The entrance to the Calamity-Iron Cave was a jagged slit in the mountain's base, resembling a mouth filled with obsidian teeth. As Su Meng crossed the threshold, the air didn't just get colder; it got heavier. The atmosphere was saturated with a high-density magnetic field that caused the iron in his blood to pull toward the walls.
"Stop here," Han Yue said, her ghostly lantern illuminating the purple crystals embedded in the ceiling. "The magnetism in this first chamber is low. If you go deeper now, the pull will rip your broken ribs right out of your chest."
Su Meng collapsed onto the floor. The ground was made of black iron sand that immediately clung to his Obsidian Skin. His left leg was a mess of purple bruising and bone fragments, and his Dantian was spinning with an irregular, jagged rhythm.
"My leg," Su Meng wheezed, his fingers digging into the iron sand. "It's not setting."
"Of course it isn't," Han Yue said, squatting next to him. "Your bones are Obsidian Alloy. They don't heal like normal bone. You can't just wrap them in a wooden splint and wait. You have to weld them."
THE WELDING PROCESS
Han Yue reached into her rags and pulled out a small, jagged magnet. She didn't touch his leg. Instead, she began to move the magnet in a circular motion above the fracture.
Su Meng screamed. The sensation was not a dull ache; it felt like a thousand needles were vibrating inside his marrow. The fragments of his obsidian bone were being pulled by the magnet, grinding against each other as they tried to align with the cave's natural magnetic field.
"Shut up and focus," Han Yue snapped. "Use that black hole in your gut. Stop trying to push the Qi out. Pull the magnetism in. You need to turn your skeleton into a giant electromagnet. If you don't, the bones will heal crooked, and you'll be a cripple forever."
Su Meng closed his eyes, forcing his consciousness into the Celestial Forge. He stopped the vortex from spinning outward. He reversed the flow.
The magnetism of the cave began to flow into his pores. It felt like liquid lead was being poured into his veins. His Obsidian Bones began to glow with a dim, violet light. The fractured pieces of his femur began to vibrate, humming at the same frequency as the cave walls.
CLACK.
The bone snapped back into place. Su Meng's body arched off the floor, his teeth gritting so hard they nearly cracked. But the pain was followed by a strange, heavy warmth. The magnetic field was acting as a forge, "melting" the edges of the obsidian fragments and fusing them back together.
While Su Meng was being "welded" back together, the forest outside was crawling with fire.
The Iron-Blood Enforcers had reached the edge of the cave. There were ten of them, all in heavy plate armor, led by a man with a scar running across his throat. They carried "Spirit-Seeking Compasses" that were spinning wildly.
"The signal is haywire," one Enforcer said, shaking his compass. "The magnetic interference from the cave is blocking the boy's Qi signature."
The scarred leader looked at the dark opening. "He's in there. No one survives the Calamity-Iron Cave for long. The magnetism turns your blood into sludge. We don't need to go in. We just need to wait at the exit. He either comes out and dies by our swords, or stays in and dies by the mountain."
They set up a perimeter, their blue-steel blades glowing in the fog.
Inside the cave, Su Meng stood up. His leg was no longer broken. It felt denser, stronger, and carried a faint magnetic charge. He could feel the loose iron filings on the cave floor twitching whenever he moved his foot.
"You're stable," Han Yue said, her silver eyes reflecting his violet glow. "But the Enforcers are at the door. They have 'Spirit-Steel' armor. In a normal place, they would cut you down in seconds."