The Starblade drifted through the void, its hull scorched and flickering with residual energy from the nebula's collapse. Li Wei sat in the cargo hold, his body a patchwork of glowing veins and stardust skin. The Third Core pulsed in his chest, its quantum flame intertwining with his qi and nanobots. The Prisoner's whispers had grown louder, its voice a constant hum in the back of his mind.
"You're running out of time, little spark," it crooned. "The Fourth Core awaits… but it will burn you alive."
Kara entered, tossing him a nutrient bar labeled Elysium Survival Ration™. "Eat. You look like a glitching hologram."
Li Wei ignored the bar, staring at the holographic star map projected from his palm. The Fourth Core's location burned crimson—a derelict Dyson sphere orbiting a dying star.
"The Phantom Sphere," Kara said, her mechanical eye zooming in on the structure. "Elysium's first attempt at a quantum cultivation array. It's haunted, apparently."
"Haunted?"
"By Phantom Cultivators. Souls trapped between qi and quantum code. They say the sphere drives people mad."
Li Wei stood, his movements fluid but unnervingly silent. "Then we go quickly."
The Phantom Sphere loomed like a skeletal hand grasping at the void. Its surface was a labyrinth of shattered solar panels and pulsating energy conduits, its core a swirling vortex of light and shadow. The Starblade docked at a crumbling airlock, its systems glitching as the sphere's quantum interference seeped in.
"Stay close," Li Wei said, his voice echoing unnaturally. "This place is alive."
They stepped into a corridor of shifting light. The walls pulsed like veins, and the air hummed with the whispers of long-dead cultivators. Kara's mechanical eye flickered, its AI struggling to process the sphere's chaotic energy.
"This is worse than the nebula," she muttered, clutching her plasma pistol.
A figure materialized ahead—a cultivator in tattered robes, his form flickering between solid and spectral. His eyes were hollow, his voice a chorus of screams.
"You should not have come," he intoned. "The Fourth Core is not for the living."
Li Wei stepped forward, his hybrid energy flaring. "I am Li Wei, Heavenly Sovereign. I claim the Core by right of the Azure Dragon Sect."
The Phantom Cultivator laughed, the sound like shattering glass. "Sovereign? You are a ghost, like us. A shadow of what you once were."
The corridor erupted into chaos. Phantom Cultivators surged from the walls, their qi-infused attacks warping reality. Li Wei fought with a fluid grace, his hybrid energy disrupting their spectral forms. Kara fired her plasma pistol, the bolts disintegrating into fractal patterns as they struck.
"We need to get to the core!" she shouted, dodging a phantom's blade.
Li Wei nodded, channeling the Third Core's quantum flame. The sphere's energy conduits surged, creating a path to the central chamber. They ran, the phantoms' screams echoing behind them.
The central chamber was a cathedral of light and shadow. At its heart floated the Fourth Core—a sphere of molten gold, its surface etched with ancient runes. The air around it shimmered with heat, and the ground cracked under its weight.
Li Wei approached, the Core's energy searing his skin. The Prisoner's voice whispered in his mind, its tone almost gleeful.
"Take it. Let it burn you. Let it remake you."
He reached out, his fingers brushing the Core's surface. Pain exploded through him, his hybrid core convulsing as the Fourth Core's energy merged with his own. Visions flooded his mind—ancient battles, dying stars, and the Prisoner's maw of galaxies.
Kara grabbed his arm, her voice cutting through the chaos. "Li Wei! Snap out of it!"
He blinked, his vision clearing. The Fourth Core pulsed in his chest, its molten gold intertwining with the Third Core's quantum flame. His body shimmered with stardust, his qi and nanobots now a seamless fusion.
The Phantom Cultivators surrounded them, their forms flickering with rage. "You have defiled the Core," they hissed. "Now you will join us."
Li Wei raised his hand, the Fourth Core's energy surging through him. The chamber erupted in a storm of light and shadow, the phantoms' forms disintegrating into fractal patterns.
"We need to go," Kara said, her voice strained. "The sphere's collapsing."
They ran, the sphere's corridors crumbling around them. The Starblade's engines roared to life as they boarded, the ship lurching into the void just as the Phantom Sphere imploded.
Back in the cargo hold, Li Wei collapsed, his body flickering with unstable energy. Kara knelt beside him, her mechanical eye scanning his vitals.
"The regulator's failing," she said, her voice tight. "You're burning through it too fast."
Li Wei's eyes glowed, one gold, one silver. "The next Core… where is it?"
Kara hesitated, then activated the star map. The Fifth Core's location burned crimson—a black hole surrounded by a fleet of Elysium warships.
"The Event Horizon," she said. "Veyra's waiting for us."
Li Wei stood up, his movements fluid but unnervingly silent. "Then we go."
Behind them, unnoticed, a hologram flickered—a message from Dr. Vex.
"The favor is due. Meet me at the Edge of Eternity."