*Chapter 67: Trials of Blood and Sand**

The Deadbone Wastes stretched endlessly under a sun bleached of mercy. Li Tian's group trudged through a canyon of wind-carved stone, their shadows thin and brittle beneath the glare. Xia stumbled, her hand pressed to her chest where the Hollow Star's shadow had pierced her days before. Renshu caught her, his massive frame blocking the sun.

"Save your strength," the blacksmith rumbled. "We're not dying in this oven."

Li Tian glanced back, his vision swimming momentarily. The Codex's corruption had spread past his ribs, black veins spiderwebbing toward his heart. He tightened the wrappings around his arms, hiding the decay. Ahead, Bo crouched, his qi-sensitive fingers brushing the sand.

"Qi-vultures," the scout warned. "A swarm. Feeding on something upwind."

Daiyu nocked an arrow. "Beasts or men?"

"Both."

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**The Scourge of the Wastes**

They found the qi-vultures circling a half-buried caravan. The creatures were grotesque hybrids of flesh and crystal, their beaks crackling with stolen energy. Among the wreckage lay bodies in Flame Emperor robes—a scout party picked clean.

"Ambush," Jin noted, flipping a shattered blade. "Not ours."

Old Guo knelt, his blind eyes milky. "The sand remembers… a clash of qi. Lightning and flame."

A low growl vibrated through the canyon. The qi-vultures scattered as a pack of sand serpents emerged—sinewy creatures with obsidian scales and eyes like molten glass. Their leader, a three-headed monstrosity, hissed, its tongues flicking toward Xia.

"It's drawn to wounded qi!" Xia shouted, backpedaling.

Li Tian's blade flared. "Formation Delta!"

The group snapped into practiced ranks—Renshu and Daiyu front line, Jin flanking, Bo and Old Guo guarding Xia. The serpents struck.

Renshu's hammer pulverized the first head, but the serpent's body thrashed wildly. Daiyu's arrows found the secondary heads, their frost tips freezing venom mid-air. Jin danced through the chaos, daggers severing spinal cords.

"Behind!" Bo yelled.

A smaller serpent lunged at Xia. Li Tian intercepted, his blade shearing through its neck. Acidic blood sprayed, burning his forearm. The Codex's corruption writhed, absorbing the venom.

"Chief!" Xia reached for him.

"Hold the line!" Li Tian barked, masking his shock.

When the last serpent fell, the Wastes fell silent. Jin prodded a carcass. "Since when do serpents hunt in packs?"

Old Guo's staff trembled. "They were herded."

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**The Traitor's Gambit**

The storm hit at dusk—a wall of crimson sand that scoured flesh from bone. The group sheltered in a half-collapsed temple, its walls etched with Magic Emperor glyphs. Xia lit a qi-lamp, the blue flame casting long shadows.

"We're not alone," Bo whispered.

Figures emerged from the storm—six cultivators in stormcloaks, their leader a wiry man with a lightning-whip coiled at his hip. The sigil on his brow marked him as Thunderpeak Sect, but his eyes held the Flame Emperor's malice.

"Li Tian of the Fallen Village," the leader drawled. "The Ashbringer sends regards."

Jin spat. "Hired dogs. Thunderpeak's fallen far."

The man smirked. "Zhen Yan Mei sends her apologies." He tossed a familiar dagger—Yan Mei's—to the floor.

Li Tian's grip tightened. Yan Mei had stayed behind to protect the village. *Or so he'd thought.*

"She squealed prettily before the end," the leader lied, watching Li Tian's face.

It was almost enough.

Li Tian's blade met the lightning-whip in a shower of sparks. "You've never seen her fight."

The Thunderpeak mercenaries attacked. Daiyu's arrows pinned two against the wall, while Renshu shattered another's ribs. But their leader was a tempest—his whip carving molten furrows in the stone.

Li Tian fought mechanically, his movements slowed by corruption. A whip strike grazed his thigh, searing flesh. The Codex's veins glowed hungrily, feeding on the pain.

"Pathetic," the leader taunted. "The great chief, rotting from within!"

Xia's scream cut through the chaos. A mercenary had her by the hair, dagger poised.

"Stop!" Li Tian roared.

Old Guo's staff struck the ground. The temple's glyphs flared, and a spectral hand erupted from the wall, crushing the mercenary. The survivors fled into the storm.

"The Magic Emperor's wards," Old Guo panted. "Temporary reprieve."

Li Tian slumped against a pillar. Xia hurried to him, her hands glowing with healing qi. "The corruption—it's spreading faster."

"I know."

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**The Wastes' Cruelty**

Dawn revealed the true toll. The storm had buried their water reserves. Bo's qi-sight found a sinkhole leading to an underground spring, but the path was a labyrinth of unstable stone.

"We'll die of thirst before reaching the Sanctum," Jin muttered.

"Then we drink the Wastes," Old Guo said, kneeling at the sinkhole's edge. He chanted, and the water rose—a silvery stream tainted with void-qi.

Xia tested it. "It'll burn, but sustain."

One by one, they drank. The water seared Li Tian's throat, but the Codex's corruption calmed, soothed by the poison.

As they pressed on, the canyon narrowed into a needle-thin pass. Bo froze. "Qi echo—landslide!"

The mountain groaned. Boulders rained down, shearing the path. Renshu hurled Jin to safety before the floor beneath him crumbled.

"Renshu!" Xia screamed.

The blacksmith dangled over the abyss, his hammer still clutched in one hand. "Let go! Save yourselves!"

"Like hell!" Daiyu anchored a rope with her bow.

Li Tian lunged, his corrupted arm gripping Renshu's wrist. The Codex's veins pulsed, strength flooding his failing body. With a roar, he hauled the blacksmith up.

The landslide subsided, leaving them stranded on a precarious ledge. The Sanctum's spire loomed in the distance, closer yet impossibly far.

"Why?" Renshu rasped. "I'm just a smith."

Li Tian met his gaze. "So were the first cultivators."

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**The Hollow Star's Lure**

That night, the whispers began.

*"You'll fail them all,"* the Hollow Star crooned as Li Tian kept watch. *"The smith will suffocate under stone. The healer will drown in her own blood. All because you were too weak to face me."*

Li Tian gripped his amulet. "Show yourself."

The vision struck—Xia lifeless in the sand, Daiyu's bow shattered, Renshu's hammer buried with him. Behind them all, the Flame Emperor's banner flew over his village.

*"Your path ends here,"* the voice taunted. *"Unless you let me in."*

"Never."

The vision shattered. Dawn found Li Tian bloodied, his nails cracked from clawing at phantom enemies. The group said nothing, their silence heavier than accusation.

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