System Protection, Escaping Danger

The moment the ground collapsed, I plummeted downwards.

The wind tore at my ears, slicing through my clothes and leaving fiery welts on my skin. The grey-black Chaotic Flow surged from all directions, like countless hands trying to drag me into the earth. I tried to grab onto something, but there was only swirling mist and shattered rock all around.

The Amulet had lost its light, and the warmth it usually gave against my chest was gone. Of the three spirit stones, two were completely dim, leaving only the last one with a faint glow. I pressed it tightly against my chest, hoping its meager energy would stabilize me, but my body continued to tumble uncontrollably.

The speed of my descent increased.

I could feel the air growing thick, each breath feeling like swallowing knives. My vision began to blacken, my consciousness slowly draining away. Just as I was about to pass out, a familiar voice suddenly echoed in my mind.

"Detecting host is in critical condition, activating emergency protective protocol."

The voice was cold, devoid of emotion, yet it jolted me awake for a brief moment.

Immediately after, a Golden Barrier rose from within me, enveloping my entire body. Unlike the Amulet's thin layer, this was as solid as a wall, steadfastly blocking the raging currents outside.

I slid down the inner wall of the barrier, gasping for air. The Chaotic Flow outside slammed against the Golden Barrier, producing dull thuds like giant waves crashing against rocks. Every impact sent vibrations through me, making my bones ache.

Looking up, the vortex above was still spinning, its color deeper than before, with cracks beginning to appear at its edges. Crimson gas erupted from these fissures, carrying gravel and burning dust that all rained down on the barrier's surface.

The barrier flickered, ripples spreading across it, but it didn't break.

I tried to move my arms and found I still could. Though I was so exhausted I could barely lift them, at least I wasn't crushed. Leaning against a corner, I stared at the situation outside the barrier, not daring to close my eyes.

Time crawled by.

The impacts from outside grew stronger. Several times, the entire space seemed to be violently torn apart, causing the barrier to shake violently. My body was thrown around, only to slam back down. Blood trickled from the corner of my mouth, but I didn't have time to wipe it.

I started counting my heartbeats.

One, two... Each beat meant I was still alive.

After an unknown amount of time, the vortex overhead finally changed. Its rotation slowed, and its color shifted from deep black to greyish-white. The surrounding Chaotic Flow stopped concentrating its assault on the barrier, instead dispersing into several thin streams that drifted slowly through the air.

The pressure on the barrier lessened.

I let out a sigh of relief, my shoulders slumping, almost making me collapse. But I couldn't relax yet. I knew this calm might only be temporary; a single change and the crisis from before could repeat itself.

I reached out and touched the remaining spirit stone. It was still hot, but noticeably less so than before. This meant the System's protection was also consuming resources, and this last stone was all I had to rely on.

I couldn't afford to waste any more.

I tucked the spirit stone back into my embrace, wrapping it tightly with my clothes. The barrier remained stable, but the golden light on its surface was no longer as bright as when it first appeared. It was weakening, just not to the point of collapse yet.

I looked up at the sky.

The vortex was shrinking, the cracks at its edges slowly closing. The erupting gas streams also gradually disappeared, as if being sucked back in by something. The ground tremors stopped, and even the air grew quiet.

The wind died down.

The grey mist remained, but it no longer moved. The entire world seemed to have hit a pause button.

The barrier began to flicker.

Once, twice... After the third flicker, its brightness never returned. I could feel the power enveloping my body receding, peeling away layer by layer, like a tide going out.

In the final moment, the barrier gave a gentle tremor and then completely dissipated.

I stood in place, my feet on a tilted rock, my body swaying. I almost fell, my legs weak, my knees buckling. I braced myself on the ground to stay upright.

After a few seconds, I slowly stood up.

Looking around, the landscape had completely changed. The stone pillars I could see before were gone, replaced by vast, pitted chasms, as if the land had been plowed over. The distant horizon was blurry, the grey mist shrouding everything.

I looked down to examine myself.

My Daoist Robe was torn in a few places, and there were several scrapes on my arms. They weren't deep, but they were bleeding. The Amulet had shattered into three pieces, scattered around my waist. When I picked them up, they crumbled into dust at the slightest touch. The two defunct spirit stones were also cracked, their internal energy long depleted.

Only one spirit stone remained, emitting a faint warmth in my embrace.

I took it out and looked at it. Its color was a bit dull, but it was still usable. As long as the System could still pose challenges, I still had a chance.

I leaned on a half-buried rock and walked forward.

My steps were slow, each one placed firmly. Although the ground was no longer shaking, I could still feel residual tremors beneath my feet, a slight vibration. This area wasn't completely stable yet; I couldn't stay here long.

After walking a dozen steps, I noticed a broken rock fragment by my foot, with a carving on it. It wasn't naturally formed; it looked like something had been scratched out with a sharp tool.

I squatted down and wiped away the dust on its surface.

The scratch was new, its edges clean, digging deep into the stone. Even stranger, it had a regular curve, like part of some symbol.

I stared at it for a few seconds, then suddenly realized—this wasn't the first time I'd seen it.

There were similar markings on the stone pillars before. I had thought they were natural cracks then, but now it seemed they might be fragments of the same pattern.

Who left them?

As I pondered, no prompt sounded in my mind; the System remained silent.

But did the markings on this stone have anything to do with the System? Was it some kind of guide?

I reached out to touch the carving. The moment my fingertip brushed the surface, the entire rock suddenly vibrated slightly.

It wasn't my imagination.

It was actually moving.

The next second, a faint sound came from the ground, like something crawling beneath the surface. I quickly stepped back two paces, staring at the rock.

Its position had changed.

It was now more upright than when it was diagonally stuck in the ground, as if pushed up a bit by some force from below.

I held my breath, staring at the carving.

In the grey mist, a shadow slowly emerged from behind the rock.