The Bleak Wastes stretched before Li Tian's expedition like a scarred and ancient beast, its cracked earth hissing with residual qi. The Sky Shrikes circled overhead, their keen eyes scanning for threats, while the caravan of elite cultivators advanced in formation. At the front rode Goran, his bone staff slung across his back, his single eye narrowed against the dust-laden wind. Beside him, Yan Mei adjusted the Voidsteel bracers on her wrists, her daggers gleaming with Lira's latest toxin.
Li Tian's obsidian hand gripped the reins of his Shrike, the Primal Core's energy humming beneath his skin. Xia rode close behind, her healing qi a quiet pulse in the suffocating air.
"Stay sharp," Goran growled. "The Wastes don't forgive hesitation."
---
**The First Blood**
The attack came at midday.
A pack of sandwyrms erupted from the earth, their serrated jaws snapping at the Shrikes' talons. The creatures were all sinew and rage, their scales fused with jagged crystals that refracted the harsh sunlight.
"Flank left!" Li Tian barked, channeling the Core's energy into a shockwave that cratered the ground beneath the lead wyrm. Yan Mei leapt from her mount, daggers slashing at the creature's underbelly. Venom hissed as it met wyrm-blood, melting through crystal and flesh.
Goran's bone staff struck like a viper, shattering the second wyrm's spine. "Weaklings!" he spat. "The Wastes used to breed *real* threats."
A third wyrm lunged at Xia, its maw wide enough to swallow her whole. Li Tian's corrupted hand seized its throat, primal energy devouring its essence until it crumbled to ash.
"Move!" he ordered, remounting. "They'll draw more."
The group pressed onward, leaving the wyrms' carcasses to the scavengers.
---
**The Ghost Pass**
By dusk, they reached the Shattered Peaks—a labyrinth of razor-edged cliffs and unstable rock. The path narrowed to a treacherous ledge, the wind howling like a vengeful spirit. Below, a chasm yawned, its depths swallowing the light.
"Tie the Shrikes," Li Tian commanded. "We climb on foot."
Yan Mei secured a Voidsteel line to an outcrop. "One misstep, and you'll be picking bone shards from the abyss."
The ascent was brutal. The rock shifted underfoot, and the air thinned, qi-starved and oppressive. Halfway up, a tremor split the ledge. A cultivator named Jiro slipped, his scream echoing as he vanished into the dark.
"No time to mourn," Goran snapped, hauling himself onto a stable platform. "Keep climbing!"
At the summit, they found the remnants of a shrine—a stone archway etched with the Magic Emperor's sigil. Li Tian's corrupted hand brushed the glyphs, awakening a holographic map of the Wastes.
"The Silent Expanse lies beyond the Scorchwind Plains," he said, the Hollow Star's whisper threading his words. *"So close…"*
---
**The Ambush**
Nightfall brought no respite.
The group camped in a hollow between boulders, the Shrikes tethered above. Xia tended to minor wounds while Yan Mei set toxin traps.
"Rest while you can," Goran muttered, sharpening his staff. "The real predators hunt at night."
They came silently—Nightblade assassins, their presence masked by shadow qi. The first died screaming as Yan Mei's trap melted his legs. The rest swarmed, blades aimed at Li Tian.
Goran intercepted two, his staff cracking skulls. Yan Mei danced through the fray, daggers finding throats. Li Tian's corrupted arm flared, seizing an assassin mid-lunge.
"Who sent you?" he demanded, primal energy peeling back the man's mental shields.
The answer came in a flash: *the Hollow Star's sigil*, burning in the assassin's mind.
"They're not Nightblades," Li Tian realized. "They're *Hollowborn*."
The assassin grinned, his eyes void-black. Then his body disintegrated, consumed by shadow.
---
**Echoes of the Mirror**
Far to the south, Elder Ming stood before the Celestial Mirror, its surface rippling with the Bastion's defenses. A horde of voidspawn battered the Veil, their claws screeching against the lattice.
"Now," Ming whispered, channeling his qi.
The Mirror reflected the creatures' corruption, amplifying it until they imploded. But the toll was immediate—Ming's hand aged decades in seconds, his veins blackening.
"Li Tian…" he rasped, collapsing. "Hurry."
---
**The Hollow Star's Whisper**
As dawn tinged the Wastes crimson, Li Tian's vision blurred. The Hollow Star's voice crescendoed, no longer a whisper but a roar.
*"You cannot outrun me. The Expanse is my cradle—and your tomb."*
Ahead, the Scorchwind Plains churned with firestorms, their fury visible even at a distance.
"We cross today," Li Tian ordered, mounting his Shrike.
Yan Mei eyed his trembling hand. "You won't survive it."
"Then I'll die *forward*."
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