Strange Paths to Immortality

The group split into three teams, their footsteps echoing across the 龟裂的 ground. Chen Jiuzhang felt the crystal key throb in his palm as he and Wu Laogou raced north, the Weave Breaker's silver tendrils tearing through the sky behind them. "The northern obelisk was built to harness gravitational waves," Wu Laogou panted, his memory returning in fits and starts. "But its guardian—"

A massive, translucent creature materialized before them, its body composed of swirling star clusters. "The Gravitational Titan," Chen Jiuzhang breathed, raising his balanced hand. The Titan's mere presence made the ground buckle, and rocks orbited its form like planets.

South of them, Luna and Lyra faced a different challenge. The southern obelisk stood on a floating island of pure energy, guarded by a being of liquid light. "It's a Plasma Eidolon," Lyra shouted, shielding her eyes from the creature's brilliance. "It feeds on electromagnetic fields—don't let it touch your magic!"

Eastward, Su Nian skidded to a halt before an obelisk surrounded by a time - distorting mist. "Great, time travel," she muttered, swinging her chains at a shadowy figure that emerged from the fog. But the figure was her own reflection, wielding chains made of solidified time. "Fighting myself? That's a new low."

Zhang Chengying, alone in the west, found his obelisk buried in a sea of shifting matter. A crystalline creature rose from the waves, its body rearranging atoms as it moved. "The Matter Reconstructor," he realized, dodging a blast that turned a boulder into sand. "If it touches me, I'll be reduced to elementary particles."

Back north, Chen Jiuzhang parried the Gravitational Titan's pull with dark energy, while using light to stabilize his footing. "Wu Laogou, how do we activate the obelisk?"

"With a song," the old man said, pressing his palm to the obelisk's runes. He began to hum a melody that made the key vibrate. Chen Jiuzhang joined in, and together their combined voices created a frequency that made the Titan pause.

In the south, Luna and Lyra discovered the Plasma Eidolon's weakness— 它 couldn't process conflicting frequencies. Luna sang a starlight aria while Lyra layered a dissonant magic chord, confusing the creature long enough to activate the obelisk.

East, Su Nian realized her time - shadow reflected her every move. She dropped her chains and embraced the shadow, merging with her past self. "I accept my history," she declared, and the mist cleared, allowing her to touch the obelisk.

Zhang Chengying, in the west, used his earth magic to mimic the Matter Reconstructor's atomic rearrangement. "If you can change matter, so can I," he said, transforming a patch of ground into pure energy to activate the obelisk.

As the fifth obelisk lit up, a network of silver lines connected them, forming a massive pentagram beneath the rift. The Weave Breaker shrieked as the Primordial Weave began to mend, but it lashed out one last time, sending a tendril straight for Chen Jiuzhang.

Wu Laogou pushed Chen Jiuzhang aside, taking the tendril full - force. "I... remember now," he gasped, his body turning to silver crystal. "The architects... built the obelisks to... contain the entropy..."

His words trailed off as he dissolved into stardust, leaving behind a glowing fragment of memory. Chen Jiuzhang caught it, and images flooded his mind: the Gui Xu Secret Realm was never just a seal—it was a 宇宙级的熵增转换器,designed to turn destructive energy into creative force.

The rift closed with a final burst of light, but as Chen Jiuzhang looked at his friends, he saw the truth in Wu Laogou's last memory. The balance they'd fought for wasn't an end—it was a beginning. And the Gui Xu Secret Realm? It was the universe's greatest experiment in survival.