Within a secluded cavern, where Jalen prepared a bath of flaming herbs, their essence glowing crimson and gold, the liquid shimmering like molten fire, yet it soothed rather than burned, Raja's body, broken and drained, floated within it.
This was not only to help Raja recover faster and more smoothly from injuries that even Flare of Recursion couldn't reverse but also to help him merge with the blue flaming orb that now hovered above him.
This orb, though rare, was formed by nature itself—ancient and pure. The gorge's offensive formations and the beast Jalen had slain were manifestations of this orb, whose true identity is an external spirit core. Like eternal‑grade spirits, such cores seek a worthy wielder, yet they lack sentience. What governs them is law. And if one chooses to defy that law, calamity follows.
Thus, the task of merging was not easy. The orb's flame law resisted violently. Jalen could have forced the process, but he refused to risk backlash upon Raja. Instead, he unraveled the orb's law thread by thread, reshaping it until it became acceptable to Raja's spirit.
That took an hour. Then, with patient precision, he guided the orb's energy into Raja's dantian. The process was agonizing—even unconscious, Raja's body convulsed, his meridians strained, his spirit sea roared with turbulence.
Seven days passed in this struggle. Jalen never left his side. He used Flare of Recursion when necessary to stabilize Raja's body, soothing the fractures in his spirit. Slowly, the orb yielded. Its resistance weakened, its flame law bent beneath Jalen's mastery. Finally, it sank into Raja's dantian, fusing with him completely.
When the process ended, Jalen removed his son from the bath, dressed him, and laid him on a bed of woven flame‑silk. He then leaned forward, brushing a hand across Raja's snow‑white hair. He kissed Raja's head, a fleeting gesture of affection, then vanished into the shadows.
Two more days passed before Raja opened his eyes. He found himself lying in the cavern, free of injury and dressed in clean robes. Confusion filled him. How was he alive? How had he escaped the beast? How did he get here?
Then he felt it.
His qi surged, stronger than ever. His meridians felt wider, his spirit sea deeper, his qi denser. His cultivation had broken through—he now stood in the late stage of the Imperial Realm. Yet that was not all. Within his dantian, he sensed another spirit core apart from his familiar Flame Core and Shadow Core. This new core blazed larger than the original two, radiant and alive with flaming blue energy. Its pulse was deeper, its rhythm older, as though it carried the breath of ancient fire itself.
Raja sat up slowly, his body trembling with the weight of change. He didn't hesitate; he left the cavern, which was layered in powerful formations, and entered the forest and took to the sky.
As he sailed across the canopy heavy with mist, the cold night air biting at his skin, he heard a sound ahead breaking the silence. Normally he would have continued on, but for some reason he slowed, shadow cloaking his presence. Through the trees he saw her—a girl sprawled on the ground. Her features carried a beauty that could captivate any soul. For a moment, Raja felt something stir within him—a pull, a fascination. But he was not so weak‑willed as to give in to desire like most boys his age. Still, he could not shake the feeling.
She looked his age, fourteen, her frame slight yet resilient, as though carved by hardship. Her hair, long and dark, shimmered faintly in the moonlight, strands clinging to her cheeks from the mist. Her eyes blazed with defiance, wide and unyielding, even as fear trembled beneath them. The simple robes she wore were torn and dirt-stained, yet the way she held herself gave them an air of dignity. Every breath she took seemed to fight against the weight pressing down on her, a fragile body carrying a spirit far stronger than her cultivation realm.
He then took note of the man that stood before her—a Moon Realm cultivator, far beyond the girl's strength, which lingered only at the peak of the Gold Realm.
"I don't want to go back!" She screamed, her voice raw with desperation. But the man didn't care. He had a mission, and he would carry it out. He stepped forward, his palm glowing with oppressive force. He struck, and the girl collapsed, unconscious, her body limp against the earth. Her hair spilled across the ground like ink, her fragile frame shuddering once before falling still, the defiance in her eyes extinguished into silence.
He moved to lift her, but his path was blocked. Raja stood before him, silent, his aura restrained but undeniable.
"Move it, kid, or die," the man snarled, his voice sharp with arrogance.
Raja did not answer, nor did he wait on the man to do something as foolish as attacking him. He released his aura, pressing against the man with suffocating weight. He buckled instantly, his knees hitting the ground.
"Senior, forgive me for being impudent," he stammered, his forehead pressed to the soil.
"Leave the girl and go," Raja said, his voice cold.
Out of desperation, he added. "Please, senior… this young princess is from our Crimson Snow Royal Family. His majesty, her father, sent us to retrieve her because she fled home."
Raja's gaze was unyielding. "Leave the girl behind, or lose your heads. You choose."
The cultivator trembled. Anger flickered in his eyes, but fear outweighed it. He knew failure meant punishment, perhaps death. Yet the aura pressing down on him was undeniable. To resist meant instant annihilation.
He lowered his head further. "I… obey."
He retreated, vanishing into the forest shadows, leaving the girl behind.
Raja turned his gaze to her. Even unconscious, her presence was striking.
He knelt, lifting her gently into his arms. Her body was light and fragile compared to the weight of his own qi. Without another word, he vanished into the forest.