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As the gates of the Alchemy Flame Hall closed behind him, Su Yang let out a slow breath. The past seven days had refined not only his skills but also his understanding of the fire within him. The petals of Karma Fire still glowed faintly beneath his skin, though now subdued and hidden beneath his robes.
Max padded silently beside him, tail swaying, while the green snake spirit curled around his wrist beneath his sleeve, its presence silent but alert.
Su Yang descended the winding path back to his assigned cultivation valley—Valley of Harmonious Fire—a quiet mountainside dwelling covered in flame-fed vegetation and rich spiritual energy. A stream of molten spirit lava ran nearby, and even the trees had red-tinted leaves that shimmered in the sun.
When he entered his stone courtyard and closed the gate behind him, he finally relaxed.
> "No prying eyes here," he muttered, stepping into his meditation chamber.
He sat cross-legged on the spirit jade mat, Max curling next to him. The moment his breathing calmed, he activated the secret function hidden deep in his soul.
A pulse echoed in the space around him.
Name: Su Yang
Cultivation: blood Tempering Realm (high)
Body Type: Karma Fire Body (Sealed Evolution: 16 Petals -Bloomed-02)
Cultivation Arts:
— Heavenly True Fire Art (Stage 2 – Harmonization Phase)
— Soul Flame Thread Technique (Newly Derived)
Alchemy Level: Yellow Grade Mid-Tier
Flame Mastery: 48%
Recent Comprehensions:
— Law of Tempering (Early Insight)
— Flame-Will Resonance (Trigger Condition Met)
Mission Status:
—
System Recommendation:
→ Refine Fire-Soul Nourishment Pills x2 before mission
→ Prepare flame-type talismans or formations
Su Yang frowned slightly as his eyes hovered over the final line.
> "Watched by an unnamed presence… again?"
He remembered the subtle feeling from the Flame Study Formation. That faint pulse—like a gaze brushing his soul. Not hostile, but ancient. Deep.
> "Could it be related to the legacy array?" he whispered.
Max whimpered quietly and nudged his leg. Su Yang smiled and gently scratched behind his ears.
> "Don't worry. Whoever or whatever it is… if they come too close, I'll burn them down.
He leaned back against the wall, thoughts slowly organizing themselves.
The flickering numbers in Su Yang's spiritual status screen slowly faded as he exhaled, sinking deeper into meditation. The warmth of the Karma Fire still pulsed inside his meridians like a steady heartbeat. The air within the Valley of Harmonious Fire shimmered with residual flame energy, feeding the trees, the rocks—even the spirit pond outside hissed faintly from molten heat coursing beneath its depths.
Max yawned beside him, curling up into a soft ball.
Then something shifted.
A faint tremble… no, not in the earth, but in his soul.
Su Yang's eyes opened, narrowing with sharp intuition. His spiritual sense swept across the inner space of his body—until it reached the place he hadn't dared to touch for a long time:
The Spirit Land.
That secret garden of divine energy, sealed off for months, untouched for a single, sacred reason.
> "I didn't plant herbs there because of her…"
He had nearly forgotten the flow of Heaven Energy required to sustain her presence. From the moment he'd bonded with that snake egg wrapped around the old bone, she'd entered a slumber far deeper than he'd anticipated.
Inside the spirit land, time flowed differently—one day outside equaled one full year within. And now, only a month had passed in the outside world, but thirty years had gone by in that spiritual realm.
> "Could it be…?"
Su Yang's breath quickened as he activated the seal, allowing his consciousness to descend into the Spirit Land.
The moment he entered, his senses were flooded by warmth.
Heaven Energy, drawn in through the sealed petals of his Karma Fire Body, flowed like a crimson waterfall through the trees and grass. The once-dormant mountain ridge inside had changed. Flowers that hadn't bloomed before now glowed with faint elemental auras, and the stone altar near the central flame pool pulsed gently.
And there—curled in the center of a bed of smoldering petals—lay a small, shimmering form.
The little purple snake.
Her scales glistened faintly under the light of the internal flame sky, as if dipped in liquid amethyst. She looked almost translucent, as though carved from the essence of heaven and fire itself.
Su Yang's breath caught in his throat.
She was no longer still.
Her long, graceful body shifted, coiling slowly like a ribbon coming to life. Her small tongue flicked out once… twice…
Then her violet eyes opened.
They were huge, curious, and filled with the kind of ancient wisdom that no newborn should have—but layered beneath that was an unmistakable childlike innocence.
> "She's awake…" Su Yang whispered.
His spiritual form stepped forward, gently kneeling beside her.
"Hey there," he said softly.
The snake tilted her head. She blinked once… then again. Her little body lifted, unsure and swaying.
Then—
She leapt.
Not with aggression, but with joy.
Like a child running into their parent's arms, the little snake wrapped herself tightly around Su Yang's wrist, then slithered up to his shoulder, her small head nuzzling against his cheek with a warm trill.
> "Thirty years… and you still remember me."
Su Yang felt something tighten in his chest—not from pain, but from emotion. He could feel the energy radiating from her scales. Her spiritual presence was no longer chaotic—it was harmonized with the land. As though this entire realm had become her cradle.
> "I guess I should give you a name now, huh?"
He looked at her for a long moment, considering the color of her scales, the purity in her eyes, the strange power he felt sleeping inside her.
> "Zi Shu," he murmured. "Purple Grace."
The snake's eyes sparkled.
Then, to his surprise, her tail lit up briefly with a small mark—an ancient rune-like glyph.
It glowed faintly before vanishing into her scales.
> "That's… not normal," Su Yang whispered. "Did she just… accept the name into her bloodline?"
He placed a finger gently beneath her chin. Zi Shu nuzzled against it, trilling again.
Then suddenly, her gaze turned serious. She looked past Su Yang—toward the fire pool—and hissed softly.
Su Yang turned as well.
A cluster of crimson spirit flowers near the fire pool had withered. The soil beneath them had cracked.
His eyes narrowed.
> "Too much Heaven Energy drained…? No, something else…"
He scanned the sky—then froze.
There, high above the Spirit Land, where once no clouds had existed, a faint shadow of a gateway shimmered. It was closed, sealed—but undeniably watching.
Zi Shu trembled.
Su Yang extended his aura protectively around her.
> "Looks like your awakening stirred something." He frowned. "Something old… something buried inside the flame itself."
The spirit land pulsed again, but Su Yang withdrew his consciousness before it could overwhelm him.
When his eyes opened in the real world, he was back in his courtyard—Max still asleep beside him, the wind softly rustling the trees.
But something had changed.
Zi Shu was awake now. And with her came not only new strength—but new questions.
He looked down at her coiled form in his hand, still resting peacefully after rejoining him from the spirit realm.
> "Welcome back… Zi Shu."
And deep within the petals of the Karma Fire that burned beneath his skin, a faint, seventeenth shimmer began to glow.
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