Dark. Cold. And the stinging stench of death."It hurts... damn it, it really... hurts..."Ravian’s voice sounded hoarse, almost like sandpaper scraping against stone. He tried to move his fingertips, but the only sensation that returned was a sickening wave of pain. His body felt like a lump of flesh that had been repeatedly struck by a giant hammer."Am I still alive?" he whispered to the darkness. "Why... why am I still breathing?"He tried to open his eyes. At first, there were only white spots dancing before his vision, but slowly, the silhouette of jagged rocks began to take shape. He lay on damp, hard ground. Ground that had not been touched by sunlight for thousands of years."Cough! Cough!"Fresh blood sprayed from his mouth, soaking the dust beneath his face. Every time he coughed, his broken ribs felt like they were stabbing his lungs from the inside.Kaelan... Xuelan...Those names flashed through his mind, bringing with them a blaze of fury hotter than his physical pain.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaakh!"Ravian’s scream pierced the silence of the Abyss of Soul Annihilation, louder than the howling winds that usually haunted the place. His body floated a few inches off the ground, trapped in a wildly spinning cocoon of black fire. Every second felt like a year of torture in the deepest hell."System! Stop! My head... it feels like it’s going to explode!" Ravian screamed in a hoarse voice."Synchronization of the Demon Bone Structure has reached ten percent," the System’s cold voice echoed, ignoring its host's pleas. "If I stop now, you will become a pile of boneless meat. Do you wish to return to being the trash that crawls at Kaelan Arkana’s feet?""D-damn you..." Ravian hissed, his tears evaporating instantly from the extreme heat. "Don’t mention... that bastard’s name!"Crack!The sound was so loud it echoed off the canyon walls. Ravian’s spine shattered into a dozen pieces, only to be forcibly reconnected by strands of black fire crawling into the gaps of his ne

"System, where are the corpses of the cultivators you mentioned? I want to taste the human essence."Ravian's voice sounded cold, trembling with a hunger he had only just realized. Beneath his feet, the carcass of the Shadow Predator began to evaporate into black ash."Walk three hundred steps to the north, through the narrow gap behind that stone pillar," the System replied in its usual flat tone. "There lies an area called the 'Soul Estuary.' It is the deepest gravitational point where corpses from the surface usually get stuck before being completely destroyed."Ravian began to walk. His new legs stepped on the ground with terrifying precision. He no longer stumbled. Every step felt light, as if he were dancing upon death."Soul Estuary..." Ravian murmured while parting the thick mist with a wave of his hand. "How many people have been cast down here like me?""Thousands over the last ten millennia," the System replied. "However, only you have a contract with me. For the others, th

Ravian had just dug his claws into the damp stone wall when the ground beneath him exploded. The vibration was so violent that it toppled stone pillars that had stood for thousands of years. Black dust billowed high, obscuring a view that was already extremely limited."Do you think this abyss would let go of its best prey just like that, Host?" the System's voice echoed with a tone that almost resembled a warning."What now?" Ravian landed back on the ground in a defensive stance. His red eyes glinted sharply behind the dust."The true owner of the house has awakened. You were too noisy during your practice earlier."From behind the fog of dust, a heat that suffocated the lungs began to creep in. A thick stench of sulfur pierced his nose, followed by a growl that sounded more like the rumble of a volcano. A pair of giant, glowing orange eyes opened from the darkness, each the size of a human head."Hell-Crust Beast," the System muttered. "The true ruler of the abyss floor. It does no

Surface winds blew hard, bringing the scent of pine and wet earth that felt foreign to Ravian's lungs. He remained seated on the edge of the cliff, letting the stinging sunlight sweep across his face, which was now paler and thinner. His eyes narrowed, staring at the silhouettes of Azure City's towers rising on the western horizon, shimmering like jewels under the blue sky."One year," Ravian whispered. His voice cracked, carried away by the wind. "This world keeps moving as if nothing happened.""You expected the world to stop spinning just because a cripple was thrown into a filthy hole?" The System's voice echoed coldly in his head. "Wake up, Host. Do not be a poet when you should be a butcher."Ravian gripped the grass beneath his palms. He felt it life under his fingertips yet his heart still felt like frozen stone. "I was just remembering, System. Remembering the pain when my ribs were crushed in this very place.""Memories are a burden if you do not turn them into a sword," the