If Bettsy was here, she would've slapped me for breaking rule one of potion making, which was never be the one to test your own brew. Then she would've laughed for drinking an elixir so potent it was toxic. It wasn't so much that cultivators shouldn't drink potent elixirs as much as cultivators… well, shouldn't... My burning core being the very reason.

Nubs and nails clawed at my chest. I broke my skin, causing blood to pour out. I washed the wound with icy water. The fire inside burned hotter.

A passing thought of freezing my core flashed through my mind. I promised myself I wouldn't. My bloody nub was a constant reminder of that ill-fated urge. The urge grew as the fire spread. If I could contain the flame, I wouldn't hurt so much. I needed to cut off the source.

I curled into a ball and rocked near the wildfire. The comfort I sought early betrayed me. The fire opened its famished maw and ripped into my flesh. I rolled away, kicking the flame. My foot connected with a burning log, dislodging it from the pit.

The log rolled, leaving a trail of fire behind. The intense heat fueled by ambient mana devoured all in its path.

As the wildfire grew, I continued to roll, trying to extinguish the flame burning inside and outside my body. Rolling didn't work. I pushed my mana, igniting my channels and forcing water to form around me. Water and fire collided, fighting like the cruelest of enemies trying to inflict the most pain. My mana was winning the battle outside. Inside, the flame had spread everywhere, burning my entire being. It was only a matter of time before my mind melted as well.

I could end this. I could put myself out of my misery and start over. There was no need to drag this torture out. What did I have to gain?

The fire raged toward the man in the ice. I didn't have to do anything. In a matter of moments, it would all come to an end.

Live for them. In a frozen moment, I saw the eyes of the frozen man. This life was no game to him. Every chance he gave me, he paid for with his suffering. It was callous to think he didn't care or couldn't feel. It was selfish to forget our promise.

Death may be my ultimate path, but I won't embrace it willingly.

I force more mana outside my body, drowning myself in an orb of water. Another layer of mana coats my skin. My orb steamed and bubbled as fire desperately fought to consume me. The fire no longer had fuel, yet it remained burning and boiling. Mana was a miracle until it became a force to recon with; at that point, it became a disaster.

I closed my fist, freezing the exterior of my shell. The fire simmered and bit back. I added more mana and another layer of ice. The flame sputtered and died. The moment of relief shattered when I inspected the damage. I closed my eyes and vowed to never look again. Luckily, the war within had destroyed any gag reflexes.

Although one battle had been won, I was losing two others. Even with my eyes closed, I sensed the fire racing toward my old self. I needed to stop it, but I was trapped and completely surrounded by the consuming flame and was dying within. Toxic mana pumped into my core, cycling into my channels and bleeding into my veins, organs, and tissues. Every second, it inched closer to my mind. How it hadn't burned through already remained a mystery.

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Despite my dire circumstances, I lied on my back in my bubble, watching the world around me burn.

A vortex of energy manifested at the heart of the mana fire. It spun in rapid circles, growing brighter with each turn. When it reached the sun's brightness, the vortex pulled in dead wolfbears, dirt, spent wood, and anything else in its reach.

My ice shield got caught in the pull, and I had to slam spikes through it into the ground to remain. My old body was not as fortunate. The extra-thick dome of ice had completely melted. I tried to sit up, but my flesh felt like liquid, and instead, I cursed in agony.

What are you doing? Do not let the mana enter your mind. Push it out.

Not helping.

It burns.

My head rang and pulsed in violent flashes. Potent mana was breaking through my barrier and trickling into my head. My vision blackened.

By the Pale Moon, please make it stop, Cal screamed into my mind, pushing the darkness at bay. Our connection… the recurs—

We were both screaming. I needed to stop the pain. I pulled on my mana, attempting to empty my tank all at once. It was like pulling on the ocean. I pushed outward, but my channels had clogged. I wasn't going to die fast enough. Cal was worried, and that made me nervous.

I focused on the center of my core and commanded the mana within to freeze. My core froze from my first layer to my fourth, the mana within turning to ice. The freezing spread into my channel, cutting off the flow of mana. I released my breath and noticed my lungs weren't on fire.

I didn't deserve a peaceful death. At least not this life. I took one last breath as the rest of my channels froze. Coldness covered me.

I woke up a second later covered in a layer of ice, not the same ice that was my dome… it was the same ice, but this one was connected to me.

I created ice armor!

I inspected my body, which was no longer melted and oozing. Sure enough, I was as solid as ice. Hell yeah! And what the hell? I'm pretty sure I froze my core before. No, I froze my mana, which was different. This was the secret technique of water cultivators? The damn frauds.

I burst out of my shell as a frozen butterfly, slick, icy, and cold. My frozen skin repelled the fire, and the ice in my channels gave me a constant supply of energy. No, I was wearing my mana as a coat of protection. I didn't have to push mana from my channels to wield it; I only had to think, and the mana formed.

I sprinted through smoke and flame, resisting the powerful storm pulling me into the center. I wasn't going to make it in time.

My old body's shell melted. The body was exposed and vulnerable to the fire biting at the stake. The man didn't move despite the intense heat. He held his focus and survived. I'm only a hundred feet away. The fire snapped the spike and searched the ground for its next meal. My life preserver was inches away from the flame.

I threw everything I had at the fire: ice balls, spikes. The flame hissed and recoiled and launched another attack. I attempted to throw a barrier and settled for kicking a wall. The wall did little to stop the predator that continued to claw forward. It did, however, crash into my life battery, pushing the lifeless body away. The seconds bought was all I needed. I arrived a heartbeat later, scooped up my body, and fled to safety.

We survived the second battle, but the war was far from over.