The winds shifted.
Elias lifted his head. From his resting place in the canopy of a dead soul tree, he could sense it: a ripple of spiritual pressure, heavy and practiced. Not a fledgling hunter. Not a wandering fool.
A true soul master.
> Mid-Spirit Ancestor… maybe higher.
He narrowed his eyes. His scales, now etched with faint runes from the Wheel's origin fragment, shimmered against the light.
> They're hunting me.
Again.
But this one was different.
He didn't stumble. He didn't probe blindly. He moved like a predator—confident, methodical, silent.
Elias watched.
---
The Soul Master
The man was tall, cloaked in a long gray mantle with crimson embroidery that shimmered faintly in the air. A spirit beast pelt draped over one shoulder—Elias recognized it: Shadow Panther hide. Rare. Deadly.
He stopped in a clearing, closed his eyes, and raised his hand.
A dark-gold ring bloomed around him. Then another. And another.
> Three spirit rings. One yellow. Two purple.
A Spirit Ancestor, Rank 44, at least.
And his spirit?
A Spirit Kite—thin, sharp, shaped like a cross between a raven and a blade. It hovered behind him, absorbing ambient soul power. Fast. Precise. Perfect for dissecting soul beasts mid-combat.
> "Silver serpent…" the man said aloud. "I know you're near. I can smell your venom in the soil."
He dropped a bag on the ground. Inside, three smaller snakes twitched weakly, their bodies burned.
> "Your kin, I assume. Come out, and I'll make it quick."
Elias's fury flared.
He didn't hiss. Didn't strike.
He activated the Wheel.
> [Active Skill – Threadcut]
Target locked: Spirit Kite
Effect: Soul connection severed for 5 seconds.
---
The Fight
The man tensed. His spirit flickered—then blinked out of existence. Confused, he snapped his fingers, trying to summon it again.
Elias struck.
From the tree above, he descended like liquid silver—his fangs dripping mercury venom. His body blurred as he activated Venom Mirage, splitting into three false images.
The man dodged left—into one of the illusions.
The real Elias coiled around his leg and bit deep into his calf.
> Venom injected.
The man screamed and slammed his hammer down—but the serpent was already gone, slithering into the shadows.
> "What… what did you do to my soul ring?!"
The man staggered. For five precious seconds, his spirit was silent—disconnected. His body trembled as the mercury venom burned through his muscles, interfering with his internal spirit pathways.
> Let's see you cast now, Elias thought coldly.
The master finally regained control and summoned his Kite again—barely. It flared to life, blades spreading wide.
> "You're a monster," he spat. "Not even a thousand-year beast should move like you!"
Elias grinned—if a snake could grin.
> I'm not a thousand-year beast. Not anymore.
---
A Warning in Blood
The soul master backed away, faltering. He clutched his injured leg and fumbled for a recovery talisman. Elias let him. He wanted the man to survive—just barely.
He wanted him to remember.
To speak.
To warn the others.
He circled once, then leapt from the bushes—landing beside the man and slashing a deep, spiraling gouge across his chest with the tip of his tail.
The blood soaked the dirt.
The pattern?
A spiral.
A sign.
Elias hissed—his voice a rumble now, deeper, more human than before.
> "Tell them the Wheel spins."
Then he vanished into the trees.
---
Aftermath
The man dragged himself away, terrified, bleeding, humiliated. He left the forest three days later and never returned—but the spiral mark he bore across his chest remained.
When he spoke of the serpent, he didn't call it a beast.
He called it:
> "The Fatebreaker."
And the rumors began to spread.
---
Meanwhile…
Far away, in the quiet of a stone hut, Lin Yuru felt the scale around her neck grow hot again.
She turned it over and saw—etched faintly into the back—a spiral she hadn't noticed before.
Her heartbeat quickened.
> "He's still out there," she whispered.
And deep in the shadows of Star Dou, Elias curled in silence as the Wheel spun of its own accord.
> [Threadcut Mastery: 1%]
[Next Evolution Requirement: Interfere with Spirit Ring fusion]
> One day, he thought, they'll try to kill me to become gods.
> But I will not be a ring. I will be the one who breaks the chain.
---