(Continuation — storyline preserved, only enriched)
The night around the Moon-Silk Ravine tightened like a noose. Mist coiled across the cracked stones as Sol Jin took a slow step back, his eyes narrowed—not out of fear, but calculation.
Across from him stood the hooded genius, the one whose presence made the air itself ache. His robe didn't flutter, even though the wind hissed violently through the ravine. It was as if reality avoided touching him.
Sol Jin felt it—the corpse-cold tug beneath the earth.
"Forbidden… corpse formula?" he murmured.
The hooded genius raised his head slightly. The shadow of his hood revealed nothing but an emotionless jawline.
"Sol Jin," the man said, voice disturbingly calm, "you should not be here. This ground… belongs to the dead."
The ground beneath his feet cracked.
Something beneath the soil twitched.
Then another.
Then another.
A dozen pale, half-formed corpses pushed weakly against the surface like trapped souls, their mouths open in silent agony.
Sol Jin clicked his tongue. "You cultivate with these? Tsk. No wonder heavens want you dead."
"Not heavens," the hooded genius replied softly.
"But your sect master."
Sol Jin's expression froze.
The hooded man continued, "He hunts me because of my method, because he fears that if completed… I will reach a realm forbidden to your so-called righteous world."
Sol Jin tilted his head. "So you're strong… but stupid. If you wanted to hide, wearing an ominous hood made of corpse-silk wasn't the best idea."
The hooded genius actually paused. "…"
Even he couldn't deny the point.
But then the earth split.
The hooded genius pressed two fingers together. A pulse of deathly qi exploded outward, forming a chilling sigil beneath his feet—The Nine-Gap Cadaver Formula, a taboo even demons avoided.
Gap after spiritual gap opened behind him like jagged gates to the underworld.
Sol Jin's eyes widened—not in fear but in excitement.
"Finally… someone not weak."
He cracked his knuckles.
Just as their auras were about to collide—
SPACE SPLIT.
A cosmic ripple shimmered silently behind Sol Jin.
A phantom figure of starlight formed—the remnant consciousness of the Cosmic Observer.
But this time…
This fragment was weaker. Flickering. Nearly gone.
"Boy," the Cosmic Observer's echoing voice whispered, unheard by the hooded genius, "my existence fades. Before I vanish, I shall bequeath you something fitting… for one who must claw his way into the multiverse."
Sol Jin's body froze for a heartbeat as celestial text etched itself into his mind.
You have received a Cosmic Gift:
— Stellar Marrow Circuit (Incomplete)
A divine circulation method used by ancient gods to refine the bones into vessels capable of bearing star-level qi.
Dangerous. Overwhelming. But perfect for a schemer who survives impossibilities.
The Cosmic Observer's fading eyes softened.
"In the ancient war… I walked across worlds drenched in god-blood. Compared to those realms, this world is merely a playground for children. But you…"
His voice dimmed.
"You may one day tear open the skies I once walked."
And with that—
the remnant consciousness dissolved into motes of cosmic dust.
Sol Jin exhaled sharply as power pulsed through his bones, muscles tightening with hidden strength.
The hooded genius frowned. "Your qi changed… what did you—"
Sol Jin grinned.
"Nothing. Just remembered I forgot to kill you."
The hooded genius's killing intent exploded.
Their battle shook the ravine.
Corpses burst from the earth.
Death qi clashed with stellar sparks.
Sol Jin's bones glowed faintly beneath his skin each time he moved—unpredictable, overwhelming.
Yet somehow, the hooded genius fought back with monstrous adaptation.
His corpse formula fed him strength as gaps expanded behind him.
But Sol Jin stepped forward with a calm smirk.
"Your technique… is strong."
He leaned in.
"But your brain is weak."
With an elegant twist, Sol Jin shattered the third corpse gap, causing the entire formula to destabilize. The hooded genius choked as backlash ripped through his veins.
He fell to one knee.
Sol Jin reached to grab his hood—
Identity revealed.
A young face, sharp like a blade, with silver-grey irises glowing faintly.
A face far too young to wield such a taboo method.
The hooded genius clenched his jaw.
"My master and I… we are now hunted men."
Sol Jin shrugged.
"And now I'm adding myself to your list of problems."
He knocked the genius out with a flick to the forehead.
---
Elsewhere — Same Time, Sacred Cloud Sect
The Sect Master opened his eyes in his meditation chamber.
A cold smile slithered onto his face.
"So… that boy revealed a portion of his corpse method in battle."
His shadow wriggled on the wall, as if alive.
"Good.
Once he returns…
I will harvest him myself."
---
Multiverse POV — Cosmic Observer's Realm
A shattered throne floated in the endless void.
Beside it, fragments of consciousness whispered.
"Will the boy make it?" one echo asked.
Another fragment laughed softly.
"If he survives the holy grounds, the sealed elders, the prodigies above him…
and the monsters wearing human skins…
then perhaps."
"But even then…"
Their voices lowered as if fearing something colossal.
"The real threats lie outside his world."
"Worlds where even gods die without a name."
"Will Sol Jin survive long enough to meet us again?"
The void pulsed gently.
"We shall see."