Yue Yang knew Rui Guo's loyalty to her parents ran bone-deep, but that same devotion made certain people wary.

  Over the years, Yue Yang had lived cautiously, stepping lightly. If her own spiritual root hadn't been damaged, she might never have tasted this fragile freedom.

  Rui Guo's tense demeanor told Yue Yang one thing: she had identified the traitor—or at least narrowed it down. And Timo might know more than he let on.

  With that worry gnawing at her, Yue Yang followed Lulu out of the medical wing. The moment they stepped through the doors, she spotted Rui Guo standing barefoot on a raised earthen platform, as if ready to charge into battle at any second.

  “Aunt Guo,” Yue Yang signed, “it's so late. Haven't you rested?”

  Dark clouds churned overhead, split now and then by veins of blue lightning. High above, thunder-element beasts prowled through the storm.

  “The earth is my body,” Rui Guo replied, voice steady. “I could fight three days and nights without tiring. I made a promise to Commander Yang—and tonight, I keep it. Timo, come here.”

  At the mention of a promise tied to their father, Yue Yang's suspended heart eased a fraction.

  Timo hesitated. Yue Yang gave him a gentle push, and he stepped forward warily.

  Before she could sign another question, the earthen platform surged upward into the night sky.

  Timo stood beside Rui Guo as the ground fell away. His sister's figure shrank below, framed in the infirmary lights—small and helpless against the weight of authority and raw power.

  “Aunt Guo… where are we going?”

  He had to ask. So late, heading toward beast-infested territory—it made no sense. Tomorrow his spiritual root would seal forever. Rear-guard apprentice: that was his future, nailed down tight.

  “The wind,” Rui Guo called over the rush of air, arms spread wide. “Free. Beautiful.”

  Cyan wind essence danced across her fingertips, vivid against the dark.

  “Wind is one of my three affinities,” she continued. “But mine is ordinary wind. Hold tight—I'm taking you to the wind spirit serpents.”

  Timo's eyes went wide. She had to be mad.

  The Wind Spirit Serpent King was a four-element beast. Even its freshly hatched young carried one-element strength. The canyon was a graveyard for bounty hunters and poachers alike.

  Even if they found one, he couldn't claim a serpent alone. For an apprentice, no amount of aid would bind an awakening stone.

  “Aunt Guo, it's too dangerous…” he protested. “Sis said maybe never awakening is a blessing.”

  Rui Guo's excitement vanished; her face hardened.

  “In peacetime, maybe. But peace doesn't last forever. You saw tonight—someone broke through my defenses in a single instant.”

  The memory chilled them both on the platform.

  Timo didn't know how to respond. He wanted strength. Wanted awakening. But more than that, he feared ending up as powerless as his sister.

  “Just do exactly what I say,” Rui Guo told him. “And… about your father's secret. The time is right. You need to know.”

  Timo's attention snapped fully to her.

  “Commander Lingfeng Yang was a descendant of the true Wind Taming Clan. Not like ordinary wind manipulators.”

  “Isn't it all just wind control?” Timo asked, curiosity overriding fear. “What's the difference?”

  “Ordinary wind users awaken by absorbing essence from plants. True Wind Taming bloodline requires wind essence taken from living flesh.”

  It clicked. All those rare herbs—useless. Elder Bai and Fei had tried everything.

  Had Elder Bai sent him after the wind spirit rabbit knowing this? Had she suspected all along?

  “The clan was wiped out for preying on their own kind,” Rui Guo continued grimly. “Your father made me swear: if either of you inherited the bloodline gift, you must reach elemental maturity first—and then abandon it. Cultivating it brings death.”

  Death? Timo didn't fully understand why the gift itself was so dangerous.

  Then it struck him like lightning. The crone in the underground palace—she had wanted his bloodline.

  That was why they mentioned the Wind Taming Clan. Why he could see the black spirits others couldn't.

  “Timo,” Rui Guo said softly, “no one can walk your path forever. You'll grow up. Find your own life, your own mission. I've kept every promise your father asked of me. Tonight… this journey is my gift to him—and to you.”

  The great canyon loomed ahead.

  Gale-force winds battered them. Timo nearly lost his footing and clung desperately to Rui Guo's battle gear.

  Rui Guo's body glowed with yellow, cyan, and red essence. Her bare feet had fused with the platform; she and the earth were one.

  “Since breaking through to three elements, not even the Serpent King can outrun my wind. Stay behind me. Follow close. You get one chance.”

  Timo ducked in her shadow, arms locked around her leg.

  The platform plunged. Canyon walls blurred past in a dizzying rush.

  They touched down at the valley floor. A bolt of lightning split the sky, striking an ancient tree that burst into flame.

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  In the firelight, the serpents' lair flickered into view. The entrance stones gleamed with oil. Skulls—human and beast—piled high inside and out.

  Chill winds moaned from within. Timo couldn't bear to look. One wrong step here, and he was dead.

  “It's egg-laying season,” Rui Guo whispered. “The king is weakest now. I'll draw them all out. You steal an egg. One is enough to awaken you.”

  She tossed him a gray awakening stone—empty, waiting to be filled.

  “Remember—one chance. The king is cunning. It won't fall for the same trick twice.”

  Before he could examine it, earth surged up around him, encasing him in stone like a boulder.

  Rui Guo grew massive, muscles swelling with power. She leapt skyward, then slammed down like a meteor.

  The impact shook the canyon. Cracks spiderwebbed across the walls. Boulders rained down.

  Deep in the nest, the Serpent King brooded over its clutch while adult guardians slept.

  The quake jolted them awake. Wings beat furiously as serpents poured from the lair in a furious swarm.

  Rui Guo felt the king's power in the howling wind. She shrank back to normal size, wind essence coiling at her feet, ready to ride the storm.

  The king was ten times larger than its kin, eyes glowing electric blue in the dark. Its guards varied in size, eyes emerald green.

  Any one of them could kill Timo in a heartbeat.

  The horde erupted from the cave, spotting the human intruder. They shot forward like arrows loosed from bows.

  Rui Guo danced at the edge of the gale, riding the wind, drawing them far into the night.

  Silence finally settled.

  The stone prison crumbled away from Timo.

  Heart pounding, he summoned what little wind he could and sprinted into the lair.

  Inside, he flicked on his glow-tube, sweeping the beam across the chamber.

  Dozens of patterned eggs lay neatly arranged.

  No time to hesitate. “One chance,” echoed in his mind.

  He grabbed a rock and smashed the nearest shell.

  Liquid spilled. Essence—pure wind spirit energy—rose in a shimmering mist.

  Born from the Serpent's Blood

  “Huh? This wind essence… it’s nothing like the spirit herbs!”

  Muttering in confusion, Timo Yang quickly pressed the awakening stone into the swirling white mist spilling from the cracked egg.

  The stone drank it in greedily, filling to the brim. The leftover essence drifted back, drawn into the fractured shell.

  A sharp *crack-crack* echoed through the lair. Pieces of shell fell away, revealing a small golden-patterned serpent poking its head out.

  Their eyes met. Timo froze for a heartbeat. One hand crept stealthily toward the awakening stone.

  Fear and desperation surged—he had only this one shot. He crushed the stone in his fist.

  Wind runes shattered. A ribbon of pure white energy uncoiled like a living serpent, wrapping his arm, racing across his body.

  The golden hatchling’s eyes lit with wild excitement. It beat its tiny wings, eager to launch free.

  Only to discover those wings were stunted, trapped in the remnants of shell.

  Timo had expected the quick, clean awakening he’d seen in others—just enough time to bolt from this nightmare den.

  Instead, the power lifted him clear off the ground.

  His spiritual root stirred inside him like a seed bursting through soil. For the first time, he truly felt the wind—its freedom, its beauty. Strength flooded every limb.

  His hearing sharpened to an almost painful edge. He could hear the frantic heartbeat inside the remaining eggs.

  The stench of the lair hit him next—acidic, choking. He coughed hard.

  But nothing could overshadow the sheer wonder of essence coursing through him.

  In that moment, he understood what Rui Guo had meant by freedom.

  When the last of the white energy soaked into his body, he settled gently back to the cave floor.

  He raised a hand. Wind essence gathered obediently in his palm.

  He aimed it playfully at the dazed golden hatchling.

  The little serpent only flicked its tongue happily, as if Timo were kin.

  When he didn’t respond, it gathered its own white wind essence and wriggled free of the shell with a determined pop.

  Even as a newborn, it rose taller than Timo when it stretched upright.

  He stumbled back in alarm—and stepped on something soft and yielding.

  Heart slamming, he swung the glow-tube around. A massive serpentine shape loomed over him.

  *Done for.*

  He summoned every ounce of new wind essence, ready to flee.

  Then the huge shape collapsed like a deflated balloon, pooling on the floor.

  Timo poked it cautiously with a trembling finger.

  Wind serpent skin.

  Realization hit. “This… this is worth a fortune! I just struck gold!”

  He’d raided plenty of ordinary bird nests in his time, seen common snakeskin. But this? Adults would kill for a scrap.

  He folded and compressed the shed skin frantically until it barely fit into his pouch. The bag bulged obscenely. He felt impossibly lucky.

  Too lucky.

  A prickle of killing intent snapped him alert. Something hurtled toward him through the dark.

  He spun to run—just as the golden hatchling barreled into him, knocking him aside.

  The projectile struck stone with a vicious hiss. Rock sizzled and melted.

  “Timo—run! I can’t hold them much longer!”

  Rui Guo’s roar echoed from outside.

  Timo bolted. His new speed was exhilarating—he outpaced even the pursuing hatchling without effort.

  At the lair entrance, he saw Rui Guo under siege. Streams of venom arced through the air behind her.

  The massive Wind Serpent King pursued relentlessly. Rui Guo was slowing.

  But when she spotted Timo, her face broke into a fierce grin.

  “You did it! Perfect!”

  Her body swelled to gigantic size once more.

  The Serpent King, sensing three-element power in the human, spread its wings wide, shielding the smaller serpents behind it.

  It wasn’t foolish. Its entire brood was still in the nest. If this human could trigger quakes, the clutch was at risk of annihilation.

  “Pour your wind essence into me!” Rui Guo commanded.

  Timo obeyed, channeling everything he had into her.

  “Beautiful!”

  Rui Guo summoned a storm of earth and wind. Dust and stone whipped into a blinding sandstorm around them.

  The Serpent King’s eyes bled crimson. Four rings of colored wind—far stronger than Rui Guo’s—spiraled around its body. Venomous gas poured from its jaws, riding the gale.

  Rui Guo’s sandstorm looked like a gentle breeze in comparison.

  “Hold tight!”

  She hardened the swirling dust into iron-hard spikes and hurled them at the serpent swarm.

  The king blocked with its armored body.

  In the opening, Rui Guo bounded upward, earthen platform carrying them to the canyon’s highest ridge.

  Behind them, the king roared. Toxic fog erupted like a volcano, flooding the entire valley.

  Close call.

  Rui Guo stood atop the peak, breathing deep of the clean night air, gazing down at the black cloud below. A second slower, and both she and the boy would have joined Commander Yang in the afterlife.

  “No wonder so many corpses down there…” Timo wheezed, still shaking. “Aunt Guo—you’re incredible!”

  “Every part of a wind serpent is treasure,” she said. “Shells, scales—prime materials for battle armor. People risk their lives for spirit stones.”

  She hadn’t expected the old plan—Commander Yang’s plan—to work so flawlessly. One more time? She’d pass. The poison would have melted her in an instant if anything had gone wrong.

  “Aunt Guo—look what I found!”

  Timo patted his bulging pouch eagerly.

  She ruffled his hair before he could pull it out. “Wind serpent skin. You struck real treasure, kid. Keep it secret. Tell no one—or it’ll get you killed.”

  She stood tall on the peak, breathing free, a weight lifting from her shoulders.

  She had kept every promise.

  Meanwhile, deep in the Watch Legion’s outer infirmary…

  The girl who had lain unconscious for so long snapped awake in the dead of night.

  The same ponytail girl Yue Yang had treated earlier.

  Her pupils were pitch black.

  She scanned the sleeping children around her.

  A black-robed figure flickered through the shadows between beds. Seeing her sit up, the figure dropped to one knee.

  “At your command, Spirit Lord.”

  The Spirit Lord—now inhabiting the girl—was pleased with the newly ascended fire evil cultivator.

  “You’ve reached emissary level,” a rasping voice emerged from the girl’s throat. “Three-element power. More than enough to thrive anywhere. *Cough…* This vessel won’t hold much longer. Gather the faithful. Await my signal.”

  The black-robed figure bowed and melted back into darkness.

  “Who’s there? I see you—come out!”

  The door opened. Wanwan stepped in, water essence glowing softly in her palms for her night rounds.

  She’d glimpsed a shadow and come to investigate.

  Pale blue light swept every corner.

  It caught the black-robed figure by the window.

  Wanwan opened her mouth to cry out—

  A blade of black ice punched through her back and out her chest.

  She turned in stunned horror.

  The girl she had healed stared back with void-black eyes.

  “No contact until my signal,” the girl rasped.

  The black-robed figure nodded once and vanished through the window on a gust of wind.

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