Three and a half weeks had passed since the Ruona International Tournament.
The Ember Clan had remained still—but only on the surface.
Spies came in waves. Disciples from foreign sects lingered too long near courtyards. "Pilgrims" studied garden formations with more curiosity than reverence. And cultivators cloaked in merchant robes passed within feet of restricted zones, their gazes hungry for more than scenery.
All had come for the same reason: Jalen Hewitt. None dared attack. They just watched. And waited.
Because the boy didn't behave like a prodigy. He acted like a storm no one could measure.
___
Jalen hadn't left Ember Clan volcanic alcove for twenty-two days.
The origin shard that had been dormant for a time had become active again. It had not only improved the sturdiness of his body inside out but also increased the size of his dantian for a second time and synchronized more with his primary spirit core.
(Note: The first dantian expansion occurred during the week Jalen spent apart from the Flare family, before the Ruona Tournament. But that wasn't all. During that time, the shard entered his dantian and attempted to fuse with both of his spirit cores. The second core rejected it outright—unyielding, silent. But the primary core accepted it fully, merging with the shard just as Jalen's body had. That fusion triggered a violent surge of qi his dantian couldn't contain, forcing the shard to expand it. The breakthrough hurled him into the Early Star Realm—but nearly destroyed him in the process. He lost count of how many times he thought he'd died. His spirit sea, now fused with the shard, ascended a full realm beyond his cultivation level.)
Now, the shard pulsed quietly within him—not as a threat, but as a presence. Its energy no longer tore through him. It flowed. It listened. It waited.
But the second core remained untouched. Unfused. Watching.
And Jalen knew: whatever came next, it would not be gentle.
Tonight, he finally moved. He decided to visit Rana.
He'd given her a timeline for recovery. It was nearly up. She should be healed by now—and she was.
Jalen didn't greet her when he arrived. Rana didn't know whether to be annoyed or excited.
He didn't ask how she felt. He didn't comment on her progress. He just sealed the chamber, slipped into formation prep, and moved like cultivation was all that mattered.
She told herself she didn't care. She lied.
She had missed him and thought about that moment where he embraced her and kissed her cheek on the departure from ember Pearl City.
Jalen transferred the updated Spirit Fire Art into her consciousness first. Then he placed the Flame Marrow Crystal—the one he had refined from the volcanic beast's core—between her palms.
Her body responded instantly. The marrow flame surged into her dantian, fighting her control. Despite her special type Flaming Physique, she felt her organs scream. Her meridians seared. Her breath evaporated into dry ash.
It wasn't resonance. It was devouring.
Jalen knelt beside her, both palms on her back, channeling his own qi through her flame root, guiding the surge. He layered three formation glyphs around her core to throttle the pressure, then rotated his own internal qi to sync with the marrow crystal's signature.
The flames fought back.
Rana screamed once. Then didn't scream again—not because it stopped hurting, but because the pain became complete.
At several points during the four-day breakthrough, her flames turned on him. Not metaphorically. The marrow essence flared in pulses she couldn't contain—and Jalen's proximity made him a target. Her qi lashed out like talons, trying to consume him in bursts of white flame with the ability to affect soul.
One volley struck his sleeve. Another twisted around his spiritual defense, attempting to crack his barrier.
He didn't move.
He stayed.
On the fourth evening, her dantian surged. The crystal dissolved. Her crystallized core became a complete spirit core. And Her qi burst like a phoenix scream—radiant, wild, undeniable.
The Gold Realm had answered.
Her aura exploded across the Ember Clan, flaming formation pillars and triggering several alarm glyphs. Elders felt it. Disciples stared at the sky.
Inside the chamber, Rana lay on the floor—sweat-drenched, robe scorched, pulse erratic.
She didn't say "I did it."
She whispered—
"Thank you."
Jalen nodded faintly. "You're my fiancée. There is no need for thanks."
Her cheeks burned red.
He stood and turned to leave. Then—
"Wait."
He paused. Eyes closed.
This girl… does she even realize her condition? I may act cold, but I'm still a man.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
"To bathe," he said. "Want to join?"
"Shameless!" she snapped.
"Says the girl who's practically naked before me."
Her eyes widened. Her robe—once intact—had burned away during the breakthrough, leaving only shredded silk over scorched skin.
She screamed. Loud.
Jalen winced.
Not that it could actually burst my eardrums.
She scrambled for a cover.
"Why freak out now? I've already seen everything."
"GET OUT!"
He shrugged and dispelled the seal.
"Still a flame-brain," he muttered, stepping into the corridor.
Once Jalen slipped out, the seal faded behind him like a breath held too long. Rana lay staring at the ceiling—arms limp, flame threads still pulsing beneath her skin. She should've felt triumphant. She had reached the Gold Realm. It was a feat elders trained decades to accomplish.
But her thoughts weren't on cultivation.
They were on him. Not because of the teasing. Not because of the bath comment. But because he never stayed.
Even when he saved her. Even when he laughed. Even when he didn't turn away at her worst.
He never stayed.
And now the power thrummed through her body, waiting to be stabilized. She closed her eyes, centered her qi, and whispered—
"Don't disappear again."