, the Departure to the Abyss of Heavenly Fire

Outside the gates of the Luo family estate, the departure party was assembled.
Luo Zhenyang patted his son’s shoulder. “Don’t carry too much on your heart. Just do your best.”
“Take care, Father!”
Luo Guan climbed into the carriage in long strides, afraid that if he lingered, his father would see him lose composure in front of everyone.
“Set out!”
The convoy rolled forward, gradually fading into the distance. Lifting the corner of the carriage curtain, Luo Guan could still see the figure of his father, standing there watching.
“Cough! Cough! Cough!”
A fit of violent coughing bent Luo Zhenyang over.
Luo Guan’s knuckles turned white as his eyes hardened with resolve.
For an ordinary person, forcibly removing the Tongtian Bone meant the destruction of all cultivation, a lifespan cut short by ten years. But his father’s health was already gravely depleted—this extraction would be a death sentence.
If Luo Guan could successfully condense a new bone, there might yet be a sliver of hope.
If not… he would die in the Abyss of Heavenly Fire, to follow his father into the Yellow Springs (the underworld in Chinese belief).
This was a gamble with both father and son’s lives as the stake!

The ground split open, magma roared in a molten river, scarlet light surged skyward, and the very air shimmered under the searing heat.
This—was the Abyss of Heavenly Fire.
A mysterious place within the borders of the Qingyang Kingdom, it was said to be formed by a vein of underground flame wandering with the earth’s breath, occasionally breaking through to the surface.
Those who entered could use the fire’s power to boil their blood and qi, making it a natural holy land for condensing the Tongtian Bone.
For generations, it had been under imperial control. Entry required a hefty sum of silver.
After the Luo clan negotiated, the Fifth Elder barked an order: “Luo family disciples, prepare to enter the Abyss of Heavenly Fire!”
The carriage door swung open. For the first time in five days, Luo Guan appeared before the crowd. He wore a black robe, his frame leaner than before, yet his eyes burned as if they held living flames.
Bowing to the Fifth Elder, Luo Guan slung a water pouch over his shoulder and strode toward the abyss. The rolling heat blurred his figure.
In that moment, everyone could feel from him a will that would rather die than retreat.
The Fifth Elder’s expression softened slightly. “Once inside, keep an eye on Luo Guan. If it becomes impossible… bring him back.”
“Yes, Elder!”
The fissured ground of the Abyss had raised ridges, winding downward like narrow trails. Luo Guan stepped in without hesitation. The moment the heat struck his face, the ends of his hair curled and singed.
He was not alone—many others were entering as well.
At first, near the surface, the heat wasn’t unbearable. With courage, one could press on. But within moments, the temperature surged to twice as much. Skin prickled with pain, eyes stung too much to keep open.
Those without firm will faltered here.
“Shhh—! It’s too hot! This damned place isn’t for humans!” A young nobleman in brocade cursed, peering down with a pale face. “If you fall down there, will you even live…? Bah, there are plenty of chances to condense my bone—I don’t need to risk this!”
Finding comfort in his excuse, he turned, only to see, not far away, a tall figure in black robes, a water pouch on his back. The boy’s brows were drawn in pain, but his steps were steady, not a trace of hesitation in his stride.
The unyielding determination in those eyes was like an arrow, piercing the young noble’s chest. By the time he blinked, the black-robed youth’s back was already far ahead.
“Peh! Must be some useless trash over eighteen who’s come to gamble his life in the Abyss!” the noble sneered. “I still have two more chances to condense my bone—he’s nothing compared to me!”
Yet a flicker of shame lingered on his face as he turned to leave.
The first group fell away. The rest continued.
Luo Guan paused, feeling his blood and qi surging under the heat’s stimulation—but the place where the Tongtian Bone should condense remained utterly unmoved.
Not enough. Then… keep going!
He took a few swigs of water, secured the pouch, and pressed downward.
Cheers erupted behind him.
“I feel it!”
“Today’s the day I condense my Tongtian Bone!”
His steps faltered for a fraction, but the youth did not turn back.
The Abyss was deep—no one knew how deep.
Cultivators were forbidden to enter; countless youths had come here to condense their bone, but none had ever reached the bottom.
By his reckoning, Luo Guan was now at roughly the midpoint.
This was nearly his limit.
His clothes hung in tatters, barely covering him. His shoes had long burned away. Barefoot, every step peeled flesh from the soles of his feet.
It was no different from being flayed alive.
Each breath was like lighting a fire inside his chest. Skin stuck to the burning rock, tearing away with a wet szzzzk, and fresh blood no sooner welled up than it sizzled into vapor.
Luo Guan clenched his teeth until his jaw ached.
But that was only one step’s worth of pain.
To change his fate, he didn’t know how many more steps he’d have to take. He didn’t know if he could last till the end… but he still walked on.

“Why! Why!”
A boy with a face covered in blisters, eyes bloodshot to the point of bleeding, screamed into the molten air.
“I’ve given everything to enter this place! I’ve fought my way here—where’s my hope?!”
He roared upward, voice raw with despair. “What makes me any worse than them? Why can’t I cultivate?!”
Beside him, a broad-shouldered youth sighed to the heavens.
“To come this far is to throw away most of your life… and in the end, there’s nothing but silence.”
“Perhaps… it’s fate. You and I are mere mortals.”
He sat heavily, staring blankly at the magma below. Once his will escaped him, he could go no further.
Everyone who made it here had iron determination. Yet the cruelty of reality crushed them.
“I’m done. I still have parents, I can’t throw my life away here!”
Another gave up.
“I want to keep going… but it hurts too much!”
A young girl sobbed—her youthful beauty twisted into something neither human nor ghost under the searing air.
Luo Guan walked on.
Passing the broken youth, then the broad-shouldered one, he felt the other’s gaze, admiration laced with pity.
“Go any farther, and you’ll die…”
Luo Guan kept silent and kept going, until he had passed everyone, leaving them only his back.
Gradually, all eyes turned toward him, their emotions tangled beyond words.
“Luo Guan!”
From above came a shout—it was his clansman Luo Yong, who had been cold toward him before, but whose face was now filled with urgency.
“He’s stopping…”
Seeing this, the crowd’s hearts sank, then eased.
But in the next moment, every pair of eyes widened.
Luo Guan waved once, drank deeply from his pouch, then lifted it high and poured the rest over his head.
He hurled the empty pouch into the magma and kept walking.
The silent shock rippled through every heart, leaving them speechless.
The broad-shouldered youth tried to stand, but collapsed again, murmuring, “I’m not as good as him…”
“Luo Guan…”
Luo Yong’s tears fell.
From now on, if anyone dared speak ill of the third branch, he would be the first to oppose them.
Because Luo Guan, was a man.

Ahead lay no one else. The road hereafter was his alone. But he no longer felt fear or loneliness—only blurred consciousness, driven onward by sheer unwillingness and belief.
His skin and flesh were charred black, cracking with every step. Blood would gush, only to vanish in a hiss of steam and with each wisp of vapor, faint strands of chilling black qi seeped from within him, slowly gathering into a mist that shrouded his body.
It was only because of this strange black mist that Luo Guan had made it this far.
Szzzz
The blood steamed, the black fog thickened.

At the abyss’s deepest point, in a vast lake of magma, a palm-sized black turtle lay sprawled on its back like a man soaking in a hot spring, one leg crossed over the other.
It yawned in perfect comfort.
Suddenly, its eyes snapped open and it frowned. “Weird… why’s there the stench of those damn bugs here?”
Its gaze shifted, falling on Luo Guan’s struggling figure. A golden light flickered in its eyes.
“A youth from such a backwater, yet worthy of those pests making a move? If he hadn’t touched my aura, I wouldn’t have noticed at all. They’re hiding it that well… there’s definitely something behind this.”
“Well, well. Talk about enemies meeting on a narrow road.”
It watched for a while, then a look of approval crossed its face.
“Boy, looks like luck’s on your side.”
“Grandpa Gui will lend you a hand—and vent some of my own anger while I’m at it!”
It stood upright, treading the magma without sinking, and pointed a claw at Luo Guan.
Wuuum!
Unseen by all, certain vast laws of heaven and earth within the entire Qingyang Kingdom were forcefully drawn out, condensed into a seal.
It fell upon the lone youth deep within the Abyss, suppressing the black mist around him.
With a plop, the turtle flopped back into the magma, gulped down several mouthfuls, then struggled to lift its head.
“Peh! Pff! Damn it, even this little thing wore me out. You old bastard, just wait, Grandpa Gui will split things with you again someday.”
It looked up toward Luo Guan’s direction.
“Whether you live or die… depends on your own fortune now.”
Translator’s Note:
Tongtian Bone: (“Heaven-Piercing Bone,” a rare innate bone believed to enhance one’s cultivation talent)