The blue glow from the "Heavenly Forensic" System illuminated the underground laboratory like a ghost light, casting long, wavering shadows against the jars of preserved horrors. Lin Xiyao stood over the shimmering ash of the Stage 5 Mutation, her mind racing as the newly unlocked 'Soul-Essence Extraction' channeled a stream of fragmented memories directly into her consciousness. This was the transition from mere survival to the "Action" phase of their journey, where her "Golden Finger" would finally reveal the architect of the alchemical apocalypse.
[Heavenly Forensic System: Soul-Essence Analysis Complete]
Memory Fragment: A silver basin beneath a moonlit peony.
Location: The Empress's "Garden of Veiled Petals," Northern Quadrant. * Signature: A resonance of 'Lunar Miasma' ten times more concentrated than the Stage 5 subject.
"Xiyao," Lu Yan's voice was a low, vibrating chord of caution that echoed through the stone vaults. He had sheathed the black-lacquered spring saber, but his posture remained that of a predator on the edge of a strike, his amber eyes still flickering with the remnants of the 'Berserk' adrenaline surge. The "Stability Pill" had preserved his mind, but the physical toll of the battle had left his human form pale and drenched in a cold, metallic sweat.
"The map I found... it isn't a map of the city," Xiyao whispered, her voice a thread of cold steel in the damp air. She turned to look at the "Feral" survivors, whose amber eyes watched her with a mixture of fear and reverence, recognizing her as the one who stabilized their Alpha. "It is a map of the palace's spiritual veins. The mutation catalyst is being pumped into the capital's water supply from a ritual altar hidden directly beneath the Empress's favorite peonies".
This revelation added a layer of profound "Oriental Suspense" to their mission; they were no longer just fighting monsters in the dark, but moving against the very heart of the Ming Dynasty's power. The "Main Storyline" was now inextricably tied to the highest levels of palace intrigue, a "grand worldview design" that elevated their struggle from a local skirmish to a battle for the empire's soul.
Lu Yan stepped closer, the heat radiating from his chest a localized furnace against the subterranean chill. He looked at the medical scrolls Xiyao had recovered—the legacy of her father—and then at the physician herself. The "emotional connection" between them was no longer just a contract of mutual survival; it had become a bond of "Fated Allies," where his beast-like strength was guided by her surgical precision.
"To enter the Imperial Gardens is to walk into a trap of jade and silk," Lu Yan stated, his "responsibility" sub-personality returning as he began to formulate a tactical plan. "The shadow-guards there are not failed experiments; they are the elite, conditioned to die for the Empress without question".
"Then we will not enter as attackers," Xiyao replied, her "character growth" evident as she gripped her father's research scrolls. She reached into the iron-bound chest and pulled out a small, exquisite vial of Cold-Moon Essence. "My system tells me the Empress is obsessed with the 'Immortality Pill.' I will enter as the only physician who can explain why her 'immortals' are turning into ash".
Lu Yan's jaw tightened, his claws momentarily extending before he forced them back into a human grip. The "weak-to-strong" trope was not just about his physical evolution, but his ability to trust her to walk into the lion's den alone. "I will be in the shadows of the eaves, Xiyao. If they touch you, I will tear the garden down until not a single petal remains".
As they prepared to ascend from the underworld, Xiyao felt the "Heart-Pulse" of the beast within Lu Yan—it was steady, anchored by the 'Stability Pill' and the hope she had provided. They were moving toward a "Blood Moon Climax," and the "survival" of the Ming Dynasty now rested on a silver needle and a monster's vow.
The chapter ended with the group emerging into the moonlit outskirts of the palace, the scent of blooming peonies masking the copper tang of blood that had begun to rain from the sky.