The derelict station shook violently as warship fire tore through its ancient hull. Through the damaged ceiling of the central chamber, Ethan watched ships from half a dozen factions exchanging fire, all of them converging on their position.
"We need to move!" Princess Lyra shouted over the sound of groaning metal. "This place is coming apart!"
"Deeper," Nyx commanded, already flowing toward a passage that led down. "The Primordial sections are below. Their shielding will hold longer."
They ran through corridors that grew stranger with each level. The walls pulsed with energy, covered in symbols that seemed to shift when Ethan wasn't looking directly at them. Gravity fluctuated wildly—one moment normal, the next pulling them sideways or barely holding them down at all.
"What is this place?" Dr. Senna gasped, her scanner going haywire.
"A Primordial research station," Seris answered, her silver eyes wide with recognition. "I've read reports, but I never thought I'd see one intact. They built these to study cultivation at its deepest levels."
An explosion behind them cut off further conversation. Part of the corridor collapsed, and through the gap, Ethan saw figures in armor forcing their way through.
"They're boarding the station," Lyra snarled. "At least twenty signatures. Core Formation cultivators, all of them."
"Let them come." Nyx didn't slow her pace. "The deeper we go, the more dangerous it becomes. For them."
They reached a massive door carved from a single piece of metal that gleamed despite millennia of age. Nyx pressed her palm against it, and the door responded to her touch, grinding open to reveal a spherical chamber beyond.
The room took Ethan's breath away. It existed in impossible space, the walls curved in directions that shouldn't exist, and at the center, a platform floated suspended by nothing. Energy swirled through the air like aurora lights, dense and pure.
**[OPTIMAL CULTIVATION ENVIRONMENT DETECTED]**
**[ADVANCEMENT SPEED: INCREASED 800%]**
**[QUEST TIMER: 11:47:22 REMAINING]**
"A cultivation chamber," Nyx said with satisfaction. "Primordial technology at its finest. Time moves differently here. Hours outside are compressed to minutes inside. Perfect for rapid advancement."
"You want him to cultivate now?" Senna looked at her like she'd lost her mind. "We're being hunted by armies!"
"Which is exactly why he needs more power." Nyx turned to Ethan. "Your Low Core Formation is impressive, but it won't save you against what's coming.
In this chamber, you can reach Mid Core Formation in hours instead of months. But only if we buy you time."
The sounds of pursuit grew louder. Energy blasts echoed through the corridors, getting closer.
"How long does he need?" Lyra asked, her claws already extended.
"Three hours minimum." Nyx's expression was grim. "Can you hold them?"
Lyra's grin was feral. "My pack doesn't retreat. We'll give you three hours or die trying."
"The Dominion stands with you," Seris added, crystalline energy beginning to form around her hands. "We protect what matters."
Ethan looked at the three women who'd become his unlikely allies. They were preparing to face overwhelming odds so he could grow stronger. The weight of that sacrifice pressed on him.
"I'll make it count," he promised.
"See that you do." Nyx gestured to the platform. "Get up there and don't stop until you break through. No matter what you hear happening out here."
Ethan climbed onto the floating platform, and immediately the energy surged around him. It was like standing in the eye of a hurricane made of pure power.
His Immortal Path core responded hungrily, beginning to pull in the ambient energy.
*****
Honestly the feeling I got at this time was something I couldn't explain.
******
The chamber's entrance exploded inward. A warrior wreathed in flames stepped through—one of Empress Kara's elite guards, her power radiating heat that made the air shimmer.
"Found the human," she announced into a communicator. "Send reinforcements…"
Princess Lyra hit her mid-sentence, tackling the warrior back through the doorway. The sounds of combat erupted immediately—roars, energy blasts, and even the clash of cultivation powers.
Ethan forced himself to turn away. Trust them, and focus on the only thing you can control.
He closed his eyes and dove into cultivation.
The energy here was different from anything he'd experienced. It didn't just flow into him, it was intelligent, guided, designed by the Primordials specifically for rapid advancement. His core began to expand, compressing energy in tighter and tighter spirals.
**[ADVANCEMENT INITIATED]**
**[TARGET: MID CORE FORMATION]**
**[ESTIMATED TIME: 2 HOURS, 51 MINUTES]**
Behind him, the battle raged. He heard Lyra's war cries, Seris's cold commands directing defensive formations, Senna's surprised shout followed by an explosion.
More attackers were arriving, and he could feel their cultivation signatures pressing against his expanded spiritual sense.
But he couldn't help them. Not yet. Not until he was strong enough to actually make a difference.
Ethan sank deeper into the cultivation trance. Time became meaningless. The energy cycled through his core over and over, each rotation refining it further, compressing it tighter.
His body strengthened, and his channels widened, even his spiritual sense expanded.
**[ADVANCEMENT: 47%]**
Somewhere in the chaos, he heard Nyx's voice speaking ancient words. The chamber's defenses activated—barriers of pure energy snapping into place, gravity wells forming that crushed attackers, automated defenses that had slept for ten thousand years were finally awakening.
The Primordials had built this place to be impregnable. But the forces arrayed against them now were desperate and numerous.
**[ADVANCEMENT: 73%]**
**[WARNING: MAJOR POWER SIGNATURE DETECTED]**
**[SOUL REALM ENTITY APPROACHING]**
Even deep in his cultivation trance, Ethan felt something vastly more powerful than anything else present had just entered the station. The pressure of its cultivation made the air itself feel heavy.
"Everyone back!" Nyx's voice held genuine alarm. "Soul Realm! It's a Soul Realm cultivator!"
The chamber shook as something impossibly powerful forced its way through the Primordial defenses. Barriers that had held against dozens of Core Formation cultivators shattered like glass.
A figure descended through a hole torn in the ceiling. It was a tall Female with skin that seemed to contain actual starlight. Her presence was overwhelming, and reality were bending slightly around her just from existing.
"Seris," the newcomer's voice was cold and loud. "My daughter. You've chosen poorly."
Commander Seris's face went pale. "Mother. The Celestial Empress. I can explain…"
"No explanation will suffice." The Empress's gaze found Ethan on the platform. "You've bonded with the human. Formed resonance connections without permission. Betrayed your people for a alien male."
"I'm protecting a Reality Anchor!" Seris protested. "He could save us all from the Voidborne!"
"Or doom us all." The Empress raised one hand, and the air around Ethan began to crystallize. "I cannot allow such power to fall into uncontrolled hands, it's better to eliminate the threat now."
Nyx moved to intercept, her shadow-form expanding. "You'll have to go through me, Empress."
"So be it."
Two Soul Realm cultivators clashed, and the chamber that had survived millennia began to crack under forces it was never meant to withstand.
**[ADVANCEMENT: 94%]**
**[CRITICAL BREAKTHROUGH IMMINENT]**
**[WARNING: CHAMBER INTEGRITY FAILING]**
Ethan couldn't stop now. Not when he was so close. He pushed harder, compressing energy with desperate intensity. His core spun faster, approaching the critical threshold.
Through the fight, he heard his companions fighting and dying. He felt the resonance bonds straining as they took damage. But he couldn't help them.
**[ADVANCEMENT: 99%]**
**[BREAKTHROUGH IN: 3... 2... 1...]**
Power exploded through Ethan's body. His core stabilized at a new level, twice as powerful, and infinitely more refined.
**[MID CORE FORMATION: ACHIEVED]**
**[QUEST TIMER: 00:00:00]**
**[QUEST COMPLETE]**
Ethan's eyes snapped open just as the Celestial Empress broke through Nyx's defenses, her hand reaching for his throat.
Time to see if his breakthrough was enough to survive what came next.