Lian smiled, grinning ear to ear.

The black substance in his hand slowly retreated, flowing back into his skin like living ink returning to its source. He watched it disappear completely, the strange cold sensation settling deeper inside him once more. For a moment, pure joy filled his chest — rare, unfiltered, and almost childlike. He had done it. He had shaped the liquid. He had created a blade from nothing but will and this mysterious power now living inside him.

He walked back to where he had been sitting earlier and lowered himself down, back against the cool cave wall. The faint drip of water somewhere deeper in the cavern was the only sound breaking the silence. He picked up the strange metal box again, turning it over in his hands. It was still completely intact, not even a scratch from his earlier attempts. The surface was perfectly smooth, matte black, and absorbed light in a way that felt unnatural. He wondered what kind of metal this was and how it could be so impossibly strong. Even his dagger had barely left a mark.

If I try to use this strange liquid to break the metal, what will happen? he thought. This liquid couldn’t escape the box before, so maybe...

He looked at his hand and concentrated. A thin needle of the black substance slowly formed at the tip of his finger. He pressed it against the box. Nothing happened. He pushed harder. Still nothing. The needle simply slid off the surface without leaving even the smallest dent. He formed a small knife instead, sharp and precise, and struck the box with more force. The impact made a dull sound, but the metal remained completely undamaged.

“What is this metal, and how is it so strong?” he muttered under his breath. “I’ll check this later.”

He set the box aside and continued sorting through the rings and items spread across the cave floor. Credits, pills, weapons, herbs, talismans — he organized them carefully, already planning how to use each one for training, survival, and preparation for the Kharvax Rift.

He turned to check on Elara and saw she was awake.

She was sitting up slowly, staring at him with clear, focused blue cyber eyes. Lian moved closer immediately, kneeling beside her.

“Are you okay?” he asked, voice softer than usual.

Elara took a deep breath, testing her body. She flexed her alloy fingers, rolled her shoulders, and nodded.

“I don’t know what happened, but I feel healed up and great,” she said, sounding genuinely surprised. “As if I was injected with something powerful. I’m at 100% capability right now. There’s this warm energy flowing through me... it feels stronger than before.”

Lian breathed a sigh of relief, the tension in his shoulders easing slightly.

“I injected you with a lot of Vitalis Recovery Serum,” he explained. “Multiple tubes. I didn’t know exactly which ones were strongest, so I used everything I had.”

Elara looked at him for a long moment, then bowed her head deeply.

“Thank you,” she said quietly, sincerity clear in her voice.

“It’s okay,” Lian replied, a faint smile touching his lips.

Elara shifted her head a little, looking past him. Her eyes widened slightly as she saw the large pile of storage rings and items spread across the cave floor — credits, weapons, pills, herbs, and countless other treasures he had scavenged from the dead.

Lian noticed where her attention had shifted and knew exactly what had caught her eye.

Power Scale / Cultivation Realms (Quick Reminder)

Foundation Realm (Layers 1–9): Body forging, no external Qi.

Circuit Awakening Realm (Early–Peak): First Qi loop, internal bursts.

Core Condensation Realm (Early–Peak): External Qi release, short flight.

Stellar Circuit Realm (1–9 Stars): True flight, Qi armor, energy projection.

Nebula Dominion Realm and higher: Domain control, galaxy-level power, etc 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Power Scale Reminder

Lian Yu: Stellar Circuit Star 1.

Elara Voss: Core Condensation Middle

Keep it as reminders