The cauldron hissed like a living thing.
Inside, Ethan stirred the brew with steady hands, guiding the golden Qi strands into a spiraling core. His breath synchronized with the boiling rhythm. Sweat dotted his brow. Every second counted.
On the stone slab beside him sat the ingredients:
Crushed Iron thorn Bark,
Extract of Stone Orchid,
One drop of Phoenix Heart Resin.
A Body Refining Pill,
Powerful enough to reinforce his physical form and stabilize his progression to Foundation Phase Level Four.
Behind him, Vane monitored the Qi flow while Elena spread defensive talismans around the camp perimeter.
Half a breath longer,
Vane warned.
Ethan focused and just as the spiral coalesced into a dense golden pearl, he removed the flame. The cauldron sighed.
A single pill, gleaming like molten metal, dropped into the jade dish.
Body Refining Pill success.
Before Ethan could speak, the earth trembled.
From the treeline, a roar split the air, sharp as thunder. Birds scattered. Leaves twisted in midair, burnt black by unnatural Qi.
Spirit Beast,
Elena said, rising.
From the forest shadows, a monstrous form slinked out twelve feet long, fur like thorned steel, and eyes like molten sapphires. A Thornhide Direpanther, rare and deadly.
And clamped in its jaws Ethan's eyes widened was a vine-covered herb glowing with black-gold light.
Vane said,
That's a Voidroot Vine.
Ethan had read of it,
Only one such vine existed per generation. It was the prime catalyst for refining Soul Refinement Pills used to protect the soul from fragmentation during high-realm breakthroughs. It's Priceless.
The beast growled and began to retreat into the brush.
Ethan didn't think.
He ran.
Ethan, wait.
Elena shouted.
He shot forward,
Leaping from root to root, needles drawn. His heart raced with Foundation Phase Qi, and the Body Refining Pill still glowing inside him unleashed a burst of latent power.
He moved faster than expected even for a Level Three cultivator.
The panther whipped around and lunged.
Ethan spun mid-air, launching three Spectral Flame Needles into its joints. They hissed as they burned through fur and sinew. The beast howled, staggering.
He dashed beneath it, sliced the vine free with a sharpened Qi thread, and rolled to avoid its crashing claw.
Behind him, Vane and Elena burst through the trees Elena launching a net of lightning-imbued needles that froze the creature long enough for Vane to deliver a paralyzing strike to its heart meridian.
The beast collapsed, unconscious.
Ethan, panting, held the vine in one hand, and the Body Refining Pill still warming his gut.
You really are tempering yourself to perfection, Vane said, awed. That panther's power was equal to a Foundation Level Nine beast, and you moved like you were already near its level.
Elena crouched beside him, wiping blood from his cheek. He'll surpass most of them. With his constitution and his methods, Ethan could fight six levels up.
That night, they rested in the hollow.
Vane brought out a tattered scroll he'd kept hidden.
On it an ancient sigil
Twin dragons encircling a black sword.
Beneath it, in fading ink
Tomb of the Dragon Slayer. Buried beneath the Silver Wastes. Within lies the Blade of Tribulation and the fairy who speaks only to the one who bleeds stars.
Ethan looked up,
He didn't know what bleeding stars meant.
But he knew the tomb was calling.