Yu, Jin, and Li Shen formed a triangle around the portal where Tian Bao stood at its center. The crystalline light cast their shadows in strange patterns across the chamber walls. Qi threads whipped around them like angry serpents, their colors shifting between pristine white and corrupted black.
"I will return," Tian Bao said. His voice carried a strange peace as he positioned himself at the portal's edge. Without hesitation, he stepped forward and plunged into the swirling energy below.
The wild qi threads that had been lashing outward suddenly reversed direction, as if pulled by an invisible force. They spiraled inward, drawn back into the portal's depths. The opening began to shrink, its edges folding in on themselves like a closing flower.
"Will he be okay?" Li Shen asked, watching the last threads of energy disappear into the narrowing aperture.
