The rebels froze as a massive warship blocked the sun. Its black hull bore the Emperor's symbol—a snake coiled around a star. Yun Teng, the rebel leader, cursed. "They're here to erase us."
Li Chen clutched the glowing crystal in his palm, its golden veins spreading up his arm like cracks. Beside him, the fox spirit Xuě Húlí smirked. "A Celestial Arbiter commands that ship. You can't win. Run or die."
Xiao Lan, a young mechanic, limped closer. "The desert will kill us if we run."
The warship's cannons charged, ready to fire.
---
Xuě Húlí's voice hissed in Li Chen's mind. "There's an ancient weapon below us. It needs blood to work. Your blood… or theirs."
Li Chen looked at the rebels. His sister Mei's voice echoed: *Live… even if it burns.*
"No sacrifices," he said.
The fox laughed. "Then die."
---
The warship fired. Li Chen raised the crystal. Golden light shielded the outpost, but the force shattered his knees. Blood dripped from his nose.
"Fight!" Yun Teng yelled. Rebels shot at the warship, but their attacks failed.
Xuě Húlí circled Li Chen. "You're killing yourself to protect fools. Let them die!"
Li Chen's arms shook. "I don't… obey ghosts."
The shield flickered.
---
Xiao Lan stumbled to Li Chen. "Use my energy!" She pressed her hand to the crystal.
"You'll die," he warned.
"Better than burning!"
The crystal glowed brighter. Xiao Lan's hair turned white, her skin wrinkled. The shield held.
Rebels joined them, sharing their energy. The shield brightened.
---
A warrior in star-forged armor landed outside the shield. "Surrender and die quickly."
Li Chen's shield weakened. Rebels collapsed, bleeding.
Xuě Húlí growled. "Sacrifice them!"
Li Chen remembered Mei. "No more deaths."
He slammed the crystal into the sand.
---
The ground shook. A giant stone hand erupted from the desert, crushing the warship.
The warrior screamed. "The Progenitors… you revived them?!"
The hand vanished. Wreckage rained down.
Li Chen collapsed. The crystal's veins turned black, rotting his skin. Xiao Lan held him, her youth restored but her hands trembling.
Xuě Húlí stared. "You woke a dead god's power. But what did it cost?"
---
Li Chen's body lay still. The crystal dimmed.
Then—a heartbeat.
The crystal pulsed red. Li Chen's eyes opened, glowing like dying stars.
Xuě Húlí stepped back. "What are you?"
---
**Next Chapter Preview**
Li Chen survives, but the crystal's thecorruption changes him. Is he still human, or has he become something worse?