The approach to the Salt-Spring was heralded by a change in the atmosphere. The dry, biting cold of the wastes was replaced by a humid, heavy pressure—a thick, crystalline mist that tasted of minerals and ancient power. The Spring was not a fountain of water, but a geo-thermal vent where the "Blood of the Earth" surged upward, manifesting as a swirling pool of liquid mercury-like Qi that glowed with a sickly, phosphorescent green.
Around this natural miracle, the Black-Salt Syndicate had built a fortress of bone and iron. Scavenger-towers stood like skeletal fingers against the violet sky, manned by archers.
Wei Chen stood on a ridge overlooking the outpost, his grey tunic snapping in the rising wind. He did not look like a fugitive. Even in his mud-caked boots and tattered cloth, he carried himself with an effortless authority that made the rags look like a ceremonial robe.
"Remember the lotus," he said, his voice a low baritone that cut through the hiss of the vent.
Liara adjusted her cloak. Her heart was steady now, the Void-Eater's Scripture providing a cold, rhythmic pulse that countered the frantic energy of the Spring. "I walk as if the ground is honored," she whispered, reciting the lesson from the cave.
"Precisely," Wei Chen said. "Do not hide your presence. Project it. We are not breaking in; we are arriving."
They walked down the slope with a deliberate, measured pace. As they reached the main gate—a massive slab of petrified wood reinforced with the rib-cages of desert leviathans—the guards leveled their spears. These were Spring-Guards, Realm 2 practitioners whose bodies were bloated with the unrefined power of the vent.
"Halt, beggars!" the lead guard roared.
Wei Chen did not stop. He walked until the tips of the spears were inches from his chest. "I am looking for the one who claims to own the earth's breath," he said calmly. "Move, or be corrected."
The guard lunged. Wei Chen didn't use a weapon; he simply shifted his weight. The spear-tip grazed the silver silk of his blindfold, and with a short, sharp flick of his palm against the guards forehead —CRACK—the head shattered. Wei Chen continued walking, stepping over the man's corpse.
"The second one is yours. Be a queen clearing a path."Wei Chen said, not looking back.
The second guard swung a heavy iron mace. Liara stepped in, her small frame slipping under the reach. She pressed her palm against his solar plexus.
"Void-Eater: First Breath," she murmured.
The guard's internal Qi was violently yanked toward her palm. He collapsed inward, his lungs seizing as the vacuum drank the air from his chest. The remaining guards froze, and for the first time in the Syndicate's history, the gate was opened without a fight.