*Chapter 69: The Hermit’s Bargain**

The Hermit's Vale unfolded like a dream spat from the Wastes' desolation—a sunlit basin cradled by snow-capped peaks, its meadows rippling with silvergrass and flowers that chimed in the breeze. Li Tian's group paused at the valley's edge, their eyes adjusting to the verdant glare.

"Illusion?" Jin squinted at a butterfly the size of his hand, its wings shimmering with fractal patterns.

Old Guo inhaled deeply. "Real. The Magic Emperor's final sanctuary."

They descended into the vale, the air thickening with qi so pure it stung their lungs. Xia knelt, brushing her fingers over a cluster of glowing blue blossoms. "Spiritmend flowers. Legends said they healed mortal wounds."

"Legends lie," rasped a voice.

A figure materialized from the mist—a hunched woman draped in moss-green robes, her face hidden beneath a hood woven from living vines. A staff of petrified wood tapped the ground, its tip sprouting ephemeral leaves. "The flowers numb pain. They don't cure it."

Li Tian stepped forward, masking a wince as the Codex's corruption writhed. "We seek the Airspire Herb."

The hermit's hood tilted. "The herb grows in the Throat of the Vale, guarded by the Stormfang Tiger. Why should I let thieves disturb its slumber?"

Renshu hefted his hammer. "We're not thieves."

"All who enter this vale are thieves," the hermit snapped. Vines snaked around the group's ankles. "You steal breath from my air, warmth from my soil. Even now, your rot poisons my realm." Her staff pointed at Li Tian's chest.

Xia gasped. The corruption had breached his collarbones, black tendrils creeping toward his throat.

"We'll trade," Old Guo said, producing a vial of sand from the Skyrend Pass. "Memories of the mountain."

The hermit stilled. The vial floated to her hand. She uncorked it, and the sand swirled into a miniature blizzard. "Hmm. A fair token. But the herb's price is higher." Her hood turned to Li Tian. "Bring me the Stormfang's fang. Then we'll talk."

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**The Throat of the Vale**

The Throat was a cavern veiled by waterfalls, their mists refracting sunlight into rainbows. The Stormfang's roar echoed within, shaking pebbles loose.

"Ambush points," Daiyu muttered, eyeing the cavern's moss-slick ledges. "It'll strike from above."

Bo pressed his palm to the ground. "Not just the tiger. The cave's alive."

Li Tian unsheathed his blade. "Renshu, anchor the rear. Jin, Daiyu—flank. Xia, stay behind Old Guo."

The Stormfang awaited them in a crystalline grotto, its fur crackling with static. Twelve feet at the shoulder, with fangs like lightning rods, it was less a beast than a force of nature. The Airspire Herb glowed behind it, rooted in a pool of liquid moonlight.

The tiger struck first.

Daiyu's arrow shattered against its mane. Jin lunged, daggers skidding off electrified fur. Renshu's hammer blow triggered a shockwave that hurled him into a stalagmite.

"Distract it!" Li Tian channeled qi into his blade, the Codex's corruption flaring.

Old Guo's staff pulsed. "The crystals! They amplify its power!"

Xia wove healing qi into vines, ensnaring the tiger's legs. It roared, shredding the bonds, but the delay gave Li Tian an opening. His blade scored its flank, drawing not blood but arcs of lightning.

The cavern trembled. Crystals fractured, their shards orbiting the beast. With a thunderclap, the Stormfang unleashed its tempest.

Li Tian's world dissolved into pain.

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**The Corruption's Edge**

The Codex's veins drank the lightning. Black flames engulfed Li Tian's arm, searing the tiger's hide. His vision blurred—*too much, too fast*—but the corruption whispered, *More.*

"Chief, stop!" Xia's voice pierced the storm.

He couldn't. The corruption had a will now, a hunger. The tiger's fang grazed his shoulder, and the Codex *feasted*, draining the beast's qi.

The Stormfang faltered, its storm dimming.

"Now!" Jin's dagger found its eye. Daiyu's final arrow pierced its heart.

The tiger collapsed, its body dissolving into mist that nourished the herb. The Airspire Herb bloomed fully, its petals radiating prismatic light.

Li Tian fell to his knees, the corruption retreating but his meridians scorched.

"You're killing yourself," Xia whispered, healing qi knitting his burns.

"The herb," he coughed. "Take it."

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**The Hermit's Truth**

The hermit examined the Stormfang's fang, her hooded face unreadable. "You subdued the guardian but ignored the lesson. The Stormfang wasn't a foe—it was the vale's balance."

Old Guo frowned. "You sent us to kill it."

"I sent you to *understand*." She crushed the fang; luminescent powder sprinkled the herb. "The Airspire Herb is no cure. It's a mirror. Show him."

Xia hesitated, then pressed the herb to Li Tian's chest.

Agony. Then clarity.

Visions cascaded—the Hollow Star's birth from the Magic Emperor's grief, the Sanctum's true purpose as a prison, and the corruption's origin: a shard of the Hollow Star embedded in Li Tian's soul.

"The herb reveals destiny," the hermit said. "Your rot isn't a curse—it's a key. To enter the Sanctum, you must embrace it."

Li Tian recoiled. "Embrace *this*?"

"Or die resisting." She tossed him a seedpod. "Plant this where the Stormfang fell. New guardians will rise."

As they turned to leave, the hermit added, "Beware the Hollow Star's song. It offers power but demands a soul."

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**The Weight of Truth**

Camped at the vale's edge, the group debated silently. The herb's visions haunted them all.

Jin polished his daggers. "So we're delivering you to a tomb. Cheery."

Old Guo stirred the fire. "The Sanctum's a lock. The Hollow Star—its prisoner."

Li Tian studied the seedpod. "And I'm the key."

Xia gripped his hand. "We'll find another way."

But the Codex's veins pulsed, and the Hollow Star's whisper slithered through the dark:

*"Lies. You've always known the truth."*

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