The path ahead was uncertain, but Eli had made his choice.

  He adjusted the knife at his belt, still processing Marco's revelation. A descendant of the Founding Families? It didn't feel real. His parents had told him stories—legends about cities that stretched into the sky, about the old ways, before the Krev ruled. But he had never imagined those stories could be about him.

  "Your lineage is more significant than you realize," Marco had said. "The Founding Families possessed naturally superior meridian structures—wider channels, stronger energy nexus points. This genetic advantage allowed them to progress through cultivation stages at unprecedented rates."

  Eli exhaled sharply through his nose. Great. Because I needed one more thing making me a target.

  He felt the binding spell pulse against his neck, a constant reminder of his limitations. According to Marco, even with the spell restricting his energy flow, Eli's meridians showed signs of natural expansion—a characteristic unique to those with the Hero's Lineage. At his current suppressed state, he barely registered at the peak of the Mortal Realm, but Marco's analysis suggested potential far beyond that.

  He shook the thought away and focused on their next move.

  "You said there are still working power nodes," Eli said, stepping closer to the flickering holographic map Marco had projected. "Show me."

  The map adjusted instantly, zooming in on the nearest power grid sector. Blue lines crisscrossed through the subterranean ruins, marking old distribution networks. But many flickered—damaged or unstable. Only a handful still pulsed with a steady glow, indicating potential functionality.

  One stood out.

  "This node," Eli pointed. It was relatively close, buried within a maintenance sector. "You think it still works?"

  "Unknown," Marco admitted. His holographic form shimmered as it recalibrated. "Last recorded status: Semi-functional. Structural integrity: 64%. Energy readings: Inconsistent. Anomalous fluctuations detected in proximity."

  "Meaning?"

  "Meaning it may have retained power, but interference—either environmental or external—has made its output unpredictable. The energy signature bears similarities to the Heart Vein formations described in cultivation texts—chaotic but potent."

  Eli rubbed the back of his neck. Great. So we go in blind.

  "I am currently running a probability analysis," Marco continued. His voice carried the precise cadence of ancient technology—familiar yet alien. "However, my records on current dungeon influence remain incomplete. External factors may alter outcomes significantly."

  Eli scoffed. "That's a fancy way of saying 'we won't know until we get there.'"

  "Correct."

  Eli sighed, checking his meager supplies—the knife, a small canteen, a handful of nutrient bars. Not exactly the arsenal he'd want for venturing into the unknown. He closed his eyes briefly, recalling Marco's instructions on breath cultivation. Inward breath, gather energy at the dantian center. Outward breath, disperse it through the meridians. He felt the familiar warmth spread through his core, temporarily dulling the binding spell's ache.

  "Well, no point standing around. Let's go."

  Marco's hologram flickered, pixels reassembling as he processed Eli's decision. "Your inclination toward immediate action is noted."

  "You sound surprised."

  "Not surprised. Merely... reassessing parameters. Historical records indicate that most cultivators with your particular meridian structure favored deliberation over action. The Eight-Fold Reflection technique was developed specifically to balance this tendency."

  Eli glanced at him. Marco had been studying him from the moment they met. Evaluating. Calculating. Each interaction cataloged and analyzed against some invisible metric.

  "And?" Eli asked. "What's the assessment?"

  A brief pause. Then: "Adaptability. You prioritize action over deliberation. This differs from my creators' approach, but aligns with cultivation patterns observed during the Chaos Era. Perhaps an evolutionary response to environmental pressures."

  Eli rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, your creators aren't here, are they?"

  Marco didn't respond. He didn't have to. The silence was enough.

  The corridor leading toward the power node was tight, winding, and eerily silent.

  Eli moved carefully, gripping his makeshift weapon—a metal pipe he had scavenged earlier. The air smelled stale, tinged with the faint metallic scent of old machinery and something else—something unnatural that made the hairs on his arms stand on end.

  He tried to sense the energy around him, applying the perception techniques Marco had taught him during cultivation training. The Void Gaze exercise was meant to reveal energy currents, but his perception remained frustratingly limited by the binding spell. Still, he could detect faint traces—wisps of chaotic energy that brushed against his consciousness like phantom limbs.

  The beam of Eli's improvised light cut through darkness that seemed almost alive, revealing walls that weren't quite as they should be. The deeper they went, the more distorted the architecture became. Twisted. Stretched. Almost like the dungeon itself had reshaped this place, warping it into something wrong.

  "Energy distortion detected," Marco announced, his hologram flickering with increased interference. Data scrolled rapidly across his projected form as he analyzed their surroundings. "Energy patterns match descriptions of Corrupted Cultivation Theory—specifically the Twisted Path documented in the Scarlet Archives."

  "What kind of distortion?"

  "Unknown. Readings are inconsistent with standard Aethel architecture. The material composition of the walls has... changed. They appear to be absorbing ambient energy and redistributing it in patterns similar to cultivation meridians, but fundamentally distorted."

  Eli's fingers brushed over the surface again. It felt different. Not just stone, but slick, as if the rock itself had been altered at a molecular level. The walls pulsed faintly—like a heartbeat—and in the brief flashes between pulses, Eli thought he could see something moving beneath the surface. Then he noticed the faintest click-click-click echoing somewhere ahead.

  His stomach twisted.

  "Marco." His voice was quieter now, instinctively lowering. "Do you hear that?"

  Marco's hologram flickered, breaking apart into fragments before reassembling.

  "Confirmed. Unidentified movement detected. Three hundred meters ahead."

  "Something alive?"

  A pause. Marco's expression—though programmed—seemed troubled.

  "Not... exactly. Its energy signature registers as partially mechanical, partially organic, but also exhibits cultivation energy patterns at approximately the third stage of Foundation Establishment."

  Eli stopped walking.

  "Elaborate."

  "Movement pattern suggests automated functionality. Potentially dormant constructs. Remnants of Aethel security systems... or corrupted entities. In either case, it appears to have developed a rudimentary cultivation core—an impossibility according to classical theory."

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  Eli's grip tightened on the metal pipe, knuckles whitening. "You're saying they might be sentinels?"

  "Affirmative. However, their energy signatures have been altered. They do not match pre-Collapse defense units. The dungeon appears to have infused them with corrupted cultivation energy—creating a hybrid entity capable of drawing power from its surroundings."

  He swallowed hard. He wasn't sure what was worse—the thought of facing ancient sentinels designed to eliminate threats, or the possibility that something else had gotten to them first. The dungeon was known for corrupting whatever it touched. If it had reached the old security systems and granted them cultivation abilities...

  "We should proceed with extreme caution," Marco advised. "Or reconsider our approach entirely. Without at least reaching the Qi Condensation stage, your combat effectiveness against a cultivating entity would be severely limited."

  Eli shook his head. "We need that power node. If there's even a chance it's still operational..." He left the thought unfinished. They both knew what was at stake.

  He closed his eyes briefly, focusing on the Iron Heart technique Marco had taught him. It was a basic cultivation exercise designed to temporarily strengthen one's physical body by circulating energy through the major muscle groups. Even with the binding spell, he could manage this minor technique, though the familiar burning sensation intensified as he channeled what little energy he could access.

  The clicking grew louder as they advanced, echoing off walls that seemed to pulse with unnatural life. Eli's light caught glimpses of circuitry embedded in the stone—not installed, but grown into it, as if the technology had fused with the structure itself.

  They reached a massive, circular chamber—the heart of the power distribution network.

  Towering pillar-like structures lined the space, each one humming faintly with barely-contained energy. Most of them were dormant, their crystalline cores shattered or blackened. But one, near the center, still pulsed softly—a flickering beacon of hope in the darkness.

  "That's our node," Marco confirmed, his voice hushed despite being digital. "Energy readings fluctuating, but still functional. The composition matches descriptions of Foundation Establishment cores—it appears to be absorbing ambient energy to sustain itself. Accessing..."

  As Marco interfaced with the ancient system, Eli scanned the chamber, his eyes flicking to the shadows between the inactive pylons. The vast space felt both oppressive and exposed, with too many places for danger to hide. He tried the Void Gaze again, straining against the binding spell's restrictions. For a moment—just a moment—his perception expanded. The air around him blazed with currents of energy, flowing in complex patterns that reminded him of the meridian diagrams Marco had shown him.

  Something was wrong.

  The clicking had stopped.

  Eli's breath hitched. Why had it stopped?

  Then—

  A flicker of movement.

  Not from the walls, but from above.

  A shadow detached itself from the ceiling, unfolding with a grotesque, mechanical grace. Limbs that looked almost human but moved with the smooth precision of metal and tendon, hanging from the ceiling like a grotesque marionette.

  A sentinel. But... wrong.

  Its eyes, or whatever it used for sensors, flickered red, then gold, shifting unpredictably. Its joints twitched, spasming, as if something inside it was... corrupted. Tendrils of what appeared to be organic matter wound through its mechanical frame, pulsing with an unsettling rhythm. Most disturbing of all, a glowing crystalline structure was visible within its chest cavity—a perfect sphere of pulsing energy that Marco had described as a cultivation core.

  "Marco," Eli whispered, stepping back. "I think we've got a problem."

  The sentinel's head snapped downward. Its face—once humanoid—was now a twisted mask of metal and flesh-like material that shouldn't exist.

  A shriek—half metallic grinding, half inhuman wail—ripped through the chamber.

  Then it dropped.

  Eli barely had time to react before the thing lunged toward him, its elongated fingers tipped with razor-like claws. As it moved, the air around it distorted—a cultivation technique Marco had called Spatial Compression, typically only accessible to those who had reached Core Formation.

  Adrenaline surged.

  Eli ducked, rolling beneath the nearest pillar as the creature sliced through empty air, its claws sparking against stone. Too fast. Too precise.

  "Marco—!"

  "Combat analysis: Engaged. Sentinel behavior erratic. This appears to be a random patrol unit—not specifically targeting us. Corruption detected in core functions. Entity's cultivation level: Foundation Establishment stage three. Primary energy type: Corrupted Metal attribute. Calculating weaknesses..."

  "Yeah, I got that much!"

  Eli spun, swinging his metal pipe in an upward arc. The improvised weapon connected against the thing's side, sending it skidding back across the stone. He felt the Iron Heart technique strengthen his strike, but it wasn't enough—not against something with an established cultivation base.

  But it didn't fall.

  It just twisted, limbs snapping unnaturally as it righted itself, moving in jerky, unnatural motions. The impact had torn away a section of its exterior, revealing pulsing circuitry intertwined with something that resembled sinew. At the center of its chest, the cultivation core pulsed brighter, sending waves of corrupted energy through its frame.

  It wasn't just a machine. Something else was controlling it.

  And whatever that something was... it had noticed Eli.

  The sentinel screeched again, the sound vibrating through Eli's bones. Its hands formed a series of gestures that Eli recognized from Marco's training—cultivation hand seals used to focus energy. The air around it rippled as it prepared a technique.

  "Incoming energy attack!" Marco warned. "Defensive posture recommended!"

  Eli recalled the shield visualization from the Eight Forms—insufficient against a true cultivator's attack, but better than nothing. He crossed his arms before him, concentrating on forming a barrier with his limited energy.

  The sentinel thrust its palm forward, sending a wave of corrupted metal-attribute energy directly at Eli. When it struck his makeshift shield, the binding spell flared painfully, almost bringing him to his knees. But he held, redirecting the energy as Marco had taught him, letting it flow around rather than through him.

  "Marco! Any time now with those weaknesses!"

  "Analysis complete. The cultivation core is unstable—likely due to forced integration with mechanical systems. Significant disruption to the core should disable both the cultivation abilities and mechanical functions."

  Eli spotted it—the pulsing sphere at the center of the sentinel's chest, visible through the damaged exterior.

  The sentinel recovered quickly, its movements becoming more fluid, more calculated. Learning. Adapting. It circled Eli, herding him away from the active power node.

  It's protecting the power source, Eli realized. Or whatever's corrupted it is.

  "Marco, interface with that node! I'll keep this thing busy."

  "Inadvisable. Your survival probability—"

  "Just do it!"

  As Marco's hologram streaked toward the power node, the sentinel shrieked again—this time in what sounded disturbingly like alarm. It lunged for Marco's holographic form, momentarily distracted.

  Eli seized his chance.

  He leapt forward, pipe raised high. Instinctively, he channeled what little energy he could through his weapon—a crude imitation of the Energy Infusion technique cultivators used to strengthen their arms. The binding spell burned fiercely against his neck, but he pushed through the pain. The sentinel spun back toward him, too late. Eli brought the metal down with all his strength on the glowing core at its center.

  The impact reverberated up Eli's arms, nearly numbing them. The sentinel froze, its limbs rigid. Then a shudder ran through its frame, followed by a high-pitched keening that made Eli's ears ring.

  It collapsed, twitching. The cultivation core flickered, cracked, and then shattered into fragments of light that dispersed into the air.

  But not before Eli glimpsed something in its eyes—not machinery, but an awareness. Pain. Relief.

  Then nothing.

  "Connection established," Marco announced. The active pylon flared brighter, energy coursing through it. "Power node functionality at 73% and stabilizing. Redirecting to essential systems."

  Eli stood over the fallen sentinel, breathing hard. "What happened to it? What was controlling it?"

  Marco's hologram appeared beside him, studying the corrupted machine. "The dungeon. It appears to have integrated with the Aethel technology, creating a hybrid entity. Not fully machine, not fully... whatever the dungeon creates. Most concerning is the cultivation core—by all known theories, artificial beings cannot cultivate."

  "Will there be more?"

  "Probable. This facility's security network would have included multiple units. But this one wasn't specifically hunting us—just a random patrol that happened to cross our path."

  Marco's expression shifted to one of concern. "However, there's something else you should know. When the sentinel's core shattered, I detected an energy pulse—a kind of signal that propagated through the walls themselves. It's as if the dungeon's network registered the loss of one of its nodes."

  "What does that mean?" Eli asked, though he already suspected the answer.

  "It means the dungeon might now be aware of your presence. Not specifically you, perhaps, but aware that something disrupted one of its corrupted sentinels. And the energy signature of your attack, limited as it was, would have left a... trace."

  "Great." Eli wiped sweat from his forehead, feeling the binding spell's burn gradually subside. "So we're on its radar now."

  "In a manner of speaking, yes. The dungeon appears to function like a vast neural network—each corrupted entity serving as a node in that network. We've just disrupted one such node, and the system will respond to that disruption."

  Marco turned toward the activated power node, which now hummed with renewed energy. "Now we have power. And with power... we have options."

  Marco's hologram expanded, displaying multiple data screens. "This node contains cultivation records I previously couldn't access. Techniques specifically designed for those with bound meridians. The Shattered Chain Path was developed during the Rectification Era for political prisoners—cultivators whose abilities were forcibly suppressed."

  Eli looked back at the fallen sentinel, a chill running through him despite his victory. "And how long before something comes to investigate what happened here?"

  "Unknown. But we should proceed with the assumption that we are now of interest to whatever intelligence guides the dungeon. It may send more patrols, or it may alter this sector to make it more hostile."

  He gripped his pipe tighter and stepped toward the glowing power node. "Show me these techniques. If that thing was only at Foundation Establishment, and the dungeon's coming after us now, I need to get stronger fast."

  Whatever came next, they were committed now.

  There was no turning back.