The air hung heavy with the scent of decay.
Ash still drifted like snowflakes as Raen Xirian trekked through a twisted mountain path, his every step echoing softly between the jagged cliffs. The ruins ahead had once been known as the Emberlight Sect — a minor offshoot of his own clan's allies, wiped out a year before the Xirians themselves had been erased.
All that remained now were toppled pillars, shattered spirit stones, and bloodstained statues of forgotten ancestors.
But Raen wasn't here to mourn.
His hand rested on the hilt of his saber, Vorruk, now bound to his soul. The blade pulsed faintly, thirsting for violence, but silent for now.
"This place still stinks of death," Raen muttered, stepping over a shattered formation disk. "Good."
At his back, the Myriad Void Cauldron's seal glimmered faintly beneath his robes, warm against his skin. The inner space pulsed in harmony with his heartbeat — alive, watching, hungry.
As he reached the heart of the ruin, Raen knelt beside a cluster of scorched skeletons, their robes branded with the faded crest of Emberlight. Most had died defending the sect's core treasury, which now lay in rubble.
He closed his eyes.
"You weren't fated to survive," he said. "But your deaths… won't be wasted."
His palm burned crimson. In a breath, the corpses crumbled into dust, their essence siphoned into the cauldron space behind his soul.
---
[Myriad Void Cauldron – Soul Garden Updated]
Corpse energy absorbed: 3 Spirit Disciple-tier cultivators
Soil richness: +23%
One Blood Orchid matured
One Corpse Spore Vine seed germinated
---
Raen's mind slipped into the inner world of the Soul Garden.
There, the blood-fed earth rippled. Thick red soil pulsed with life. A cluster of deep crimson petals bloomed near the center—a Blood Orchid, its veins throbbing like a heartbeat.
Next to it, a strange vine curled out of the dirt. Its buds were black, dripping faint necrotic mist.
"Corpse Spore Vine… never seen that before."
Raen bent beside the orchid and reached forward. The petals shivered, releasing a drop of shimmering red liquid into his hand.
His alchemy sense activated—intuition fed by the cauldron's bond.
"A Blood Vitality Essence. Raw, unrefined… but if I can stabilize it, I can concoct a low-tier body recovery pill."
It wasn't much, but it was his first.
---
Outside, in the Ruins
The ground rumbled faintly as Raen conjured his first crude alchemy formation. A triangle of spirit stones buzzed around the Blood Orchid drop, which hovered mid-air, glowing softly. Around him, firewood and beast bone dust smoked as he began the refining.
He had no cauldron in the physical world — just control, a deep spiritual tether to the cauldron within.
"Purify. Contain. Infuse."
Each breath guided the raw materials. The essence swirled, thickened, then condensed. Sweat dripped down his brow.
With a final pulse of will, the formation dimmed… and three crude Blood Vein Recovery Pills dropped into his palm.
They pulsed gently, exuding warmth.
Raen allowed himself a breath.
"This… this is mine now. Not fate. Not a master's gift. Mine."
He swallowed one of the pills, and a rush of warmth surged through his limbs, repairing torn muscles and fueling his breath.
It worked.
And it meant he could keep going.
---
Later That Night
The moon hung pale above the broken sect. Raen sat cross-legged beneath a collapsed stone dragon statue. Vorruk rested beside him, its blade dark and quiet.
He flicked open a scroll he'd found half-buried under rubble — a fragmented Emberlight Sect manual.
Most of the techniques were garbage: broken, incomplete, or tailored to long-dead bloodlines.
But one page stood out.
"...When death covers the land, and the soul cannot rise, the seal beneath the jade bed shall awaken..."
Raen frowned.
"Jade bed?"
He stood quickly, scanning the area. His eyes locked onto a collapsed pavilion near the treasury — its roof cracked, but the floor oddly smooth.
He dashed toward it.
Under broken tiles and dust, he uncovered a rectangular jade slab, faintly glowing. It pulsed once as he touched it.
RUMBLE.
The ground shook as the jade slab slid open, revealing a spiral staircase descending into darkness.
Raen drew Vorruk, which whispered softly as it sensed something below.
"Another secret realm?" he whispered. "No… just a sealed chamber."
He descended.
---
Below – Forgotten Depths
Cold. Absolute and ancient.
The air grew colder as Raen descended the spiraling stone staircase. Frost laced the walls. His breath turned visible.
Then the steps opened into a chamber—hexagonal, domed, and covered in frost-rimed runes. At the center lay a crystal coffin, suspended over a star-shaped formation glowing faintly.
And inside the coffin… lay a girl.
She looked about his age, her hair a river of silver and gold, her skin smooth and glowing faintly even in stasis. A sigil burned at her throat—a phoenix crest, ancient and noble.
"She's alive," Raen breathed, heart racing. "But frozen. Preserved by a formation."
Then a crack formed across the coffin lid.
The chamber reacted violently. The walls pulsed, and a blast of freezing air swept the room. From the corners, four guardian statues awakened, glowing eyes snapping open.
"Intruder detected. Eliminate."
Raen cursed and stepped back.
The statues moved with eerie synchronization, wielding glowing scythes of ice and soul-light.
"Fine. Vorruk—eat."
With a savage grin, Raen lunged forward, saber flashing.
The first statue swung. Raen ducked under it and severed its leg at the joint. Vorruk shrieked as it devoured the icy soul core, growing sharper.
The second statue stabbed forward. Raen caught the blade on Vorruk's flat and twisted, reversing the strike into a cleave that split the statue's chest.
As he fought, his cauldron pulsed. The surrounding death aura was feeding it.
When the final statue fell, Raen stumbled forward, blood dripping from his shoulder.
The coffin cracked fully now, the formation breaking down.
Inside, the girl stirred.
---
> [Soul Garden Alert: Unknown Bloodline Detected]
[Primordial Phoenix Flame — compatibility: 67%]
[Flesh Forge Activation Opportunity – ABORTED]
[Adapting cauldron to external source...]
---
The lid shattered.
Warmth spilled from the coffin in waves. The temperature soared. Raen fell to one knee, shielding his eyes as a burst of crimson-gold flame spiraled into the chamber ceiling.
The girl sat up slowly, blinking with bleary, ancient eyes.
"Who… are you?" she asked softly, her voice layered with power. "Where is the war?"
Raen, still recovering, smirked.
"Dead and done. Welcome back, phoenix."