Ashes of the star forge

Lian flew low and hard along the eastern fissure lines.

The pack did not fall behind.

Eleven Argent Colossi moved across the broken ridges with frightening coordination. The smaller, faster ones kept to the lower cuts and ravines, their six-limbed gait eating up ground in short, explosive bursts. The larger ones — the Star 4s and the single Star 5 — took the higher spines of rock, leaping gaps that would have forced any normal creature to climb. Silver bone plates flashed dully under the blood-colored sky each time one of them launched itself from one ridge to the next.

Lian cut sharply between two jagged spires, forcing the nearest pursuers to adjust. One Star 2 misjudged the angle and slammed shoulder-first into the stone, cracking a section of its armor with a sharp report. It did not stop. None of them did. The pack simply flowed around the obstacle and continued.

He was burning Qi too quickly.

The planet’s dense atmosphere made every meter of flight more expensive than it should have been. The earlier beating had already left his ribs and shoulder compromised. Each hard turn sent a fresh spike of pain through his torso, and the taste of blood lingered at the back of his throat. Still he kept the pace, weaving through the terrain rather than trying to outrun them in a straight line. Straight lines would get him caught.

The Star 5 directed the hunt with almost no sound.

It stayed highest, pale bloodshot eyes fixed on Lian’s flight path. When Lian tried to break east toward a wider set of fissures, the Star 5 released a short, heavy pulse of pressure that forced him to veer back. When he dropped lower to use the narrow cuts for cover, two of the Star 3s were already moving to cut him off from below. The pack was not simply chasing. It was herding him, slowly limiting his options, pushing him toward more open ground where their numbers and speed would matter more.

Lian dropped into a deep, narrow fissure that forced even the smaller Colossi to slow and climb.

For a few seconds the walls gave him cover. He used the brief window to compress what Qi he had left and launch himself upward in a steep, twisting climb that carried him over a knife-edge ridge. The moment he cleared it, three of the beasts were already scrambling up the far side, bone-armored hands slamming into the rock hard enough to leave deep gouges.

One of them — a lean Star 3 — pushed off the wall with all six limbs and lunged through the air toward him.

Lian twisted hard. The creature’s claws passed close enough to tear a shallow line across his calf. He did not look down at the blood. He forced another burst of speed and angled toward a cluster of broken pillars that offered temporary obstacles.

The pack followed without hesitation.

Their breathing was heavy and synchronized, a low, grinding rhythm that carried under the wind. Occasionally one of them released a short resonant call, and the formation shifted in response. Limited intelligence, the scan had said. Enough to hunt as a unit. Enough to learn from failed attempts and adjust.

Lian’s reserves were dropping faster than he liked.

He could already feel the first real edge of depletion under the constant pressure of the planet. If the chase continued at this intensity for much longer, he would be forced to land and fight — and against eleven of them, that fight would not last long.

He needed to reach the broader northern routes that fed into the basin.

He needed the other groups of predators already moving in that direction.

Most of all, he needed the pack to stay focused on him until they were close enough to the tomb that turning back would no longer matter.

Lian cut hard left through a tight gap between two collapsing slabs, felt the rush of air as a heavy body slammed into the stone behind him, and kept flying.

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 Peak

Keep it as reminders