Chapter 172: Lian’s Path (4)

In the fraction of a second it took Lian to turn his head, his body locked in place.

Every muscle froze. His breath caught halfway in his chest. A cold, overwhelming pressure slammed into his senses from multiple directions at once, far heavier than the single Star 3 he had been fighting. Instinct screamed louder than thought. Leave. Immediately. Do not stand. Do not fight. Run.

Ten more Argent Colossi stood on the surrounding ridges and broken slopes.

Some were smaller than the first, their silver bone plates slightly thinner, their frames leaner — Star 2 and Star 3. Others were larger, broader through the shoulders, with thicker armor and a denser presence that pressed against his skin like physical weight. Two of them sat at Star 4. One, standing highest on the far ridge, carried the unmistakable pressure of a Star 5. All of them had their pale eyes locked onto him. The silver of those eyes was shot through with deep, bloodshot veins, giving them a raw, furious cast.

The original Colossus still loomed over him, one heavy hand raised for another downward strike.

Lian forced everything he had left into a single motion.

Qi surged through his legs and core in a tight, desperate compression. He launched himself upward and backward in a hard burst of flight, tearing free from the pinned position just as the Star 3’s armored fist smashed into the stone where he had been. Black rock exploded outward. Lian did not look back. He poured more energy into the downward thrust and shot along the fissure line as fast as his damaged body and the planet’s heavy atmosphere would allow.

They followed.

All of them.

The pack moved with terrifying coordination. The smaller, faster Colossi took the lower routes through the cuts and ravines, using their six-limbed speed to keep pace. The larger ones climbed and leapt between ridges, silver bone plates flashing dully as they covered ground in long, powerful bounds. The Star 5 stayed highest, tracking his flight path with cold precision, occasionally releasing short pulses of pressure that forced Lian to adjust his trajectory or risk being swatted from the air.

Lian kept his flight low and erratic.

Straight lines would get him caught. He cut between narrow spires, dropped into deeper fissures when the larger ones tried to overhead him, and used short, sharp changes in direction to bleed their momentum. Even so, the pack closed the distance in bursts. One Star 2 nearly caught his leg with a sweeping arm as he passed a side ledge. He twisted hard, felt claws scrape across his calf, and forced more Qi into the next burst of speed despite the burning cost.

Blood still ran from the earlier wounds. Each hard turn sent fresh pain through his ribs and shoulder. The planet’s pressure made sustained flight far more expensive than it should have been. He could feel his reserves dropping faster than he wanted. But slowing down was not an option.

Behind him, the heavy impacts of the pack’s pursuit echoed through the eastern lines. Stone cracked under massive hands and feet. Occasional low, grinding calls passed between the Colossi — short, resonant sounds that seemed to adjust their formation on the move. The Star 5 directed them with minimal noise, shifting the smaller ones to cut off side routes while the heavier members kept direct pressure from behind and above.

Lian angled harder toward the northern convergence paths that led to the basin.

He had come out here to draw predators.

He had succeeded far beyond what he intended.

The pack stayed with him, relentless, silver armor gleaming under the blood-colored sky as they hunted him across the broken ridges toward the tomb.

Power Scale / Cultivation Realms (Quick Reminder)

Foundation Realm (Layers 1–9): Body forging, no external Qi.

Circuit Awakening Realm (Early–Peak): First Qi loop, internal bursts.

Core Condensation Realm (Early–Peak): External Qi release, short flight.

Stellar Circuit Realm (1–9 Stars): True flight, Qi armor, energy projection.

Nebula Dominion Realm and higher: Domain control, galaxy-level power, etc

Power Scale Reminder

Lian Yu: Stellar Circuit Star 1.

Elara Voss: Core Condensation Peak

Keep it as reminders