The Obsidian Iron World was no longer a planet; it was a dying animal, thrashing in the dark void. As the atmosphere thinned into vacuum, Fang Yuan's lungs burned, not from lack of air, but from the chaotic, unrefined energy of the shattered Heart of the Obsidian. Every breath felt like inhaling molten lead.
[System Warning: Vitality at 32%. Internal Qi turbulence is destabilizing the Host's cellular structure. Immediate evacuation required.]
"Open it," Fang Yuan rasped, coughing up a glob of dark, glowing blood. "Open the gate to the next coordinates."
[Searching for compatible realms... Coordinates locked: The Jade Mist Realm (Rank 2 World). Opening Spatiotemporal Rift...]
A jagged tear appeared in the air before him, glowing with a cold, pale light. It wasn't a stable portal; the instability of Fang Yuan's current energy made the rift flicker violently.
Behind him, through the smoke and falling rocks, he saw Kael. The "Hero" was holding Maya's unconscious body, his eyes vacant, staring at the gray ash that was once his home. Fang Yuan didn't feel triumph. He felt only the cold necessity of his next move.
"System, initiate 'Void Jump'."
As Fang Yuan stepped into the rift, the sensation of being torn apart and stitched back together washed over him. The darkness of the void was a brief mercy before he was slammed into a new reality.
He fell.
He didn't land like a god. He crashed through a canopy of glowing purple trees, his high-density body snapping thick branches like dry twigs until he hit the damp, mossy earth with a bone-shaking thud.
The air here was different—thick with the scent of damp soil and a strange, intoxicating medicinal aroma. The Qi was liquid, heavy, and far more potent than the dry iron-scent of his previous world.
[Location Confirmed: Jade Mist Realm - Great Medicine Forest.]
[Current Status: World Breaker (Rank 5 - Damaged).]
[Objective: Stabilize Internal Core. Seek 'Refinement Catalyst'.]
Fang Yuan tried to stand, but his legs failed him. Through his blurred vision, he saw a figure approaching. It wasn't a guard or a soldier. It was a girl dressed in emerald robes, carrying a basket of glowing herbs. She stopped a few feet away, her eyes widening as she looked at the "falling star" that had just cratered her forest.
"You're... not from the Jade Mist," she whispered, her voice like wind-chimes.
Fang Yuan looked at her, his hand twitching toward his system interface. He was weak, injured, and in a world where he was the interloper.
"System," he thought, a cold smirk forming on his bloody lips. "Analyze the new 'Protagonist'."