The wind whispered in pain through the cracks of the dark stone.Lin Feng took a deep breath, and every inhalation felt like a dull knife stabbing his lungs. The air in the Spirit Fractured Mine was thick with "Spirit Dust" — particles of energy eroded from the damaged spirit stone veins, toxic to anyone without basic cultivation. For mining slaves like him, each day was a slow race towards death.His hands, wrapped in tattered cloth hardened by a mixture of sweat and blood, clawed at the blackish stone surface. The old iron hammer in his grip felt heavy as a mountain. Thud. Thud. Thud. The monotonous, despairing rhythm echoed in the narrow tunnel, lit only by the faint glow of "Glow Moss" growing on the ceiling."Faster, you maggots! The overseer wants ten carts filled by sunset!"The shout of Overseer Gao, his voice hoarse and full of malice, cut through the air. His whip cracked near the head of an old slave next to Lin Feng, leaving a red streak on his gaunt back. The old slave st

Hook:The darkness in the tunnel wasn't merely an absence of light; it was an entity. It pressed against Lin Feng's eyes, filling his lungs with air that was damp and centuries old. On his back, Chen's unconscious body grew heavier with every upward step. The rasp of his own breath and the frantic hammering of his heart were the only sounds accompanying him—save for the low, persistent thrum emanating from the Heaven's Core Shard embedded in his chest.That thrum was no longer a foreign sensation. In the chaotic hours since the purple stone had fused with him, it had become his internal metronome, the marker of his new life's rhythm. And now, it guided him. It pulsed faster as he reached a junction, then slowed when he chose the wrong fork, as if the stone held a memory of this place.The Verdant Mountain Observatory, Lin Feng thought, recalling the words from Li Yao's journal. I am walking in its ruins.After what felt like an hour of climbing and twisting, his still-aching legs bega

Hook: The smell of the impromptu market was an assault on the senses—a mélange of roasting meat, foreign spices, sweat, dust, and beneath it all, the faint sweet-rotten scent of unstable Fracture Energy. Lin Feng pulled the rough hood made from his lower slave-robe tatters further over his face, hiding his most distinctive features. Beside him, Chen followed suit, though his movements were nervous, his eyes constantly darting towards the wanted posters pasted on the notice board. They had managed to slip into the crowd. Using a bit of mud to dirty their skin and hair, and a hunched posture, they successfully looked like two unlucky, poor herb gatherers. Their capital: one rough spirit stone pried from a knife's hilt, and Lin Feng's invaluable knowledge. First target: that genuine micro Heaven's Core Shard. The old merchant's stall was bustling. Three purple stones lay on a piece of worn velvet. The two fakes shone with an excess

Hook: "Lin Feng!" The voice cut through the chaos of the mine tunnel like a whip. It wasn't Supervisor Gao's raspy shout, but a deeper, more authoritative voice, shrouded by a rumble of dense Qi energy. An Elder. The word struck Lin Feng's mind harder than any explosion. They hadn't just sent guards. The Verdant Vine Sect had dispatched a Foundation Establishment Elder to hunt down two runaway slaves. It was an immense insult to their dignity, and proof of just how valuable the secret Lin Feng carried was—or how dangerous they considered him. He and Chen were in a narrow ascending corridor, about fifty meters from the mural chamber and the secret exit. Their hurried footsteps echoed off the stone. But now, behind them, Lin Feng could feel the pressure—a spiritual presence like a massive boulder rolling down the tunnel, pushing air and dust ahead. Threat Scan (External): · Source:

The Half-Moon Outpost was a swamp.Not a water swamp, but a swamp of humanity, greed, and unstable energy. The same smell as before—roasting meat, sweat, dust, and beneath it all, the cloying-rotten scent of Fracture Energy—hit Lin Feng more strongly as they approached the wooden palisade. This time, however, there was a new addition: the scent of fresh blood and seared flesh.The chaos of that morning was still palpable. A stall near the gate had been burned, leaving only a blackened wooden skeleton. A few grim-faced guards were clearing something large and scaly—a Fracture-Hound bigger than the one they had faced, with three severed heads—from the pathway. It seemed last night's energy surge had driven the creatures closer to the settlement."Keep your heads low, don't make eye contact," Yun Xue whispered, her hood pulled up to cover her hair and distinctively elegant features. Lin Feng and Chen followed her lead, trying to mimic the weary, wary gait of