The Blood Moon bled across the valley, its light staining the forest red as if heaven itself wept for the fallen. Beneath that light, Kiaria's body convulsed violently–each breath like a knife against his ribs. His skin glistened with sweat; veins pulsed dark beneath his flesh. He gritted his teeth, but the pain only deepened, sharp and merciless.
Diala knelt beside him, panic shaking her voice. "Kiaria! Wake up! Please–wake up!"
He did not answer. His body trembled, then arched as if unseen chains were tearing him apart. A pulse of dark crimson energy rippled through him, burning the grass to ash. The world itself seemed to recoil.
Then, within him, something ancient stirred.
The thirteenth meridian–his forbidden vein–shuddered awake. From it, two opposing forces surged. One glowed faint and pure, silver as moonlight–the Heavenly Pathway. The other was a shadow, a molten pulse of chaos and fury–the Demonic Pathway.
They clashed like storm and fire, tearing his body apart from within.
His voice broke into the night, raw and hoarse. "Stop…!"
But the Blood Moon had already claimed him. Its crimson light drenched the forest, amplifying his demonic aura. The Heavenly Path faltered, fading beneath the moon's dominance.
Within his sea of consciousness, a monstrous laugh echoed.
"Hahaha… you thought you could silence me forever, boy?"
The inner demon emerged from the depths, its body a roiling mass of shadows with eyes that glowed like molten coals. It raised its head toward the Blood Moon's reflection and grinned.
"The moon calls its child home."
A crimson formation spread beneath it–the Blood-Demon Array–its runes twisting and devouring the light around them. From the earth above, the Blood-Moon Wolf's dying body convulsed. Streams of blood, glowing faintly, lifted into the air and flowed toward Kiaria's forehead like rivers seeking the sea.
"No…" Diala whispered, backing away. "What's happening to you?"
The blood merged into him. His heart began to beat with two rhythms–one heavenly, one demonic–both trying to claim dominance. The Blood-Moon Wolf's essence was being devoured; its power absorbed into the inner demon that now towered within his mindscape.
"Such strength," it hissed. "The blood of an Emperor-level beast… with this, I will reign!"
The blood surged into Kiaria's veins, reshaping them. His bones screamed. His meridians tore and healed at once, his body changing from mortal flesh to something far more dangerous.
Diala could only watch, helpless and terrified, her tears falling onto his hand that had gone cold.
From the farthest corner of his consciousness, a figure rose–serene, radiant, untouchable. The Primordial Spirit, he can't close eyes shut anymore. A glance at the demon.
The sea of consciousness trembled.
The demon turned, its grin cracking. "You again. How dare you?"
Primordial Spirit ignored his words, lifting a single finger.
A bolt of golden lightning tore across the blood sky, striking through the heart of the Blood-Demon Array. The formation shattered, the demon screaming as it dissolved into red mist.
"You think this will destroy me?" it laughed, voice fading. "You can't kill what's part of him. I'll wait, child of heaven. The Blood Moon rises again."
And then it was gone–scattered into the depths of Kiaria's soul.
The golden light faded, leaving the sea trembling. The blood condensed and affected Zhar Do Globe. The divine relic. It once caused chaos to the ones that touched before him. The dead's scream still hidden deep inside.
The shattered relic during his selection now began to change. Blood mist gathered in his inner sky. The moon that hung over his spiritual sea turned red, its reflection staining the clouds above–but the sea itself remained untouched. Its waters still gleamed blue, clear, calm–untainted by corruption.
Then, everything exploded outward.
Power flooded him, shaking the ground beneath his body. Trees swayed violently, and rocks lifted from the earth. Kiaria's aura surged higher and higher until the very air screamed.
Breakthrough.
From the final stage of Golden Core, he leapt–straight into the Supernatural Realm, Tier One.
The Bloodline within him was no longer just Five-Elemental alone. It had merged–the Blood-Moon Wolf's essence fused in the blood and gave him new bloodline, the Blood-Moon Wolf Martial Spirit.
Not just a martial spirit, a domain too, the Blood Moon Void.
It won't be a good idea, using an Emperor skill leisurely.
Yet, even at that height, his spiritual sea remained untouched by the blood sky above it. The two forces had made peace only through separation.
His eyes opened.
Diala was there, her small hands trembling, resting upon his chest. Her tears had dried into faint salt marks on her cheeks.
"Kiaria?" she whispered. "Are you… alive?"
He blinked, disoriented, then sat up slowly. "You're crying again," he murmured.
She gasped. "You fool! You stopped breathing–I thought you were gone!"
"I'm not that easy to kill," he said gently, though his voice was hoarse.
They both smiled weakly, the tension dissolving between them for a moment. But their peace shattered when faint lights shimmered in the air nearby–two glowing orbs, pale as morning mist.
"Brother…?" Kiaria breathed. "Seventh Brother… Master Dijun…"
The remnants of their souls drifted upward, fading with each pulse of the Blood Moon above.
Diala's cry broke the night. "Father!"
Kiaria reached toward the lights, but his hand passed through them. They were already fading.
"No," he whispered. "Please… not again."
Before he could act, the air trembled. A presence–vast, ancient, unshakable–descended from above.
A man in white robes stepped forward, the air bending around his form. His aura was tranquil yet immeasurable.
"Do not interfere," the man said softly. "Their fate is sealed."
Kiaria bowed immediately. "Senior, may I ask who–"
"I am the Immortal Venerable Envoy, sent by Didhian," the man replied. His gaze flicked to the two fading souls. "Their spirits will not vanish. The Master has called them home."
He raised a hand. Light enveloped the souls of Orman and Dijun. Then, like the touch of dawn upon frost, they dissolved into golden mist and vanished.
When the light faded, Diala crumpled to her knees. Her voice cracked. "Why… why must everyone I love leave me?"
Kiaria knelt beside her. His scar flared softly, releasing a faint glow. Through that light, his words entered her heart directly.
"You're not alone. He's still with you–in your breath, in your tears. If you calm yourself, I can show you."
She looked up, desperate. "Show me…?"
He nodded, placing his hand gently on her forehead. His consciousness entered hers, guiding her into a soft, glowing realm within her mind.
There stood Dijun, his spirit whole and smiling.
"Father!" Diala cried, running to him.
He knelt, his hand brushing her hair. "My little one… you've grown."
Her sobs broke into the air. "Don't go!"
Dijun smiled. "No, Diala. I'm not going anywhere. This is the warmth of love, not a spirit body. I'm your memories. Remember my words, you must live. You must see the world your father couldn't. Be brave. Be kind. That's how you'll honor me."
When Diala opened her eyes, her tears had quieted. She pressed her face against Kiaria's shoulder, sobbing softly until exhaustion took her.
Kiaria looked up at the Blood Moon above. Its light no longer felt cruel–it was only heavy, tired, and eternal.
He whispered to the night, "Sleep well, both of you."
By dawn, they reached the mountain gates of the Enlightenment Sect. The mist clung to the air, and Didhian waited for them at the entrance, his robes brushing the stones.
Kiaria bowed deeply. "Master. They've fallen. The child has no one left."
Didhian's gaze flickered toward Diala. "Then she carries her father's shadow. You know the law. A guardian beast was lost because of him. Balance must be restored."
"If a new guardian is brought," Kiaria said quietly, "will her place be accepted?"
Didhian nodded. "Bring one. You have two months. Fail, and she must leave forever."
Kiaria bowed again. "Then prepare, Master. We will return with a beast worthy than the past."
As dawn's first light crept over the peaks, Kiaria and Diala stood side by side at the mountain path.
"Where will we go?" she asked softly.
He looked toward the dark ridge beyond the sect's borders–the forbidden lands where no disciple had gone for generations.
"To where others dare not tread," he answered. "Because only there can we find what the heavens hide."
He extended his hand to her.
And together, beneath the pale shadow of the fading Blood Moon, they stepped into the unknown.