Careful and alert, the group steps into the cave.

Moist air clings to their skin, carrying the faint scent of rot and damp stone.

Water drips somewhere deeper within, each sound sharp against the heavy stillness.

Lin Yu moves in the middle, eyes narrowing as he feels the faint tremors of energy brushing against his spirit.

It isn’t the world’s natural flow. It’s slower, colder—tainted.

Death energy fused with yin, coiling through the cave like a living thing.

It doesn’t nourish life; it feeds on its absence.

With each step, that unseen force thickens around them, pressing against their bodies until even breathing feels weighted.

The air grows colder, and the silence deepens, as if the cave itself has forgotten what warmth is.

They move deeper in silence, the cave tightening around them like the throat of some vast, sleeping beast.

The air grows thick, and the death energy hums—low, steady, like a heartbeat beneath the stone.

Then a scream splits the stillness. “Ghost!”

The woman at the rear raises her hand instinctively, panic twisting her voice, and an ice spike bursts from her palm.

Lin Yu turns sharply—just in time to see a phantom figure hanging upside down from the ceiling, its half-formed body swaying like mist.

The ice spike pierces through its chest, and the phantom shatters soundlessly into a rain of silvery dust that drifts over the team.

But before anyone can breathe, the cave erupts.

Shapes pour from the walls, the ceiling, even the ground—translucent bodies, hollow eyes, faces frozen in silent screams.

Cedric’s sword cleaves through one, passing harmlessly through its form.

The ghosts sweep closer, their touch leaving trails of cold so deep it burns.

“Elemental attacks only!” Moran shouts, already hurling a burst of flame that scorches one apart.

Lin Yu channels his vitality, focusing it into his palm until it condenses into a blade of pale energy.

He steps forward once, cuts through a ghost lunging toward him.

The phantom splits in two, its body dissolving into silver crystal dust that scatters across the ground.

The knife hums in his hand, the air around him trembling with death energy that he alone seems to understand.

One by one, he cuts through the advancing shades, his expression calm, every strike clean and precise—each ghost’s death feeding the dark pulse of the cave.

The ghosts don’t trouble Lin Yu; each one that drifts near him dies before it can even raise a hand.

His blade moves with quiet certainty, cutting through their translucent forms as if slicing through fog.

He glances toward the others. Cedric and Moran hold their ground, their coordination steady—fire and steel striking in rhythm.

But the three at the rear are struggling.

The ghosts press on them in clusters, their wails echoing through the cave, cold hands reaching.

Each time one is destroyed, two more rise in its place.

Their breathing grows ragged, and Lin Yu watches as frost creeps along their sleeves, their movements slowing.

He exhales softly. “Looks like I have to rescue the situation.”

He presses his palm against the air.

The extraordinary energy within him stirs—dark and quiet—then shifts, transforming into something bright and warm.

Life energy surges out from him in a rippling wave, washing through the cavern.

The ghosts freeze mid-attack, their forms trembling as the wave touches them.

Then, one by one, they shriek—a thin, distorted sound—and dissolve into silver dust that scatters and fades.

The three at the back collapse to their knees, clutching their chests as warmth returns to their limbs.

Frost melts from their skin, wounds sealing, breaths evening out.

Lin Yu lowers his hand, the faint glow around him fading back into calm shadow.

The sound of their boots scraping stone replaces the ghosts’ dying wails.

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The air is still heavy, damp, and cold enough to bite through clothing.

Cedric steps back to his team, checking on the three who had fought hardest. Their faces are flushed, breaths shallow. “Are you three okay?”

One raises his hand weakly. “I’m fine.”

The second nods, her voice trembling but steady. “Me too.”

She glances toward Lin Yu, who is crouched a few steps away, his attention fixed on the silver dust scattered across the ground. “Thank you, Doctor Yu Lin, for helping us.”

Cedric follows her gaze. “Thank you, Doctor Yu Lin.”

Lin Yu doesn’t answer immediately.

He presses his fingers into the glittering sand, lifting a small handful and watching how it refracts the faint ambient light—metallic, cold, almost alive. “Hmm.”

Moran kneels beside him, scooping up some of the dust. “Doctor Yu Lin, is there anything special about the sand left behind by the ghosts?”

“Maybe,” Lin Yu says after a pause, letting the grains fall slowly from his palm. “But I can’t tell yet.”

Cedric straightens, voice firm again. “Moran, you and the two up front—take point. I’ll stay behind with her.”

The formation shifts quietly.

Lin Yu stands, brushing the dust from his hands, his gaze drawn deeper into the black throat of the cave.

Without another word, they start forward again.

Behind them, the silver sand trembles once before sinking soundlessly into Lin Yu’s shadow.

The air grows colder, the fog thicker, and with every step, the faint whispering crawls closer to words, a sound like breath drawn through hollow bones.

After a long descent, the narrow tunnel widens.

The damp walls pull away into a vast cavern, its ceiling lost in darkness.

The ground glimmers faintly, scattered with thin strands of mist that swirl around their boots.

Ahead, a lone figure stands with their back turned to them—motionless, framed in the pale fog.

Moran, walking in front, raises his voice, the echo stretching through the hollow air. “Hey! Who are you?”

They step fully into the cavern, weapons ready, eyes narrowing.

The figure turns slightly, and under the dim light, the shape of a woman becomes clear—slim, with long hair cascading down her back like a dark river.

Her posture is too still, too composed, and the fog around her moves as if breathing with her.

Lin Yu’s gaze narrows. “What can she be other than a ghost?”

Moran glances at her uncertainly, his tone low and sceptical. “She doesn’t look like a ghost.”

Before the words settle, the woman turns fully.

Her chest is split open, revealing a hollow cavity where her heart should be.

Her eyes are pure white, pupil-less, and a deep blade mark cuts across her neck like an unhealed wound.

The ghost opens her mouth and lets out a piercing scream.

The sound is not heard but felt—like knives twisting through the mind.

The three lower-tier extraordinaries collapse to their knees, clutching their heads, gasping in pain.

Cedric and Moran grimace, their faces pale, while Lin Yu stands unmoved, his eyes calm and unblinking.

The ghost’s wail is a spirit scream—an attack meant to shatter the minds of the weak. Against someone with a strong spirit, it is only noise.

Lin Yu takes a step forward, ready to deal with her. But Moran places a hand on his arm. “Doctor Yu Lin, I’ll handle it.”

His sword flashes free, arcs of lightning racing along its edge.

The air snaps and burns as he charges, meeting the ghost head-on.

Their clash lights the cavern with white-blue flares.

The ghost’s claws cut deep into Moran’s arm, but his blade, crackling with lightning, sears through her form, dispersing the death energy that binds her together.

With a final shriek, the ghost disintegrates into motes of silver light, and a crystal core the size of a thumb falls to the stone floor with a faint clink.

Moran bends down, still breathing hard, and pockets the core.

Without a word, the group moves on, stepping through the tunnel on the opposite side of the cavern.

Minutes later, as the narrow passage stretches ahead, their steps slow.

Two figures stand in their way, blocking the path—men, alive and solid, their eyes glowing faintly under the pale shimmer of the cave’s light.

Moran’s hand moves to the handle of his unsheathed sword. “Doctor Yu Lin, are they ghosts or humans?”

Lin Yu studies them with a glint of curiosity in his eyes.

Pale skin, grey eyes, black nails, and silver hair—they look human, but their aura is wrong, unbalanced. “Half-human, half-ghost,” he says quietly.

Cedric’s voice echoes behind him. “What?”

The two men shift their gaze toward Lin Yu. The taller one smiles faintly. “For the first time, someone figures out what we are at just a glance.”

Moran frowns. “How can ghosts give birth with the living?”

“They don’t,” Lin Yu answers.

“Then how can they come to be?” Moran presses.

“The Extraordinary Path,” Lin Yu and the two men say together.

The shorter man grins, his teeth faintly sharp. “Join us. You can become like us—stronger, and your lifespan will double that of any human extraordinary of the same tier.”

Cedric steps forward, standing in front of the group. His voice steadies. “Can you both come with us to the station? We have questions for you.”

The tall man shakes his head. “We cannot leave here.”

The smaller one adds coldly, “And you six cannot leave either.”

Cedric’s brow tightens. “What do you mean?”

“The rule of the professor,” the taller one says. “Once you enter our lair, you cannot leave without the professor’s permission.”

“Then take us to your professor,” Cedric says. “I have questions for him.”

The tall man nods slightly and reaches into his coat, pulling out six dull metal cuffs. “Put them on. They’ll suppress your extraordinary power. Then you may meet the professor.”

The group stares at the cuffs in silence. The air thickens with tension.

Then, without a word, Lin Yu moves.

Two green snakes burst from beneath his feet, swift and silent.

They streak across the floor, coiling around the two men before they can react.

The snakes tighten, binding the two men firmly as they struggle, their ghostly aura flaring and dimming under Lin Yu’s control.

The team stands frozen—startled by Lin Yu’s sudden attack yet relieved to see the two subdued so easily.

Lin Yu says calmly, “You can question them now.”

Cedric steps forward, eyes narrowing on the captives. The green snakes coil around their torsos, tightening whenever they move. “What are your names?” he asks.

The two men remain silent, faces blank, eyes empty of life.

Then Lin Yu’s expression changes. He senses their life fading, replaced by a sharp surge of violent energy.

“Cedric, get back!” he shouts.

He waves his hand, and the snakes uncoil, re-forming instantly into a translucent green barrier before Cedric.

A heartbeat later, the two men swell grotesquely, their bodies ballooning before bursting apart in a thunderous explosion.

The blast shatters the barrier, sending Cedric flying backwards.

He crashes into Moran and two others, all tumbling to the ground near Lin Yu’s feet.

The passage groans as the explosion’s echo fades.

Rocks loosen from the ceiling and crash down.

Lin Yu reacts instantly—firing bursts of life energy upward, shattering the falling stones before they can crush anyone. Dust fills the air, thick and choking.

Moran rises, coughing, holding an unconscious Cedric in his arms. “Looks like our journey can’t go any deeper—not with Cedric’s condition.”

Lin Yu glances at him. “Did you forget what my extraordinary way is?”

He kneels beside Cedric, green light flowing from his palms. Vitality surges outward as he casts Greater Heal.

In moments, bones knit, wounds close, and Cedric’s breathing steadies. A minute later, his eyelids flutter open.

Moran helps him stand, dusting off his clothes.

“Let’s move,” Cedric says quietly, determination back in his voice.

Lin Yu nods, and the team continues deeper into the passage.