The scout team assembled at dawn at the sect's main gate. There were ten of them, all Inner Sect disciples, their auras sharp and seasoned. Li Yao recognized a few. There was the hulking Tie, his stony presence a bulwark of solidity. A lithe woman named Ling, who moved with the grace of a wind spirit, her fingers constantly tracing invisible formation patterns in the air. And leading them was Senior Brother Kang, the same inner sect disciple who had ambushed them in the forest months ago. His smile was as cruel and calculating as ever.
"Well, well," Kang said, his eyes sweeping over the group and lingering on Li Yao. "The crippled prodigy. Try not to lose your other arm out there. The beasts aren't as… precise as spatial rifts."
Li Yao ignored him, his enhanced perception already analyzing the team. Tie was a brute-force vanguard. Ling was a scout and trap-disarmer. Kang was the strong, opportunistic leader. The others were competent fighters. They were tools, pieces on a new board.
The journey to the Serpent's Spine mountains took five days. The air grew thin and cold, the landscape transforming into jagged peaks that clawed at the sky like a dragon's backbone. The ambient Qi was indeed wild, thick with the untamed essence of earth and metal, and something else… a faint, venomous undercurrent.
"Environmental Analysis: High-density Earth/Metal attribute Qi. Contaminated with residual demonic aura, source unknown. Caution: Prolonged exposure may lead to spiritual corrosion."
This was no simple spirit stone mine. Something was wrong here.
Their mission was to clear a path to the suspected mine entrance and establish a forward base. The first two days were routine. They fought off packs of Iron-Hide Wolves and dispersed swarms of Razor-Winged Bats. Li Yao fought with orthodox efficiency, using the [Soaring Cloud Sword Art] with a flawless, soulless precision that earned him no praise but no criticism either. He conserved his energy, his true focus on absorbing the wild Qi.
His Stellar Core, a fusion of earth and star, thrived in this environment. The dense earth Qi fed its foundation, while the wild, almost chaotic energy was refined by the stellar furnace at its heart. He could feel himself inching closer to the Mid Stage of Core Formation, where his energy would stabilize completely and his body would begin its true, independent regeneration.
On the third day, they found the first anomaly.
It was a clearing where the ground was not stone or soil, but a smooth, obsidian-like substance. In the center stood a petrified tree, its branches twisted into agonized shapes. From its bark wept a thick, black sap that smelled of rot and ozone.
Ling held up a hand, her face pale. "This isn't natural. This is… corruption. A high-level demonic beast has been here. Recently."
Kang frowned, his arrogance tempered by caution. "What kind of beast leaves corruption like this?"
Before anyone could answer, the ground trembled. From the petrified tree, the black sap began to bubble and coalesce. It pulled itself from the bark, forming a shifting, humanoid figure with too many limbs and a head that was a single, glowing red eye. It had no distinct aura, only a chilling absence, a hole in the world's spiritual fabric.
"Target Identified: 'Void-Spawn.' A minor demonic entity born from spatial corruption and concentrated negative energy. Immune to conventional elemental attacks. Weakness: Purifying light, high-order spatial/law-based manipulation."
The creature moved, not by walking, but by flickering, disappearing and reappearing a few feet closer each time. It was fast.
"Form up!" Kang yelled, a blade of compressed fire appearing in his hand. He lunged, his attack passing straight through the Void-Spawn's torso without effect. The creature didn't even seem to notice.
Tie roared, slamming his fists into the ground. A shockwave of earth Qi rippled out, but the Void-Spawn simply phased through it.
Panic began to set in. Their attacks were useless. The creature flickered into the midst of them, a shadowy limb lashing out. It passed through a disciple's chest armor as if it weren't there. The disciple screamed, not in pain, but in horror, as a black, necrotic patch spread from the point of contact, his life force visibly draining away.
They were outmatched. This was not a beast; it was a phenomenon.
Li Yao watched, his mind cold and clear. The System's analysis echoed in his thoughts. Immune to conventional elements. Weak to high-order manipulation.
He had two options. He could reveal his spatial abilities, his comprehension of law. It would save the team, but it would expose his greatest secret to Kang and the others. Or he could let them die, preserving his secret but failing the mission and losing potential allies, however reluctant.
The Void-Spawn flickered towards Ling, who was frantically trying to erect a barrier of wind.
There was no time for calculation. Only instinct.
Li Yao stepped forward, putting himself between Ling and the creature. He didn't summon a sword of light. He didn't channel a purifying flame. He simply raised his spatial hand—the one made of solidified nothingness.
The Void-Spawn's limb, designed to phase through matter and spirit, met his spatial arm.
Two voids collided.
There was no sound, but a violent, silent shockwave erupted from the point of contact. The very light bent around them. The Void-Spawn recoiled, its single red eye flickering with something akin to confusion and pain. Li Yao's spatial arm shuddered, the delicate weave threatening to come apart. The feedback was a psychic ice-pick driven into his brain.
He had its attention.
"All of you! Combine your energy! Not to attack it, to me! Feed my core!" Li Yao shouted, his voice cutting through the panic.
They stared at him, bewildered.
"Do it!" Kang roared, a flicker of understanding in his eyes. He was a schemer, but he was not a fool. He saw that Li Yao had done what none of them could.
A torrent of energy—fire, earth, wind, metal—slammed into Li Yao's back. It was chaotic, conflicting, a storm of raw power that would have torn a lesser core apart. But his was a Stellar Core, designed for pressure, for conflict.
He funneled it all, not into a technique, but into his comprehension of law. He focused on the [Law of Spatial Anchoring], but pushed it further, into a new, nascent understanding the System was frantically generating.
[Law of Energetic Nullification]. Understanding: 0.01%.
He couldn't destroy the Void-Spawn. But he could unmake the space it currently occupied.
He focused all the borrowed power, all his will, into a single point in the air directly in front of the creature. He didn't create a blast; he created a cessation. A tiny, perfect sphere where the laws of energy transfer simply stopped working.
The Void-Spawn, mid-flicker, tried to enter that sphere.
It couldn't. The void it was made of met a void of function. Its form destabilized, its essence unable to cohere. With a silent, pathetic implosion, the creature collapsed in on itself and winked out of existence.
The clearing was silent. The black, corrupted tree began to crumble into dust.
The torrent of energy from the other disciples cut off. Li Yao swayed on his feet, his core throbbing, his spatial arm flickering weakly. He had nearly burned out his spiritual roots.
Ling was staring at him, her eyes wide. Tie looked at him with a new, grudging respect. The other disciples looked at him as if he were a monster.
Senior Brother Kang walked up to him, his expression unreadable. "That was not a Soaring Cloud technique."
"No," Li Yao rasped. "It wasn't."
Kang studied him for a long moment, then a slow, calculating smile spread across his face. "Interesting. It seems the stories about you are true." He clapped Li Yao on the shoulder, a gesture that was both congratulatory and possessive. "Don't worry, Junior Brother. Your secret is safe with me. A weapon like that… it's too valuable to report. We'll just say we worked together to purify the corruption."
The message was clear: Kang now owned him in a different way. He had seen the heresy and would use it as leverage.
Li Yao met his gaze, too exhausted to care. He had survived. He had protected the team, albeit for his own reasons. And in that moment of extreme pressure, he had taken another minuscule step on the Law Path.
The mine entrance was just ahead, promising untold resources. But it was also guarded by things that defied conventional cultivation. The Serpent's Spine was not just a resource; it was a trial. And Li Yao had just passed the first, most terrifying test.