Halwin Valehart descended gracefully from the great bird, landing on a quiet, winding road flanked by dense forest on both sides.
Geoffrey followed closely behind him.
Halwin scanned their surroundings with sharp caution, as though searching for something hidden in plain sight.
He glanced back at Geoffrey, his voice low and deadly serious.
"We must be extremely careful. One step in the wrong place or thing, and we, especially you, will not recover from it."
"Just follow my lead," Halwin added, narrowing his eyes as he continued searching the seemingly ordinary road.
His gaze suddenly dropped to a single crooked stone half-buried in the dirt. He halted immediately.
"Stop. Do not take another step. We have arrived."
Geoffrey froze in place, staring ahead at the endless, empty road that stretched into the distance. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary.
"Lord Regent!" Halwin called out into the stillness. "I have come seeking your guidance!"
They waited in silence.
Then, without warning, the world before them transformed.
The bright daylight on their side of the road remained unchanged, but directly ahead, the sky darkened as if the moon had forcibly seized dominion from the sun.
A sharp, unnatural line formed, a clear boundary between the sunlit path where they stood and the pitch-black space just ahead.
Geoffrey's eyes widened in shock. This was his first time witnessing such a phenomenon.
"The Sunless Realm…" he breathed in awe as the realization dawned on him.
Halwin shot him a sharp, warning glare, and Geoffrey immediately fell silent.
A moment later, a cloaked figure materialized before them.
"What guidance do you seek that I have not already given you, Halwin?" The man's voice was deep, and menacing.
Halwin bowed deeply, cupping his fists in utmost respect.
"Lord Regent, you once told me that one of the Primordial Advancement Cores resides with Alistair Rehn. With all due respect… I now doubt those words."
The cloaked figure remained completely still, his presence oppressive.
"And why exactly do you doubt it?"
Halwin straightened slightly, his expression grave.
"I have finally met him in person and discovered something shocking. Alistair Rehn is Sigiless. How could a man without a Sigil possibly possess such a rare and celestial object?"
The Lord Regent's voice took on a patient, almost lecturing tone as he explained:
"The Primordial Advancement Core is not born through ordinary means. It crystallizes from extreme human conditions, fate-level events of immense magnitude. The one in Alistair Rehn's possession is the rare Wrath and Resentment Variant, born from pure fury and deep-seated hatred. It does not matter how he came to possess it. What matters is that he does. You must find a way to obtain it. That core is the perfect catalyst, the ultimate accelerator for awakening the Blood Seed."
Halwin lowered his gaze, absorbing the words in silence.
In the next instant, the oppressive darkness of the Sunless Realm shimmered and vanished completely, as though it had never existed.
The bright daylight returned, and the crooked stone once again looked utterly ordinary.
Geoffrey glanced at Halwin and spoke cautiously, his voice barely above a whisper.
"Prince Halwin… the Sunless Realm was banished more than five decades ago. How did you manage to…?"
Halwin let out a low, sneering chuckle, his eyes glinting with dark ambition.
"Call it fate, or call it destiny, but they are the key to my path toward ultimate power. Once I obtain it, the entire cultivation world will kneel before me and tremble at my feet."
Geoffrey hesitated for a moment before continuing, "And about Lord Alistair… If the Primordial Advancement Core is truly that heaven-defying, then how did he come to possess the rare Wrath and Resentment Variant? When we saw him, he appeared to be nothing more than a normal young man. There was no dark aura, no overwhelming malice, only the supremacy and arrogance befitting the Lord of the Supreme Domain. Prince Halwin, if such a malevolent variant was truly born from his own wrath and resentment… then there is nothing simple about that man. Most importantly… who, or what, could possibly provoke such bone-deep hatred from him?"
Halwin averted his gaze, falling into deep thought. After a long silence, he finally spoke.
"You raise a valid point, Geoffrey." He turned away. "Let us return to Star Haven at once."
Meanwhile, inside his private pavilion, Alistair released a long, irritated sigh for the umpteenth time.
With annoyance, he slammed the scroll he had been reading onto the table with enough force to make the wood surface tremble.
"Boring," he muttered.
No matter how hard he tried, he could not shake off the words his Soulflame had spoken earlier.
"Rebirth… Child… What an interesting situation." His fingers drummed lightly on the table. "But why her, of all people? What could possibly make a woman from Star Haven worthy enough to carry my origin essence and give birth to my child?"
His gaze drifted to the far end of the table, where a finely crafted jade jar of aged liquor sat temptingly.
A cold sneer curled his lips as he reached out and picked it up.
Just as he was about to pour himself a cup, the doors to the pavilion slammed open with a loud bang.
Alistair froze mid-motion.