Hyperspace unfolded like a blooming lotus of light. Beyond the cracked window of the Broken Dream, rivers of nebulae twisted in impossible geometries. Time didn't behave in here. Space didn't either. You blinked and forgot your name. Blinked again and remembered a childhood that wasn't yours.
Li Tianxuan stared quietly at the void, his hands still trembling.
He had opened one Astral Vein—the first step on the Dao-tech path. The pulse of starlight still echoed in his bones. It was intoxicating, overwhelming… and painful.
"You good?" Zhao Wuming appeared beside him with two mugs. "Brought Greg's least toxic brew."
"Least toxic? That's... reassuring."
"Statistically, Greg has a 42% hostility rate toward first-time drinkers. You passed."
Tianxuan took a sip, paused, winced. "Tastes like scorched dreams and regret."
"Then it's working."
---
🛸 Qingyun Station – The Last Breath of Old Stars
The ship groaned as it emerged from hyperspace. Before them drifted Qingyun Station, once a spiritual node of the Celestial Empire.
The station resembled a celestial lotus made of starlight and crystal towers. Ancient calligraphy circled it like orbiting talismans. It pulsed with forgotten power, tethered to an asteroid veined with glowing minerals.
"This place is off-grid," said Captain Gaoyang through comms. "No data taps, no imperial relays. It survived the Collapse because no one remembered it existed."
Zhao Wuming clapped Tianxuan on the back. "Get ready. Qingyun's where the serious cultivators trained before the world broke. If the Codex was ever studied anywhere, it's here."
---
🧘♂️ The Garden of Echoes
The station's interior felt alive. Giant lotus flowers of jade floated in the air. Every step on the crystal floor echoed memories—literal memories.
As they walked toward the central sanctum, Tianxuan paused.
He heard whispers: voices speaking ancient dialects, battle cries, fragments of love letters. This place was soaked in time.
A hologram flickered to life.
An elderly monk—head shaved, beard flowing like silver mist—hovered before them. "Welcome, travelers. You stand within the Garden of Echoes. Those who seek the Dao Star Codex must pass the Threefold Tempering."
"I just unlocked one vein yesterday," Tianxuan whispered.
Zhao Wuming grinned. "Good. Then you're either ready… or about to explode. Either way, entertaining."
---
⚙️ Test One: The Mirror of Origin
A chamber unfolded around them, shaped like a galaxy spiraling inward. In the center floated a single obsidian mirror.
"Step forward," the monk intoned, now more real than hologram. "The Mirror will reflect your truest self—not what you think, but what you are."
Tianxuan approached.
His reflection shimmered… and changed.
He saw himself: not in miner's rags, but cloaked in celestial armor. Stars orbited his crown. In one hand, he held a sword made of black hole filament. In the other—chains.
Binding him.
He blinked. The vision shattered.
"...What the hell was that?" he gasped.
The monk smiled gently. "A future. A warning. A potential."
"Why was I... chained?"
"That is the Dao's question to you."
Greg's voice buzzed from his portable core in Wuming's bag: "I suggest therapy."
---
🔥 Test Two: The Furnace of Breath
Now they stood before a radiant orb of plasma—twin suns colliding in slow motion.
"Enter," the monk said.
Tianxuan hesitated. "You mean, like, into the furnace?"
"Yes."
"Will I live?"
"Possibly."
Zhao Wuming leaned over. "Just imagine you're getting a cosmic sauna. Cleans the pores. Maybe a few organs too."
Tianxuan sighed, muttered a prayer to the stars, and stepped into the fire.
It didn't burn. Not physically.
But his thoughts began melting. Childhood memories, his mother's lullaby, the screams of his clan's destruction—all flared in his mind, searing with unbearable clarity.
Then silence.
And in the silence, the Codex whispered again.
A new pattern.
Nebula Core Formation.
His second Astral Vein lit up.
He collapsed to his knees—but laughing.
"Two," he said, gasping. "Two in two days."
Greg beeped. "Now 83% chance of spontaneous combustion."
---
🕊️ Test Three: The Starward Gaze
The final chamber was open to the stars. A celestial observatory with no ceiling—only the infinite.
A telescope floated midair. Runic keys rotated around it.
"Look through," the monk said. "Find the Star that echoes your soul."
Tianxuan looked.
He expected to see a nebula, a bright sun, a constellation.
What he saw instead was—
A dying red star.
It pulsed once. Twice.
Then—
It exploded.
A supernova.
And from it… a small white spark remained. A new star, flickering but resilient.
The telescope collapsed into light.
The monk bowed. "You are chosen by the Ashen Phoenix Star. The most volatile. The most stubborn. From death… rebirth."
---
🛸 Return to the Ship
As they walked back to the Broken Dream, Tianxuan's body trembled with starlight. His steps left faint glimmers behind him.
"You're glowing," Suyin said, visibly impressed. "That's either progress or internal radiation."
"I'll take either."
Zhao Wuming tossed him a badge. "Here. You passed the Station's trials. Welcome to cultivation, version 2.0."
"And the Codex?" Tianxuan asked.
Greg answered. "Updating. Please wait. Side effects may include nausea, arrogance, and the urge to monologue."
---
👤 Elsewhere: The Pale Hunters Move
Far across the Void Sea, on a shadowy ship with no name, porcelain-masked assassins stood in silence.
The leader, a tall figure with eyes like starlight ice, whispered:
"He has awakened the Furnace. The Ashen Phoenix rises."
They bowed before a black star projection of Tianxuan.
"Deploy. Qingyun Station will burn."
---
✨ Chapter End Teaser
Tianxuan stood atop the Broken Dream's deck, starlight rippling in his eyes.
The Codex spoke within him now—not just as a relic, but a guide.
His destiny wasn't to run.
It was to rise.
And when the Pale Hunters came… he would be ready.