Chapter 54: The Yin and Yang cards!
The transition through the elemental Stargate into the Taiji Basin was more disorienting than previous dimensional shifts.
It felt like being frozen, burned, and shocked all at once, then softly patted on the head by a confused spirit.
When Daniel’s vision cleared, he was in a place with constant twilight. The air was cool and smelled like wet earth, glowing fungi, and something ancient and wild.
He was in the Yin region, the "dark side" of the Taiji Basin.
Tall, dark mountains stood far away, their tops hidden in mist that swallowed the light.
The ground was covered in soft black moss, and huge twisted trees with dark shiny bark reached up to a deep blue-purple sky filled with stars that glowed with a cold, ghostly light.
Lia and Ayra materialized beside him a moment later, looking slightly disoriented but otherwise unharmed.
They also had their Yin cards. Around them, other teams with Yin cards appeared, looking amazed by the strange land but also worried because they felt the strong ancient power in the Yin area.
"Well," Ayra grunted, shaking her head as if to clear lingering teleportation fuzziness.
Lia, unlike the others, seemed energized by the dark energy. Her grey eyes studied the strange plants and the faint energy in the air.
"The Yin energy here is... potent," she murmured, her Verdant Lifespring Staff-Sword glowing faintly in response. "But it feels... heavy. Unsettling."