Shen Yuan woke with a start, the stale air of the cavern clinging to his throat like poison.
His body still hurt. Every muscle ached as though he'd been ground against the canyon walls. But he could move, however clumsily, and that was enough.
He pushed himself upright. The corpses slumped along the cavern walls stared back at him, hollow-eyed reminders of what waited if he faltered. He forced himself to look away and began picking his way toward the faint glow of the exit.
The System's voice stirred as he stepped into the passageway.
You're leaving already?
Shen Yuan hesitated. "If I stay here, I'll starve."
True.
The System's presence was a cold pressure behind his thoughts. But don't assume the outside is any safer. You saw the dead in this cavern. There are hundreds more just like them.
"I have to try," he said quietly.
Then be prepared for what you're about to see.
The tunnel narrowed into a jagged slit of light. Shen Yuan shielded his eyes as he stepped out into the canyon.
And froze.
The world beyond the cavern was worse than he'd imagined.
Grave Omega stretched endlessly in all directions, a desolate star system choked with floating asteroids and shattered moons. The canyon he stood in was only one scar among thousands, carved through black stone as though by the hand of a god.
Everywhere he looked, there were bodies.
Slumped against jagged boulders. Half-buried in ash. Drifting silently in the low-gravity air above the canyon floor.
Some had clearly been dead for decades, their robes eaten away by wind and dust. Others looked as if they had died only hours ago, their expressions still twisted in agony.
Shen Yuan's chest tightened.
"Why?" he whispered.
The System answered.
Because this is a prison.
He turned slowly, scanning the horizon. "A… prison?"
Yes.
The System's voice was as even as ever, but the weight behind its words was heavier now. The Anti-System Alliance calls this place Grave Omega. They don't waste resources on executions. Instead, they throw their unwanted here. Cultivators, mortals, criminals—anyone they deem too dangerous, too inconvenient. They let the suppression field do the rest.
Shen Yuan looked back at the canyon littered with corpses. "Political prisoners."
War criminals. Traitors. Sect leaders who challenged the Alliance's authority. The System paused. Anyone who made themselves a threat.
Shen Yuan's hands curled into fists. "And there's no way out?"
Not without help.
The System's voice sharpened. The suppression field doesn't just cut off spiritual energy. It blocks space-rending arts, formation anchors, even the most sophisticated teleportation talismans. If you don't leave through the way you came in—the Alliance's transports—you don't leave at all.
Shen Yuan's stomach knotted. "So we're just supposed to rot here."
Exactly.
He walked along the canyon floor in silence, weaving through the remains.
Some of the corpses still carried storage rings, cracked and empty. Others clutched weapons whose cores had long since dulled. Shen Yuan forced himself to ignore them. He needed food, water, anything useful, but picking through the dead felt like desecration.
The System's voice broke through his thoughts.
You're sentimental. That will get you killed.
"I'm not a scavenger," Shen Yuan muttered.
Then you're a fool.
The voice cut like a blade. Do you think the others out here share your principles? Every cultivator in Grave Omega is starving, desperate. They will carve the rings from your fingers the moment you let your guard down.
Shen Yuan didn't answer. He didn't need to—the System was right.
A sound carried through the canyon, faint but distinct: footsteps.
Shen Yuan dropped into a crouch behind a broken boulder. The footsteps grew louder, accompanied by voices.
"…found three more dead near the ridge. No rings left on them."
"Check the storage bags again. Someone's getting sloppy."
Shen Yuan peered over the rock.
Two cultivators trudged along the canyon floor, their clothes tattered, weapons drawn. They were gaunt, their faces hollow from hunger, but the way they moved told Shen Yuan they were still dangerous.
The System's voice whispered in his mind.
Scavengers.
Shen Yuan's breath caught.
They pick over the dead. Or the living, if they're weak enough.
As if to prove the point, one of the scavengers jabbed at a half-buried body with his spear, rolling it over.
"Empty," the man muttered.
"Then burn it," the other said flatly.
A spark of qi ignited in his palm, and the corpse was reduced to ash.
Shen Yuan's jaw tightened.
Do not get involved, the System said. You're not ready.
"I'm not going to let them—"
You can't help the dead, Shen Yuan. Survive first. Then act.
He stayed hidden, his fists clenched, until the scavengers moved on. Only then did he step back out into the open, his pulse still racing.
The System's voice pressed on, quieter now.
This is what Grave Omega does. It starves you, it isolates you, and it turns everyone into predators.
Shen Yuan looked out at the desolation, the endless canyons filled with bones and ash.
He wanted to deny it. He wanted to tell himself he was different.
But the suppression field pressed heavier on his shoulders, a reminder that survival would not be kind.
We will need strength, the System said. Yours, and mine. Without it, you'll be nothing more than another corpse in the canyon.
Shen Yuan nodded slowly, the weight of the promise settling in his chest.
"I'll survive," he whispered.
Good.
The System's voice sharpened with resolve.
Then we start preparing.