Shen Yuan moved carefully along the canyon floor, keeping to the shadows where the jagged rock walls cast deep, concealing slashes of darkness.
He had left the site of the ambush behind, but the image of the scavengers' bodies still clung to him like a ghost.
You should move faster, the System said, its voice curling through his thoughts. They will find those corpses soon enough.
"I know," Shen Yuan muttered. His body still ached from the fight, but the weight of the scavengers' faction hanging over him was heavier than his wounds.
Good. That fear will keep you alive. But you need more than fear, Shen Yuan. You need information.
He didn't argue. Information was as precious as water in Grave Omega. And right now, he knew almost nothing.
The canyon opened suddenly, the sheer walls splitting into a wide, uneven expanse. Shen Yuan crouched behind a ridge of stone and stared.
There were people here. Dozens of them.
They had clustered at the edge of what looked like a massive fissure, a natural choke point surrounded by half-collapsed ruins. Ashwater pooled in the low ground, catching the pale light of distant shattered moons.
Shen Yuan watched from a distance as a group of cultivators, gaunt and hollow-eyed, lined up to receive small clay jars from a group of enforcers.
The Bone Court, the System murmured.
"Bone Court?" Shen Yuan asked under his breath.
The largest faction in Grave Omega. They control the Nexus—the central hub of the canyon system. They hoard resources and force everyone else to pay tribute for scraps.
Shen Yuan squinted. The enforcers wore crude armor assembled from scavenged talismans and spirit beast bones. At their belts hung glowing brands, which they pressed against the necks of the cultivators in line as they received their rations.
He watched one man hesitate, and the enforcer slammed him to the ground, searing the brand into his flesh. The smell of burning skin carried even to Shen Yuan's position.
If you accept their brand, you live under their rule, the System said coldly. If you resist, you starve or die.
Shen Yuan's jaw tightened. "And people agree to this?"
Some do. Most have no choice.
A shout cut through the air.
Shen Yuan ducked lower as a group of cultivators was dragged into the clearing. Their hands were bound behind their backs, their faces bloodied.
The enforcers tossed them at the feet of a towering man draped in ragged robes, a jagged bone crown affixed to his head.
"The Court King," the System said. He rules the Nexus.
The man studied the captives in silence before raising his hand.
A single word.
The enforcers executed them on the spot, their corpses dragged to the edge of the fissure and cast into the depths.
Shen Yuan swallowed hard.
This is the law of Grave Omega, the System said. Submit or die.
He wanted to look away, but the lesson was carved into his mind.
The System shifted his attention. Watch carefully. The Bone Court isn't the only power here.
Shen Yuan scanned the edges of the clearing. A smaller group of cultivators loitered near the ruins, crimson paint smeared across their faces. They didn't line up for rations; instead, they moved freely, their presence unchallenged.
"The Red Fang Sect," the System explained. They thrive by hunting the weak and selling captives to the Bone Court for resources. A parasite faction.
Shen Yuan's stomach twisted as he realized he had seen their work before—the mutilated corpses strung up outside collapsed caves, bait for the desperate.
"And everyone else?" he asked quietly.
The Dregs. Loners. Scavenger bands. Those too weak or proud to swear to the Bone Court or the Red Fang.
Shen Yuan exhaled slowly. "Like me."
Exactly like you, the System said. And you've already made enemies. The scavengers you killed belonged to the Dregs, but they paid tribute to the Bone Court. Their deaths will not go unanswered.
Shen Yuan stayed hidden for hours, watching the distribution of resources. He memorized faces, routines, and the location of supply caches guarded by the Bone Court.
Every so often, his gaze drifted to the brand searing on the captives' necks.
He couldn't. He wouldn't.
But the emptiness in his stomach, the ache in his limbs, reminded him of what defiance cost.
You need strength, the System said. And strength requires resources. That means you must either join a faction or steal from one.
Shen Yuan didn't answer.
You're too weak to remain invisible for long, the System pressed. You saw what happened to the captives. That will be you unless you act.
Shen Yuan's fists clenched. "I'm not going to kneel to them."
Then be prepared to take what you need by force.
Night fell, though the star system's fractured moons kept the canyon floor illuminated by cold, silver light. The rations had been distributed, the crowd dispersed.
Shen Yuan retreated deeper into the rocks, finding a narrow alcove where he could shelter unseen. He sat with his back against the stone, the meagre contents of the scavenged storage bags laid out before him: three half-spent qi stones, a talisman, a few strips of dried meat.
Not enough.
The Bone Court maintains a resource cache at the Nexus, the System said. If you can infiltrate it, we may be able to sustain ourselves long enough to rebuild.
Shen Yuan shook his head. "That's suicide. It's crawling with enforcers."
Then we prepare. Train your body. Restore your meridians. Learn how they move and when they're vulnerable. Because sooner or later, we will have to face them.
Shen Yuan leaned back against the stone, staring at the cold sky overhead.
He could feel the suppression field pressing heavier on his shoulders, the weight of Grave Omega's law settling like a chain around his neck.
Submit or die.
He closed his eyes and whispered the words that had become a promise.
"I'll survive."