The relic chamber hummed with the Primal Core's restless energy, its light casting jagged shadows across walls etched with ancient glyphs. Li Tian knelt before the scroll Lira had uncovered, its parchment brittle and stained with what might have been blood. The map's ink shimmered under the Core's glow, revealing hidden contours—a mountain range shaped like a serpent's spine, a valley veiled in perpetual mist, and at its heart, a tower labeled in the Magic Emperor's cipher: *Silent Expanse*.
Elder Ming's gnarled finger traced the glyphs. "These markings… they're warnings. *Beware the Hollow Star's cradle.*"
Xia leaned over the scroll, her healing qi brushing the parchment. "The Magic Emperor's final bastion. If the legends are true, it holds the key to controlling the Core—or destroying it."
Li Tian's obsidian hand hovered above the map. The corruption had spread to his temple, veins of void-black threading through his skin like cracks in glass. "We need to reach it before the Accord's remnants do. Or worse—the Hollow Star."
A knock interrupted them. Goran stood at the chamber's entrance, his bone staff dripping marsh water. "Scouts reported movement near the Shattered Peaks. Nightblade assassins, maybe. They're heading northeast."
"Toward the Expanse," Ming muttered. "They know."
---
**The Artifact's Awakening**
That night, Li Tian dreamt in cipher.
Visions of the Magic Emperor consumed him—the ruler standing atop a crumbling tower, the Hollow Star's tendrils spearing his chest. *"You cannot outrun destiny,"* the Emperor rasped, his body dissolving into the Core. *"The Expanse is both prison and key."*
Li Tian awoke gasping, the scroll fused to his corrupted hand. Its ink had rearranged into coordinates, searing themselves into his memory.
"The Silent Expanse lies three weeks' journey through the Bleak Wastes," he announced at dawn's war council. "We leave in two days."
Yan Mei's dagger pinned a map of the Wastes to the table. "That's suicide. The Wastes are crawling with voidspawn and rogue cultivators."
Lira smirked, holding up a vial of Midnight Nectar. "Which is why you'll need *these*. Enhanced with Voidsteel shavings. One drop melts flesh; two, stone."
Goran hefted his staff. "I'll lead the vanguard. My clan once navigated the Wastes. What's left of them, anyway."
Xia's qi flared. "Li Tian can't go. The corruption—"
"Will kill me if I stay," he interrupted. The Primal Core pulsed in agreement.
---
**The Caravan of Shadows**
Preparations began in earnest. Lira's workshop churned out weapons and antidotes, while Goran drilled a handpicked squad in Wastes survival tactics. Renshu fortified the village's defenses, his hammer strikes echoing like war drums.
"You'll need this," Ming said, presenting Li Tian with a cloak woven from Starroot fibers and Voidsteel thread. "It'll mask your qi signature. Even the Hollow Star's gaze may falter."
Xia pressed a jade pendant into his hand—a healing talisman fused with Starroot essence. "Don't make me regret this."
The night before departure, Li Tian stood atop the Tower of Ascension, watching the Bastion's lights flicker like earthbound stars. Yan Mei joined him, her daggers gleaming.
"You're leaving Ming in charge?"
"He's the only one who understands the Core's duality." Li Tian's star-flecked eye narrowed. "And you'll keep him honest."
Yan Mei snorted. "If he steps out of line, I'll plant a dagger where the sun doesn't shine."
---
**The Journey Begins**
At dawn, the expedition departed—twenty cultivators, five golems, and Lira's alchemical wagon. The Bleak Wastes lived up to their name: a desolate expanse of cracked earth and jagged rock, where the air shimmered with residual qi from ancient battles.
Day one claimed a scout. A voidspawn—a creature of shifting shadows and teeth—dragged him into a fissure. Goran incinerated the beast with a flame talisman, but the man's screams lingered.
"Save your pity," Goran growled. "The Wastes feast on weakness."
Day five brought a sandstorm that scoured flesh from bone. Lira's Voidsteel barriers held, but the golems faltered, their roots withering under the assault.
"We need to reroute," Lira shouted over the howling wind. "Due east, toward the Siren's Canyons!"
Li Tian's corrupted hand glowed, parting the storm like a blade. "No. The map demands due north."
---
**The Whispering Ruins**
On day twelve, they found the first marker—a monolith of blackstone etched with the Magic Emperor's serpent-and-tower sigil. The ground trembled as Li Tian pressed his palm to the stone, the Primal Core's energy awakening ancient mechanisms.
The earth split, revealing a stairwell into darkness.
"Cheery," Lira muttered, igniting a vial of luminescent algae. "After you, oh fearless leader."
The ruins below were a labyrinth of collapsing arches and murals depicting the Magic Emperor's reign. One mural stopped Li Tian cold: the Emperor clutching the Primal Core as the Hollow Star devoured his allies.
"He tried to control it," Xia whispered. "Just like you."
At the chamber's heart lay a pedestal holding a crystalline key—its shape matching a depression in Li Tian's Core.
"Don't," Goran warned as Li Tian reached for it.
Too late.
---
**The Hollow Star's Triumph**
The key fused with the Core, unleashing a shockwave of energy. Visions bombarded Li Tian—the Silent Expanse's tower, its pinnacle housing a throne of frozen flame. The Hollow Star's voice crescendoed:
*"At last… my cradle awaits."*
When the light faded, the ruins lay in dust. The key was gone, absorbed by the Core. Li Tian's corruption had reached his eye, the star-flecked iris now half-consumed by void.
"What did you do?" Xia demanded, her healing qi clashing with the Core's wrath.
Li Tian stared at his obsidian hand. "What I had to."
---