The Bastion's dawn was eerily quiet, the air thick with the scent of impending rain and unresolved tension. Li Tian stood in the relic chamber, his obsidian hand pressed against the Primal Core. The artifact's light pulsed erratically, its golden hues threaded with veins of black—a visual echo of the corruption creeping up his neck. Across the room, Elder Ming studied a map of the Silent Expanse, his vine golem attendants shifting uneasily as thunder rumbled in the distance.
"You're certain the village can't spare more fighters?" Ming asked, though his tone suggested he already knew the answer.
Li Tian withdrew his hand from the Core, flexing his fingers as if testing their connection to his body. "Every cultivator you keep here is one less grave in the Wastes. The Accord's remnants still circle like vultures."
Xia entered, her healing qi trailing wisps of silver light. She placed a satchel of Starroot elixirs on the table, her gaze lingering on Li Tian's corrupted jawline. "The scouts returned. Nightblade symbols carved into the northern ridge. They're probing our defenses."
"Let them probe," Yan Mei said, materializing from the shadows. Her daggers gleamed with fresh venom. "We'll plant a few corpses as warnings."
Li Tian shook his head. "No. We need them complacent. If they think I'm still here, they'll hesitate."
---
**The Council's Burden**
The war council convened at noon, the chamber crowded with village leaders, alchemists, and militia captains. Renshu's hammer leaned against the table, its head still smeared with voidspawn ichor from the last raid.
"The Veil holds," Ming began, gesturing to a holographic projection of the Bastion's defenses. "But without the Core's full power, it's vulnerable to sustained assault. We need to reroute qi from the Primal Beacons to the eastern lattice."
Lira, her jade robes stained with alchemical residue, tossed a Voidsteel dagger onto the table. "My scouts can lace the perimeter with Midnight Nectar traps. Let the Nightblades *taste* their own medicine."
Goran crossed his arms, his bone staff tapping a restless rhythm. "And when they realize Li Tian's gone? Rumors spread faster than plague."
Li Tian's star-flecked eye glowed as he activated the Core's hologram. "They won't. Because you'll lead patrols in my armor." He nodded to a corner, where a suit of blackstone plate lay draped in Starroot cloth. "Yan Mei will fabricate sightings. Xia will spread word of a 'new weapon' being forged."
Xia's hands tightened around her talisman. "A lie that could kill us all."
"A necessary one," Li Tian said. He turned to Ming. "You'll have three days to prepare. Then I depart."
---
**The Celestial Mirror's Genesis**
That night, Li Tian descended into the Verdant Sanctum's deepest vault, a chamber even Elder Ming seldom visited. The walls here were lined with the Magic Emperor's relics—tarnished crowns, fractured tablets, and a circular slab of obsidian veined with celestial silver. The Celestial Mirror's frame.
"You're pushing too hard," Xia whispered, following him. Her qi brushed against the corruption now encroaching on his cheekbone. "Let Ming handle the Mirror. Focus on surviving the journey."
Li Tian placed his corrupted hand on the slab. The Primal Core's energy surged, melting silver and stone into liquid light. "The Mirror isn't just a tool. It's a leash—for the Core, and for the Hollow Star."
Visions assaulted him as he worked: the Mirror reflecting the Bastion's destruction, Ming's golems crumbling to dust, the Hollow Star's laughter echoing through a void. Sweat dripped from his brow as he channeled the Core's essence into the Mirror's surface, his veins burning.
By dawn, the artifact hovered above the Sanctum, its surface a swirling galaxy of starlight and shadow.
"It's unstable," Ming observed, shielding his eyes from the glare.
"It's alive," Li Tian corrected. "And it'll obey you."
---
**The Parting Storm**
The village gathered at the gates as Li Tian's expedition readied to depart. Goran's squad checked Voidsteel weapons, Lira's alchemical wagon hummed with volatile energy, and Renshu's hammer squad formed a protective ring around the caravan.
Yan Mei clasped Li Tian's forearm, her grip bruising. "Die out there, and I'll drag your corpse back to lecture you."
Xia pressed the jade pendant into his hand. "Come home. Whatever it takes."
Elder Ming stood apart, the Celestial Mirror's light casting his weathered face in ethereal silver. "The Bastion will hold. But hurry. The Mirror's hunger mirrors your Core's."
Li Tian mounted his Sky Shrikes, its feathers crackling with primal energy. As the caravan moved out, he glanced back—once—at the village he'd built. The Veil shimmered, the Celestial Mirror's glow a new star on the horizon.
---
**The First Test**
The Nightblades struck at dusk.
A dozen assassins materialized from the marsh mist, their blades aimed at the Veil's eastern node. Ming stood ready, the Celestial Mirror floating at his side.
"Now!" he commanded.
The Mirror's surface rippled, reflecting the assassins' forms—then unleashed their own shadows against them. The Nightblades fell, consumed by their darkness.
In the Silent Expanse, Li Tian felt the Mirror's activation like a tremor in his soul. The Hollow Star whispered, *"Clever… but fleeting."*
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