On the eve of her bonding ceremony, Clara is reborn with memories of her tragic past life. Once abandoned by the powerful White Tiger she trusted, she now chooses a different path and discovers the unwavering devotion of the mysterious White Fox. As ancient secrets awaken and dangerous enemies close in, Clara must rewrite her destiny before history repeats itself.
Watch this captivating short drama filled with rebirth, fantasy romance, fated bonds, revenge, and unforgettable emotional twists.
#RebornBoundToThePeerlessWhiteFox #WhiteFoxKing #RebornLuna #FantasyRomance #FatedMate #FoxShifter #FantasyDrama #SecondChanceLove #ShortDrama #RomanticDrama #DramaSeries #FullEpisode #Drama #ShortFilm #ShortMovie
Watch this captivating short drama filled with rebirth, fantasy romance, fated bonds, revenge, and unforgettable emotional twists.
#RebornBoundToThePeerlessWhiteFox #WhiteFoxKing #RebornLuna #FantasyRomance #FatedMate #FoxShifter #FantasyDrama #SecondChanceLove #ShortDrama #RomanticDrama #DramaSeries #FullEpisode #Drama #ShortFilm #ShortMovie
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Short filmTranscript
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,
01:21Elder, I appreciate your consideration.
01:24I find I'm fond 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.
01:46My parents died holding the line.
01:48I watched it happen.
01:49If the clan elders hadn't arrived when they did, Luna and I would have died with them.
01:54After that, the elders raised us, taught us cultivation.
01:58For I possess stronger spiritual power, and them more beloved within the clan.
02:02But the tiger ignored me.
02:05I'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.
02:21Took 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.
02:47I was still reeling when an elder walked past and caught sight of them in the distance.
02:52Clara, when you go out on contracts, stop 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, he gave
03:36it 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.
04:18Like she's the one who suffered.
04:20The white tiger wanted to stand up for Luna, yet he possessed no power right after bonding
04:25with 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, with a wisp of red fur on his head and an
04:47unusually
04:47large tail.
04:49My courtyard had a natural spring, warm with cultivation energy.
04:53I set him in it and watched him wake up instantly, floating 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.
05:40Before 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.
05:54It turned out Ash met the Elder when he was severely injured and was taken back by him.
05:59I stared at him.
06:00Please 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.
06:10He was genuinely useful, as it turned out.
06:13I had a fire affinity.
06:15He complemented it perfectly.
06:17He produced a cultivation manual from somewhere.
06:20Fire techniques.
06:21And good ones.
06:23Two days of work and I could already feel the difference.
06:26Every time Ash practiced cultivation with me, he took off his top.
06:30His 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 and stopped dead when she saw him.
06:46She stared him.
06:47Ash stood, dressed properly in seconds, and 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.
07:12I 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, what 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.
07:28Half 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.
07:39No!
07:39You can't!
07:40Little sister.
07:42Don't mistake me for a fool.
07:43I'm not funding your creature for you.
07:46If 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.
07:52She'd never do that.
07:55Where were we?
07:56Weeks passed.
07:57I broke through to a new cultivation stage.
08:01The great elder dispatched me on an assignment alongside elder Margaret to handle a demon
08:06outbreak 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 before Ash appeared in front of me.
08:26I reached out and touched his cheek.
08:28What's wrong?
08:32Clara Ashvale, why 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.
08:47He started to show teeth.
08:49I flicked his forehead.
08:50He recoiled, then immediately looked betrayed.
08:54You betray me first and then hit me?
08:57I'm going to say this once.
08:59I am not reconsidering anything.
09:01And I have no idea why Luna told you that.
09:04What I do know is that I never asked her to come near you.
09:08Understood?
09:13We ran into a group of younger clan members on the way.
09:16I asked why they'd turned back.
09:18Luna cleared everyone out.
09:22Let's go.
09:25You're going to lecture me about picking fights and then drag me directly into one?
09:29We found them mid-argument.
09:31Or rather, Luna was arguing.
09:33The tiger couldn't speak.
09:35He'd never broken through to human form, so he was expressing himself through sheer body
09:40language.
09:41And none of it was agreeable.
09:44What is wrong with you?
09:45I didn't force you to come here.
09:47You said this place would help you advance.
09:50I've given you every elixir I have and you still can't even talk to me.
09:54You want me to go hunting rogue demons?
09:56I just started training.
09:58You'd be sending me to die.
09:59Clara's fox has been in human form for months and you can't even answer a question.
10:04What exactly are you doing with yourself?
10:07I heard the tiger's version of a response.
10:10A low rumble.
10:12In my past life, he'd never once spoken to me with anything resembling patience.
10:17Watching him endure Luna's outburst without walking away was 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, resigned sigh and crouched.
10:35He held me in his arms.
10:36Luna's gaze locked onto him and didn't move.
10:39Nothing specific.
10:41I just wanted to know why you visited my companion without my permission.
10:45Luna hadn't expected me to know so quickly.
10:47She started backpedaling.
10:49No, you misunderstood.
10:50I was looking for you.
10:53She told me I was supposed to 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 to argue back, so she left fairly quickly.
11:07I stood and faced Luna directly.
11:09If I remember correctly, you didn't want the fox.
11:11He was badly hurt.
11:13If you'd taken him, he wouldn't have survived.
11:15That's not true.
11:16I would have cared for him.
11:18The tiger's crest stood fully upright.
11:21You're doing this deliberately.
11:22You're trying to cause trouble between me and the tiger.
11:26If you try this again, there will be consequences.
11:30On the way back, my mood was good.
11:33Ash was quiet, though.
11:34He wouldn't shift and carry me, even when I asked.
11:37When we reached home, he caught my arm.
11:39You and the tiger.
11:41There's something there.
11:43I didn't hide it.
11:44We have a history.
11:45It ended badly.
11:48Do you want to know?
11:50He turned, shifted into fox form, and wrapped his enormous tail around me.
11:55No!
11:56I'm better than that by every measure.
11:59And you promised me you wouldn't seek out another bonded creature.
12:02I ran my fingers through the fur at the back of his ears.
12:06I won't.
12:07I promise.
12:09Some time later, Ash decided I wasn't advancing fast enough.
12:14Get up.
12:14I refuse to share energy with someone who progresses this slowly.
12:18The Great Elder said I'm the most talented concultator of my generation.
12:22Unlike my past life, all the elixirs I earned this time went into me.
12:27Five years.
12:28I moved from the early stages into the middle tier of my cultivation rank.
12:33When I returned to the clan, the Great Elder was close to a breakthrough of his own.
12:37The younger members had grown considerably.
12:40Only one thing hadn't changed.
12:42The tiger still hadn't taken human form.
12:46We expected the tiger to elevate the entire clan.
12:49Ten years in, and he's no closer to breaking through.
12:53We sent an elder to assess him quietly.
12:55The gap is too large.
12:57Even with assistance, he can't make the crossing.
13:00Luna had barely enough power to sustain herself, let alone a creature of the tiger's requirements.
13:06But honestly, his not breaking through was the best outcome.
13:11I wasn't strong enough to kill him.
13:13So control was the only option.
13:16I threw myself into building up the clan.
13:18I trained with the younger members daily.
13:21If something went wrong, I wanted them to be able to protect themselves.
13:25Ash gave me space for it.
13:27He knew what I was doing.
13:29One evening, I came home exhausted, and he was waiting for me.
13:33He picked me up, threw me over his shoulder, and started walking.
13:41His idea of entertainment was crouching at the edge of the back valley and listening to Luna
13:47and the tiger fight.
13:49The tiger couldn't speak, so the entire argument was one-sided.
13:53Don't look at me like that.
13:55I didn't force you to bond with me.
13:57You came to me.
13:59You told me to wait.
14:01You told me once you took human form, we'd leave together.
14:04You're the one who picked the fight with Clara at the ceremony.
14:11And now what?
14:12You're stuck.
14:13I'm stuck.
14:14And it's all your fault, you useless.
14:17So they'd known each other before.
14:19The tiger had come to Luna deliberately.
14:21He'd made her promises.
14:23But that still didn't explain why they'd opened the wards.
14:27Why involved the demon horde at all?
14:29Unless they'd already been working with the demons.
14:32The one that killed my parents.
14:35My parents, who were also Luna's parents.
14:38How could she?
14:40I needed to find out.
14:41And when I did, there would be a reckoning.
14:44Back at the residence, I was working through what I needed to investigate
14:48when a visitor appeared at the gate.
14:50The tiger.
14:51He was staring at Ash, who was soaking in the spring and determinedly ignoring him.
14:57What do you want?
14:58Shouldn't you be with Luna?
14:59Ash emerged from the water and immediately positioned himself between us.
15:04Master.
15:05You promised.
15:07No, no other bonded creatures.
15:09Don't even talk to him.
15:10I just want to know why 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 at the tiger.
15:22The gate was empty.
15:23This life, I'd kept my distance.
15:26I hadn't interfered with him.
15:28If the tiger genuinely wanted a different bond, the elders would have been glad to help.
15:33There was no reason to come to me specifically.
15:36Unless the tiger had also been reborn.
15:39I didn't say anything to Ash.
15:41I went straight to the clan's protective wards.
15:45Intact.
15:46I breathed.
15:47Then I looked at the ground near the barrier edge.
15:50White tiger fur.
15:52A handful of strands.
15:53He'd been here.
15:55He hadn't broken through.
15:57His power wasn't there yet.
15:59But he knew what was sealed here.
16:01He knew my parents had died here.
16:03I'd told him that myself in my last life.
16:06I had to watch him.
16:08Carefully.
16:09All the time.
16:11The gossip started circulating through the clan not long after.
16:14Luna and the tiger were fighting constantly.
16:17He refused her commands.
16:19Ignored her in training sessions.
16:23Made her look incompetent in front of the whole yard.
16:27And every time I appeared, he drifted toward me.
16:31Elder Margaret found the entire situation delightful.
16:34Her owl sat on her shoulder.
16:36You know what this reminds me of?
16:37Every story where someone realizes too late what they had.
16:41Freezes the other person out.
16:42Spends the rest of it chasing after her.
16:44She said it directly in front of Ash.
16:46He moved.
16:47I caught him before he could do anything irreversible.
16:49Margaret clutched her owl and said.
16:51Oh my.
16:52I could have a conversation with Luna.
16:53Offer her a different creature.
16:54Something she can actually sustain.
16:56Transfer the tiger formally.
16:57Quietly.
16:58Please.
16:59No more.
16:59No.
17:00I'm not touching the clan council over this.
17:01Besides, I have Ash.
17:03That's enough.
17:03Margaret looked genuinely mournful.
17:05A bonded creature in open conflict with its partner is a problem for all of us.
17:08And Luna hasn't advanced in 10 years.
17:10The elders have been discussing a field assignment.
17:13Practical training away from the clan for a year or two.
17:15I understood what she wasn't saying.
17:18They'd given up on the tiger as a resource.
17:20Ash's presence had changed the calculations.
17:22What we accomplished together had raised the bar considerably.
17:26If Luna left with the tiger, I had time.
17:30Time to reinforce the wars.
17:35In the clan hall, Luna cried.
17:38She accused me.
17:39You killed him.
17:39Then, in front of every elder, she made her counteroffer.
17:43If Clara wants the tiger so badly, she can have him.
17:45I won't fight her.
17:46But if she takes him, she gives me Ash.
17:48A mixed Lindage fox for a pure-blood tiger.
17:51Honestly, Clara comes out ahead.
17:52The great elder shut it down before anyone else could speak.
17:56Who?
17:57Luna.
17:57Focus on your own creature.
17:59Stop coming up with ideas like that.
18:00I heard this from Ash, who had apparently been listening from outside the hall.
18:04While the elders dealt with Luna, I was in the creature registry with the keeper, looking into a disappearance.
18:10Three creatures had vanished overnight.
18:12Two small rabbits.
18:13A young deer.
18:14The keeper was beside himself.
18:16I checked the seals myself before I left.
18:18Any disturbance at all, and I'd have felt it.
18:21There was nothing.
18:21Not a demon.
18:22No trace of that kind of energy.
18:24I looked around.
18:25The registry was carved into the cliffside, warded stone on all sides.
18:29The only way in or out used the clan seal.
18:32To remove three creatures cleanly, whoever did it knew this place intimately.
18:37Or had always been inside.
18:39Where did the big fox?
18:40You don't even know.
18:40Big brother fox is perfectly safe.
18:42Can creatures turn on each other?
18:43They have consciousness.
18:44They would never do something so barbaric.
18:46Don't listen to her.
18:46She was just being strange.
18:48People do terrible things when they want to advance.
18:51Creatures aren't different.
18:53There's a method.
18:54Old and dark.
18:56Not talked about.
18:57Where one creature absorbs the power of another.
19:01Want to know how it works?
19:02The fastest shortcut was this.
19:04Take the core of another creature.
19:06Consume it.
19:07The higher the cultivation of the creature you took from, the greater the gain.
19:10Ash had nearly been killed by exactly this method.
19:13Years ago.
19:14Before we met.
19:15Once it works.
19:18It will come back for more.
19:20We staked out the registry that night.
19:22Nothing.
19:23Quiet all the way to dawn.
19:24I reassured the keeper.
19:26Don't worry.
19:29And headed out.
19:30And immediately ran into a young clan member sprinting toward me.
19:33Guardian!
19:34Something happened at the residences!
19:35What's wrong?
19:37Ash!
19:39Ash shifted form and moved.
19:42When we landed, I knew from the sound.
19:45One of the younger students, a girl who'd bonded at her first ceremony, was sitting on the ground in her
19:50courtyard, holding what remained of her rabbit.
19:54Elder Margaret was already there.
19:56She caught my eye and gave a small, grim nod.
20:00Your guess was right.
20:02Your guess was right.
20:02The core was taken.
20:03Clean, precise, one strike.
20:04She didn't feel it happen.
20:06The bond broke and that's when she knew.
20:10Without thinking, I turned and looked for the tiger.
20:13He was standing near the edge of the crowd, perfectly still.
20:17Don't stare.
20:18Don't stare.
20:18It's him.
20:19You're sure?
20:20I've seen this method used before.
20:22His signature reads the same.
20:23I went to the Great Elder and told him everything.
20:25Don't move yet.
20:26You need proof.
20:27Catch him in the act.
20:28Behind him, his courtyard had descended into complete chaos.
20:32All of them trying to interrogate Ash about his parents' bloodlines.
20:37I keep them close.
20:39Your firehound just destroyed the garden path.
20:41You could clean it up for your elder.
20:44No.
20:45Still, with subtle pressure, I got the senior elders watching the tiger more carefully.
20:51Weeks passed.
20:53No more disappearances.
20:54But two weeks later, the girl who had lost her rabbit still hadn't recovered.
20:59She stopped coming to training.
21:01Ate less.
21:03Barely spoke.
21:04The other students let it drift into rumor and then into story.
21:08Ashes sat with me every day.
21:11Then, one night, something moved past my window.
21:14Floating on the water's surface was a single white tiger feather.
21:18I reached through the bond and found him.
21:21I arrived at the ward boundary and walked straight into a shockwave.
21:25Ash and the tiger were already fighting.
21:28No preamble.
21:29Fully committed.
21:30He moved through the trees in pale clothing, fast and fluid, redirecting Ash's attacks with the ease of someone who'd
21:38been preparing for exactly this fight.
21:40Near the ward boundary, Luna sat perfectly still.
21:43When I got close enough to see her clearly, my stomach dropped.
21:47Luna was dead.
21:49I hadn't even processed it before the sky began to darken.
21:52The ward clumps.
21:54Harm your bonded partner.
21:55And the consequence falls from the sky.
21:58You ran this exact plan in another life.
22:01You used everyone here as scaffolding and then kicked it out.
22:04And now this life you had the chance to choose differently and instead you took her core.
22:07The sky is watching.
22:09The sky is watching.
22:10It ends today.
22:12Almost.
22:13One more step.
22:15He was breaking the ward seal behind his back.
22:18The creatures sealed in the valley felt the loosening.
22:21Thunder gathered directly above him.
22:23The great elder arrived in a flash of light from the peak.
22:27Clara, hold the creatures back.
22:29I'll reseal from outside.
22:30Clara, you can't stop this.
22:33Come die with me.
22:35I'll do better by you this time.
22:37In my past life, I had died in this exact valley.
22:41Alone.
22:42Then a hand closed on my shoulder.
22:44It is Ash.
22:45You want to take her down with you?
22:48You'd have to go through me first.
22:51You're nobody.
22:52This time, I wasn't alone.
22:54In my past life, I'd never had a real partner.
22:56Just me and whatever I could manage alone.
22:59Now I understood the difference.
23:00Ash pushed forward and I covered him.
23:02He never checked over his shoulder.
23:04I never asked him to sit down.
23:06A hundred exchanges and the tiger's composure was cracking.
23:09He couldn't find a way past Ash.
23:11He couldn't land a hit on me.
23:12He broke.
23:13This isn't right.
23:14You're supposed to die.
23:16We're supposed to go back together.
23:19Goodbye.
23:20I raised one hand and pointed at the sky.
23:22The lightning came down like a column dropped 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 were old and powerful.
23:43They couldn't be killed cleanly, only re-contained, and the oldest among them, the one they called
23:50the Abyss Serpent, had been dormant for a century, sealed originally by the previous
23:56great elder, who had given his life to do it.
23:59Ash had been leaning against a tree, expression of someone waiting for his reward.
24:04When he went still, he stared into the dark between the trees.
24:09What's in there?
24:12The Abyss Serpent.
24:14Wait here.
24:15I need to go in.
24:17Something shifted in his expression.
24:19Something I hadn't seen from him before.
24:21He started moving.
24:23I caught his hand.
24:24It's not safe.
24:26I know.
24:28Clara!
24:29He tried carefully to explain the situation to me.
24:32My past life.
24:32I died in this valley.
24:35I watched the tiger take 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 into the sealed valley?
24:46Elder, that's your student.
24:49My student is extraordinary.
24:51The valley was wrong the moment we crossed the boundary.
24:54Eyes in the dark.
24:55Dozens of them.
24:56They didn't move.
24:57Some instinct in them recognized Ash.
25:00He'd shifted to his true form.
25:02Large enough now that I rode at the back of his neck.
25:04I asked him before.
25:06What are you looking for?
25:07The Abyss Serpent.
25:09Tell me why.
25:10My mother is in there.
25:11I had always assumed Ash was the product of some unusual crossing of bloodlines.
25:16He'd never corrected me.
25:17Now I found out.
25:19He did have fox blood.
25:21But his mother was the Abyss Serpent.
25:23One of the creatures from the oldest records.
25:26Vast in form.
25:27Ancient in power.
25:28Her cultivation predating the current era by centuries.
25:32She hadn't always been this.
25:34200 years ago, someone had used the dark method on the creature she'd loved.
25:39Consumed his core.
25:40She hadn't recovered.
25:41I reached up and put my hand against the side of Ash's head.
25:45I had nothing to say.
25:46The creatures around us began to shift.
25:49They wanted us gone.
25:50They wanted the energy this moment was generating.
25:54Ash sat me down and stood at my back, facing outward in human form.
25:58If we can't hold them, I'm putting you through the exit.
26:02When that happens, run.
26:03Don't look back.
26:06If what the tiger claimed was true, that dying here just leads to another life, that's not the worst outcome.
26:14You told me you'd make me happy.
26:16I held you to that.
26:18So if you don't want to watch these things reach me, keep them away.
26:24All the way through.
26:25The creatures came.
26:27We fought.
26:28I covered him and he moved forward.
26:30One after another.
26:32The valley full of the sounds of it.
26:35My power was trying to surge on the edge of a breakthrough.
26:38Each breakthrough brought a heavenly trial.
26:41A surge of lightning.
26:43The test between one level and the next.
26:46Ash felt it through the bond.
26:47He threw aside an attack from something in the dark and said, through clenched teeth.
26:53My fault.
26:54I came too fast.
26:56Everything stopped.
26:57The creatures pressing in from all sides simply vanished.
27:01One moment, then nothing.
27:03I pointed at the pair of enormous red eyes in the fog ahead of us.
27:08Is that her?
27:09The old clan records described the Abyss Serpent as having a human face and the body of something ancient.
27:15Her face still held human proportions.
27:18I couldn't move.
27:20I had cultivated my entire life.
27:22I had survived two lifetimes and an impossible valley.
27:26She didn't close her jaws.
27:29Ash stepped between us.
27:30The massive jaws stopped 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, clearly in pain.
27:43Her focus fractured.
27:45Ash moved closer.
27:46He barely came to her chin.
27:48And she flinched like he was the dangerous one.
27:52It's me.
27:53Little Ash.
27:55Her voice was human and enormous at the same time.
27:59Little Ash.
28:01The red in her eyes began to clear.
28:03Gold underneath.
28:05It didn't hold.
28:06The red came surging back.
28:08Little Ash!
28:10Kill me!
28:11She pushed her core outside 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 from his hands and came to rest in front of me.
28:25She looked at me.
28:27Good child.
28:28You do it.
28:29I held it and didn't know what to do.
28:32Ash's hand came over mine.
28:34And my power broke loose.
28:36Breakthrough.
28:37Now!
28:38I looked at Ash through the chaos of it.
28:41Tears.
28:41I had never seen that from him before.
28:46He looked at the Abyss Serpent.
28:55Goodbye, Mother.
28:57The core broke in my hands.
28:59She let out a long, released sound.
29:04Now I can sleep.
29:06Thunder gathered above us.
29:08Wide.
29:08Far wider than a single person's trial should produce.
29:11It blanketed the entire valley.
29:13I was still reeling.
29:14Is this normal for a breakthrough?
29:16This seems excessive.
29:18It looks like it wants to kill you specifically.
29:23I think I'm in serious trouble.
29:25He took my hand and stepped in front of me.
29:27I brought you in here.
29:28Whatever happens, I'm getting you out.
29:31The thunder dropped.
29:32I reached for my power and pushed against it.
29:35And then I understood.
29:37The trial wasn't aimed at me.
29:41When the Abyss Serpent's core shattered, her energy hadn't simply vanished.
29:46A reservoir of ancient power, centuries in the making, now hung in the air like a second sky.
29:52My breakthrough trial, which should have been overwhelming, was nothing against it.
29:57The creatures lurking at the edges came forward, drawn to the loose energy, waiting for me to fail so they
30:03could claim it.
30:03Instead, the trial landed on them.
30:06The clouds cleared.
30:07The valley went quiet.
30:09Dawnlight found its way through the canopy.
30:13We walked out.
30:15The chaos inside had given the great elder and the others the time they needed.
30:19Within the month, the seals were fully restored.
30:23Stronger than they'd ever been.
30:24She told the story to every cultivation family within traveling distance.
30:29Listen to this.
30:30Goes into the sealed valley alone with her bonded creature.
30:34Comes out having broken through two stages.
30:37Clara, watching you become who you are, your elder can rest easy.
30:41My own trial is coming.
30:43The elders and I have agreed.
30:44You are the right person to lead this clan after I am gone.
30:47Once I have passed through, the role is yours.
30:50You've been looking for a reason to step back for years.
30:52He pretended not to hear.
30:54He reached for Ash's hand.
30:56And you.
30:57I am formally naming you Keeper of the Clan Wards.
31:00The protection of this clan is in your hands.
31:03Cultivators from across the region sent offerings to the clan in the months that followed.
31:08One came with a mirror.
31:10A memory viewer.
31:11One that could show the user a moment from a previous life.
31:15I looked.
31:16It showed me what happened after I died.
31:19In the life before this one.
31:21When I had been killed in the valley, the Abyss Serpent woke.
31:26She tore through the seals.
31:28She came out.
31:29And something in her pulled her straight to the creature burial ground at the edge of the clan grounds.
31:43After that, she went through the clan grounds like fire through dry wood for three days.
31:51This time, there was nothing left.
31:54The Great Elder.
31:56The Great Elder.
31:56The Elders.
31:57Every member of the clan.
31:59None of them survived.
32:01The Tiger and Luna had been running.
32:03A blast caught them.
32:05The Tiger threw Luna toward the Abyss Serpent.
32:08It wasn't enough for him.
32:10She tracked him anyway.
32:11The mirror settled from 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 of mulled wine.
32:22I smiled at him.
32:23And pulled him into a hug.
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