The violet light that had erupted from the Core of the Void slowly faded, leaving behind a throbbing pain that felt like thousands of needles stabbing into Ravian’s temples. His consciousness seemed to be dragged through countless layers of shattered mirrors before, at last, he felt his feet touch a cold, damp surface again, as if the real world were trying to swallow him back whole.The thick, metallic scent of blood assaulted his nose, mixed with a chill that pierced straight to the bone. Ravian’s heart pounded wildly, his breath ragged and uneven."Ravian! You’re back!"Master Han’s voice came out hoarse, filled with unmistakable worry and bitterness. Ravian gasped for air, his white hair hanging damp over his eyes. He looked around, his vision slowly clearing, and the first thing that struck him was a sight far more horrifying than the silver desert they had crossed before.They stood before a colossal structure that looked like a mass of black bones frozen in eternal torment. The

Black dust from the ruins of the Soul Prison still drifted through the air, swirling beneath the cracked, bruised purple sky of the Spirit Realm. Ravian remained on his knees, both arms wrapped tightly around Elara’s body, which felt as light as a bundle of cotton. There was no weight, no warmth like the gentle presence his sister once carried. There was only emptiness, as if something was draining the heat from his very palms.“Elara?” Ravian whispered again. His voice was hoarse, breaking against the suffocating silence.Elara’s eyes were wide open, yet the crystal clarity that once reflected her joy had dulled, like a mirror clouded by thick fog. Her pupils did not react to movement. They stared blankly at the shattered sky above. She was still breathing, but barely, as if her lungs had forgotten how to draw air.“Master, why isn’t she answering me?” Ravian turned to Master Han, his gaze wild. “You said the formation was destroyed. I freed her!”Master Han coughed up blood as he st

Ravian’s heart pounded like a war drum on the verge of bursting, each beat carrying a bone-deep terror. The air at the border of the Forbidden Realm did not feel like air at all. It was more like a thick, cold liquid that smelled of aged metal and primordial moss untouched by sunlight for thousands of years. Every breath felt like icy blades slicing into his lungs. Ravian stepped forward, his feet sinking slightly into ground that felt like frozen flesh, as if the earth itself hungered for their souls.On his back, Elara was bound tightly with strips torn from his tattered black robe. He could feel her shallow, cold, uneven breaths brushing against his neck, each one weaker than the last, each one closer to nothingness.“Don’t loosen your grip, Elara,” Ravian whispered, his voice hoarse with fragile determination. “No matter what you hear, no matter what you see, keep your eyes closed.”“I’m scared, Brother...” Elara’s voice trembled like a dry leaf in the night wind. “This place... i

The air before the gate of the Ancient Essence Source no longer felt like something that could be breathed. It felt like shards of glass, spinning within a vortex of astral energy that could shred human lungs in an instant. Ravian stood upright, though his knees trembled. Before him, the Astral Dragon was no mere mythical creature. It was the embodiment of the wrath of dead stars.“You still wish to step forward, Void Human?” The dragon’s voice did not vibrate in his ears, it thundered within the marrow of Ravian’s bones. “One more step, and your history will be erased from the flow of time.”Ravian wiped the blood seeping from the corner of his lips. His eyes, now threaded with strands of silver, gleamed sharply. “I don’t care about history. I came for my sister’s future.”“Future is an illusion for those who cannot pass this gate,” the dragon spread its crystalline wings, warping and cracking the space around it.[Abyssal System: Warning! Enemy is using High-Level Space-Time Manipul

“Rewrite the laws? I just want my sister to live!”Ravian’s voice cracked, thick with anger and long-buried despair. Tears mixed with sweat as they ran down his dirt-streaked face, his chest heaving violently.“And you have done it,” the woman said, pointing at the pulsing silver sphere in Ravian’s hand. Her voice was gentle, yet it carried the weight of thousands of years. “But remember this, my child. Every power has its price. The Abyssal System is not merely a tool of healing. It is the seed of something far greater. Something that will challenge the Cosmic Order.”“I don’t care about your war with those gods!” Ravian shouted, his voice hoarse.“You will,” the woman replied softly, almost with pity. “Because the moment you took that essence, you declared war on all of them. They will not allow this seed of the void to grow any further.”The vision began to fade. Ravian felt his body being dragged back into reality with painful force.“Wait! What is your name?!”“Call me… the Weave