The micro subspace did not fail quietly.
Xu Yuan sensed the degradation long before the system's countdown reached its final hours. The spatial membrane surrounding the refuge began to fluctuate subtly—its boundary thinning in places, thickening in others, like a stretched skin losing elasticity.
Time was running out.
He opened his eyes and rose smoothly from his meditative posture. His body felt markedly better than when he had entered the refuge—fatigue eased, corrosion halted, internal strain reduced to a manageable level.
But "better" was not "ready."
[Micro subspace integrity: 63%.]
[Estimated stability window: 19 hours.]
Xu Yuan acknowledged the warning without concern.
"Enough," he said quietly. "I got what I needed."
He stepped out.
The Hell World welcomed him back immediately.
Chaotic qi slammed against his senses like a tidal wave, the familiar grinding pressure returning in full force. His isolation layer reactivated instinctively, thin but functional, diverting the worst of the corrosion.
Pain flared.
Xu Yuan did not slow.
Outside the refuge, the demon straightened as he emerged. "You're back," it said.
Xu Yuan nodded. "And we move."
They did not linger near the dead zone. Places like that attracted attention over time—curiosity from stronger beings, investigation from territory scouts, even anomalies drawn to anomalies.
Xu Yuan had no intention of defending it.
Let it remain a rumor.
They traveled deeper into contested land, where the pressure rose unevenly and territorial borders blurred. Here, monsters and demons alike fought constantly, each clash feeding the Hell World's endless appetite.
Xu Yuan watched carefully.
This was not random slaughter.
This was resource flow.
Territory lords did not merely dominate space—they controlled movement. Prey was driven outward. Weaker beings were culled. Stronger ones consolidated power through selective extermination.
Xu Yuan had stepped into the stream.
He needed to swim without being noticed.
A distant roar echoed across the land—deep, resonant, heavy with authority.
The demon stiffened instantly. "A ruler's herald," it whispered. "Something big is moving."
Xu Yuan's eyes sharpened.
He did not retreat immediately.
Instead, he climbed a jagged outcrop and surveyed the area. From this vantage point, he could see a broad stretch of terrain—a killing field littered with corpses, both old and fresh.
And at its center—
Movement.
A massive beast dragged itself across the ground, its body warped by corruption and power alike. Thick layers of hardened flesh covered its frame, runes of distorted law etched into its hide by prolonged exposure to chaotic qi.
Not a territory lord.
But close.
Xu Yuan assessed it calmly.
"Grade Three," he murmured. "Approaching Grade Four."
The demon swallowed. "We shouldn't be here."
Xu Yuan nodded. "Agreed."
But he did not leave.
Instead, he watched as the beast tore into a pack of lesser demons, crushing them effortlessly. Each kill fed it—its body swelling subtly, corruption deepening as it consumed both flesh and law fragments.
Xu Yuan frowned slightly.
"That thing is overfeeding," he said. "It's destabilizing itself."
[Observation confirmed.]
[Target exhibiting accelerated mutation.]
Xu Yuan's gaze shifted.
"Mutation means weakness," he said quietly. "And weakness means opportunity."
The demon stared at him. "You're not thinking—"
"I am," Xu Yuan interrupted calmly. "And I'm not fighting it head-on."
He turned away from the outcrop.
"We won't kill it," he said. "We'll harvest it."
The demon's eyes widened. "How?"
Xu Yuan did not answer immediately.
He moved instead, circling wide around the killing field, careful to remain downwind of the beast's senses. The ground trembled faintly with each of its movements, chaotic qi surging violently around it.
Xu Yuan stopped near a fractured ravine and crouched, studying the terrain.
"This place," he said. "It's unstable."
The demon nodded. "The ground collapses often."
"Good," Xu Yuan replied.
He opened the system interface.
Not the shop.
The task layer.
[Environmental exploitation options available.]
Xu Yuan's lips curved faintly.
"So you noticed too."
He selected a sequence—temporary, conditional, limited.
[System-assisted action path initialized.]
[Cost: 180 SP.]
The system did not act for him.
It calculated.
Xu Yuan moved.
He sprinted across the unstable ground, deliberately drawing the beast's attention. The moment its massive head snapped toward him, Xu Yuan turned and ran—leading it precisely where he wanted.
The beast roared and charged.
The ground shook violently.
Xu Yuan leapt.
The ravine collapsed.
The beast plunged downward with an earth-shattering crash, its massive body slamming into the depths below. Chaotic qi surged chaotically as the creature thrashed, injured but not dead.
Xu Yuan stood at the edge, breathing steadily.
He had not won.
But he had changed the terms.
[System Points acquired: 96 (Environmental damage).]
Xu Yuan turned to the demon.
"We wait," he said calmly. "And we take what survives."
The Hell World roared in the distance.
And Xu Yuan smiled faintly.
The ravine did not stay silent for long.
From the depths below came a series of thunderous impacts, stone cracking, corrupted flesh slamming repeatedly against unyielding rock. Chaotic qi surged upward in violent bursts, forming distorted currents that lashed across the ravine's edges like whips.
The beast was still alive.
Badly injured.
And furious.
Xu Yuan crouched low at the edge, his isolation layer tightened to its limit as shockwaves rippled through the ground. Each tremor sent sharp pain through his legs, but he did not retreat.
He watched.
He waited.
"This thing won't die easily," the demon whispered, eyes fixed on the churning abyss.
"No," Xu Yuan replied calmly. "But it doesn't need to."
Another roar echoed from below—raw, unstable, laced with distortion. The beast's aura fluctuated wildly, its corrupted body struggling to reconcile accumulated power with structural damage.
Xu Yuan's gaze sharpened.
"That's the cost of forced growth," he said quietly. "Strength without control."
[Target condition update:]
Structural integrity: Compromised.]
Corruption overload: Escalating.]
Xu Yuan nodded.
"Good."
He moved.
Not toward the ravine—but along it.
He navigated carefully, choosing positions where the ground was cracked but not fully collapsed. From there, he observed as fragments of the beast's flesh and bone began to break away under its own thrashing.
Each fragment carried value.
Condensed chaotic essence.
Mutated bone marrow.
Law-tainted flesh.
Resources too dangerous for most to harvest.
Xu Yuan waited until the beast's movements slowed—until its roars turned ragged, its thrashing uneven.
Then he struck.
He hurled a jagged spear of stone downward, not aiming for the beast's core, but for the surrounding rock. The impact triggered a secondary collapse, burying part of the creature beneath tons of debris.
The beast howled in agony.
Xu Yuan did not flinch.
He threw another.
And another.
Each strike destabilized the ravine further, compounding the creature's injuries without requiring Xu Yuan to confront it directly.
Minutes passed.
Then—
Silence.
Not death.
Exhaustion.
Xu Yuan stood still for a long moment, scanning the area.
[Target vitality: Critically unstable.]
[Kill opportunity available.]
Xu Yuan shook his head.
"No," he said calmly. "Not yet."
He turned to the demon.
"You go," he ordered. "Take the fragments near the surface. Avoid the core."
The demon stiffened. "I—"
"You can handle it," Xu Yuan interrupted. "And you need this."
The demon hesitated only a moment before nodding sharply. It descended carefully, avoiding deeper pockets of chaotic qi, and began collecting fragments torn free during the collapse.
Xu Yuan remained above.
He closed his eyes briefly, suppressing the urge to finish the beast himself. Killing it outright would yield points—but at a cost.
The aura release required would draw attention.
And attention was dangerous right now.
Instead, he waited for something else.
It came sooner than expected.
The air shifted.
Not violently.
Not oppressively.
But noticeably.
Xu Yuan's eyes snapped open.
Far away, beyond the killing field, a presence stirred—heavy, controlled, unmistakably dominant. It did not approach directly, but its awareness brushed across the region like a probing finger.
A territory lord.
Not this one.
Another.
"Too soon," Xu Yuan muttered.
[Warning: High-level attention detected.]
Xu Yuan backed away from the ravine edge immediately, retreating into broken terrain that masked his presence. He reined in everything—breath, heartbeat, intent—until even his existence felt muted.
The ring on his finger pulsed faintly.
The probing presence lingered… then moved on.
Xu Yuan exhaled slowly.
"That was close."
The demon returned moments later, carrying a bundle of grotesque fragments. Its movements were strained but controlled.
"I took what I could," it said.
Xu Yuan nodded approvingly.
"That's enough."
He opened the system interface.
[System Points acquired: 842 (Indirect harvest).]
Not spectacular.
But safe.
Xu Yuan turned away from the ravine.
"The shelter has a price," he said quietly. "And so does everything else."
They traveled for hours after that, avoiding conflict where possible, striking only when opportunities were clean and low-risk. Xu Yuan could feel the degradation timer ticking away in the back of his mind.
The micro subspace would not wait.
When they finally stopped, it was in a narrow canyon shielded by jagged overhangs. Xu Yuan deployed the micro subspace again without hesitation.
The familiar membrane unfolded, isolating him once more from the Hell World's corrosive embrace.
He stepped inside and immediately sat down, placing the harvested materials before him.
"This," he said, gesturing to the fragments, "is the real cost."
The demon watched silently.
Xu Yuan opened the shop interface and scrolled.
Refuge upgrades.
Structural reinforcement.
Corrosion resistance layers.
Time extension.
The prices climbed rapidly.
"Points are never enough," Xu Yuan murmured.
[Confirmed.]
He selected the lowest-tier reinforcement option.
[Micro subspace reinforcement (Tier 1).]
Cost: 900 SP.]
He confirmed.
The subspace shuddered briefly, its boundary thickening slightly, degradation slowing by a small but meaningful margin.
[Estimated stability window: 52 hours.]
Xu Yuan leaned back, exhausted.
"So that's the price," he said softly. "Kill smarter. Harvest carefully. Pay constantly."
The demon bowed. "You're building something."
"Yes," Xu Yuan replied. "And the Hell World will charge me every step of the way."
He closed his eyes.
This shelter was temporary.
Fragile.
Expensive.
But it was enough.
Enough to plan.
Enough to prepare.
Enough to take the next step toward something far more dangerous—
A place where he would no longer need to borrow safety from the system.
________________________
Author Note
Chapter 10 shows the true cost of survival beyond brute force. Shelter is not free, and every advantage carries a price in attention, resources, and risk.
From here on, Xu Yuan's path will be shaped not just by strength—but by choice.
Thank you for reading and supporting the story.