The eternal night of the Shattered Star Plains had turned dark crimson under the blood‑mist. Chen Yuan's filter lens switched instantly to its warning tint as star‑dust whipped across his face‑plate. Old Jin's steam core screamed in protest, and the astral‑trail shield flickered violently against the corrosive mist—each ripple gnawing away its glow.
"System, how long will this shield hold?" Chen Yuan shoved Selene behind a pile of fallen star fragments. In his palm, the Bone‑Fang Blade crackled with interwoven star‑trail and storm‑rune light. "Don't tell me it's another three‑minute countdown."
[Astral‑Trail Shield remaining energy: 47%]
[Alert: Blood‑mist contains Abyssal corrosion factors—natural corruption rate ×200%]
"Great—double the rate." He saw starfreckles blossoming on his forearm—the clash of astral energy and chaos pollution manifesting on his skin. "Should've stocked way more Purifiers back in Iron Fortress. Now I'm relying on Selene's Star‑Shard Mask to survive."
Five Abyssal cultists emerged from the mist. Their robes seeped with ichor, each step birthing tentacled flesh‑buds through the soles of their boots, congealing star‑dust into bone‑spikes. The chief cultist's skull had melted away, replaced by a floating sanguine orb pockmarked with eye‑like caverns—its unblinking gaze fixed on Chen Yuan's jade token.
"Outsider… thief of the sky's heart…" The orb gurgled wetly. Suddenly the surrounding mist condensed into a dozen blood‑spikes. "The Abyssal Maw's tendrils will crush any ant that dares rewrite its fate."
Chen Yuan's Astral‑Trail Perception flared—he'd pulled Selene clear by 0.3 seconds. A spike grazed his face‑plate, etching a burning scar. Old Jin's arm morphed into bone‑cannons, three muzzles spitting storm‑rune star‑shots—but they fizzled in the mist. Here, the Abyssals' specialized corruption overrode astral purification.
"Selene, throw star fragments to disrupt their Blood‑Pool resonance!" He flung five bone‑shurikens, each inscribed with reverse‑star‑trail incantations gleaned from the jade slip. "System—overclock Old Jin's core to 120%! I'll replace the parts later in Iron Fortress!"
[Warning: Overload will reduce mechanical frame lifespan by 40%]
"No time for warnings—survival first!" Sparks flew as Old Jin's firing rate spiked to three blasts per second. The star‑shots carved cleansing pockets through the mist. "And at least Nika warned me this frame's experimental—if it fries, I'll swap it out."
The chief cult orb split into seven wraiths, each locking onto a different target. Chen Yuan had to activate Bone‑Vein Resonance, summoning the Plains' buried ancestors—only to watch their bones dissolve into dust upon contact with the mist. Only the skulls etched with storm‑runes survived, their eye‑sockets flaring as makeshift lighthouses.
"So only magic‑path bones resist the mist?" He seized the chance to close on the chief orb. His Bone‑Fang Blade's Rending Wounds now dealt double damage to Cthulhu entities. "System, is this a hidden racial counter? You sure love your riddles."
High above, Selene arranged her star fragments into an astral matrix. Each shard projected an echo of Chen Yuan's silhouette, jamming the cultists' Blood‑Pool tracking. Through the swirling star‑dust, she chanted:
"Their core lies within the orb's single eye—where it links to the Abyssal Temple's Blood Pool!"
Before she finished, the rightmost cultist self‑detonated—its gore‑tendril ensnaring Old Jin's mechanical leg. Chen Yuan saw the steam‑core's gauge plunge to 23% and gears begin to fracture—he leapt into the fray himself. Channeling Astral‑Trail Soul‑Refinement, his palm's Astral Core resonated with the jade token, manifesting a translucent astral‑armor—a first true fusion of both primals.
"Taste the hybrid might of astral and magic‑path!" His Blood‑Death Claw imbued with star‑trail light tore open the cultist's torso… but he hesitated. Its core was a shattered jade slip etched with storm‑runes—the same fragment from Azure Bone's ruins.
[Alert: Abyssal Temple core secret detected—recommend immediate withdrawal]
"Core secrets? So their power truly stems from tainted magic‑path qi?" Chen Yuan cursed inwardly. "System, you could've spoiled the plot earlier—now I've wasted half the day!"
The chief cult orb reformed and sent twelve blood‑spikes toward Chen Yuan's face‑plate. At the last instant, Old Mo's caravan burst through the mist. The bronze staff he wielded carved an ethereal rift, swallowing three spikes. On his wagon yards, the Eyeball Amulet spun madly—channeling the mist into a pocket dimension.
"Clever lad, that fusion of astral and magic‑path is lovely," Old Mo chuckled, tossing him a metal box scored with astral runes. "But archaeology in a blood‑mist isn't wise—fight on!"
Chen Yuan caught the box; the system immediately awarded:
[Item obtained: Astral Anchor (temporarily fixes Blood‑Pool coordinates)]
"Generous… I nearly got cooked chasing mist!" He slammed the anchor into the ground. The mist froze around it. "Alright—what do you want from me? Azure Bone's remnant soul? Or the full jade token?"
Old Mo's brimmed hat shadowed a wry grin. As his wagon rolled over a fallen cultist corpse, a mechanical tentacle snaked from beneath, siphoning the victim's core.
"Smart folk don't lie—I want you alive in the Blood Pool. There's something your father left there."
His words struck like thunder in Chen Yuan's mind. He nearly dropped his blade. The jade token buzzed as fragmented memories pierced his mind—the museum in Earth, the moment he touched the pendant, and a middle‑aged man wearing the same token.
"You know my father?" His voice trembled, and his astral‑armor cracked. "Who is he? Why the jade token?"
"Now isn't the time!" Old Mo's wagon rattled, the blood‑mist corroding its wheels. "Take the Core to the Pool Altar. Your father's notes lie behind the seventh pillar!"
Selene gripped Chen Yuan's arm, her mask's fragments all flaring in unison.
"I see… past the altar stands a skull wearing a jade token like yours—its soul calls to you!"
"System—open the map!" Chen Yuan roared. The interface at last lit up, revealing the Abyssal Temple's outline in the Astral Core's glow. "No matter how many secrets you've hidden, I must know—why does my transmigration tie me to these magic‑path cult‑bones?"
The chief cult orb shrieked shattering the Plains' observatories; star fragments rained like meteor showers. Chen Yuan seized the Astral Core and slotted it into Old Jin's chest. Though the puppet's frame shattered, the infusion of astral energy reanimated it—wings of gears and star‑trails blossoming behind its back.
"Old Jin—one last overload!" Chen Yuan vaulted onto its shoulder. Blade and Core resonated, extending a three‑meter beam of astral‑storm light. "Selene—lock in the Pool coordinates with your mask! Old Mo, cover our flank!"
In the thickest heart of blood‑mist, the Temple's altar materialized—seven blood‑columns girding a bubbling Blood Pool. Twelve skulls, each wearing a jade token, hovered above—each resonating with Chen Yuan's own. Behind the seventh column lay a metal box etched with storm‑runes, stained with dried blood.
"Father…" his throat clenched. Astral‑Trail Perception cut out. The chief cult orb loomed overhead, its flesh‑tendril poised to pierce his face‑plate. In the nick of time, Old Jin's astral‑wings flapped, hurling Chen Yuan to the altar's rim—Old Jin vanished into the mist as its frame disintegrated into gears.
"Old Jin!" He caught a half‑broken gear bearing Nika's workshop stamp. "System—give me every skill I can use. Even if my corruption explodes, I'll get that box!"
[Temporary unlock: Star‑Magic Unification (merge astral and magic‑path energy, 5 min)]
[Warning: Side effect permanently +20% corruption]
"Drop your warnings!" Chen Yuan's pupils split into rotating gear‑star patterns. His Bone‑Fang Blade absorbed the Pool's chaos‑qi, but under the token's aegis transmuted it into pure magic‑path force. "This time, I'll rewrite the system's rules myself!"
He cleaved the seventh blood column—metallic box thudded down. As he snatched it, every Pool skull flared open its eye‑sockets. Their tokens and his aligned, projecting a full star‑map above the Pool—a true topography of the Cthulhu World—whose center was the rotwood cave where he'd first arrived.
Old Mo's wagon exploded in the distance. Laughing through the pain, he cried, "Open it—see the gift your father left you!"
Chen Yuan's fingers shook as he pried the box open. Inside lay a half‑burned parchment soaked in blood, the message scrawled in fresh crimson:
"My Yuǎn, when you read this I am already the 73rd sacrifice of the Abyssal Maw. Remember: the true power of the pendant is—"
The final words were smudged beyond legibility. His Star‑Magic Unification waned; corruption leapt past 50%, his arm sprouting crawling mech‑tendrils and bone‑scales. Selene's Star‑Shard Mask shattered into fragments, freckles coursing over her skin. Yet she gasped, pointing into the Pool's depths:
"There… still lives a cultist wearing the same jade token as you!"
As the blood‑mist receded, he saw a black‑robed figure standing in the Pool's center—its chest bore an intact token, its face eerily resembling his father, save for eyes turned into swirling chaos. The system blared:
[Detection: Father's residual consciousness—corruption purification rate +100%]
"Dad?" His voice cracked. The Astral Core flew from Old Jin's remains into the Pool's altar. "How much have you hidden from me…?"
The figure's voice blended Abyssal whispers with paternal warmth:
"Leave here and seek Matilda of the Grey‑Robes Council—she knows… the pendant's true purpose…"
Before the words finished, the Pool boiled over, bodies dissolving into writhing tendrils. Chen Yuan grabbed Selene's hand and dove toward Old Mo's wreckage as the Anchor's power ebbed, and fissures split the Plains to reveal burning Abyss below.
"System—no matter your schemes," he whispered, clutching his father's parchment as gear fragments fused into his arm, "I will uncover the truth—even if the entire Cthulhu World becomes the stepping‑stones of my magic‑path rebellion."
As the Anchor shattered, Chen Yuan and Selene plunged into the blood‑mist's heart. Yet the jade token's glow only grew fiercer—carving a trajectory across the Plains' eternal night that belonged to no system, and would define the ultimate unknowable variable of every prophecy yet spoken.