The air was cool and damp, with the soft drip of water echoing from somewhere deeper in the cavern. He had decided to continue sorting through the massive haul he had collected from the dead after the battle. Dozens of storage rings lay open around him, their contents spread across the stone floor.

He activated the gauntlet again. The holographic interface expanded in front of him, scanning item after item with clinical precision. A soft blue light swept over each object, displaying clear information: Name, Grade, and Primary Uses.

The first major discovery made his eyes widen with quiet satisfaction.

Aetherforge Voidweave Suit

Grade: B+

Uses: A full-body adaptive combat suit forged from rare Aetherforge silk and precursor nano-threads. The fabric is sleek, matte black with faint silver threading that shifts like liquid under light. When worn, it provides a 120% boost to movement speed and agility, enhances Qi circulation by 45%, offers moderate resistance to physical and energy attacks, and can shift between stealth mode (near-invisibility in shadows) and combat reinforcement mode (temporary hardening). It self-repairs using ambient Qi and feels lightweight yet incredibly durable against slashes and impacts.

Lian held the folded suit in his hands, running his fingers over the smooth, almost alive texture. It looked deceptively simple — a sleek black bodysuit with reinforced joints and subtle plating along the chest and forearms. He set it aside carefully, already imagining how it would improve his combat capability.

He continued scanning. The gauntlet displayed three more significant items:

Plasma Reaper Blaster

Grade: B

Uses: A compact, handheld energy blaster with a matte black finish and glowing red energy cells along the barrel. Fires concentrated plasma bolts capable of melting through reinforced armor. Has a rapid-fire mode and a charged shot for heavier targets.

Voidstrike Pulse Rifle

Grade: B+

Uses: A longer rifle with a sleek, angular design in dark silver and black. Fires pulses of disruptive void energy that can temporarily destabilize an opponent’s Qi flow on impact. Includes a scope with basic night vision.

Thunderfang Heavy Blaster

Grade: B

Uses: A bulky, heavy pistol with reinforced grip and glowing yellow energy vents. Delivers powerful explosive blasts with lightning-like chaining effects. Ideal for crowd control or breaking through defenses.

He also found several other blasters of varying designs — smaller holdout models, sniper variants, and multi-shot scatter blasters — but these three stood out as the most practical for immediate use.

Then came the more disturbing discoveries.

In several large glass tubes filled with clear preservation liquid, he found harvested body parts. Eyes, hearts, livers, and other organs floated gently inside, perfectly preserved. These were not rare or specially named — they were common commodities in the black market, taken from various species and sold for dark cultivation methods like the Harvest Path. Some tubes contained multiple eyes with different iris colors. Others held hearts still faintly pulsing with residual Qi. Lian stared at them for a long moment. These were exactly what he could use for the forbidden path if he ever chose to walk it again. He set the tubes aside carefully, his expression unreadable.

Finally, he picked up a beautifully crafted blade from one of the rings.

Eclipse Edge

Grade: B+

Uses: A sleek, single-edged sword with a blade that appears to absorb light, giving it a deep obsidian appearance. The hilt is wrapped in dark leather with silver accents. It excels at cutting through energy-based defenses and can channel user Qi for enhanced strikes.

Lian tested the weight of the Eclipse Edge in his hand. It felt perfectly balanced. He placed it beside the Aetherforge Voidweave Suit, already thinking about how to integrate his new gear.

Power Scale / Cultivation Realms (Quick Reminder) 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

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

Power Scale Reminder

Lian Yu: Stellar Circuit Star 1.

Elara Voss: Core Condensation Middle

Keep it as reminders