The cauldron pulsed with life.
Within the Soul Garden, two distinct energy nodes now bloomed — one burning with crimson flame, the other emanating icy stillness. Where their essences met, a strange balance formed, like the first breath of spring after an endless winter.
At the center of it all, Raen Xirian stood with closed eyes, his body slowly cycling spirit energy between his War Veins and the Myriad Void Cauldron. Nearby, Eyla Veiryn knelt in meditation, her phoenix flames curling in slow, controlled arcs. And beside them, the newly awakened girl — the mysterious Frost Echo — floated in a shell of shimmering spirit mist.
Raen's inner voice spoke.
"Flame and frost… body and soul. The cauldron feeds on opposites."
His cultivation had reached a point of delicate resonance. But with it came pressure — a forging opportunity unlike anything he'd faced before.
---
[Flesh Forge – First Trial Available]
Required: Dual-element harmony
Unlocked: Phoenix Flame + Soulfreezing Aura
Eligible Enhancements:
— Bone Tempering (Tier-1)
— Meridial Reinforcement (Fire/Ice fusion path)
— Soul-Linked Flame Core (Experimental)
"Experimental?"
Raen's heart raced. The Myriad Void Cauldron didn't label things lightly.
"Let's do it," he muttered.
---
The Baptism Circle
A glowing tri-rune formation bloomed beneath his feet: red, blue, and gold. As Raen stepped into the circle, a tidal wave of heat and cold crashed into him from both directions — Eyla's phoenix fire on one side, Frost Echo's soul mist on the other.
His bones cracked.
His veins flared.
Muscles screamed as they were rewoven, each fiber reforged by alternating flame and frost.
The cauldron roared.
In his mind's eye, he saw his inner body — translucent veins and bones — glowing with streaks of molten gold and piercing ice. Energy pulsed through his spine like thunder.
Then came the voice:
"The Sovereign walks between extremes. Let the flame consume, let the frost preserve. Let the core… awaken."
Raen gasped.
From within his chest, a seed of flame bloomed — not physical, but spiritual. It pulsed in rhythm with the cauldron and the saber.
A Soulbound Flame Core was being born.
---
Back in the Physical Realm
Raen collapsed to one knee, steam rising from his body. His shirt was scorched. Ice traced spider-web patterns along his arms. And yet, his aura had changed.
Powerful.
Refined.
Alive.
Eyla approached first. Her sharp gaze softened just slightly.
"You just did in hours what takes most flame cultivators years," she said. "That flame in your chest… is it truly Soulbound?"
Raen nodded, exhaling frost.
"It's not mine alone. It's drawn from both of you. The cauldron… forged it using everything I've touched."
The Frost Echo girl — still hovering nearby — blinked, her voice a faint whisper.
"My… soul is incomplete. But part of it now echoes inside your flame."
Raen frowned. "Are you saying… I took a fragment of your soul?"
"No," she said. "You anchored it. Without you, I would have faded."
Eyla raised a brow. "You just forged a soul contract without even trying?"
Raen sighed.
"Great. Now I'm soulbound to a frozen girl with no name."
"You could call me… Sylva," the girl whispered. "That word echoes clearest from my broken memories."
Raen nodded.
"Then Sylva it is."
---
Outside the Cauldron – New Horizons
Raen stood on the edge of a cliff just beyond the Emberlight ruins, gazing into the misty forest stretching into the eastern mountains. A trail of spirit beasts wandered below, and beyond that, faint lightning clouds circled a Spirit Basin — a region rumored to be overflowing with spiritual herbs.
"The Spirit Basin," Raen murmured. "That'll be our next stop."
Eyla appeared beside him, arms folded. "You plan to harvest more bodies, plant more seeds?"
"And refine more pills," Raen added. "We're low on recovery stocks. Vorruk's hungry. And I need to test the Soulbound Flame in real combat."
Sylva stood quietly behind them, still weak but stable. Her soul had begun to reconstruct faster inside the cauldron, thanks to the resonance with Raen's new core.
"Enemies are coming," she said suddenly. "Many. With strange weapons. I saw it in the mist."
Raen tensed. "How soon?"
"By sunset."
Eyla summoned her phoenix blade. "Then we prepare now."
---
[Cauldron Update Notification]
Soulbound Flame Core: STABILIZED
Companion Bond: Sylva (Soul Echo) – 37% Recovered
Enhancement Slot Available: Vorruk
Hunger Level: HIGH
Suggested Feed: Cultivator Blood Essence – Mid-Tier or Higher
Raen grinned.
"Looks like Vorruk wants a real fight."
Sunset – The Ambush
As the sky burned orange, shadows moved through the forest.
A group of seven cultivators marched through the trees, each cloaked in dark crimson robes. On their backs were sigils of the Thousand Banner Alliance, a deadly mercenary group known for selling their blades to the highest bidder — usually corrupt sects.
They weren't here to negotiate.
The lead cultivator grinned as he saw Raen, standing casually on the cliff edge.
"The rogue alchemist of the fallen Xirian clan," he called. "You've made quite a name for yourself, boy."
Raen smiled faintly.
"Come to negotiate?"
"We've come to collect your corpse. The Skyborne Saint Court has placed a generous bounty. You're to be taken alive. Your saber and that girl beside you—delivered intact."
Raen's saber shrieked.
"Then I guess you've never heard what happens when someone tries to take Vorruk."
The Battle
The fight exploded instantly.
Raen launched forward, his new Soulbound Flame Core bursting into life as a pillar of crimson-gold fire. Vorruk extended, growing longer and darker with every strike, its edge drinking the blood of every wound it opened.
Sylva remained behind the lines, fingers weaving silent formation glyphs that caused frost spikes to explode beneath enemy feet.
Eyla soared into the sky on wings of flame, raining fiery arcs on their formation.
One by one, the mercenaries fell — some frozen mid-breath, others split by Vorruk, whose blade whispered louder with each kill.
Aftermath
Only the lead assassin remained. Bloodied, breath ragged, he backed away, face twisted in disbelief.
"You… you're monsters…"
Raen stepped forward.
"No," he said quietly. "We're cultivators. You just chose the wrong target."
Vorruk silenced the man with a clean stroke.
[Vorruk Evolution: Tier 1.2 Unlocked]
Ability Gained: Blood Echo – Store one attack's momentum for future release
Raen inhaled slowly as the saber's hum quieted.
"Next stop… the Spirit Basin.