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00:00I took my sister's white fox during the bonding rite.
00:03Your power is exceptional.
00:05This fox barely registers on the scale.
00:08Give it to your sister.
00:10In my past life, I chose the powerful white tiger.
00:14When the demon horde came, he left me to die.
00:17I was badly wounded.
00:19I begged him for the last healing elixir.
00:22He gave it to my sister instead.
00:24So this time around, I choose to let them be together.
00:27I was reborn right before the bonding ceremony.
00:31I am the most powerful one in our clan and have the right to choose first.
00:35The creatures gathered from across the land were all exceptional.
00:39But the white tiger stood above the rest.
00:42He wore a collar, never bowing to me, even in chains.
00:47Then my sister Luna came bouncing in, cradling a limp white fox.
00:52Luna had barely started her training.
00:54She could have skipped this ceremony entirely.
00:57Luna hugged the white fox and cried.
01:00Because he was dissatisfied with the fox he'd been assigned.
01:04The white tiger's heart ached for her deeply.
01:07Saying he only wanted to form a pact with Luna, the elder cleared his throat.
01:11Luna, you've barely trained.
01:15Even if the tiger chose you, you wouldn't be able to handle him.
01:18That was when I stood up and said,
01:20Elder, I appreciate your consideration.
01:24I find I'm fonder of this white fox.
01:27The white tiger clearly favors Luna too.
01:30How about we swap instead?
01:31They pulled me aside.
01:33Clara, this tiger is far more powerful than the fox.
01:37My name is Clara Ashvale, one of the four great families of the eastern reaches.
01:42I was ten years old when the demon horde first came.
01:45My parents died holding the line.
01:48I watched it happen.
01:49If the clan elders hadn't arrived when they did,
01:52Luna and I would have died with them.
01:54After that, the elders raised us, taught us cultivation.
01:58For I possess stronger spiritual power,
02:00and them more beloved within the clan.
02:03But the tiger ignored me.
02:04I'd never been rejected before.
02:06Not once in my life.
02:08I threw everything I had at him.
02:10So I took mission.
02:12Hunted rogue demons.
02:13Came back injured almost every time.
02:16The tiger noticed nothing.
02:18He only appeared when I brought out elixirs.
02:20Took what he wanted and walked away.
02:23I spent 20 years on him.
02:25And eventually, he took human form.
02:28Tall and striking.
02:29Yet he still refuses to speak much to me.
02:32Only coming when he needs something.
02:34I told myself it was normal.
02:36Strong creatures had pride.
02:38He'd come around eventually.
02:39Then one evening, I came home exhausted.
02:42And saw him watching my sister's profile with something like reverence.
02:46I was still reeling when an elder walked past
02:49and caught sight of them in the distance.
02:51Clara, when you go out on contracts,
02:54stop sending your sister to look after the tiger.
02:57He's clearly more attached to her now.
02:59You need to be careful.
03:02I never ask Luna to look after the tiger.
03:05She comes every time you leave.
03:07Says you asked her to.
03:08Doesn't she have her own bonded creature?
03:10That fox?
03:11It passed away in its second year.
03:13You didn't know?
03:14I hadn't known.
03:15I'd spent 20 years building someone else's happiness.
03:18I began targeting Luna.
03:20I hated her.
03:21That enraged the white tiger.
03:23He colluded with the demon.
03:25Opened our clan's protective wards from the inside.
03:28Left me to face the invasion alone.
03:31When I was badly wounded and begged him for the only healing elixir we had left,
03:35he gave it to Luna, who had a scratch.
03:39This time, I want to see how long it will take him to take human form without me.
03:44The elder was unwilling to grant the mighty white tiger to an inexperienced young woman,
03:49yet the tiger would only bow before Luna.
03:52He sighed and ordered the ceremony begin.
03:56The ceremony startled the white fox.
03:58The white fox in my arms fainted the moment the ceremony ended.
04:02Luna completed her bond with the tiger.
04:04You and that little fox really do suit each other, Clara.
04:08Luna, if your sister hadn't yielded to you, how could you have gotten this white tiger?
04:13You should be on your knees thanking her.
04:15Oh, she's crying again.
04:17Always with the tears, like she's the one who suffered.
04:19The white tiger wanted to stand up for Luna, yet he possessed no power right after bonding with her.
04:25The elders had built my residence himself, ringed with good cultivation energy.
04:31Luna had once tried to move in.
04:33He'd turned her away, citing my training as the reason.
04:36As soon as we entered the room, I began to observe the white fox.
04:41He looked different from any I had seen before,
04:43with a wisp of red fur on his head and an unusually large tail.
04:48My courtyard had a natural spring, warm with cultivation energy.
04:53I set him in it and watched him wake up instantly,
04:56floating on his back, drinking in the warmth.
04:59I laughed.
05:01Aren't you afraid I'll hurt you?
05:03The fox stared at me, then gave his small head a solemn shake.
05:07All right.
05:08Rest here and recover.
05:11You're not going anywhere.
05:13I can handle you.
05:14The next morning, something woke me wrong.
05:18I opened my eyes and saw a handsome face.
05:21Pale skin, dark lashes.
05:24He was also asleep, arms around me.
05:26He had gotten in without waking me, which meant his power was well above mine.
05:31Who are you?
05:32How did you get in here?
05:33I scrambled to the edge of the bed.
05:35He sat up slowly, noticed the clothes he was wearing, and looked faintly amused.
05:41Before I could react, he pulled me into his arms.
05:44He said,
05:45I have a name.
05:46His eyes drifting down to meet mine.
05:49It's Ash.
05:50Like he was about to kiss me any second.
05:53It turned out Ash met the Elder when he was severely injured and was taken back by him.
05:58I stared at him.
05:59Please tell me whoever hurt you isn't coming here looking for revenge.
06:03We're bonded now, Master.
06:05I suggest you train hard and do your best to keep up.
06:08Ash laughed.
06:09He was genuinely useful, as it turned out.
06:13I had a fire affinity.
06:14He complemented it perfectly.
06:17He produced a cultivation manual from somewhere.
06:20Fire techniques.
06:21And good ones.
06:22Two days of work and I could already feel the difference.
06:26Every time Ash practiced cultivation with me,
06:29he took off his top.
06:31His fair skin always made me lose focus.
06:34One afternoon, Luna called my name from outside the gate.
06:37I dragged my attention away from Ash and went out.
06:41Luna stepped into the courtyard without waiting
06:43and stopped dead when she saw him.
06:46She stared him.
06:47Ash stood, dressed properly in seconds,
06:51and settled a robe around my shoulders without being asked.
06:54Who is this?
06:55Luna's gaze didn't move.
06:56You don't recognize him?
06:57The fox.
06:59From the bonding ceremony.
07:00You said yourself we were suited for each other.
07:03I think you were right.
07:04I smiled pleasantly.
07:06What do you want?
07:07We're in the middle of training.
07:11I was hoping we could raise the tiger together.
07:14I can't afford to keep up with his needs on my own.
07:16If we shared the work,
07:18what exactly makes this my problem?
07:20You're the one who gave him to me.
07:21You could have kept him.
07:22You chose not to.
07:23That means you owe me.
07:25I owe you nothing.
07:27Yeah.
07:27Half a year and every LXMR I had is gone.
07:30There's nothing left for my own training.
07:32I'm at the bottom ranks.
07:38No, you can't.
07:40Little sister, don't mistake me for a fool.
07:43I'm not funding your creature for you.
07:45If you can't afford him, bring it to the elder.
07:48Let someone else take the tiger.
07:50I'm sure he'd prefer a partner who could actually keep pace.
07:53She'd never do that.
07:54Where were we?
07:56Weeks passed.
07:58I broke through to a new cultivation stage.
08:00The great elder dispatched me on an assignment alongside elder Margaret
08:05to handle a demon outbreak in the lowlands.
08:08I handled them all before Margaret to intervene.
08:11On the way back, she suddenly laughed.
08:14Clara, you should hurry home.
08:16Your little fox is waiting for you.
08:19She vanished.
08:21I hadn't finished processing what she'd said
08:23before Ash appeared in front of me.
08:26I reached out and touched his cheek.
08:28What's wrong?
08:32Clara Ashvale,
08:33why are you trying to get rid of me?
08:36Is it something I did?
08:37Or have you found someone new?
08:40What are you talking about?
08:42Your sister came by yesterday.
08:44Said you sent her to look after me.
08:46He started to show teeth.
08:49I flicked his forehead.
08:50He recoiled,
08:51then immediately looked betrayed.
08:54You betray me first
08:55and then hit me?
08:56I'm going to say this once.
08:58I am not reconsidering anything.
09:01And I have no idea
09:02why Luna told you that.
09:03What I do know
09:04is that I never asked her
09:06to come near you.
09:08Understood?
09:13We ran into a group
09:14of younger clan members on the way.
09:16I asked why they'd turned back.
09:18Luna cleared everyone out.
09:22Let's go.
09:24You're going to lecture me
09:26about picking fights
09:27and then drag me directly into one?
09:29We found them mid-argument.
09:31Or rather,
09:32Luna was arguing.
09:33The tiger couldn't speak.
09:35He'd never broken through
09:36to human form.
09:37So he was expressing himself
09:39through sheer body language.
09:41and none of it
09:42was agreeable.
09:44What is wrong with you?
09:45I didn't force you to come here.
09:47You said this place
09:48would help you advance.
09:50I've given you
09:50every elixir I have
09:52and you still can't even talk to me.
09:54You want me to go
09:55hunting rogue demons?
09:56I just started training.
09:58You'd be sending me to die.
09:59Clara's fox has been
10:00in human form for months
10:02and you can't even answer
10:03a question.
10:04What exactly are you
10:06doing with yourself?
10:07I heard the tiger's version
10:09of a response.
10:10A low rumble.
10:12In my past life,
10:14he'd never once spoken to me
10:16with anything
10:16resembling patience.
10:18Watching him endure
10:19Luna's outburst
10:20without walking away
10:21was a strange thing.
10:25Luna, there you are.
10:28Lyra, what brings you out here?
10:30I patted Ash's arm.
10:32He gave a small,
10:33resigned sigh and crouched.
10:35He held me in his arms.
10:36Luna's gaze locked onto him
10:38and didn't move.
10:39Nothing specific.
10:41I just wanted to know
10:42why you visited my companion
10:43without my permission.
10:45Luna hadn't expected me
10:46to know so quickly.
10:47She started backpedaling.
10:49No, you misunderstood.
10:50I was looking for you.
10:53She told me I was supposed
10:55to be hers.
10:56That you'd stolen me away.
10:58She was very convincing.
11:00And what did you do?
11:01I removed her from the property.
11:04She's not strong enough
11:05to argue back
11:05so she left fairly quickly.
11:07I stood and faced Luna directly.
11:09If I remember correctly,
11:10you didn't want the fox.
11:11He was badly hurt.
11:13If you'd taken him,
11:14he wouldn't have survived.
11:15That's not true.
11:16I would have cared for him.
11:17The tiger's crest
11:18stood fully upright.
11:20You're doing this deliberately.
11:22You're trying to cause trouble
11:24between me and the tiger.
11:26If you try this again,
11:28there will be consequences.
11:30On the way back,
11:31my mood was good.
11:33Ash was quiet though.
11:34He wouldn't shift and carry me
11:36even when I asked.
11:37When we reached home,
11:38he caught my arm.
11:39You and the tiger.
11:41There's something there.
11:42I didn't hide it.
11:44We have a history.
11:45It ended badly.
11:48Do you want to know?
11:50He turned,
11:51shifted into fox form,
11:52and wrapped his enormous tail
11:54around me.
11:55No.
11:56I'm better than that
11:57by every measure.
11:59And you promised me
12:00you wouldn't seek out
12:01another bonded creature.
12:02I ran my fingers
12:03through the fur
12:04at the back of his ears.
12:06I won't.
12:07I promise.
12:08Some time later,
12:10Ash decided
12:11I wasn't advancing
12:12fast enough.
12:13Get up.
12:14I refuse to share energy
12:16with someone
12:16who progresses this slowly.
12:18The Great Elder said
12:19I'm the most talented
12:20concultator of my generation.
12:22Unlike my past life,
12:23all the elixirs I earned
12:25this time went into me.
12:27Five years.
12:28I moved from the early stages
12:30into the middle tier
12:31of my cultivation rank.
12:33When I returned to the clan,
12:34the Great Elder
12:35was close to a breakthrough
12:36of his own.
12:37The younger members
12:38had grown considerably.
12:40Only one thing
12:41hadn't changed.
12:42The tiger still
12:43hadn't taken human form.
12:46We expected the tiger
12:47to elevate the entire clan.
12:49Ten years in
12:50and he's no closer
12:51to breaking through.
12:52We sent an elder
12:53to assess him quietly.
12:55The gap is too large.
12:57Even with assistance,
12:59he can't make the crossing.
13:00Luna had barely enough power
13:02to sustain herself,
13:03let alone a creature
13:05of the tiger's requirements.
13:07But honestly,
13:08his not breaking through
13:09was the best outcome.
13:11I wasn't strong enough
13:12to kill him,
13:13so control
13:14was the only option.
13:16I threw myself
13:17into building up the clan.
13:18I trained with the younger members
13:20daily.
13:21If something went wrong,
13:22I wanted them
13:23to be able to protect themselves.
13:25Ash gave me space for it.
13:27He knew what I was doing.
13:29One evening,
13:30I came home exhausted
13:31and he was waiting for me.
13:33He picked me up,
13:34threw me over his shoulder,
13:37and started walking.
13:38You look terrible.
13:39I'm taking you
13:40to see something entertaining.
13:42His idea of entertainment
13:43was crouching
13:44at the edge
13:45of the back valley
13:46and listening to
13:47Luna and the tiger
13:48fight.
13:49The tiger couldn't speak,
13:51so the entire argument
13:52was one-sided.
13:53Don't look at me like that.
13:55I didn't force you
13:56to bond with me.
13:57You came to me.
13:58You told me to wait.
14:00You told me once
14:02you took human form
14:03we'd leave together.
14:04You're the one
14:05who picked the fight
14:06with Clara
14:06at the ceremony.
14:11And now what?
14:12You're stuck,
14:13I'm stuck.
14:14And it's all your fault,
14:16you useless.
14:17So they'd known
14:17each other before.
14:19The tiger had come
14:20to Luna deliberately.
14:21He'd made her promises.
14:23But that still didn't explain
14:25why they'd opened
14:26the wards.
14:26Why involved
14:27the demon horde
14:28at all?
14:29Unless they'd already
14:30been working
14:31with the demons.
14:32The one that killed
14:33my parents.
14:35My parents,
14:36who were also
14:37Luna's parents.
14:38How could she?
14:39I needed to find out.
14:41And when I did,
14:42there would be
14:43a reckoning.
14:44Back at the residence,
14:46I was working through
14:47what I needed to investigate
14:48when a visitor
14:49appeared at the gate.
14:50The tiger.
14:51He was staring at Ash,
14:53who was soaking
14:54in the spring
14:54and determinedly
14:55ignoring him.
14:57What do you want?
14:58Shouldn't you be with Luna?
14:59Ash emerged
15:00from the water
15:01and immediately
15:01positioned himself
15:03between us.
15:04Master,
15:05you promised.
15:07No, no other
15:07bonded creatures.
15:09Don't even talk to him.
15:10I just want to know
15:11why he's here.
15:12That's all.
15:13He's regretting his choices,
15:15obviously.
15:16He chose a dead end
15:18and he knows it.
15:20I started to look
15:21at the tiger.
15:22The gate was empty.
15:23This life,
15:24I'd kept my distance.
15:26I hadn't interfered
15:27with him.
15:28If the tiger
15:29genuinely wanted
15:30a different bond,
15:31the elders would have
15:32been glad to help.
15:33There was no reason
15:34to come to me
15:35specifically.
15:36Unless the tiger
15:37had also been reborn.
15:39I didn't say anything
15:40to Ash.
15:41I went straight
15:42to the clan's
15:43protective wards.
15:44intact.
15:46I breathed.
15:47Then I looked
15:48at the ground
15:48near the barrier edge.
15:50White tiger fur.
15:51A handful of strands.
15:53He'd been here.
15:55He hadn't broken through.
15:57His power
15:57wasn't there yet.
15:58But he knew
15:59what was sealed here.
16:01He knew my parents
16:02had died here.
16:03I'd told him that myself
16:05in my last life.
16:06I had to watch him.
16:08Carefully.
16:09All the time.
16:11The gossip started
16:11circulating through
16:12the clan
16:13not long after.
16:14Luna and the tiger
16:15were fighting constantly.
16:17He refused her commands.
16:19Ignored her
16:20in training sessions.
16:23Made her look
16:24incompetent
16:25in front of
16:26the whole yard.
16:27And every time
16:28I appeared
16:29he drifted toward me.
16:31Elder Margaret
16:32found the entire
16:33situation delightful.
16:34Her owl
16:35sat on her shoulder.
16:36You know what
16:36this reminds me of?
16:37Every story
16:38where someone realizes
16:39too late what they had
16:40freezes the other
16:41person out
16:42spends the rest
16:43of it chasing after her.
16:44She said it directly
16:45in front of Ash.
16:46He moved.
16:47I caught him
16:47before he could do
16:48anything irreversible.
16:49Margaret clutched
16:50her owl and said
16:51Oh my!
16:51I could have a conversation
16:52with Luna.
16:53Offer her a different creature
16:54something she can
16:54actually sustain.
16:55Transfer the tiger
16:56formally.
16:57Quietly.
17:03Margaret looked genuinely mournful.
17:05A bonded creature
17:06in open conflict
17:06with its partner
17:07is a problem for all of us.
17:08And Luna hasn't advanced
17:09in ten years.
17:10The elders have been
17:11discussing a field assignment.
17:13Practical training
17:13away from the clan
17:14for a year or two.
17:15I understood
17:16what she wasn't saying.
17:17They'd given up
17:18on the tiger
17:19as a resource.
17:20Ash's presence
17:20had changed
17:21the calculations.
17:22What we accomplished
17:23together had raised
17:24the bar considerably.
17:26If Luna left
17:26with the tiger
17:27I had time.
17:30Time to reinforce
17:31the wars.
17:35In the clan hall
17:37Luna cried.
17:38She accused me.
17:39You killed him.
17:39Then in front of
17:40every elder
17:41she made her counteroffer.
17:43Clara wants the tiger
17:43so badly
17:44she can have him.
17:44I won't fight her.
17:46But if she takes him
17:47she gives me ash.
17:48A mixed lindage fox
17:49for a pure blood tiger.
17:51Honestly Clara
17:51comes out ahead.
17:52The great elder
17:53shut it down
17:54before any
17:54anyone else could speak.
17:56Who?
17:56Luna.
17:57Focus on your own creature
17:58and stop coming up
17:59with ideas like that.
18:00I heard this from Ash
18:02who had apparently
18:02been listening
18:03from outside the hall.
18:04While the elders
18:05dealt with Luna
18:06I was in the creature
18:07registry with the keeper
18:08looking into a disappearance.
18:10Three creatures
18:10had vanished overnight.
18:12Two small rabbits
18:13a young deer.
18:14The keeper
18:14was beside himself.
18:15I checked the seals
18:16myself before I left.
18:18Any disturbance at all
18:19and I'd have felt it.
18:21There was nothing.
18:21Not a demon.
18:22No trace of that
18:23kind of energy.
18:24I looked around.
18:25The registry
18:26was carved into the cliffside.
18:27Warded stone
18:28on all sides.
18:29The only way
18:30in or out
18:31used the clan seal.
18:32To remove
18:33three creatures
18:34cleanly
18:34whoever did it
18:35knew this place
18:36intimately
18:36or had always been
18:38inside.
19:01The fastest shortcut was this.
19:04Take the core
19:05of another creature.
19:06Consume it.
19:07The higher the cultivation
19:08of the creature
19:08you took from
19:09the greater the gain.
19:10Ash had nearly been killed
19:11by exactly this method
19:13years ago
19:14before we met.
19:15Once it works
19:18it will come back
19:19for more.
19:20We staked out
19:21the registry that night.
19:22Nothing.
19:23Quiet all the way
19:24to dawn.
19:24I reassured the keeper
19:25Don't worry.
19:28And headed out
19:30and immediately ran
19:31into a young clan member
19:32sprinting toward me.
19:33Guardian!
19:34Something happened
19:35at the residences.
19:35What's wrong?
19:37Ash!
19:39Ash shifted form
19:40and moved.
19:42When we landed
19:43I knew from the sound.
19:45One of the younger students
19:46a girl who'd bonded
19:48at her first ceremony
19:49was sitting on the ground
19:50in her courtyard
19:51holding what remained
19:52of her rabbit.
19:54Elder Margaret
19:54was already there.
19:56She caught my eye
19:57and gave a small
19:57grim nod.
20:00Your guess was right.
20:01The core was taken.
20:03Clean, precise,
20:03one strike.
20:04She didn't feel it happen.
20:06The bond broke
20:06and that's when she knew.
20:10Without thinking
20:11I turned
20:11and looked for the tiger.
20:13He was standing
20:14near the edge
20:14of the crowd
20:15perfectly still.
20:17Don't stare.
20:18It's him.
20:19You're sure?
20:20I've seen this method
20:21used before.
20:22His signature
20:22reads the same.
20:23I went to the great elder
20:24and told him everything.
20:25Don't move yet.
20:26You need proof.
20:27Catch him in the act.
20:28Behind him
20:29his courtyard
20:30had descended
20:31into complete chaos.
20:32All of them
20:33trying to interrogate
20:34Ash about his
20:35parents' bloodlines.
20:36I keep them close.
20:38Your firehound
20:40just destroyed
20:40the garden path.
20:41You could clean it up
20:42for your elder.
20:44No.
20:45Still,
20:46with subtle pressure,
20:47I got the senior elders
20:49watching the tiger
20:50more carefully.
20:51Weeks passed.
20:52No more disappearances.
20:54But two weeks later,
20:56the girl who had lost
20:57her rabbit
20:58still hadn't recovered.
20:59She stopped
21:00coming to training.
21:02Ate less.
21:03Barely spoke.
21:04The other students
21:05let it drift
21:06into rumor
21:06and then into story.
21:08Ashes sat with me
21:09every day.
21:10Then,
21:11one night,
21:12something moved
21:13past my window.
21:14Floating on the water's
21:15surface
21:16was a single
21:17white tiger feather.
21:18I reached through the bond
21:19and found him.
21:20I arrived at the ward boundary
21:22and walked straight
21:23into a shockwave.
21:25Ash and the tiger
21:26were already fighting.
21:28No preamble.
21:29Fully committed.
21:30He moved through the trees
21:32in pale clothing,
21:33fast and fluid,
21:35redirecting Ash's attacks
21:36with the ease of someone
21:37who'd been preparing
21:38for exactly this fight.
21:40Near the ward boundary,
21:41Luna sat perfectly still.
21:43When I got close enough
21:44to see her clearly,
21:46my stomach dropped.
21:47Luna was dead.
21:48I hadn't even processed it
21:50before the sky
21:51began to darken.
21:52The ward claws.
21:53Harm your bonded partner
21:55and the consequence
21:56falls from the sky.
21:58You ran this exact plan
22:00in another life.
22:01You used everyone here
22:02as scaffolding
22:03and then kicked it out
22:04and now this life
22:04you had the chance
22:05to choose differently
22:06and instead you took her core.
22:08The sky is watching.
22:10It ends today.
22:11Almost.
22:13One more step.
22:15He was breaking
22:16the ward seal behind his back.
22:18The creatures sealed
22:19in the valley
22:20felt the loosening.
22:21Thunder gathered
22:22directly above him.
22:23The great elder arrived
22:25in a flash of light
22:26from the peak.
22:27Clara!
22:27Hold the creatures back.
22:29I'll reseal from outside.
22:30Clara!
22:31You can't stop this.
22:33Come die with me!
22:35I'll do better by you
22:36this time!
22:37In my past life,
22:38I had died
22:39in this exact valley,
22:40alone.
22:41Then a hand
22:42closed on my shoulder.
22:44It is Ash.
22:45You want to take her
22:46down with you?
22:48You'd have to go
22:49through me first.
22:51You're nobody!
22:52This time,
22:52I wasn't alone.
22:54In my past life,
22:55I'd never had
22:55a real partner.
22:56Just me and whatever
22:57I could manage alone.
22:59Now I understood
22:59the difference.
23:00Ash pushed forward
23:01and I covered it.
23:02He never checked
23:03over his shoulder.
23:04I never asked him
23:05to slow down.
23:05A hundred exchanges
23:06and the tiger's composure
23:08was cracking.
23:09He couldn't find
23:09a way past Ash.
23:11He couldn't land
23:11a hit on me.
23:12He broke.
23:13This isn't right.
23:14You're supposed to die!
23:16We're supposed
23:17to go back together!
23:19Goodbye.
23:20I raised one hand
23:21and pointed at the sky.
23:22The lightning came down
23:23like a cock
23:24dropped from the sky itself.
23:28He would not be coming back.
23:30The tiger was gone.
23:32He would not be coming back.
23:35The tiger was dealt with.
23:37The harder problem remained.
23:39The creatures sealed in the valley
23:41were old and powerful.
23:43They couldn't be killed cleanly.
23:45Only re-contained.
23:47and the oldest among them,
23:49the one they called
23:50the Abyss Serpent,
23:51had been dormant
23:53for a century.
23:54Sealed originally
23:55by the previous great elder
23:56who had given his life
23:58to do it.
23:59Ash had been leaning
24:00against a tree,
24:01expression of someone
24:03waiting for his reward.
24:04When he went still,
24:06he stared into the dark
24:07between the trees.
24:09What's in there?
24:12The Abyss Serpent.
24:14Wait here.
24:15I need to go in.
24:17Something shifted
24:18in his expression.
24:19Something I hadn't seen
24:20from him before.
24:21He started moving.
24:23I caught his hand.
24:24It's not safe.
24:26I know.
24:28Clara!
24:28He tried carefully
24:30to explain the situation to me.
24:32In my past life,
24:32I died in this valley.
24:35I watched the tiger
24:36take Luna and leave.
24:37I was alone when it happened.
24:39I'm not leaving you behind.
24:41We went in together.
24:43Behind us...
24:44Who just walked
24:44into the sealed valley?
24:46Elder, that's your student.
24:48My student is extraordinary.
24:51The valley was wrong
24:52the moment we crossed
24:53the boundary.
24:54Eyes in the dark.
24:55Dozens of them.
24:56They didn't move.
24:57Some instinct in them
24:59recognized Ash.
25:00He'd shifted to his true form.
25:02Large enough now
25:03that I rode at the back
25:04of his neck.
25:04I asked him before...
25:06What are you looking for?
25:07The Abyss Serpent.
25:08Tell me why.
25:10My mother is in there.
25:11I had always assumed
25:12Ash was the product
25:13of some unusual crossing
25:15of bloodlines.
25:16He'd never corrected me.
25:18Now I found out.
25:19He did have fox blood.
25:20But his mother
25:21was the Abyss Serpent.
25:23One of the creatures
25:24from the oldest records.
25:26Vast in form.
25:27Ancient in power.
25:28Her cultivation predating
25:30the current era
25:31by centuries.
25:32She hadn't always been this.
25:34Two hundred years ago,
25:35someone had used
25:36the dark method
25:37on the creature
25:37she'd loved.
25:39Consumed his core.
25:40She hadn't recovered.
25:41I reached up
25:42and put my hand
25:43against the side
25:44of Ash's head.
25:45I had nothing to say.
25:46The creatures around us
25:47began to shift.
25:49They wanted us gone.
25:50They wanted the energy
25:52this moment was generating.
25:54Ash sat me down
25:55and stood at my back,
25:56facing outward
25:57in human form.
25:58If we can't hold them,
26:00I'm putting you
26:01through the exit.
26:02When that happens,
26:03run.
26:03Don't look back.
26:06If what the tiger
26:07claimed was true,
26:08that dying here
26:09just leads to another life,
26:11that's not the worst outcome.
26:14You told me
26:15you'd make me happy.
26:16I held you to that.
26:18So if you don't want
26:19to watch these things
26:20reach me,
26:22keep them away.
26:24All the way through.
26:25The creatures came.
26:27We fought.
26:28I covered him
26:29and he moved forward.
26:30One after another,
26:32the valley full
26:33of the sounds of it.
26:35My power was trying
26:36to surge
26:36on the edge
26:37of a breakthrough.
26:38Each breakthrough
26:39brought a heavenly trial.
26:41A surge of lightning,
26:43the test between
26:44one level and the next.
26:46Ash felt it
26:46through the bond.
26:47He threw aside
26:48an attack from
26:49something in the dark
26:50and said,
26:51through clenched teeth,
26:53My fault.
26:53I came too fast.
26:56Everything stopped.
26:57The creatures pressing in
26:58from all sides
26:59simply vanished.
27:01One moment,
27:02then nothing.
27:03I pointed at the pair
27:05of enormous red eyes
27:06in the fog ahead of us.
27:08Is that her?
27:09The old clan records
27:10described the Abyss Serpent
27:11as having a human face
27:13and the body
27:14of something ancient.
27:16Her face still held
27:17human proportions.
27:18I couldn't move.
27:19I had cultivated
27:21my entire life.
27:22I had survived
27:23two lifetimes
27:24and an impossible valley.
27:26She didn't close her jaws.
27:29Ash stepped between us.
27:30The massive jaws
27:31stopped in the air.
27:33Mother,
27:35don't hurt her.
27:37She pulled back.
27:38The ground shook with it.
27:40She was breathing fast,
27:42clearly in pain.
27:43Her focus fractured.
27:45Ash moved closer.
27:46He barely came to her chin,
27:48and she flinched
27:49like he was
27:50the dangerous one.
27:51It's me.
27:53Little Ash.
27:55Her voice was human
27:56and enormous
27:57at the same time.
27:59Little Ash.
28:01The red in her eyes
28:02began to clear.
28:03Gold underneath.
28:04It didn't hold.
28:06The red came surging back.
28:08Little Ash!
28:10Kill me!
28:11She pushed her core
28:13outside her own body,
28:14held it toward him.
28:16Ash caught it.
28:17His hands couldn't crush it.
28:19I can't.
28:21The core drifted
28:22from his hands
28:23and came to rest
28:24in front of me.
28:25She looked at me.
28:26Good child.
28:28You do it.
28:29I held it
28:30and didn't know
28:31what to do.
28:32Ash's hand
28:33came over mine,
28:34and my power
28:35broke loose.
28:36Breakthrough.
28:37Now!
28:38I looked at Ash
28:39through the chaos of it.
28:41Tears.
28:41I had never seen
28:43that from him before.
28:46He looked at the Abyss Serpent.
28:55Goodbye, Mother.
28:57The core broke in my hands.
28:59She let out
29:00a long,
29:01released sound.
29:04Now I can sleep.
29:06Thunder gathered above us.
29:08Wide.
29:08Far wider than
29:09a single person's
29:10trial should produce.
29:11It blanketed
29:12the entire valley.
29:13I was still reeling.
29:14Is this normal
29:14for a breakthrough?
29:15This seems excessive.
29:18It looks like
29:19it wants to kill you
29:19specifically.
29:23I think I'm
29:24in serious trouble.
29:25He took my hand
29:26and stepped in front of me.
29:27I brought you in here.
29:28Whatever happens,
29:29I'm getting you out.
29:31The thunder dropped.
29:32I reached for my power
29:34and pushed against it.
29:35and then I understood
29:36the trial wasn't
29:38aimed at me.
29:41When the Abyss Serpent's
29:42core shattered,
29:43her energy
29:44hadn't simply vanished.
29:45A reservoir
29:46of ancient power,
29:48centuries in the making,
29:49now hung in the air
29:50like a second sky.
29:52My breakthrough trial,
29:53which should have been
29:54overwhelming,
29:55was nothing against it.
29:57The creatures lurking
29:58at the edges
29:58came forward,
29:59drawn to the loose energy,
30:01waiting for me to fail
30:02so they could claim it.
30:03Instead,
30:04the trial landed on them.
30:06The clouds cleared.
30:07The valley went quiet.
30:08Dawnlight found its way
30:10through the canopy.
30:13We walked out.
30:15The chaos inside
30:16had given the great elder
30:17and the others
30:18the time they needed.
30:19Within the month,
30:20the seals were fully restored,
30:23stronger than they'd ever been.
30:25She told the story
30:26to every cultivation family
30:27within traveling distance.
30:29Listen to this.
30:30Goes into the sealed valley
30:31alone with her bonded creature.
30:34comes out having broken
30:35through two stages.
30:37Clara,
30:38watching you become who you are,
30:40your elder can rest easy.
30:41My own trial is coming.
30:43The elders and I have agreed.
30:44You are the right person
30:45to lead this clan
30:46after I am gone.
30:47Once I have passed through,
30:49the role is yours.
30:50You've been looking for a reason
30:51to step back for years.
30:52He pretended not to hear.
30:54He reached for Ash's hand.
30:56And you,
30:56I am formally naming you
30:58Keeper of the Clan Wards.
31:00The protection of this clan
31:02is in your hands.
31:03Cultivators from across the region
31:05sent offerings to the clan
31:06in the months that followed.
31:08One came with a mirror.
31:09A memory viewer.
31:11One that could show the user
31:13a moment from a previous life.
31:15I looked.
31:16It showed me what happened
31:18after I died.
31:19In the life before this one.
31:22When I had been killed
31:23in the valley,
31:24the Abyss Serpent woke.
31:25She tore through the seals.
31:28She came out.
31:29and something in her
31:30pulled her straight
31:31to the creature burial ground
31:33at the edge of the clan grounds.
31:35She dug.
31:36One massive claw.
31:38Careful despite everything.
31:40She pulled out
31:41a small set of fox bones.
31:43After that,
31:44she stopped holding back.
31:46She went through the clan grounds
31:48like fire through dry wood
31:50for three days.
31:51This time,
31:53there was nothing left.
31:54The Great Elder.
31:56The Elders.
31:57Every member of the clan.
31:59None of them survived.
32:01The Tiger and Luna
32:02had been running.
32:03A blast caught them.
32:05The Tiger threw Luna
32:07toward the Abyss Serpent.
32:08It wasn't enough for him.
32:10She tracked him anyway.
32:11The mirror settled
32:12from my hands.
32:14Ash.
32:15Somewhere behind me.
32:16I've warmed this three times.
32:18What are you doing over there?
32:19The warm smell
32:20of mulled wine.
32:21I smiled at him
32:23and pulled him into a hug.
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