Shen Yuan crept closer to the Nexus.
The Bone Court's stronghold was even larger up close. Half-collapsed ruins framed the canyon's heart, jagged stone spires rising like teeth around a broad central square. Fires burned in makeshift braziers, casting long shadows across crude wooden platforms where enforcers barked orders.
He crouched behind a crumbled wall, watching as brands were pressed onto the necks of new captives. Those who submitted were thrown into the crowd with the rest, their eyes hollow but alive. Those who resisted were executed on the spot.
He forced himself to watch.
He had to understand the Bone Court if he wanted to survive.
This is their power, the System murmured in his mind. Control through fear and scarcity.
Shen Yuan's gaze followed a cart being wheeled into a fortified chamber near the square. Clay jars and satchels bulged with resources—qi stones, purified ashwater, spirit herbs.
"That's the resource cache," he whispered.
Yes. They control every drop of water, every scrap of food, every cultivator's survival. Without it, the Nexus collapses.
Shen Yuan's fists tightened.
You can't just steal from them, the System warned. Not yet. The Bone Court has over a hundred enforcers at the Nexus. You'd be dead before you crossed the square.
"I know," Shen Yuan muttered.
Then we prepare. Watch. Learn their rotations, their routines. Every weakness we exploit brings us closer to that cache.
A scream split the night.
Shen Yuan tensed as a lone figure was dragged into the square. He was young, barely more than a boy, his wrists bound behind his back.
"Caught him stealing," one of the enforcers shouted. "Tried to run with a brand still fresh on his neck."
The Court King stepped forward from the shadows, bone crown gleaming in the firelight. He didn't speak.
He didn't have to.
The boy's head rolled moments later, the execution swift and unceremonious. His body was tossed into the fissure at the edge of the square, vanishing into the abyss below.
Shen Yuan bit the inside of his cheek until he tasted blood.
He was about to retreat when movement caught his eye.
Two enforcers were dragging another captive through a side alley, a gaunt woman barely clinging to consciousness. She wasn't branded.
She wouldn't be.
The alley was quieter than the square, the enforcers confident no one would interfere.
Don't even think about it, the System hissed.
Shen Yuan moved anyway.
He waited until they reached the alley's end, the woman slumping forward as they shoved her to her knees. One enforcer reached for his blade.
Shen Yuan struck from the shadows.
The spear he'd scavenged from the dead scavengers punched cleanly through the first enforcer's throat. He yanked it free as the second turned, wide-eyed, and swung wildly.
Shen Yuan ducked under the slash and drove the butt of the spear into the man's knee. Bone cracked. He finished it with a thrust to the chest.
The alley was silent again.
You fool, the System snarled. You've just left a trail straight to us.
Shen Yuan knelt beside the woman. Her eyes fluttered open, bloodshot and fearful.
"I'm not going to hurt you," he said softly, cutting her bonds.
She tried to speak, but only a rasp came out.
"Can you walk?"
She nodded weakly.
We should leave her, the System said coldly. She'll slow us down.
"I'm not leaving her," Shen Yuan snapped.
They slipped out of the Nexus under cover of darkness, the woman leaning heavily against him. She was barely more than a wraith, her ribs sharp under torn robes, but she kept moving, step by painful step.
By the time they reached a safe alcove in the outer canyon, dawn was creeping over the fractured moons.
Shen Yuan lowered her carefully to the ground.
"Thank you," she whispered.
He gave her a small nod. "What's your name?"
"Yun Xue."
"Why were they going to kill you?"
She hesitated. "Because I wouldn't kneel. The Bone Court brands everyone. They call it protection, but it's slavery. I'd rather die than wear their mark."
Shen Yuan understood the sentiment all too well.
"Then you can't go back," he said.
Her eyes filled with tears. "I don't have anywhere else to go."
You've just inherited her problem, the System said. And it's worse than you think.
Shen Yuan frowned. "What do you mean?"
I overheard the enforcers as you fought, the System said. The Bone Court is planning a purge.
Shen Yuan's blood ran cold. "A purge?"
They're moving against the Dregs—the scattered loners and scavenger bands. Anyone not branded will be hunted down and wiped out.
Yun Xue's eyes widened as she listened.
"They're going to kill everyone outside the Nexus," she whispered.
Yes, the System said. And you are very much outside.
Shen Yuan sat back against the canyon wall, the reality pressing in like the suppression field itself.
He had barely survived a fight with three scavengers. He couldn't fight the Bone Court's purge.
But if he did nothing, he would be the next body cast into the fissure.
You have a choice, the System said. Run, and hope you can hide until the purge ends. Or gain strength—fast—and meet them on your terms.
Shen Yuan looked at Yun Xue, trembling and hollow-eyed, and at the canyon beyond where he knew dozens like her were scattered.
He couldn't run.
"I'll survive," he said, the words steady despite the fear crawling in his chest.
Then you will need power, the System said. And power comes at a price.
Shen Yuan closed his eyes, knowing what the System meant.
He had seen the price already.