Chapter 14: The Path of Two Suns
The forest beyond the Eastern Monastery was silent.Mist hung low among the trees, glowing faintly with the afterlight of the ancient runes that had awakened during Ren Yu's vision.
He stood in the clearing, eyes closed, his hands steady before him. Golden and silver qi flowed around his body — but they did not merge.They twisted, clashed, and fought for dominance like two suns colliding in the same sky.
Lira watched anxiously from a distance.He'd been standing there for hours, motionless except for the faint tremor that occasionally passed through his arms. The air itself seemed alive — bending slightly toward him, as if listening.
Then, a sharp crack of thunder split the silence.
Ren Yu's aura burst outward, scattering leaves in every direction. A halo of light flared behind him, golden on one side, silver on the other — the symbol of two suns orbiting one soul.
But the power was unstable. His breath came ragged. The ground beneath him fractured, fissures spreading outward like spiderwebs.
"Ren!" Lira shouted. "You have to stop!"
"I can't!" His voice strained, trembling with both pain and exhilaration. "If I stop now, the energy will collapse!"
Golden fire licked up his arms, mingling with threads of silver frost. The dual qi — human essence and dragon essence — were tearing at his body, neither willing to submit to the other.
Then, from within the storm, came the dragon's voice, deep and resonant.
"Two suns cannot share one sky. Unless you forge the horizon between them."
Ren Yu gritted his teeth. "Then I'll become that horizon."
He slammed his palms together. His consciousness sank deep within — past muscle, bone, and blood — into the vast ocean of his spirit.There, he saw them: two cores of light spinning endlessly. One warm and golden, pulsing like a heartbeat; the other cold and silver, whispering like the wind through snow.
He reached out to both.
At first, they resisted — rejecting each other, flaring violently. But Ren Yu did not try to control them. Instead, he breathed, letting his heart fall into rhythm with their opposing tides.
Warmth and cold. Flame and frost. Mortal and divine.
Slowly, painfully, they began to spiral together — not merging, but revolving in harmony.
Outside, the light dimmed. The storm of qi settled into a slow rotation around him. His aura no longer flared wildly; it pulsed evenly, like a second heartbeat.
When he opened his eyes, golden and silver light shimmered faintly in each pupil.
Lira exhaled, relief flooding her face. "You did it… you balanced them."
Ren Yu smiled faintly, though his voice was hoarse. "Barely. The Path of Two Suns… it's not a fusion. It's coexistence."
He flexed his hands. The air shimmered, and two energies flowed from his palms — golden fire and silver wind, dancing around one another without conflict.
Lira stepped closer, awe in her expression. "You've created a new cultivation method."
Ren Yu shook his head. "No. I've only remembered what the world forgot."
The Shadow in the Mist
Their respite didn't last long.
From the mist beyond the clearing came a rustling sound. The trees trembled, and a low growl echoed — deep, guttural, ancient.Then it stepped into view: a beast of stone and sinew, its body covered in jagged armor-like scales, its eyes glowing faintly red.
Lira drew her sword instantly. "A Guardian Beast! These things were supposed to be extinct!"
Ren Yu's aura flared in response. "It's not attacking yet. Wait."
The creature lowered its head, sniffing the air. Its gaze fixed on Ren Yu's chest — where the faint outline of the dragon's sigil glowed beneath his clothes.
It spoke — its voice rough and old, words shaped from raw qi.
"Descendant… you carry the blood of the Betrayer."
Ren Yu's eyes narrowed. "The Betrayer?"
"The one who sealed the Gates. The one who abandoned the divine for the mortal. His blood now walks the earth once more."
Lira glanced at Ren Yu, confused. "Is it talking about your ancestor?"
Ren Yu nodded slowly. "Ren Tianlong."
The beast growled again. "Then prove your worth. Show me that the bloodline has not fallen to dust."
Without warning, it lunged.
Ren Yu reacted instinctively — summoning the Twin Harmony Burst. Gold and silver arcs collided with the creature's claws, sending sparks flying. The ground quaked under the impact.
The beast was fast — far faster than its bulk suggested. It struck again and again, each blow heavy with spiritual weight.Ren Yu countered each one, letting the two energies flow in rhythm: golden fire for offense, silver wind for redirection.
Lira leaped in, slashing through one of the beast's limbs — only for it to regenerate instantly.
"It's absorbing the ambient qi!" she shouted.
Ren Yu frowned. "Then we end this quickly."
He took a deep breath, pressing his palms together. "Path of Two Suns — Horizon Seal!"
The golden and silver energies twisted together into a single spiral — neither dominating, both blazing bright. He thrust his palms forward, striking the beast's chest.
A silent shockwave rippled outward. The creature froze — then shattered into fragments of light that drifted skyward like falling stars.
Lira stared, speechless. "That… wasn't destruction."
Ren Yu watched the light fade. "No. It was release."
A New Path
When the mist cleared, the forest seemed calmer, as though the air itself had accepted him.
Ren Yu sat down at the base of a tree, exhaustion settling in. "That creature was a guardian. The monastery must've placed it here to test whoever inherited the dragon's blood."
Lira sheathed her sword. "Then you passed."
He smiled faintly. "Or it's only begun."
For a long moment, neither of them spoke. The forest whispered quietly — the sound of distant waterfalls and leaves brushing together.Then, Ren Yu looked toward the horizon, where dawn's light was beginning to break through the fog.
Two suns rose in the reflection of his eyes — one golden, one silver.
Lira followed his gaze. "Where do we go now?"
Ren Yu's expression hardened. "To the next seal. The Council isn't done, and neither am I."
He stood, his aura flaring briefly with the balanced glow of both suns.
"If the Path of Two Suns was born in secrecy, then it's time the world remembered its light."
Meanwhile, in the Palace
The Supreme Elder stood again before his mirror. The vision of Ren Yu's dual aura shimmered on the surface.
Elder Qiu stood beside him, visibly uneasy. "He's stabilizing both energies. That shouldn't be possible."
The Elder's lips curved into a faint smile."Impossible paths are the ones that change worlds."
He turned away, his robes whispering against the marble floor."Prepare the Ascension Gate. When the two suns align, the heavens will open"