Lian swung his hand again, focusing every ounce of will on the strange black liquid inside him. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Nothing came out.

He stopped, staring at his open palm with a mixture of confusion and growing frustration. He could still feel it — the liquid moving slowly through his body, like cold mercury flowing through his veins and meridians. It felt weird, unnatural, and deeply cold, as if ice water had replaced parts of his blood. The sensation was constant, a low, chilling presence that made his skin prickle.

He tried again. And again. He clenched his fist, released it, visualized the blade forming, poured his Qi into the attempt. Nothing. The liquid refused to respond.

Why isn’t it doing anything? he thought, his mind racing. What is this liquid? Where did it come from?

The questions gnawed at him. He had no answers. The box it came from had given no clues, and the Nexus Scan Gauntlet had shown only static. Whatever this thing was, it had merged with him completely. He could feel it shifting inside him, exploring his body, settling into his blood, his bones, his core. It was alive. And it was now part of him.

He sat down heavily on the cold stone floor of the underground cave, back resting against the rough wall. The faint drip of water echoed somewhere deeper in the cavern. The air was cool and damp, carrying the faint scent of earth and moss. His original dagger lay a short distance away on the ground, glinting faintly in the dim bioluminescent light.

He looked at his hand again.

Let me try to recreate my dagger.

He concentrated so hard his brow furrowed deeply, veins standing out on his forehead. His eyes locked onto his open palm with intense focus. At first, nothing happened. Then, slowly, a small amount of the black liquid began to slip out from under his skin. It was formless at first, like thick, living ink, pooling in his palm. It shifted and twisted, gradually taking shape, lengthening and sharpening until it perfectly matched the form of his original dagger.

Lian’s eyes widened in shock and excitement.

He jumped up suddenly, a rare burst of genuine joy breaking through his usual cold demeanor.

“I did it!” he exclaimed, voice echoing slightly through the cave. “So it wasn’t as hard as it looked.”

He swiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand, breathing heavily from the mental effort. He held the newly formed blade up, examining it closely under the dim light. It was definitely his dagger — same size, same balance, same familiar curve of the blade — but it was now pitch black, no color at all, as if light itself was being swallowed by the weapon. When he gripped it, his fingers seemed to disappear slightly into the darkness, yet he could still feel the solid weight and texture perfectly in his hand.

He looked at a nearby rock, a large chunk of stone jutting from the cave floor.

He gently traced the blade through it vertically.

The upper part of the rock shifted, then fell cleanly to the ground with a heavy thud, making some noise as it hit the stone floor. He had cut the rock clean. No resistance whatsoever.

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

Power Scale Reminder

Lian Yu: Stellar Circuit Star 1.

Elara Voss: Core Condensation Middle

Keep it as reminders