The sky ripped open around me as I vaulted through the storm cloud, propelled by my newly condensed animus and lake of intent. My arms tensed mid-flight, trailing vapor contrails as I surged like a thunderbolt loosed from the heavens! I performed a final twist midair, I flipped, I focused my intent guiding my animus, compressing it at my feet—
KABOOM!
I slammed down atop a jagged mountain ridge, the impact cratering the stone beneath my boots. Pebbles rattled away into the void below. I exhaled. Lightning still crawled along my limbs. My cloak fluttered violently in the high-altitude winds, barely containing the post-lightning cloud step recoil.
Then I saw it.
Far across the ridge line, across a barren canyon wreathed in black mist, it loomed. A colossal sunflower plant, rooted in a kilometers-wide crater of rotted land. Its stem had to be two miles wide at the base, and the plant itself reached thousands of feet high into the sky.
Its petals were jagged and torn—flesh-colored, pulsing, and wet. The sunflower's face stared skyward, but it twitched violently, as if reacting to some unseen agony.
Veins of pustule-red corrupted qi bulged across its stalk. Thorns oozed black ichor into the soil—poisoned land as far as I could see.
"That's not anger," I whispered. "That's pain."
I sat cross-legged on the ridge. My eyes closed, my breathing slowed.
"Spirit Man: Exit."
My ethereal projection peeled from my flesh like smoke lifting off an ember, entering the ether realm, overlapping the visible world in ghost light hues. From the spiritual plane, I looked closer. The creature—''Anger of the Land''—was bound by dozens of seething nodules, bulbous with corrupted qi!
Some pulsed like tumors. Others twitched, as if aware of my gaze! And at the center, buried in its brainstem beneath coiled petals—
a shard of Red-Cap's intent.
A whisper echoed "WHHHRRRR-CLICK... WHHHRRRR–CLICK..."
I recoiled instinctively. The Sunflower plant wasn't dead. It had been repurposed. Hijacked. Made into a beacon. Suddenly, one of the nodules snapped open, revealing a gaping eye! It saw my Spirit Man—and shrieked!
The sky turned red.
Dozens of sunbeams whipped outward from the sunflower's head, each a giant corrupted blast of qi! tearing craters into the land. Earth exploded trying to flee from the corrupted will that had taken root. I spiraled upward to avoid a sudden spear of corrupted qi! But even in the chaos, my analytical mind locked in.
"If I destroy each nodule," I realized, "I might unravel Red-Cap's tether. Cleanse it. Restore what this plant beast once was."
But it wouldn't be easy. Each nodule spawned a corrupted elemental guardian, avatars of nature twisted into screaming wraiths: molten stone bears, hydra water serpents, thorned wind locusts…
This wasn't a battle.
It was an exorcism.
I gritted my teeth. "So be it. Let's calm this continent's wrath—one strike at a time." Animus pulsed through my beast crystals, and my right arm shimmered with searing white outlines; The Vorpal Slash was primed, my focus absolute. The mountain trembled again as the Anger of the Land uncoiled one of its tendrils, from within it an eye nodule tracked me like a gnat. "Twelve nodules," I whispered, marking each target. "One mistake, and I'm done."
I took off in a blur of spirit speed.
BOOM!
A beam of raw eye-born corrupted qi screamed across the ridge, carving a 200-meter gouge into solid stone! I blurred just inches past it—air warping where I had just been!
I reached the first nodule. It pulsed once, twice. A corrupted elemental tried to emerge—a molten stone bear covered in barbed chains. But it was too slow, especially in my spirit man form.
SLASH!
A streak of gleaming purple animus cut through the air, purple vorpal energy igniting along the strike's path. The nodule burst like overripe fruit, its corruption burned away instantly. The tumor screamed as it dissolved into smoke and wind. A second eye flared. I dove, narrowly avoiding a vertical beam that scorched the heavens.
This nodule was higher, lodged between two jagged petal spines.
I shot up and sailed through the air like a comet in the sky, arriving just above the node. The petals lashed toward me like scythes!
So I twirled, a spiraling descent attacking on the way down—
SLASH!
Nodule down. The sunflower howled, retracting several of its roots to shield the core.
But I was already moving. "If You want to end the continent!" I muttered, animus flaring around my fists. "You'll have to bleed for it!"
This time I didn't dodge, I countered.
"Spirit-man step!"
The eye fired!
I zipped low and upward at a perfect 45-degree arc with the Vorpal blade! The purple neon spirit blade slammed into the eye nodule with a hiss!
There was a horrendous shriek and then the eye exploded in group and blue-black ichor.
The stakes were clear: If the eye laser hit my spirit man it could result in death, coma, or beast bond rupture.
But one perfect strike on my part would equal purification.
I moved like a force of nature, a martial god threading between death beams and monstrosity limbs—each Vorpal Slash a note in the symphony of destruction.
Five nodes.
Six.
Seven—
Now the sunflower began collapsing its petals inward—preparing a death pulse. The sky turned violet. A storm crackled above.
I landed hard on the last outcrop, Spirit body burning, from overuse.
The final cluster—three corrupted nodes clustered together like tumors—beat like hearts at the base of the sunflower's skull-pillar, each swollen with spite and rot.
Above me, the petals were retracting.
The air snapped with rising charge—the death pulse was coming.
"Time to end this."
I launched forward—one final Spirit-man step into the storming updraft.
I blurred through the first nodule slashing a perfect arc.
SLASH!
The third began to release an ether-pulse of decay—
I roared, vorpal edge flaring brighter than ever before, and cut directly through the pulse into the node's core! The node exploded in white light, a shockwave of cleansing qi radiating out and blasting through the roots.
The death pulse stalled. The mountain stopped trembling.
The beast shuddered… then settled.
The Beast Plant Lived.
Its gigantic sunflower head turned slowly to face the sky again, petals relaxing outward like celestial arms after war.
Its massive stem pulsed with glowing amber lines—its qi no longer corrupted, but ancient. Alive.
I hovered above, panting, my Spirit Man glowing faintly.
And then…
I saw them.
Sprouting from the spiral stair-path of thick coiling stalks were fruits—clustered in trios, protected by folded leaves of golden hue.
"Wait…is that...cultivation fruit?"
I returned to my body waiting back on the distant mountain ridge. I would return to the Sun-flower plant in person to harvest the ultra rare cultivation fruit.
I made my way to the colossal sunflower plant. where I observed trios of ultra rare cultivation fruit.
The first fruit I inspected was an ember flare apple. It was a small, fire-striped fruit pulsing with condensed Sun essence. Just holding it made my palm tingle. The second fruit was a verdant heart-plum, translucent, cold and dense, heavy with grounding force. Ideal for long-term qi stability. The final fruit was a spiral nectar melon.
It was a translucent, swirling fruit—It could strengthen Chakra pathways! Usually when a cultivator broke through to the next level their Chakra pathways would automatically adjust in tandem with their meridian gates, but certain rare cultivation fruits and resources could also be used to strengthen the spiritual pathways.
And these Spiral nectar melons were just such a resource.
"Three kinds… and they're perfectly ripe," I breathed. "This… this is a sacred trove."
I harvested the fruits and stored them in my spirit bracelet. I began ascending the Sunflower plant, climbing the ridges of the beast's stem like a vertical jungle and making calculated leaps where possible. This wasn't the open plains, and I couldn't simply bullet dash about. And climbing proved to be more beneficial as each leaf plateau had a set of fruits, I harvested any fruit I discovered, but they became fewer and fewer the higher I climbed.
The climbing took about three hours. Birds circled me, sensing my calm and peaceful aura. Even the wind had gone reverent. At the very top, nine hundred and fourteen meters above sea level, I reached the crown. I stood on a wide, golden disc—the full head and colossal face of the Sun God Bloom.
Ancient. Gentle. Carved from bark, vine, and Sun-kissed petal. Its eyes were closed yet glowed faintly. The flower didn't speak...but... I felt its presence.
Like a Guardian Spirit had been sleeping, twisted by Red-Cap's corruption, and was only now beginning to stir. I knelt. Not out of worship—but respect.
"I don't know who you are. But I'll protect this land. I swear it." The face in the flower gave a faint, peaceful smile. The wind shifted. Far to the west, black clouds stirred there. I stood, withdrawing a few of the fruits from my bracelet, clutching the fruits I had gathered, gaze hardening. "Red-Caps poison runs deeper than I thought."
I looked back over the continent from the Sun God Bloom's crown.
"Time to get stronger."
I remained at the very top of the Sun God Bloom, surrounded by vital wind essence. The wind whispered in golden spirals. The massive petals stretched across the air like wings catching sunlight from every direction. The view was endless—mountains like cracked teeth far below, rivers glinting like silver veins, and beyond that… the western horizon, dark and roiling with thunder clouds. But up here, everything felt still. Sacred. Eternal.
I sat cross-legged by the face of the colossal disc. I placed the three different cultivating fruits in front of me like offerings—Ember flare apple, Verdant heart-plum, and Spiral nectar melon—each humming with a unique cultivation benefit.
I inhaled deeply, drawing in the wind's swift essence. It was pure, ancient, and primordial—not the essence of ancient battles or manmade cultivation paths, but the unfiltered lifeforce of the continent itself. I held the Verdant Heart-Plum in my hand—a fruit no mortal cultivator had likely tasted in centuries. Its skin shimmered with an inner translucence, pulsing faintly like a beating heart. Cool to the touch. Fragrant with the essence of deep forests and spring rain.
I drew a slow breath, steadying my core. The skin peeled away in fine strips under my fingers, revealing vibrant blue flesh streaked with veins of luminous jade. It pulsed once in my hand—like the land itself breathed through it.
I brought it to my lips.
The moment my teeth pierced the fruit, a wave of calm washed through me. Not just in body—but in spirit. My animus, already a roaring current of storm fire and ember-wrought force, rooted itself and deepened. I could feel my heart strengthening an unexpected benefit of the Verdant Heart Plum.
My animus harmonized. The plum's sacred energies unfolded in my core like an ancient tree stretching roots through my meridians.
My animus, typically aggressive and sharp like the edge of a wind-split blade, quieted and became patient. Rich. Deep. The colossal sunflower face slept peacefully by me.
Around me, the Sun God Bloom cradled my presence, as if the plant itself was offering shelter—a brief moment of stillness in a war-torn world.
I opened my eyes. My animus coils were perfectly aligned. My beast crystals pulsed gently, resonance stabilized. The Ember coil within me coiled tighter, quieter—almost reverent. The Verdant Heart-Plum had done more than nourish. It had taught me silence.
I reached for the second fruit, the Ember Flare Apple thrumming with battle-hardened wildness. I bit into the Ember Flare Apple, I felt instant ignition and growth of my ember coil fire element! I could also feel my body strengthen!
Lastly, the Spiral Nectar melon—its sweetness unraveling unblocked chakra paths. I entered a deep meditative state soaking up the swift wind essence. Hours passed… then days.
The face of the Sunflower began to change. It twitched. Then again. Eyelids of petal and wood stirred. Cracks of golden light shone beneath them. I felt it before I heard it—the weight of a mind thousands of years old waking. The eyelids opened slowly, revealing eyes like twin suns: gentle but vast, bearing the weight of eons. It spoke, voice vibrating from crown to root, "You… are not of my grove. You are… new."
I bowed my head slightly but kept my posture centered.
"I'm Ash. A cultivator. I walk the vorpal path. I didn't come to destroy you—I came to cleanse the corruption Red-Cap left in your heart."
A slow, silent pause. The wind around me stilled as though all of nature was listening.
"…So it was you." The voice sounded sad at first, like the echo of a long-forgotten lullaby. "So long have I slumbered. So far has the world fallen. The ones who once sang to me… are dust." I let the silence speak for a moment. Then, gently: "But you're still here, and maybe you were meant to wake again now—because the continent needs you."
Another pause.
A breeze swept upward, golden pollen trailing off into the sky. "Perhaps… the land stirs again because of you." The eyes of the Bloom narrowed, not in anger, but in searching memory.
"You bear lightning, Flame, Snake, Raptor and Wind."
I nodded. "The ember coil serpent. The storm claw raptor. And something deeper—animus." At that word, the Bloom's expression changed.
"Animus… Yes. The Breath Beneath Breath. You walk an old path. A dangerous one." My reflexes tightened slightly, but I said nothing.
The Bloom continued: "I remember… before I slept… we would weep dew for the chosen." The huge face in the sunflower's center—etched with age, yet brimming with quiet glory—closed its radiant eyes.
A deep humming filled the air. The flower pulsed, once,, twice, from the innermost heart of the Bloom, where no mortal hand had touched for centuries, a single golden droplet rose.
It floated up through the air, glowing with such brilliance that my animus flared involuntarily in response.
Every nerve in my body sang.
Even my Spirit Man bowed in the ether realm, head lowered.
The drop hovered before me.
It pulsed with power beyond comprehension.
No qi, no Animus, no technique I had ever touched felt this clean, this true.
"One drop of Sun God Dew," whispered the Bloom, its voice now faint and gentle. "For your deeds. For saving what I once was. Do not waste it. This is a gift of the First Bloom—dew wept by the land itself."
I extended my hand. The droplet touched my palm—
—and vanished into my flesh.
Immediately, a shockwave of warmth surged through me.
Every pore opened. Every Meridian gate in me widened with overflow!
My beast crystal glowed molten white. Both beast crystals breaking through to tier four! My animus condensed and tripled, then condensed and tripled again before stabilizing!
My mental fatigue from days of cultivation melted away, replaced by clarity and force. The drop of Sun God Dew contained spiritual knowledge! My lake of intent didnt expand but deepened to a stunning degree!
My heart beat once—
And time itself seemed to pause around me.
Then it was over. But not really.
Something remained… inside.
A Sunlit core tucked near my diaphragm, coiled with vital life essence.
Immortal Sun God Bloom Dew Claimed!
Grants one hundred fifty years of life!
I let out a slow breath, grounding myself.
My body no longer ached. My soul felt light, like I could fly again—without needing to leap.
I looked up. The face of the Bloom was fading eyes closing again, petals slowly drawing back toward slumber.
But before it did, it spoke once more. "Go, Ash of Iron fang. Your flame has been seen. Burn bright… before the land weeps again."
And with that, the Sun God Bloom stilled. Not dead. Just dreaming. I stood tall, wind howling around me.
Three thousand feet below stretched the world—scarred, poisoned in parts, but still alive.
But now, because of me, it burned just a little bit brighter.