Two years later, Kaelan completes the comprehension of the Light Path of Light Elemental Energy.
With that, he finishes the last path among the seven elements.
Dark.
Fire.
Wind.
Earth.
Water.
Thunder.
Light.
Inside his sealed cultivation space, Kaelan opens his eyes slowly, and for the first time in a long while, his understanding feels complete rather than expanding.
He has walked every elemental road that forms the foundation of the world.
The Dark Path, absolute and final, governing suppression, erasure, concealment, and authority over darkness itself.
The Fire Path, fierce and transformative, rules ignition, intensity, and irreversible change.
The Wind Path, free and sharp, mastering movement, direction, and speed.
The Earth Path, steady and enduring, binds gravity, stability, and nourishment.
The Water Path, fluid and adaptable, flows through illusion, cold, and regeneration.
The Thunder Path, violent and decisive, commanding destruction, speed, and explosive force.
And finally, the Light Path.
While comprehending the Light Elemental Law, Kaelan gains a broader perspective of the structure of elemental laws themselves.
He realises that each of the six primary elements—Dark, Fire, Wind, Earth, Water, and Thunder—contains exactly seven distinct paths in this world.
Each path is a different expression of the same elemental truth.
For the Dark Element, the seven paths are:
Dark Path.
Corrupt Path.
Distortion Path.
Cold Path.
Silent Path.
Oblivion Path.
Shadow Path.
For the Fire Element, the seven paths are:
Fire Path.
Bright Path.
Heat Path.
Burn Path.
Distortion Path.
Explosion Path.
Combustion Path.
For the Wind Element, the seven paths are:
Wind Path.
Sharp Path.
Cold Path.
Heat Path.
Speed Path.
Illusion Path.
Silent Path.
For the Earth Element, Kaelan discerns seven paths as well:
Earth Path.
Gravity Path.
Heavy Path.
Nourish Path.
Crystal Path.
Seismic Path.
Endurance Path.
For the Water Element, the seven paths are:
Water Path.
Ice Path.
Illusion Path.
Cold Path.
Nourish Path.
Purity Path.
Tide Path.
For the Thunder Element, the seven paths are:
Thunder Path.
Lightning Path.
Explosion Path.
Heat Path.
Burn Path.
Speed Path.
Destruction Path.
Kaelan understands something crucial.
Comprehending all seven paths of a single one of these six elements is enough to support a cultivator to reach the peak of the Third Stage of Transcendence.
But Light is different.
Light does not follow the same structure.
The Light Element in this world contains nearly thirty distinct paths.
Kaelan senses them faintly while comprehending the Light Path.
Paths of illumination, revelation, order, judgment, purification, blessing, protection, authority, guidance, hope, sanctification, and many more.
It makes sense.
The four gods who stand at the pinnacle of the world—Dawn, Day, Evening, and Night—are all deeply connected to Light.
Even Night is born from Light's absence, its inversion.
Yet despite its abundance, Light is incomplete.
Even if someone comprehends every Light Path in this world, they still cannot advance to the Fourth Stage of Transcendence through the Law way.
Six paths are missing.
Six fundamental aspects that Light alone cannot provide.
However, Kaelan also realises something dangerous.
For someone who chooses the Light Element as their main path, becoming a God is easier.
Only six additional paths are required.
Fewer than the thirty-six minor paths required for other routes.
But Kaelan rejects that temptation immediately.
The Light path is crowded.
The four gods stand at its forefront.
If any one of them reaches the Fourth Stage first, they can block others from comprehending further Light laws entirely.
He will not gamble his future on a path already dominated by gods.
Kaelan's choice remains unchanged.
Elemental Storm.
Seven elements.
Perfect circulation.
No dominance.
No suppression.
He will walk a path no god can block, a path created by him, and for this world, an entirely new path.
But before that, he must rebuild his magic circuit.
At that moment, a message arrives from the first and second clones.
Yuelan has gone into labour.
She has carried the child for two full years, a length that once caused serious concern.
After repeated examinations, the reason becomes clear.
The baby develops slowly because both parents are fundamentally ordinary.
The mother is a wizard whose body remains mortal, yet every cell holds energy equal to that of a full-grown ordinary human.
Kaelan himself is a human–crow hybrid, altered after integrating a complete human life structure into his body.
The complexity of both bloodlines slows the formation of life within the womb.
Kaelan steps out of the sealed room and ascends the stairs toward the roof of the wizard tower.
A sharp whistle cuts through the air.
Below, a steam train enters the newly constructed station within the city.
For now, only a single line exists, connecting the Tang Capital City to the Chen Capital City, stopping at towns and cities along the way.
A journey that once took a month now requires only five days.
With further improvements, it will become even shorter.
Kaelan feels a moment of nostalgia.
In his past life, steam trains had long since become obsolete, replaced and forgotten.
He would have liked to experience the journey.
But there is no time.
He steps forward and takes to the sky.
Wings erupt from his back as his robe tears open along the spine.
Thunder and wind surge across his feathers as he shoots forward.
With his heightened understanding of the Wind Element, he breaks the sound barrier.
A blue-yellow streak tears across the night sky, visible from the ground below, beneath the stars and moon.
He halts above the Tang Kingdom's capital, and the wind explodes outward in a violent burst.
Alarms rise from the city as people mistake it for an attack.
Confusion follows when the wizard tower's defensive shield does not activate.
Then they see him.
All across the capital, people bow.
Kaelan descends and lands before the palace where Yuelan is giving birth.
Royal guards surround the grounds and part instantly as he ascends the palace steps.
He moves through the corridors without pause.
Outside a sealed chamber, his two clones wait in silence.
The moment they see him, they dissolve into elemental light and disperse, returning to the academy to continue teaching.
Kaelan remains.
He stands outside the door, waiting for the birth of his first child.
A child born in this life, and in all lives before it.
Kaelan stands outside the sealed chamber, hands clenched, breath steady, while time stretches thin and fragile around him.
From beyond the door comes Yuelan's scream, sharp and broken, pain spilling into the corridor like blood.
Her voice follows, hoarse and furious, swearing she will never let him touch her body again, not in this life or the next.
Kaelan closes his eyes, knowing every word is born from agony rather than anger.
Li Xueyao's voice cuts through the chaos, calm and measured, guiding Yuelan to breathe, to endure, to hold on.
Veena urges her forward, firm and relentless, telling her to push, again and again, refusing to let weakness take hold.
The sounds blend together, pain and command and reassurance, until Kaelan loses any sense of passing moments.
Minutes feel like hours, and hours feel like lifetimes.
He stands unmoving, unable to step away, unable to enter, suspended between fear and anticipation.
Then it happens.
A cry pierces the air, thin and trembling, yet louder than thunder to his ears.
Kaelan's heart stutters.
Before relief can settle, a crushing pressure descends from above, heavy and alien, pressing against his soul.
Realisation strikes him instantly.
His child carries the blood of the Void Monster.
No matter how faint the trace, it is foreign to this world.
Void Monsters are enemies of existence itself, rejected by the laws that govern reality.
Kaelan can suppress his own blood through will and cultivation, but a newborn cannot.
If the world senses it fully, judgment will descend without mercy.
There is no time.
Before the world responds, he must act.
Kaelan pushes the door open with a burst of force.
Inside, Veena is already cutting the umbilical cord, blood-stained hands steady despite exhaustion.
Li Xueyao turns sharply, frowning in displeasure.
"We were going to call you."
Kaelan does not answer.
He steps forward and takes the baby from Veena's arms, cradling the tiny, crying form against his chest.
He chants softly.
Purple runes appear one by one in the air, ancient and heavy, pulsing with forbidden authority.
They circle the baby and sink gently into her body, sealing the Void Monster blood deep within her flesh.
The faint third vertical eye on the baby's forehead, laced with the law of the Void Monster, fades and disappears beneath the skin.
The crushing pressure vanishes as if it never existed.
The baby's cries soften, then stop.
Golden eyes open and look up at him, clear and curious, reflecting his face.
Yuelan's weak voice reaches him from the bed.
"Wuya… is something wrong with our daughter?"
Kaelan turns toward her and smiles, slow and warm, easing the fear tightening her expression.
He hands the baby back to Veena.
"Nothing."
Veena finishes cutting the cord and cleans the child, but her gaze lingers, sharp and questioning.
Li Xueyao watches him in silence, having seen the third eye before it vanished.
Yuelan has heard of it, too.
They all know it is nothing.
Yuelan takes the baby into her arms, exhaustion melting into tenderness as she smiles down at her daughter.
The baby reaches weakly, fingers curling around Yuelan's sleeve.
The room grows quiet, heavy with unspoken truths.
Li Xueyao breaks the silence.
"What will be the baby's name?"
Kaelan looks at his daughter, at the peaceful rise and fall of her chest, at the calm that follows chaos.
Autumn comes to his mind, gentle and balanced.
Peace, earned and protected.
Beauty, quiet and enduring.
"An Qiu Mei," he says.
Peaceful autumn beauty.
The name settles into the room, soft and complete, as Kaelan watches the child who binds all his lives together.