The forest did not welcome the hunters.
Kael felt it the moment they crossed into the ancient graveground. The air tightened, as if resisting their presence. Even the warmth inside him reacted differently here, no longer pushing blindly, but coiling inward like a restrained beast.
The three cultivators moved cautiously through the twisted trees.
They were not ordinary Ironclaw disciples. Their footsteps were light. Their blood signatures were controlled and layered, refined through years of cultivation and battle.
Hunters.
Kael watched from the shadows, perched high among fused branches that should not have supported his weight, yet did so easily.
His breathing was slow.
Measured.
Below, the lead cultivator raised a hand.
"Spread out," he said quietly. "He is nearby."
The second frowned. "This place feels wrong."
The third snorted softly. "Everything feels wrong when you hunt something that eats people."
Kael's fingers tightened against the bark.
Eat people.
The words burned.
The warmth stirred, but he forced it down, guiding it inward instead of outward. He had learned something during the chase.
Power wasted was power lost.
The cultivators separated, forming a loose triangle.
Kael tracked them easily.
Their blood betrayed every movement. The one to the left carried a faint injury in his leg. The one to the right masked his fear poorly. The leader was calm, his blood flowing steady and slow.
Dangerous.
Kael dropped silently to the forest floor and moved.
Not toward them.
Around them.
He circled wide, placing trees and broken terrain between himself and their senses. He crouched low, letting the ancient blood soaked ground mask his presence.
The warmth pulsed approvingly.
Hunting.
A sudden flare of light exploded where Kael had been moments earlier.
"Missed," the leader said calmly.
The injured cultivator cursed. "He is fast."
Kael did not stop moving.
He climbed, leapt, slid, never staying in one place long enough for them to lock onto him. Each movement felt smoother than the last. His body responded instantly to intent, as if it had been waiting for this kind of pressure.
A blade sliced through the air where his head had been.
Kael twisted aside and felt the edge graze his cheek.
Blood ran warm down his face.
The warmth surged violently.
Consume.
Not yet.
Kael slammed his fist into the ground.
The earth cracked outward, ancient bones shifting beneath the surface. One cultivator stumbled as the ground gave way beneath his feet.
Kael struck.
He dropped from above, landing behind the man and driving his elbow into the base of his skull.
The cultivator collapsed instantly.
Kael caught him.
For a brief moment, their eyes met.
Fear.
Regret.
The warmth did not hesitate.
Blood flowed.
Kael felt it clearly this time. The weight. The pull. The life draining away and settling inside him.
When it ended, he set the body down gently.
One.
The forest erupted.
Spells flared. Energy tore through trees, turning ancient wood to splinters.
"Fall back," the leader shouted. "Do not engage alone."
Too late.
Kael moved like a shadow between flashes of light. He was not stronger than them individually.
But he was faster.
And the forest favored him.
The second cultivator screamed as something dragged him upward. Kael had wrapped him in living roots, empowered briefly by the warmth.
The man struggled, blood surging wildly.
Kael reached him in a single bound.
"I did not want this," Kael said quietly.
The cultivator spat blood. "Monster."
Kael's jaw tightened.
The warmth surged.
The roots constricted.
Blood flowed.
Two.
Only the leader remained.
He stood alone now, sword lowered slightly, eyes sharp and calculating. His blood was steady, but beneath it Kael sensed something else.
Resolve.
"You are young," the man said calmly. "Too young to bear this burden."
Kael stepped into the clearing.
"I did not choose it," he replied.
The cultivator nodded once. "Neither did I."
They moved at the same time.
Steel clashed against flesh reinforced by power. Kael felt the blade bite into his side, pain flaring bright and immediate. He retaliated with a strike that shattered the man's shoulder.
They separated, both breathing hard.
Blood dripped onto ancient soil.
The cultivator smiled faintly. "You will bring calamity."
"Then why hunt me?" Kael asked.
The man's eyes hardened. "Because calamity must be contained."
Kael felt something shift inside him.
Contained.
The warmth surged fully.
"No," Kael said softly. "It must be understood."
He stepped forward and placed his hand against the man's chest.
This time, he did not rush.
He felt everything.
The memories. The training. The loyalty to the sect.
The blood flowed.
Slowly.
He bore the weight.
When it ended, the forest was silent once more.
Three bodies.
Kael stood alone.
He fell to his knees.
The warmth roared inside him, no longer wild, but structured. Layers of power settled into place, forming something stable.
His heart beat once.
Twice.
Then changed.
A core formed.
Not fully.
But unmistakably.
Kael gasped as power surged through him, reshaping muscle, bone, blood. Pain wracked his body, yet he did not scream.
He endured.
The ancient ground beneath him cracked as energy seeped outward.
When it ended, Kael lay flat on his back, staring up at the twisted canopy.
He was alive.
And something else.
The dream claimed him immediately.
The black stone plain shuddered.
The shadows bowed again, deeper than before.
The presence stood tall now, its crown nearly whole.
"You have stepped into Blood Awakening," it said.
Kael swallowed. "Is this the first realm?"
"Yes."
"And the cost?"
The presence was silent for a moment.
"Everything," it answered.
Kael closed his eyes.
"I will pay it slowly," he said.
The presence laughed.
Kael woke as dawn broke through the forest.
The bodies were gone.
Not consumed.
Taken.
The ground was disturbed with unfamiliar symbols burned faintly into the soil.
Kael's blood ran cold.
This was not Ironclaw Sect.
Something else had been watching.
Far above the world, beyond the reach of mortal senses, the Heavenly Sovereign clenched his fist.
"The first realm," he said grimly.
"Mobilize."
"The devil has stabilized."