The sanctum air was calm again, its corridors filled only with the gentle sound of prayer bells echoing through empty halls. After his ordeal in the alchemy chamber, Kiaria exhaled softly and stepped into the light. The faint glow from the jade lanterns reflected across the polished floors, but to him, everything felt heavier–like the air itself carried secrets waiting to awaken.
He turned toward Diala's recuperation chamber. Inside, soft ripples of blue spiritual energy circled the bed where she sat cross-legged. Her fox cub, curled near her lap, pulsed faint golden waves in rhythm with her breathing. The faint scent of incense floated in the air, mixing with the warm hum of formation seals that healed and nourished her.
Kiaria walked closer, lowering his voice.
"Dia… how do you feel?"
Her lashes quivered. "Better than before," she murmured faintly, her eyes still half closed. "The fox keeps feeding me its energy. I feel lighter–warm, but steady."
He smiled gently, placing a hand on her shoulder before turning inward, calling softly in thought.
Grandfathers… she carries twin supreme martial souls, but her meridians are closed because of their non co-exist nature. Her father entrusted her to me before his death. There must be a way for her to cultivate again.
A low vibration rippled across his consciousness. The deep, resonant voice of the Golden Dragon emerged from the silence.
"So, this is the favor you want us to handle? Every lock has a key. Every storm has an eye. Leave it to us."
Kiaria bowed deeply in his inner world. "Thank you."
"Don't thank us too soon," came the Azure Dragon's quieter voice, layered with fatigue. "We're only fragments of souls now. Souls bound to a dying memory. Our time in this world won't last forever."
"Maybe a few years," the Golden Dragon added softly. Their tone carried melancholy–like two ancient mountains whispering about the wind that would one day erode them.
Back in the chamber, the fox cub stirred. Its nine tails glowed with faint runic light. It pressed its small forehead to Diala's chest, releasing a ripple of spiritual essence. The rejuvenation technique of its bloodline–rare even among mythic beasts–flowed into her meridians, amplifying her healing tenfold.
Within two hours, the recovery array dimmed. Diala's aura stabilized, her vitality brightened, and the cub curled back to rest beside her.
Kiaria moved closer, resting his fingers over her wrist to sense the flow. But before he could say anything, he felt a strange tremor run through his consciousness. The dragons stirred sharply.
"[This… impossible…]"
The Golden Dragon's voice faltered mid-sentence, something close to awe breaking his composure.
"Child," he said slowly, "what is she to you?"
Kiaria blinked, uncertain. "She's… family. Someone entrusted to me. Why?"
"Because she's not mortal," said the Golden Dragon, his tone trembling. "That bloodline… it carries the mark of Leyna."
"Leyna," the Azure Dragon whispered, almost afraid to speak the name aloud. "The Goddess Leyna! We thought her line vanished from this land after the Meteor Descent. No divine essence has ever reappeared since that time. Until her."
Both dragons fell silent, exchanging heavy thoughts through the cauldron link that Kiaria could sense but not understand. Their unease filled his spiritual sea.
"Goddess Leyna?" Kiaria asked, trying to grasp what they implied.
"Ask no further," the Golden Dragon said sharply. "That name should not be carried lightly. Even their voice hesitate to whisper it."
A quiet dread hung in his words. Kiaria saw the reflection of genuine fear in both dragon souls–a fear seemed to hum through the space between them. He bowed his head slightly. "Understood."
"Her cultivation can still be restored," the Azure Dragon continued, calmer now. "But she will have to walk the path laid by her own fate. The key lies in your possession–the Soul-Amity Flower."
Kiaria frowned. "How did you–?"
"We can sense it," the Golden Dragon interrupted.
He paused briefly, then said, "Listen carefully. If she consumes two millennium Soul-Amity Flower refined into essence, it will awaken her meridians and allow her to cultivate once again. But only to the realm of Immortal. To go beyond, she must reclaim the Goddess Leyna Heritage and the Deca-Millennium Soul-Amity Flower."
Kiaria's hand moved instinctively to his ring. "But I can't refine essence yet. I don't have that control."
"Then watch," the Golden Dragon said. "I will show you once. The next time, you will do it alone."
Kiaria's sea of consciousness shimmered with golden ripples. The vast dragon's form coiled high into the ethereal clouds, and then–like molten metal folding into shape–its body shifted. Wings folded into robes. Claws turned to fingers. A man stood before Kiaria, robed in radiant gold, his hair flowing like living flame. His humanoid form flickered faintly, the effort immense.
"This form… I can hold only for a wisp of time," the Golden Dragon murmured. "So look carefully, child."
He extended both hands before him. The left palm hovered high, the right below, curved as though holding an invisible sphere. Energy hummed in the air, faint at first, then growing, forming a circular field between his palms.
The energy condensed slowly, spiraling inward like water draining into an unseen whirlpool. His eyes open. "Control begins with breath."
A cauldron materialized between his hands–no larger than an apple, transparent as crystal and laced with gold veins. The flames within it shimmered with the essence of dragons–azure and amber intertwined.
From Kiaria's spiritual projection, the Golden Dragon drew the Soul-Amity Flower. He separated its petals with spiritual precision, not by tearing but by persuasion–coaxing them to divide along their natural seams. Each petal drifted into the tiny cauldron, dissolving into direct radiant essence.
The flame deepened, turning translucent blue. Slowly, it exhaled streams of essence that danced inside the cauldron. The petals completely transformed, in addition ovule is added at last–no smoke, no residue. Only purity.
Then, with a flick of his finger, the dragon released a thread of energy. The cauldron sealed itself. Its color shifted, cooling into pale silver. Finally, he turned his hand over, and the cauldron folded inward, transforming into a small closed vial filled with glowing essence.
He offered it to Kiaria.
"This is Alchemy of Essence. The art where nothing is lost and everything is reborn."
The demonstration ended; the humanoid form dissolved, breaking back into Golden Dragon.
Back in the physical world, Kiaria held the real vial before Diala. She opened her eyes, sensing the divine resonance even before he spoke.
"Drink this," he said softly. "It's your key to awakening to further."
Diala hesitated, then nodded. She took a deep breath and swallowed the essence.
A sudden vibration shook the chamber. Her body glowed in two lights–one pure crimson, one azure. Her twin martial souls resonated in perfect symmetry behind her, forming an embryonic cocoon of energy.
"Disperse the gathered energy slowly," Kiaria instructed. "Let it guide you, not overwhelm you."
She followed his voice, releasing energy in waves. The dragons observed from his consciousness, silent but radiant with approval.
The twelve meridians within her body opened one after another, like rivers breaking through dams. Voids appeared where her energy had stagnated, and through those voids, spiritual energy began to flow. The fox cub raised its head, its nine tails unfurling. Flames of pale silver and blue enveloped Diala's form, supporting her transformation.
"A mythic beast companion," murmured the Azure Dragon. "Perfect. The fusion of beast essence will stabilize her mortal core."
Behind her, two phoenix-shaped souls emerged, sculpted from pure light and stardust. They circled her in spirals of flame and frost, drinking the ambient essence of heaven and abyss before merging back into her body.
The cocoon cracked open with a sound like thunder echoing from beneath the sea.
Her aura surged. Her martial souls pulsed with prowess.
Kiaria stepped closer, smiling softly. "You can cultivate now, Dia to be an immortal realm. I'll make sure the whole world remembers your name."
Tears shimmered at the corners of her eyes. She leaned forward, wrapping her arms around him. "Thank you," she whispered, voice trembling but full of joy.
The dragons said nothing. Their gazes, though invisible, carried a tenderness reserved for something they hadn't felt in millennia–hope.
When they finally left the room, the light of the sanctum had dimmed to evening hues. Outside, the Princess waited by the pillar-lined corridor, her arms folded, her eyes glimmering with her usual mischievous calm.
"Finally," she said, grinning faintly. "Took you long enough."
Kiaria tilted his head, still steady from the weight of what had transpired.
She smirked. "Remember what I promised back at the auction? Come with me. Let's meet someone interesting. Maybe even have some fun before fate finds us again."
Kiaria smiled, exhaustion fading into curiosity. "Lead the way."
The three of them–Kiaria, Diala, and the fox cub perched proudly on her shoulder–walked out together into the sunlit corridor.
Inside Kiaria's sea of consciousness, the dragons silently watching the new era.
"That girl…" the Azure Dragon whispered. "Her bloodline has awakened. The scent of Leyna's prowess is unmistakable."
"Don't speak further," warned the Golden Dragon. His eyes darkened. "They can still listen. And there are things even we are forbidden to remember."