Several minutes after Alpha had left.

Lin Weiyuan flicked back onto the battlefield several moments later, a struggling, ice-encased Fang Peng under his arm. Qi Mingxi appeared next to him only a moment later… only to scream and erupt into loud sobbing.

The three of them had retreated a distance away, like Elder Xiurong had told them to. The plan was to stall the mysterious metal spirit beast long enough for them to escape, then meet up at the checkpoint. But only a short while later, they witnessed that strange beam of light split the sky.

The sight had sent a chill down his spine.

Something like that… that shouldn’t have been possible! Not here, not in the Radiant Sea! Not even the most powerful of the Akh’lut could display that much of their power here! That was the point of it! What in the nine hells was going on?! What was that thing?!

While Lin Weiyuan was trying to process what he’d just seen, Fang Peng attempted to go back. The young man had to restrain her. The Elder had been right; this was far beyond them. He couldn’t let her rush back to her death, not in the state she was in. Even so, his [Ice Manacles] could barely restrain the rampaging body cultivator.

After waiting a few moments with still no sign of Elder Xiurong, Lin Weiyuan and Qi Mingxi agreed to return to the battlefield; what they saw when they did so nearly broke their spirits. The body of Elder Yu Xiurong lay where it fell, cut into several distinct pieces.

Fang Peng stopped struggling, all fight seeming to have left the young woman. She only stared, unblinking, her mouth moving but producing no sound.

Qi Mingxi knelt in a pile of blood, her arms wrapped around the severed head of her Master, openly weeping as she cradled it.

Lin Weiyuan felt numb, himself. Like an icy pit had opened in the center of his chest and threatened to suck all the heat from his body. For the first time since he’d become a Cultivator all those years ago, his mind felt sluggish and blank.

He tried to run through all the scenarios in his head, trying to figure out where it had all gone wrong. What had he missed?!

No matter how he tried, none of it made any sense.

He only stood there, unmoving. A quiet voice broke him free of the endless loop he’d trapped himself in.

“She’s alive…”

Lin Weiyuan shook as if shocked by a Static Mage and slowly looked down at Fang Peng, not quite understanding.

“What?”

Fang Peng yelled, her body flexing, opening up her wounds but shattering her icy restraints.

“SHE’S ALIVE!”

The young woman half ran, half crawled to where Qi Mingxi knelt, quickly tracing her muscular hand along the severed head’s scales. Lin Weiyuan to rushed over, placing his hands on the remains.

It was only then he could feel it. It was faint… weak like a flickering candle, but it was there. The gentle thump of vital and spirit energy. He turned to Fang Peng, grinning from ear to ear, the woman matching him as he shouted.

“She’s alive!!!”

A soft whimper drew his attention, and Lin Weiyuan turned to see Qi Mingxi staring up at them both. Her eyes were bloodshot, and her face tear-stained, and when she spoke, her voice was raw.

“What?”

Lin Weiyuan raised a brow, but then it suddenly dawned on him.

“Ah! That’s right. You rose through the ranks pretty fast, didn’t you? You’ve not likely taken a lot of the informational classes yet.”

Lin Weiyuan turned and placed his hand on the much younger girl’s head as he spoke, entering lecture mode. He’d taken those classes enough that he could probably teach them himself.

“Elder Xiurong was — is — a high-tier [Soul Fusion] Cultivator halfway through the [Earthly Transcendent] Realm. What is the purpose of that realm?”

Qi Mingxi frowned as she spoke.

“To Transcend our worldly limits. It is the middle ground of Ascension, where we begin shedding our mortal form and replace it with one suited for the Heavens. What does that have to do with it?”

Everyone knew that. It was one of the most basic lessons any Cultivator learned. To lie down your [Foundation], to [Transcend] your limits, and finally, [Break] through the Firmament above to take your place among the stars. That was the meaning of the Three Great Realms that made up their Path.

But even [Firmament Breakers] could die, let alone an [Earthly Transcendent].

Lin Weiyuan nodded as he continued.

“Correct. And do you know what happens during the greater step before [Soul Fusion]?”

Qi Mingxi opened her mouth but quickly closed it, shaking her head. Of course, she didn’t know. She was only an early stage [Shackle Breaking] Cultivator, the last step of the [Mortal Foundation] realm. Why would she know about a step that would likely take her another century to even reach?

Lin Weiyuan spoke again, informing her.

“The greater step before [Soul Fusion] is called [Core Condensing], and it is one of the most important steps a Cultivator will ever take. It is here that we… condense our cores!”

Lin Weiyuan raised his hand to the sky as if making some grand proclamations. Qi Mingxi stared blank-faced at him, but Lin Weiyuan didn’t miss the slight twitch of her lip and how her eyes brightened slightly. As talented and mature as the young woman sometimes seemed, it was easy to forget that she was still young, barely an adult in most places. Lin Weiyuan smiled down at her and continued.

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“As for what that means, it’s simple. All Cultivators condense their energy into a physical ‘center’ in their body, be they Human, Awakened Beast, or any other sapient species. For us humans, we form a Dantian — ”

He placed his hand over his torso, slightly above his navel.

“ — For Beasts, they form Beast Crystals in their hearts. Dragons form ‘dragon pearls’ in a similar manner. This is true for every species, even if the place and nature of this energy well changes. Once you reach [Core Condensing], things change.”

Lin Weiyuan moved his hand and placed it right over the center of his torso, slightly higher up.

“You said it yourself. The goal of [Earthly Transcendent] is to replace our mortal body with one more compatible with the Heavens, and thus spirit energy. [Core Condensing] is where that begins.”

Qi Mingxi’s eyes widened, and Fang Peng nodded in understanding, raising a finger and continuing where Lin Weiyuan had left off. She rarely showed so much interest in a topic, so he let her.

“When a Cultivator enters [Core Condensing], they begin transforming their Dantian, Beast Crystal or whatever, into a [Spiritual Core]. Functionally, they’re the same, acting as a reservoir for stored spirit energy, but with one key difference. A [Spiritual Core] has no physical form. It’s a pure energy construct, and because it isn’t physical — ”

Qi Mingxi cut her off, realization striking her.

“ — It has no Limits…”

Fang Peng wilted her big revelation stolen from her by the child genius.

Lin Weiyuan patted Fang Peng’s shoulder but continued from there.

“Right. Because the [Spiritual Core] isn’t limited by physical size, it can store unimaginable amounts of energy, far surpassing what we ever could otherwise, without it utterly destroying us in the process. It also primes the Cultivator for their next step, [Soul Fusion]. It’s here that the Cultivator fuses their very soul to this [Spiritual Core]. This is critical before the next step, [Shedding Flesh], in which the actual process of replacing one’s body begins. Care to take a guess why?”

Qi Mingxi furrowed her brow, trying to think hard about what she’d learned. After a moment, she spoke her thoughts out loud.

“[Core Condensing] isn’t just necessary for energy storage. The Foundation steps are all about growing your Dantian, but a [Spiritual Core] is limitless. You can’t grow something that’s already boundless…”

Lin Weiyuan nodded as the girl continued to put her thoughts into words.

“But if it was just about using energy, why not go straight to [Shedding Flesh]? If there’s no qualitative change, what’s the point of taking the extra step to fuse your soul with your [Spiritual Core] core? How does that prepare you to — ”

Suddenly, the young girl’s eyes shot wide open, her face snapping back and forth between Lin Weiyuan and the severed head. Lin Weiyuan nodded, smiling as he finished.

“Yes. The point of [Soul Fusion] is to fuse your soul to your [Spiritual Core], thus anchoring to this core… instead of your body.”

Qi Mingxi rushed to her Master’s head and placed glowing hands on its surface. She was silent for a long moment before her face furrowed and fresh tears began pouring from her eyes. Lin Weiyuan walked over and gently wrapped the weeping girl in a hug before tapping her head. A thick layer of gentle ice slowly enveloped it, preserving the head and injecting spirit energy to nurture the wounded soul trapped inside.

As a Cultivator nearing the end of [Soul Fusion], Elder Xiurong had long completed the process. She was just stuck gathering the energy needed to start transforming her body and step fulling into [Shedding Flesh]. She could absolutely still die, especially if she ran out of spirit energy and her [Spiritual Core] collapsed.

But as long as they could bring the Elder back to the Sect, she should make a full recovery, even if severally weakened by the event. If she’d been only a few greater steps high, she could have even totally rebuilt her body from ashes herself, given enough time and spirit energy. But being only in the middle of [Earthly Transcendent] meant she would slowly bleed off energy unless assisted, so time was crucial.

Once Qi Mingxi had calmed some, Fang Peng folded her arms and voiced a question he’d been stuck on as well.

“I don’t understand, though. Why didn’t the creature destroy her [Spiritual Core]? That’s standard practice for Cultivators of their level, if I understood correctly. No one likes when an enemy you thought you killed pops up a few decades later, even stronger. Some kind of sick mercy? Or is it mocking us?”

Lin Weiyuan lifted the Elder’s frozen head into the air with his spirit energy and shook his head. Staring off into the distance, he asked himself the same question.

“I… don’t know.”

— — — — —

Huff Huff

Juatan and Ulagan stood over three bodies, panting. Munkh sat cross-legged on her shield, the heavy metal object pinning a fourth man down. Ganbaatar stood guard over Zolzaya and Kallik as they stabilized a wounded innkeeper. Ganbaatar hadn’t brought his own spear to the room but held Juatan’s sidearm, a small gladius, at the ready.

Kallik’s room was a wreck, looking like a storm or wild beast had passed through. The bed was utterly destroyed, having been cut into several pieces. The door had been kicked off its hinges during the opening move as two armed men rushed into the room, while the window had been shattered when two more broke through.

Despite the sudden intrusion, the group had been ready, and their enemy had either been overconfident or didn’t realize the sheer amount of talent gathered in the room. Either way, the fight lasted only a handful of breaths as two assailants practically threw themselves onto Juatan and Ulagan’s spears, while a third quickly succumbed to Kallik’s poisoned arts. In contrast, the assailant’s own attacks didn’t even scratch the party. Even though each of the four men was low [Silver Spirit], the small room had worked against them. Their every blow was blocked by several phantasmal shields connected to Munkh’s own via Spirit wires.

The only one injured had been the innkeeper, who’d rushed up the stairs as soon as the fighting started, only to get caught in the crossfire.

Once the innkeeper was stable, Kallik approached the pinned man and knelt down to speak.

“I’m guessing you’ll not willingly tell us who sent you, will you? No matter, I have something for that.”

She pulled out a small yellow pill, grinning from ear to ear.

The man met her eyes… and mirrored her grin before clinching his jaw.

Kallik’s eyes went wide, and she snatched the man’s face, prying open his mouth, but it was too late. The man’s eyes rolled to the back of his head, and a thick black foam poured from his mouth.

Kallik flared her spirit energy, burning away some of the poison lingering on her hand, and tsked.

“I should have seen that one coming…”

She stood and shook her head, then turned to the group to speak, but before she could, the dead man’s eyes turned pitch black. With a yelp, Munkh lept off the body as it was enveloped in a thick black flame. One by one, the three other bodies also burst into black flames, and in the span of a few breaths, not even ashes remained.

Kallik stared at the spotless floor and cursed to herself.

“Wasn’t expecting that, though…”

The group shared a look and laughed, but their relief was soon cut short as the sound of heavy footsteps rushed up the inn stairs. A moment later, a dozen fully armed Guardians stood outside the destroyed room, their spears ready. The group parted to let an older man, in slightly more ornate armor, into the room.

The grizzled-looking man stopped at the broken doorway and stared into the destroyed room. One by one, his eyes coasted over each of them, pausing only on the innkeeper and Juatan, to whom he gave a raised brow.

After a long moment of silence, he spoke in a commanding voice.

“Grassreader Kallik and company, you are hereby placed under arrest. Surrender your weapons peacefully and present yourself for processing.”

The three Slatewalker Guardians shared a look and dropped their weapons, raising their hands in the air. Ganbaatar hesitated, but a sharp look from Juatan had the young man following suit.

Kallik sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

She hadn’t seen that one coming either, though, in retrospect, she really should have…