The Ember coil within me hissed as if sensing the continent's will, threads of animus igniting like wildfire across my spiritual pathways. I cried out—not in pain, but in raw emergence—as my hands shifted, warping into tapered Ember coil talons of obsidian-ember alloy. My Scales shimmered and glowed growing more resilient
I was still humanoid yet more bestial.
My storm claw raptor crystal also upgraded to tier four! Having drawn in the rare vital wind essence at the very peak of the Sun God Bloom. My forearms bulged and rippled as plumes of indigo-blue feathers erupted, trailing from my shoulders down my triceps like a raptor's mantle of war. Raw wind essence surged around me!
I Could also feel the lifegiving essence of the Sunlit life core as well. A sharp whistle rang in my ears. My bones felt lighter, hollowed by some ancient sky-borne blessing.
With a sudden gust, the feathers on my arms pulsed—and I felt it: flight essence. I stepped to the edge of the sunflower's face, the clouds swirling far below. And leapt.
I soared downward in wide, gliding arcs, taloned fingers splayed, wind streaking past my face. A second set of eyelids slid down over my eyes, "wind shielding" I thought to myself. I could now see clearly while gliding at high speeds. Every slight shift in my form could tilt my trajectory. The world below opened up—green valleys, jagged cliffs, and the breath of life flowing across the land.
And then...I saw them.
A demon beast army. Marching through the hills.
Red-Cap's.
Twisted Beast kin with metallic grafts. Bone-chariots pulled by corrupted dire boars. Towers of flesh and cable, dragging behind siege spires like worms of war.
Their target: The revived Sun God Bloom.
I landed hard on a rocky outcrop, scattering dust and stone.
My cloak flared. Lightning snapped at my heels. The wind obeyed me now—an extension of my will.
I stared down at them, eyes burning with crackling purple animus.
"You're not getting past me." A corrupted beast-commander roared and pointed.
I charged. With my new cultivation levels, I was a red and blue blur—talons ripping into the earth, blue feathered arms spread as I glided over a line of blade-hounds.
One Vorpal Slash—clean, radiant—cut three dozen in half.
I directed my crackling purple animus to my legs with just a wisp of intent, ember coil fire surged through my legs as I slammed down, creating an explosion that sent spined riders flying! Another wave approached—dozens strong. I planted my claws into the hillside, drew on both cores—Storm above, Flame below—and burst forth with a spiraling strike that fused both:
"THUNDER FIRE SPIRAL FANG!"
The ground split in a burst of light.
Enemy ranks shattered.
A terrific explosion ensued, everything became light...and hot.
Still more came, dozens... then hundreds.
My jaw tightened. Behind me, the Sun God Bloom shimmered like a golden sentinel. I could still feel its breath on the wind. I wasn't alone anymore. I had evolved. I had become something more than just bonded. I atop the ridge—wind clawing at my cloak, talons crackling with coiled lightning and fire. The first wave came in like a flood. Gnashing, malformed beasts—carapace nightmares twisted by corruption. Some bore skeletal wings, others scuttled on limbs fused from multiple creatures. All of them wore the same brand: Red-Cap's sigil—a stitched crimson eye.
I inhaled circulating the Sacred Breath technique. The animus swirled inside me, no longer just a reservoir of power, but a force of shape and will. I tapped into the raw essence of the vorpal path, and let instinct carry me forward.
"You want the Bloom?" I asked quizzically. "Then burn trying!" I glided forward on the wind, talons lighting the earth. A dome of scorched pressure burst from my chest.
My bloodline power had awakened once again!
The battle intent and aura of an ancient god of war formed around me.
"CRIMSON SPIRAL CRUSH!!!"
Flames twisted in a helix spiraling up from the ground as I landed and raised one taloned hand. With a downward slash, the flames collapsed into a cone of concentrated destruction, slicing through seven thousand four hundred and thirty corrupted demon beasts. Their bodies were incinerated mid-screech—only molten streaks left behind.
Before the smoke cleared, bone-forged serpents lunged toward me. I spun and leapt, my feathers catching wind essence helped me to pivot and turn, I drove my claw into the ground:
"EMBER RIFT TALON!!!"
A rupture of magma tore through the soil like a volcanic maw, consuming four thousand seven hundred fifty-six serpents and beasts in a surge of molten animus.
Screams echoed. I roared back, louder. The second wave swarmed from above—corrupted harpies and glider-beasts, eyes leaking black ooze, wings twitching unnaturally.
I took a running leap—and launched skyward! Wind essence surged around me, which my raptor feathers automatically compressed into flight essence.
My silhouette arced through the clouds like a comet.
"SKY BLIGHT FEATHER DANCE!!!"
Dozens of raptor-feather projectile's launched from my shoulders like cutting gales! The feathers sliced wings, limbs, and skulls mid-flight.
Then I dove—a streak of blue fire and lightning—tearing through harpy ranks with a rending vorpal slash that bisected the sky! I twisted mid-fall, drawing both cores together—flame in one hand, storm in the other.
"TWIN TEMPEST BREAKER!!!"
I struck the ground. The resulting explosion flattened the hilltop, a crater blooming outward as thousands of demon-beasts were flung back—limbs snapped, weapons broken, qi disintegrated in the shockwave.
The corrupted army wasn't finished. A behemoth emerged from the ravine—a hulking, centipede-backed juggernaut, fused from at least a dozen bonded beasts.
Its armor pulsed with stolen corrupted qi. Faces stretched from its chest, whispering curses. I didn't wait. I flew straight into its shadow, ducking a massive tail swipe that shattered boulders. With my god of war battle aura still burning hot I had time for one more soul-art.
"Let's see how much of your corruption can bleed."
"VORPAL RAKE CRESCENDO FORM!"
I launched up its body, my purple vorpal blade shifting to my obsidian ember alloy claws, empowering them with purple vorpal energy. They extended.
With each vorpal claw strike I shaved away layers of corrupted plating. I slashed across glowing joints, releasing streams corrupted qi infused blood.
When I reached the creature's massive crown, I planted my talons deep—
—then ignited the ember coil core, the storm claw raptor core and sunlit life force core into one last attack.
"SOLAR STORM EXCUTION FLARE!!!"
A column of golden-white flame erupted from within the behemoth's skull, straight into the sky. The beast convulsed—then collapsed into itself, leaving only scorched runes behind. I dropped to one knee, breathing hard. Lightning danced around me. Feathers flickered. Talons still steamed from the impact.
But I was still standing. "Come on, Red-Cap. Send me more." And from behind me, the Sun God Bloom glowed brighter, channeling the will of the land to fortify me.
The battle wasn't over.
But neither was I.
The sky was bruised violet, scattered with fading crimson streaks as I scaled the moss-veined trunk of the Sun God Bloom once more—my talons digging into thick bark, wind howling past blue-tipped feathers. Smoke still curled from the distant battlefield below.
Demon-blood caked my talons. My animus was fraying at the edge. But above—bathed in sunlight—the face of the bloom waited. Its great golden petals swayed gently, and from the center of the flower, the faint outline of a serene face pulsed with awareness. The lips were carved in sunlight. The eyes like twin galaxies, still blinking slow with divine rhythm. I stepped onto the final petal. The wind ceased. The air grew still, holy.
I dropped to one knee, voice steady.
"Sun God Bloom," I said, "I fought to defend your life from Red-Cap's army. But my animus is frayed and waning… if I don't recover soon, I won't be able to stop what's coming next. Will you share more of your sacred dew with me?"
The Bloom's massive face turned slightly, its voice a whisper of sunbeams through leaves:
"You fight not for conquest, but protection… I see it in your animus. I shall shed for you three more tears of sun." The petals above shimmered, and from the central golden eye—three orbs of incandescent gold began to form.
They floated down like weightless tears, each humming with ancient power. Three sacred dew drops hovered in the air before me. I selected one drop, and it sunk into the flesh of my hand without resistance. The effect was immediate, I felt instant refreshment of my vital energies, Intent and qi. I also felt the sunlit life force core grow and expand! I could feel the individual bio-fields of my bones, organs and tendons expand with divine elasticity. My animus was fully replenished, my intent was bolstered enough to restore coherence, allowing my cores to stabilize.
The healing was immense—but the overwhelming euphoria, and growth of my mental and spiritual dantians had lessened. This however was to be expected, as cultivation resources would diminish with each use, forcing the cultivator to seek out greater challenges to advance their martial path. My body had already adapted.
The gift was no longer infinite.
I stored the other two drops in sealed vials, both of vials were the empty intent potions I had already used up. I stored the two sacred dew vials inside my spirit bracelet, priceless beyond kingdoms. I stood and bowed low, the sun glinting off the blue raptor-feathers lining my shoulders.
"You have my thanks, Bloom. If there comes a time you are threatened again, I will return." The Bloom's lips curved faintly in a slow, solar smile.
"I will watch the winds for you, Child of claw and feather. And when you burn brightest, the land itself shall rise with you."
I turned to leave, but before I could leap from the summit, the great face of the Bloom stirred once more. Its voice was deeper now, resonant—not just with sound, but with ancient memory.
"Ash… before you go, you must know why you were able to reach me. Why your animus stirred the petals of a slumbering god." I paused, taloned hands tightening slightly. "Why?"
The Bloom's enormous solar face opened its eyes fully now—twin suns rimmed with storm light and sorrow. Time itself seemed to slow.
"This continent you walk upon…is alive."
"It breathes through the ley lines. It dreams through the beasts. It remembers through stone and storm. The Beast Vein Continent is not just terrain—it is a sentient titan, a slumbering will vast beyond imagination." I took a breath, heart thudding. "Then… the corrupted zones, the storms, even the animus storms—"
"Manifestations of its anguish." The sun god bloom replied.
"Red-Cap poisons more than beasts—he poisons memory itself. But you, Ash... you were chosen by the Will of the Continent long before your ember coil bond sparked."
My eyes widened.
"Chosen?"
The Bloom's petals swayed slowly, solemn. "You are its claw. Its flame. Its storm. You carry within you the Instinct of the land—a primal authority tied not only to beasts, but to the qi of the soil itself. It guides you. It strengthens you. You were not wandering by chance. You were led to me. And one day… it will ask you to burn in its name."
I stepped closer, my own animus shifting with uneasy awe.
"And if I refuse it?"
The Bloom was silent. Then:
"Then the continent dies screaming."
Silence hung like thunder before a strike.
The face of the Bloom began to fade back into petal patterns.
"Go now, Ash. The Will watches. It waits. And through you… it remembers."
As I dove from the flower, blue feathers gleaming and taloned fingers gliding on wind essence, my thoughts roared louder than the wind;
The continent… was alive.
And I'm not just surviving its trials.
I'm part of them. The Beast Vein Continent didn't just birth beasts and storms.
It birthed me.
I turned, talons curling with renewed strength, cloak billowing behind me as I leapt once more from the three-thousand-foot-high perch.