Cade ignited all of the mist at once, and it felt like someone hammered a steel spike into the center of his brain. The whole world instantly drowned in darkness.

  An unknown amount of time later, he forced his blood-crusted eyelids apart with a pained groan.

  He couldn’t feel his body at all. Instead, every particle inside him burned with torturous pain, his nerves screaming in unison.

  The last time he had suffered close to this much internal damage was after the fight with Castien, and back then, his body wasn’t nearly as tough as now. The backlash he received from igniting such an insane quantity of mist was far worse than he had expected. He had grossly overestimated his body’s ability to handle it. In truth, he had nearly self-destructed.

  Cade coughed up bloody phlegm, taking it as a sign that his lungs were somehow working, if barely. Slowly, the sensation of uniform agony began to recede. He still couldn’t lift his arm, feeling as if every single muscle fiber in his body had been torn apart by the backlash. At least now he could sense that he still had limbs.

  Fortunately, Cade had refilled his voracious heart before following through with this mad idea. Gradually, waves of potent blood qi began flooding his body. After an unknown amount of time—likely only minutes, though they felt like hours—he had recovered enough to enter his realm of consciousness.

  “Master, are you alright?” Legion’s silver avatar zipped around him, its tone filled with worry.

  “I’m alive, so I can’t really complain,” Cade answered with a pained chuckle. He could only speak into his realm of consciousness; his throat was one raw, burning wound.

  “I think I must have screamed a lot,” he muttered.

  “That would be a severe understatement, Master! I was convinced you were dying,” Legion said in an agitated tone. “Please don’t do that again. You might have a death wish, but remember that if you die, I will probably die with you. I’ve only just begun recovering.”

  “Sorry, Legion. You’re right, of course. Let’s just say I’ve learned my lesson,” Cade replied, touched by the spirit’s genuine concern, even if part of it stemmed from self-preservation.

  He activated his insight to check on the condition of his body. His muscles and organs were barely holding on, with blood filling every crevice, and many of his bones were shattered, bound together only thanks to his powerful qi. Strangely, his skin had mostly resisted the backlash—its impressive resilience born from being stripped and regrown from nothing.

  However, what truly astounded him was how fast he was healing. In fact, the speed of his recovery was so vastly greater than after his battle with Darkheart that there was no comparison between the two. He watched his muscles, tendons, and bones knit together before his very eyes in a display of ungodly regeneration.

  No more than half an hour, and I’ll be back to my normal condition. Hydra blood—you’re worth every damn crystal of those estimated six million!

  After ten minutes of revolving the basic Flesh Fortification diagram, Cade managed to sit up and curiously looked around. The palace still stood—no signs of explosion, no scorch marks, even the soil around it was completely undisturbed. Cade had been nearly certain that such an abrupt severing of the formation’s connection to the Realm’s core would result in a serious recoil, releasing all of the barrier’s energy at once, and his heart sank a little.

  Was I unsuccessful?

  After five more minutes, he managed to stand and wearily shuffled toward the untouched palace, his arm reaching out toward its metal gates with brief hesitation. When his fingers touched their hard, cold surface, he felt as if he was going to cry with joy.

  “It worked. The barrier is gone!” His throat still burned, and his voice was as hoarse as gravel. He laughed, choked, and coughed—all at once. Excited, Cade promptly sat cross-legged in front of the gates and returned to running the basic diagram, which worked equally well for body cultivation and healing.

  Fifteen minutes later, the Asura leapt to his feet, sensing newfound strength coursing through his body. He erupted in laughter, sounding like a man who had tread the narrow path separating life from death and not only didn’t perish, but came back reborn.

  “This is truly a Life and Death Divine Realm. What a fitting name! Putting everything on the line has once again paid off!” he roared in elation, clenching his fists. Every aspect of his physicality had been slightly improved. Although the gains weren’t anywhere near as meaningful as after the fight with Castien, every little bit counted. This had nothing to do with his spherules either; it was all thanks to the powerful adaptive capabilities of his Asura physique.

  His body flashed, moving swiftly between several locations and leaving scattered afterimages, before appearing in front of a massive chunk of a broken-off wall. It was nearly a dozen feet thick and twenty feet high. Cade ignited all of his blood qi, unleashing a powerful punch at this extremely hard mass of stone. The broken wall exploded under the impact, sending stone shrapnel whistling through the air for hundreds of feet. For a single eyeblink, the entire stretch in front of him became a killing field.

  Cade looked at his fist and laughed with his whole self, savoring the sensation, before gazing toward the violet sky. However, as his elation gradually diminished, the childlike joy in his gaze also dimmed, briefly replaced by a wistful shadow.

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  “Mom, Dad, I wish you could see me now. I wonder… would you be proud of how far your son has come?”

  He briefly clenched his jaws, forcefully suppressing his awakened killing intent. Patience.

  After a few moments of silence, Cade sighed and lowered his gaze, fixing his eyes on the palace gates. He checked his timekeeper and realized only an hour and a half had passed since he broke the formation. It was hard to believe how he could return from the edge of death to perfect condition in such a short time. There was only one fitting word to describe it: unnatural. And he loved it. He was now convinced he’d never need to worry about igniting the mist in his Blood Wings ever again.

  Grinning, Cade placed his hands on the gates and pushed, expecting that moving those two massive chunks of otherworldly metal would require significant exertion. Unexpectedly, the gates opened as if someone had oiled the hinges yesterday—quietly and with barely any effort.

  He walked into the dark hall, likely the first person to set foot inside this palace for hundreds of thousands of years. He already had a pretty good idea of its layout, and there was one place he needed to visit before descending into the cellars. He had expected the interior to remain shrouded in darkness—not much of a problem for his eyes—but as he walked, the crystals on the ceiling lit up on their own, as if sensing his presence.

  Even though the palace was empty and its naked walls made it appear cold and uninviting, the warm light released by the crystals breathed a semblance of life back into its ancient halls, akin to the first rays of sunlight piercing heavy clouds. He no longer felt like an intruder, but rather someone who was welcomed—a cherished guest.

  When he viewed the palace’s chambers through his mist eyes, one thing remained constant: all the rooms were empty, not counting the ever-present dust, with one exception. Judging from the many vents inside that one huge chamber, it was likely the palace’s kitchens. He didn’t know how the several-dozen-foot-wide ceiling hadn’t yet collapsed—considering not a single column nor beam supported it—but hopefully, it wasn’t waiting for the moment of his visit to fall on his head. Still, that was where he had to direct his steps.

  Cade easily recalled the path and soon found himself entering the large open space, his gaze immediately drawn to three objects lying on the floor near one of the walls. He crouched to pick them up.

  At first glance, they appeared to be ordinary household items. There was a small dining plate, a fork with two straight prongs, and a plain cube the size of a small fist, looking like a simple paperweight.

  All objects were made of silver, or another similarly reflective metal. Both the plate and the fork were richly ornamented, which set them apart from ordinary kitchenware.

  The fork’s handle was shaped into the body of an undulating wyrm, each scale carved with remarkable precision, its prongs sharp as daggers.

  The plate was less impressive in comparison, but even its surface bore a dozen concentric rings, each inscribed with a repeating pattern of miniature ornate runes he had never seen before.

  The cube was the most puzzling. Plain in design, its angles and edges were nonetheless carved with incredible precision. It didn’t seem to have much in common with the other two objects, other than the material it was made of.

  As Cade examined the items in his hands and felt their faint warmth, he instantly recognized that they were made of the same material as Grandmaster Erendriel’s bell.

  Protoform?! Damn, what a great find! Too bad I need to wait until Wraith Formation to use them.

  He imagined the crowd of people who had once called the palace home, all rushing to pack their most precious belongings in the face of the Death Dao’s assault. The plate and fork seemed small—perhaps they belonged to a child. Or maybe all protoform objects were crafted that way, meant to be resized at will. Perhaps their owner had to flee after just finishing a meal, with no time to clean up or gather anything. Or maybe they simply didn’t care—perhaps, for the ancients, protoform was an everyday material. Though he doubted that, considering the craftsmanship involved in their creation. Then again, Darkheart ate baked potatoes off a reptilian scale worth six million crystals.

  Whatever their history was, it no longer mattered. Now they belonged to him, and he would give them a second life—another opportunity to once again be useful. Three resizable objects guided with soul qi, perfect for both offense and defense—even if he found nothing else for the rest of his time inside the Realm, this was already a great score.

  A ridiculous thought occurred to him, and his eyes flashed with sudden realization.

  “No… It can’t be…” he muttered, hands trembling with excitement.

  With bated breath, Cade quickly pulled out the short sword Master Lao Ren had left inside his ring and placed its blade against the plate. Sure enough—the exact same hue. He tentatively touched the blade.

  It was the same, barely perceptible warmth.

  He was used to holding the sword by its leather-wrapped grip and didn’t really pay much attention to how it felt—it was only when he focused that he could sense it was a touch warmer than the other objects pulled from his storage ring.

  Now it made sense why he had always felt the weapon looked like it was formed from a single piece of metal. Except it was no ordinary material it was made of. He plopped down, palming his forehead, swallowing hard.

  “Master gave me a protoform weapon! And I thought he just threw some old rubbish at me to avoid karmic entanglement. I’m such an idiot—I should’ve recognized it when I held the Grandmaster's bell. After all, this little sword saved my life when I fought off the ghoul. At that point, it was obvious the blade had hidden properties, but I never suspected it would be something like this…”

  How much was a protoform sword worth, considering Erendriel couldn’t wait to show off his precious bell? It had to be very expensive. Considering how much larger the sword was compared to the bell, its maximum size likewise had to be much greater—possibly close to a mile in length. Its destructive potential had to be insane. With enough soul qi, this unassuming weapon could easily destroy whole cities!

  He cupped his fist, bowing to the imaginary figure of Lao Ren. The ancient Asura must have understood his disciple well—he knew Cade would never sell the weapon, even if he no longer had any use for it, and that he would eventually discover its true nature.

  Master, I bet we’ll share a good laugh about this once we see each other again.

  His mind returned to the present. It all narrowed down to the same path he had been following so far—he needed to grow stronger, advance his cultivation, and defeat his enemies. Once he was powerful enough—close to the peak of Wraith Formation—he would be able to reach Chthon. These were the exact words of his Master.

  There is still so much about this world I have to discover and learn. I’m far too inexperienced, and I can’t afford to throw myself into deep waters without learning how to swim first. I bet this is the main reason why the path to Chthon isn’t immediately revealed to young Asura. I need to immerse myself slowly, raising my cultivation, abilities, and understanding in the process.

  With this thought, he walked toward the stairway leading into the palace’s cellars.