Chapter 90 — Starflow Hunt

  YiChen burst through the barrier.

  Almost at the same instant, Shadowfang expanded into his true dragon form—

  dark-gold scales unfurling as his massive body carried YiChen in a steep, rapid dive toward the fleeing Light beasts.

  “Idiot!”

  Shadowfang’s pupils reflected the stampeding herd.

  “Trying to borrow a guardian beast’s hand?”

  The Pact Mark at the back of YiChen’s neck burned hot.

  He knew—

  though Shadowfang never said it aloud—

  he could not endure watching weaker members of his kind torn apart by these filthy things.

  Ahead, eight deer-shaped Light beasts struggled through the crystal zone in blind panic.

  Behind them, dozens of Fiends surged like a black tide,

  the mist they exhaled nearly swallowing everything in their path.

  “That one is not this sovereign!”

  Shadowfang snarled.

  “I’ve never even seen its true form.”

  YiChen’s gaze lowered slightly.

  “I’ve heard of it,” he said.

  “In my previous life, the Church of Radiant Grace sent wave after wave of exorcists here.

  The casualties were catastrophic—

  only then did they barely manage to drive the guardian beast away.

  After that, the city survived by building its defensive system

  on these energy crystals.”

  He paused, voice dropping.

  “They call it—the Ephemeral Kiss Salamander.”

  “Some name it the Deathkiss of the Abyss.”

  Shadowfang let out a cold laugh.

  “Ephemeral kiss or deathkiss—it makes no difference.

  If it blocks the way, it dies.”

  Then his tone shifted.

  “And you?”

  “Did you come here for crystals in your previous life as well?”

  YiChen shook his head, his voice sinking.

  “This land belonged to the Church of Radiant Grace.

  The crystals I took came from your domain…

  Back then, it was only me and Xiao Yu.”

  The memory surged without warning,

  a dull ache pressing into his chest.

  “Those crystals,” he said quietly,

  “were enough to keep my family alive.”

  Shadowfang snorted.

  “At least you knew what was worth taking.”

  They cut through open air and reached the edge of the crystal mine.

  Ahead yawned the cavern—

  hidden by terrain in daylight,

  now revealed at night like the maw of a colossal beast.

  More than twenty meters across.

  Over ten meters high.

  Dark. Profound.

  As though opening directly into an unknown abyss.

  The air inside was cool and damp,

  laden with a strange, cloying sweetness.

  The rock ceiling was fractured rather than sealed.

  Natural fissures split it open,

  from which hung clusters of violet-root crystal trees.

  Their trunks were wholly translucent,

  as if carved from condensed night and polished with living light.

  Deep purple roots pierced into crystal veins embedded in the rock walls,

  greedily drawing power.

  Above, pale white branches spread beneath the open sky,

  gathering sunlight’s essence.

  It condensed into crystalline droplets,

  sliding down the trunks and dripping into the violet crystals below

  with soft, chiming plinks.

  The cavern was an inverted river of stars.

  Crystal formations blanketed the interior—

  deep violet layered with pale lavender,

  stacked like frozen waves.

  Bright yellow crystal pillars rose among them,

  alongside soft pink formations

  that cast shifting halos through the dim glow.

  As night deepened, the crystal trees awakened.

  Their white crowns shimmered like drifting nebulae.

  Moon-pale radiance flowed along the trunks,

  while the roots pulsed in rhythm with surging energy—

  like the slow breathing of a sleeping colossal beast.

  The entire cavern

  was an inverted galaxy.

  …Beautiful beyond belief.

  When the eight Light beasts burst inside,

  their Spirit Force ignited the crystals all at once.

  Bands of iridescent light rippled outward,

  auroras rolling across the cavern walls.

  The space itself seemed to inhale—

  to resonate.

  Then the dream shattered.

  “—Ahhh—!”

  Two shrill screams tore through the depths of the cavern.

  The foremost Light beasts were dragged into the darkness

  by something unseen.

  The remaining beasts wheeled around in terror—

  only to face the relentlessly pursuing Fiends.

  Shadowfang’s scales flared, every ridge standing on end.

  “It’s here.”

  YiChen leapt from the dragon’s back.

  His blade descended wrapped in the might of a star river, cleaving straight through the darkness.

  Three Fiends had their soul cores rupture instantly—

  their bodies collapsing before the echo of impact could fade.

  The remaining monsters shrieked and twisted to flee—

  only to be swallowed in the very next heartbeat

  by the liquid starfall Shadowfang had transformed into.

  Swordlight tore the cavern open.

  The air screamed as it was ripped apart.

  “Starflow Sword Intent!”

  Within the narrow confines of the crystal hollow, swordlight wove a net of death.

  YiChen’s blade moved with absolute precision—

  each strike aligned perfectly, piercing straight through the soul core.

  Crack!

  After the final rupture, the cavern fell silent

  for the span of a single breath.

  Only black mist drifted slowly between the crystal clusters.

  Then—

  YiChen was already in motion again.

  His blade carved crescent-shaped afterimages through the darkness.

  From Shadowfang’s divided star-form, silver spikes launched in relentless volleys,

  whistling as they tore through the air.

  The star-body flowed at YiChen’s will—

  attack and defense shifting seamlessly,

  like clouds parting and reforming under a single current.

  Fiends screamed.

  Black smoke flooded the cavern,

  distorted sword-shadows shattering across the crystal walls.

  The mist burst apart,

  reeking like steam from rotting flesh.

  Suddenly—

  two more bands of pale-white light

  were wrenched violently toward the depths of the cavern

  by something unseen.

  “How dare you—!”

  Shadowfang’s furious roar shook the crystal trees.

  Shards rained down in glittering avalanches.

  YiChen clenched his hand.

  The star-body split once more, releasing arcs of silver blade-light

  that severed the dark, grasping “tentacles” mid-motion.

  Two Light beasts crashed to the ground.

  But their bodies had already been pierced through.

  Pure light energy spilled out like blood—

  only to be greedily absorbed by the surrounding crystals.

  “—Aah—!”

  The dying Light beasts let out mournful cries,

  their forelimbs still struggling to complete half-formed healing runes.

  Then—

  ROAR—!

  A thunderous bellow erupted from deep within the cavern.

  The entire crystal hollow began to quake.

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  Sheets of violet crystal peeled away,

  revealing the colossal shadow coiled behind them.

  Its massive body resembled an ancient stone sculpture forgotten by time.

  Black and ash-gray patterns crawled across its hide,

  melding seamlessly with jagged crystal formations—

  as though it were the shadow cast by this luminous world itself.

  A wide, flattened maw split its head, rimmed with thick, fleshy lips.

  They quivered faintly with each breath,

  revealing within a row of blunt, rounded gums.

  Its short, heavy limbs sprawled low against the ground.

  Suction pads between its claws clung to the slick crystal surface,

  like the wart-covered feet of a monstrous gecko.

  From either side of its gills grew clusters of tentacles—

  three on each side, each branching into three slender feelers.

  They swayed slowly in the damp air.

  Alive.

  These tendrils could sense the faintest disturbance in flowing water—

  and at the first hint of danger, they hardened instantly,

  transforming into venom-soaked thorn whips.

  “Ephemeral Kiss Salamander!”

  Shadowfang’s dragon body twisted in savage exhilaration,

  dark-gold vertical pupils locking onto the prey.

  “The price for slaughtering my kind—

  is your essence!”

  YiChen’s blade erupted with starfire brighter than ever.

  The remaining Fiends broke and fled,

  screaming as they scattered from the cavern.

  The Salamander suddenly split its massive jaws wide.

  Dozens of multicolored tongues shot forth like poisoned arrows.

  Wet tentacles lashed through the air,

  ripping it apart with sticky, rancid sounds.

  Each tongue-tip bloomed like a grotesque ephemerous flower—

  fading from a sickly white base into lethal orange-red,

  exuding a cloying, rotten sweetness.

  As the suction pads pressed against the crystal wall,

  they made a grotesque—

  Pop.

  —a sound,

  like some gigantic infant

  sucking marrow from bone.

  —————

  Elena knelt at the edge of the barrier, her fingers digging deep into the damp moss.

  Tears struck her combat pants, blooming into dark, spreading circles.

  In the distance, the faint glow of the crystal mine warped and fractured,

  smearing into blurred patches of violet and white.

  “Get up. The ground’s too cold.”

  Han Yue’s voice came from above.

  He lifted her with one hand, as easily as picking up a rain-soaked fledgling,

  setting her back on her feet before her knees could give way again.

  Ryan reported in a low voice, his eyes fixed on the horizon.

  “The captain saw Fiends driving Light beasts toward the crystal mine…”

  “He even set a restriction just for her?”

  Han Yue’s murmur hadn’t fully settled before—

  a thunderous roar exploded from the distance.

  “He’s tanking it alone again?!”

  Logan’s booming voice tore through the camp,

  sending crystal-winged birds shrieking from the treetops.

  Xu Wei, Jack, and the others emerged from their tents one by one.

  More than a dozen pairs of eyes flickered with unease beneath the dim lamps.

  David rolled the magazine in his hand, the metal clicking softly.

  “The captain should be able to handle it… right?”

  “Last time, during the forest Fiend tide, he fought his way out with his contract beast,”

  Jack said quickly, forcing the words out as reassurance—

  only to be cut off.

  “Bullshit!”

  Logan slammed his fist into a nearby crystal tree.

  The trunk rang like struck glass.

  “That southern defense line—he almost didn’t make it!

  And now he’s charging into an unknown crystal mine alone—!”

  Elena bit down hard on her lower lip.

  The taste of blood spread across her tongue.

  Han Yue shot Logan a sharp warning glare.

  But Logan only lifted his chin stubbornly.

  “I’m giving him fifteen minutes,

  If he’s still not back—”

  Before he finished, he slammed the magazine into the chamber.

  “I’m going in. I’ll take responsibility!”

  “I’m going too.”

  Elena’s voice cut through the night—soft,

  yet utterly unshakable.

  Han Yue’s brow furrowed.

  “Back to the tent. Wait.”

  She shook her head.

  Instead, she stepped forward—

  planting herself directly at the very front of the barrier.

  Her body trembled faintly beneath the down jacket.

  Whether from cold or fear, no one could tell.

  She didn’t look away.

  Her eyes remained locked on the eerie purple glow in the distance.

  The prayer she whispered—

  tinged with blood,

  fractured by breath—

  turned over and over between her teeth:

  Please, YiChen…

  This time…

  You have to come back.

  Completely unharmed…

  The night wind carried faint, distant rumbles from the direction of the crystal mine.

  Everyone turned toward that violet canopy in unison—

  where silver-white and dark-gold light

  now flashed in violent, alternating bursts,

  like two stars colliding

  deep within the dark.

  ——————

  A furious hiss erupted from the depths of the crystal cavern.

  The Ephemeral Kiss Salamander’s thick, fleshy lips quivered violently.

  In the darkness, its remaining twenty-three tongues writhed like venomous serpents,

  coiling, tensing—poised to strike.

  This was an apex predator.

  A tyrant that had ruled the crystal cavern for centuries.

  Never—not once—had it encountered prey this troublesome.

  In the past, all it needed was to extend those alluring, flower-blooming tongues beyond the cave entrance.

  Foolish Spirit beasts would rush forward on instinct,

  drawn by scent and resonance—

  only to throw themselves straight into its jaws.

  Why…

  Why isn’t the paralytic toxin working on him?!

  Another two tongues were severed mid-lash.

  From the torn ends, purple-black venom sprayed outward,

  hissing violently as it corroded nearby crystal clusters,

  etching jagged scars across their gleaming surfaces.

  The Salamander’s dark-violet eyes spun wildly.

  Its remaining tongues lashed out in a frenzy,

  filling the cavern with overlapping afterimages—

  each strike cracking the air apart with explosive force.

  At the same time, eighteen tentacles flared along its gills.

  They flushed, swelled,

  their engorged glands oozing luminous green poison that dripped in viscous threads.

  “This beast’s toxin is completely ineffective!”

  Shadowfang snarled as his dragon form circled tightly around YiChen,

  his liquid star-body intercepting blow after blow.

  “That little fox was actually useful after all!”

  The star-body split abruptly into seven silver blades,

  pinning a sneak-attacking tongue straight into the crystal wall with a shriek of tearing flesh.

  The cavern was too narrow.

  Deploying a star-ring domain here would shatter the crystal growth environment.

  YiChen had no choice.

  He could only take it head-on.

  Cut through it.

  Kill through it.

  His blade blurred—faster than afterimages.

  Another tongue fell.

  The Salamander let out a piercing screech that rattled the crystal ceiling.

  Just as YiChen drove his sword toward its brow—

  the monster retreated.

  Its massive body slid backward with an agility utterly mismatched to its bulk.

  Eighteen poisoned spikes fired simultaneously,

  lancing in from every direction.

  YiChen twisted to evade—

  —and cold light flared from a crystal cluster to his left.

  “Watch out!”

  Shadowfang’s star-body barely managed to intercept three of the spikes.

  The fourth—

  punched straight through YiChen’s left arm.

  YiChen let out a muffled grunt.

  His throat convulsed sharply.

  The moment the spike pierced him,

  his entire left arm went dead—

  numb, unresponsive, severed from sensation.

  It felt like a red-hot iron nail racing through his veins,

  driving straight toward his heart.

  His vision collapsed into black.

  One knee slammed into the crystal floor.

  Black blood surged up his throat.

  The world split apart.

  A high-pitched ringing drowned out Shadowfang’s roar.

  If the strike had landed half an inch closer—

  it would have pierced his heart.

  From the shadows, another presence slid forward.

  A second Salamander.

  Male—lean, spindle-shaped,

  its narrow snout gleaming with lethal chill.

  Shadowfang’s star-body snapped around YiChen instinctively,

  firing a storm of silver spikes toward the newcomer.

  The creature burst into motion,

  darting through crystal formations with terrifying speed.

  Very few of the spikes struck true.

  Perhaps after centuries of coexistence with the Salamanders,

  the energy crystals within the cavern seemed to awaken with a will of their own.

  They instinctively began siphoning Shadowfang’s energy—

  points of starlight flickering greedily across their surfaces.

  YiChen remained kneeling amid the crystal clusters.

  His left arm hung useless at his side.

  Black blood spilled from his lips—

  only to be greedily absorbed by the surrounding crystals in an instant.

  Shixi burst into motion, transforming into a silver-white sphere of light.

  She tore through the Spirit Meridians of his left arm, scouring the poison with frantic precision—

  —but this toxin was anything but ordinary.

  Black thorns and Nether poison were entwined inside his body,

  burning together like twin balefires.

  They surged through his chest in violent waves,

  as if his organs were being thrown into a boiling furnace.

  If the venom coating the Salamander’s tongue existed to paralyze its prey,

  then what this poisoned spike carried

  was a substance born solely for slaughter.

  The two were not even comparable.

  If only I had a Starhalt right now…

  A shallow gasp tore from his throat.

  Forcing his Spirit Force downward,

  YiChen crushed the rising poison by sheer will,

  driving it into his lower dantian.

  His right hand shot out—

  gripping the poisoned spike—

  —and tore it free.

  Black blood sprayed outward,

  then sealed shut instantly under Spirit Force compression.

  “YiChen, fall back!”

  Shixi pleaded, his voice breaking.

  “Worst case, you sleep for two days—we can come back and fight again!”

  YiChen shook his head.

  His gaze was ice.

  “If we retreat now,

  it will track our aura straight back to the camp.”

  His voice was low. Absolute.

  “This ends here.

  Fast.”

  Shadowfang’s star-body contracted violently,

  absorbing half the backlash for him.

  “Trying to die—”

  the dragon roared, furious,

  “—and dragging this sovereign with you?!”

  The male Salamander circled warily,

  its long body sliding between crystal formations,

  still unsettled by the violence of the earlier exchange.

  YiChen moved first.

  Silver starlight condensed in midair,

  compressing into narrow blades that stabbed straight toward the creature.

  The Salamander twisted aside with uncanny agility.

  Its elongated tongues snapped outward in a vicious counterattack,

  cutting through the air like living whips.

  Shadowfang swept a claw down in a brutal lateral arc.

  He missed the core body—

  —but shattered an entire crystal cluster instead.

  Fragments detonated outward.

  In the next instant, razor-thin tendrils shot through the debris,

  seizing the opening and coiling tightly around the edge of Shadowfang’s claw.

  Shadowfang snorted coldly.

  His talons shifted, edges sharpening to a lethal gleam—

  then twisted violently.

  Three tongues were crushed and torn apart by brute force.

  —This one’s tongues and spikes were weaker than the female’s,

  but its speed was terrifying.

  It moved like a blade skimming water.

  After several exchanges,

  YiChen had fully grasped its rhythm.

  He drew a sharp breath, pivoted hard, and suddenly roared—

  “Right wing!”

  The star-lit sword flashed.

  Three tongues were severed in a single cut.

  Shadowfang reacted instantly.

  His liquid star-body split—

  one portion flowing into a mobile shield that wrapped YiChen in shifting light,

  the rest silently sliding into position,

  completing a killing formation without a sound.

  Toxins crawled up YiChen’s nerves.

  Black thorns writhed in his Spirit Meridians.

  The pain burned white-hot.

  His hearing faded completely.

  The world collapsed into a narrow tunnel—

  nothing remained but the thunder of his own heartbeat.

  One chance.

  Only one.

  YiChen deliberately slowed.

  He exposed an obvious opening—

  just wide enough.

  The male Salamander took the bait.

  It lunged.

  Shadowfang was already there.

  A massive ice spike erupted from the side with a deafening impact!

  The Salamander was knocked off balance midair—

  there was no space left to evade.

  Its chest was pierced clean through.

  Yet even in that dying instant,

  the monster flung out three poisoned spikes with savage instinct.

  YiChen felt a sudden, tearing chill rip through his chest and thigh.

  Time slowed.

  The orange-red spike seemed to drift toward him—

  ripping through combat fabric,

  piercing flesh,

  lodging deep between seams of bone.

  “…Ha—”

  His breath broke off halfway,

  cut short as if cleaved by a blade.

  “Cough—”

  Black blood spilled from his mouth.

  YiChen clenched his teeth, forcing consciousness to hold.

  Shadowfang’s liquid star-body surged violently along the ice spike,

  flooding into the Salamander’s corpse.

  Dark-gold patterns spread rapidly across the monster’s hide—

  it was being drained alive.

  As Spirit Energy flowed back in return,

  fine golden threads bloomed around YiChen’s wounds,

  weaving through torn flesh like living filaments,

  forcibly stitching what could still be sealed.

  YiChen collapsed onto the crystal floor.

  Each breath scorched his right chest.

  Even the air itself felt sharp as it entered his lungs.

  The surviving Light beasts gathered around him.

  Their luminous white fur was dusted with crystal shards.

  Warm tongues brushed gently against his wounds.

  Their innate healing energy seeped into his skin,

  slowing—only barely—the spread of poison.

  When Logan burst into the cavern with the rescue team,

  this was the scene that met them—

  their commander lay collapsed amid shattered crystal clusters,

  three orange spikes embedded in his body,

  black blood pooling beneath him.

  Four Light beasts stood guard like living spirits,

  while the monster that ruled the cavern

  was being devoured completely by dark-gold light.

  “Fuck!”

  Logan’s furious roar shook loose shards from the cavern ceiling.

  “Get him out—now!

  Back to camp!”