At the base of the narrow, lightning-scorched crevice lay a pool of liquid, pulsing light—pure, condensed lightning qi, shimmering with residual energy. Floating half-formed above it was the source of the unique signature: a black lotus with aggressive, burning silver fire for veins. Its petals were cracked and half-wilted, yet it pulsed faintly like a stubborn, dying heart refusing to yield its ancient life force.
Unknown variant detected, his internal system, Mira, warned, her voice tight with alarm. The energy signature is immense—far beyond the Silvernight. This is something else entirely, Host.
Karma's pulse quickened, the physical response to the overwhelming danger mixing with an intoxicating sense of destiny. "It survived the Calamity?"
It was possibly created by it,Mira countered, her analysis running frantically. That thing is born from the fusion of two primal auras—Sky Serpent lightning and Behemoth magma. It is an impossible hybrid, a volatile anomaly. Touching it will be catastrophic.
He hesitated, the air buzzing with both danger and the intense, singular allure. "So that's why it's calling to me."
You are hearing voices now?Mira asked, a note of pure disbelief in her usually clinical tone.
"No," he said softly, his eyes locked on the lotus, the connection bypassing logic. "Just… resonance. My core recognizes its chaos. It's a perfected form of what I take in every day."
He took a decisive step forward, ignoring the screaming instincts of self-preservation.
The instant he moved, the surrounding storm responded.
Lightning immediately cascaded from the exposed veins of the canyon, striking around him like torrential, explosive rain. His new cloak instantly disintegrated at the edges, and his exposed skin split in fine, glowing lines—yet the vibrant green light within his chest flared in defiant answer, forming a faint, but solid, stabilizing barrier. The Devoured Lotus was already defending its territory.
He reached the edge of the liquid light pool, extended his hand, and activated Devour to its maximum, pulling on the deep reserves forged by the trials of the wilds.
The moment his energy touched the black lotus, the world shattered into pure, blinding, agonizing noise.
A colossal column of raw, black-silver light erupted from the lotus, tearing upward through the fractured canyon roof with an unimaginable violence. The sheer force hurled Karma violently backward, launching him like a ragdoll. But even as he flew, Devour twisted reflexively, an instinctual reaction of his core, consuming what it could not reject.
He landed hard against the rock wall fifty meters away, the impact fracturing several ribs, and coughed thick, metallic blood. His eyes felt seared, momentarily blinded by the light.
When his vision cleared, the black lotus was gone. Its powerful, horrifying, beautiful light had spiraled inward, merging entirely with his own life core like a thunderous whisper swallowed by a deeper, calmer storm.
Host, you absolute maniac!Mira's voice screamed, devoid of composure, hitting him with a flood of red-text warnings. Energy surge level catastrophic! Your meridians are overloading! Stop breathing it in!
He gasped, fighting through the blinding pain to maintain conscious control. The torrent inside him raged like a duel between elemental titans—hot magma and cold lightning colliding violently within his veins, tearing at the lining of his spiritual sea. Every fiber of his being spasmed and convulsed under the impossible, dual-natured pressure.
Stabilizing… stabilization impossible! Core temperature fluctuating wildly! Wait—green-light resonance activating! The central Lotus-heart is adapting… The Host is… absorbing the hybrid essence! It's cannibalizing its own energy to contain the new power!
Minutes—or what felt like cycles of reincarnation—passed in a blinding, tearing agony that attacked the very integrity of his soul. He focused only on the soothing, steady rhythm of the green lotus, his true core, forcing the external chaos to flow into its regenerative matrix. He didn't fight the power; he integrated it.
When the tempest finally subsided, Karma knelt at the edge of the emptied pool, steam rising from his scorched skin. The raw, violent energy that had saturated the crevice was gone, consumed into an absolute, sterile silence.
Status… stabilized. All systems show high-grade repair and significant structural increase. You are the luckiest fool alive. The hybrid essence successfully fused partially into your Devour core. The specific effect is entirely unknown.
Karma groaned, wiping blood from his mouth with the back of his hand, the pain now a cold, distant thrum. "Unknown is fine. Unknown means exponential potential."
Unknown also means inevitable, spectacular explosion at the most inconvenient possible moment.
He laughed weakly, the sound rough and dry, rising painfully from his chest. "Then I'll make sure it's a controlled one."
He climbed back up the crevice wall, each movement heavy but now fundamentally steadier and stronger. He emerged into the cool night air just as the distant lightning storms began their final fade. The ravaged canyon glowed faintly behind him—the light of something ancient now sleeping again.
Return Under Starlight
The journey back was eerily quiet.
The wilderness seemed to sense the immense shift in his presence; minor beasts fled silently at his approach, and the scattered thunder that once struck at random now parted around him like a respectful, physical silence. His suppressed aura now carried an intrinsic trace of primal, dualistic power.
He reached a cliff overlooking the vast valley below and paused to rest, watching the dawn approaching.
The twin moons hung high above the shattered land. Between their light and the soft, powerful pulse of the lotus in his chest, everything around him—from the jagged rock to his damaged cloak—gleamed in hues of silver and green.
He opened his satchel and looked at the vials within—nine perfect Silvernight Lotuses, their petals faintly trembling as if alive.
Mission success,Mira confirmed. Return path is safe. The Su Clan pharmacists will throw spirit stones at you. You realize you could sell half of these and instantly purchase a mansion in the upper terraces?
"Not interested." He corked the bag gently, sealing the valuable medicine. "They're not for sale."
Of course. The noble fool with a death wish continues his crusade of selfless, reckless behavior,Mira commented, the sarcasm clear.
Karma smiled faintly, adjusting the cloak around his shoulders. "She gave me the ring that saved my life, and she is injured because of the same chaos that empowered me. This much I can return."
Emotional logic detected. Fine. But after you deliver these, you are resting for a minimum of thirty-six hours. Your energy channels look like someone poured high-voltage thunder through fine silk and then set the silk on fire.
He chuckled, a profound sense of internal change settling over him. "That's because someone did, Mira."
They fell into silence for a while, the only sound the whisper of the cool wind.
Then Karma spoke again, quieter. "Mira… that black lotus—it felt alive. It had intelligence."
…It probably did. I can still sense faint, residual, intrusive fluctuations inside your life core. They are dormant for now. Keep watch. If it starts whispering again, do not answer it.
He nodded, his eyes reflecting the distant city lights. "I understand."
You're lying.
He smiled, contemplating the terrifying, immense power now humming beneath his skin, and did not deny it.