The spiral stair was not stone. It was solidified starlight, humming with a vibration that resonated in Li Tian's teeth. Each step felt alive, shifting slightly under his weight as if testing his balance. The air was frigid, thick with the ozone-tang of ancient power. Behind him, the chamber door groaned under a renewed assault—the Alpha's furious bellows mingling with the sharp chant of a human talisman. Ahead, the stairs coiled down into impossible darkness.
He had to move.
Two constructs of woven light and sharp-edged runes coalesced on the steps below, taking wolfish forms with jaws of condensed cold. They didn't breathe; they hummed. Li Tian took his first step down. The tread beneath his foot slid sideways half a span. The stair itself was a predator.
He began a controlled descent, his hand lightly grazing the central pillar for balance. His eyes scanned the steps, reading the light. Some sections pulsed with a hostile brightness, while others dimmed faintly in time with his own exhalations. He followed the dim path.
The first construct lunged, a silent, vaporous rake of claws that tore the air. Li Tian ducked, letting the blow glance off the starlight railing. The second attacked without pause, aiming for his throat. In that kill-or-die instant, he had no choice. He opened a pinpoint devour vortex in his palm, meeting the strike not to absorb, but to deflect.
The energy was a shard of ice driven into his nerves. His nails burned as if dipped in acid, and his entire forearm went numb. He didn't stop. Pivoting on the shifting step, he spiral-bled the backlash through his feet even as he continued his downward sprint. The cold, metallic aftertaste filled his mouth.
From above, a thunderous crack echoed. Stone fragments and dust snowed down the stairwell. A sliver of bloody daylight pierced the gloom—the entrance was breaking. A human voice barked a single syllable. A talisman, a flicker of yellow paper, zipped down and smacked against the stair rail three coils above.
The effect was immediate. A ripple of distorted force ran through the staircase. The section Li Tian was on tilted violently, becoming a slide. He dug in his heels, scrambling for purchase on the luminous, frictionless surface. For a heart-stopping moment, he hung over the edge of the nothingness between the coils before hauling himself back onto the steps. His chest heaved. The herders were not just waiting; they were actively steering the hunt.
Two more constructs formed ahead, smarter than the last. One positioned itself on the step below, blocking the way, while the other materialized above, harrying him from the rear. He was trapped on a shifting, hostile staircase with enemies on both sides and pursuers closing from behind.
He feigned a stumble, his foot skidding awkwardly. The construct above took the bait, striking early. Li Tian rolled under the sweeping attack, came up inside the lower construct's guard, and drove his shoulder into its chest, slamming it against the central pillar. The runes of its core flared. He didn't hesitate, striking it with a palm strike fueled by his own refined Qi. The construct shattered into a thousand dying motes of light.
The cost was a high-pitched buzz in his ears and a hitch in his breath that felt like a cracked rib. He spiral-bled on the move, the discipline now as natural as breathing. Spend only what returns.
A deep thrum pulsed through the entire staircase, a wave of concussive force that had no single source. It came from everywhere at once. There was no dodging. Li Tian acted on pure instinct. He snatched the star-metal shard from his pocket and pressed it against the railing. As the wave hit him, he channeled the brutal backlash not into his body, but through his hand and into the shard.
The shard glowed cherry-red in his palm. A wisp of acrid smoke rose as its edges blackened and curled. The heat seared his skin, but the devastating meridian-shock was averted. The shard had served as a grounding rod, but it was now a burned, brittle thing. A one-time trick.
A narrow landing opened to his left, featuring a simple door of soft light. It felt like an escape. But the sounds from above were too close—boots on the steps, guttural breathing. Going sideways was a delay. A trap. He chose down.
The final coil of the staircase was guarded. A Starlight Warden, a full head taller than the others, its body a tapestry of deeply etched, complex runes, stood with its back to the abyss. Its presence was a wall of pressure. Li Tian knew a direct fight was suicide.
He studied the steps. There was a nearly invisible seam where two sections of the stair met, a hairline fracture that pulsed out of sync with the rest. He charged the Warden, not to attack, but to provoke. It swung a massive fist. At the last second, Li Tian sidestepped, luring the creature forward. Its foot came down precisely on the seam.
In the instant of impact, Li Tian shaved a microscopic thread of the force, just enough to unbalance the giant. He dropped and swept his leg, kicking its anchored ankle. The Warden, its weight committed to the misaligned step, stumbled. With a silent roar of rage, it pitched through the gap between the stairs and vanished into the void below.
The staircase ended. Li Tian stood on the last step, overlooking a black gulf. Then, as if his victory had been a key, cold light flooded the space, illuminating what lay below.
A subterranean river, wide and raging, flowed through a cavernous canyon. Its water was not water—it was liquid scarlet mist, hissing and churning as it carved through the rock. The air shimmered with its acidic breath.
A triumphant shout came from above. A final talisman, larger than the others, struck the very top of the spiral structure.
The stairway shrieked. The solid light shattered. The world gave way.
Two heartbeats—mine and the ring's—then the river took me.