The great hall was silent, the kind of silence that swallows even the sound of your own breath.

  "Alright," I said, my ghostly voice a thin thread in the still air. "First thing we do is get out without anyone noticing."

  Daeryon’s heavy footsteps stopped mid-echo. "I can leave. No one has the strength or the authority to stop me. But if I walked out now, the elders would notice. They’d ask questions. The wrong ones."

  "Then we make sure they’re too busy to notice," I said. "What can we blow up?"

  He gave me a flat look the kind that could crack stone before shaking his head. "No explosions. I’ll make a distraction with my chi. Trust me."

  "That works." I hesitated, then added, "But there’s more. It’s not just the lotus. We’ll have to fight a monster one that isn’t supposed to exist anymore."

  His gaze sharpened. "What kind of monster?"

  "The Blood-Maiden Wolf," I said. "White fur, crimson eyes, nine tails. Pure chi given form. And it’s the only thing standing between us and the Azure Lotus."

  For a man who feared nothing, the flicker in his eyes said plenty. "A myth, then."

  "It’s no myth."

  He said nothing for a moment, then turned and walked toward the garden. "I must speak to my wife."

  The private garden was quiet, the kind of peace that didn’t belong in a place like this. Stone paths wound through pools of still water, reflecting pale lantern light.

  Saeryun stood with her back to him, one hand resting on her stomach, her simple robes hiding the strength he knew was there.

  "I’m leaving," he said quietly.

  She turned, eyes calm and unreadable. "Where are you going?"

  "On a journey," he said. "A dangerous one."

  She stepped closer, close enough that her voice was almost a whisper. "Then go. I’ll be here when you return."

  His hands, calloused from decades of battle, cupped her face. "While I’m gone, watch the children. All of them. Don’t let the elders speak to them alone."

  Her eyes narrowed. "Why? You’ve always trusted them."

  He couldn’t answer that directly. "Because they are not who you think they are."

  She studied him for a heartbeat, then nodded. "I’ll be their shield."

  The plan was simple in theory.

  Daeryon released a sharp burst of chi far from our position, a shockwave that cracked the air. Elders rushed toward the disturbance like moths to flame.

  We moved the other way, silent as shadows, our path winding through side corridors and out into the frozen night.

  From there, the north awaited. And the Peaks.

  The journey north was a blur of speed and frozen air. The Shadow-Wound Peaks rose like a black spine against the stars, their jagged tips clawing at the sky.

  The barrier between Murim and the monster realms was thin here I could feel it in the way the air warped, in the way the chi seemed to shift between every breath.

  It didn’t take long for the first attack to come.

  A pack of Soul-Draining Wolves burst from the mist, gaunt shapes with fur swirling in black chi that bled the warmth from the air. Their eyes locked on us, and I felt the cold reach for me even in my ghostly state.

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  Daeryon moved like a falling mountain. His Black Dragon Chi ripped through the pack, each strike shattering bone and scattering corrupted energy into the wind.

  And then something strange.

  [Daeryon Kang has defeated: Soul-Draining Wolves]

  [You have gained 50 experience points]

  I froze. How the hell—? In my world, you didn’t get experience unless you did something. Even the smallest bit of damage.

  I hadn’t lifted a finger, but I could feel the power sliding into me, my ghostly form humming with new strength.

  Somehow, his kills were feeding me.

  We pressed deeper into the Peaks.

  The Azure Lotus grew on a rocky outcrop ahead, petals glowing with an unearthly blue against the bleak landscape.

  But the air here was wrong. Heavy. Full of killing intent so thick it felt like claws scraping the inside of my skull.

  A low growl rolled through the mountains.

  The mist parted.

  The Blood-Maiden Wolf stepped into view, fur so white it burned to look at, crimson eyes blazing with something older than hate.

  Nine tails unfurled, each an element alive—fire that hissed, ice that cracked, lightning that tore the heavens, and others without name. The power rolling from them wasn’t mere strength. It was authority. The kind that made your soul falter, ready to flee before your body did.

  Its voice struck the air like a bell struck stone, deep and resonant.

  “Leave this place, mortal. Nothing here was shaped for you. Nothing here is owed to you.”

  Daeryon’s aura surged in answer. Black Dragon Chi roared awake, a shadow given form, coils writhing skyward. The mountain floor fractured beneath his stance.

  “I will take the flower. Whether you consent or not, beast.”

  The wolf’s gaze did not waver. Its tails rose, each humming with annihilation.

  “Boldness. Ever the curse of humankind. You reach for what was never meant for your hands. And you will pay the same price as all who came before.”

  Flame swept first, a tail igniting the ridge. Heat blistered stone and skin alike. Daeryon’s chi devoured the fire, turning it to black mist.

  Ice speared next cold sharp enough to shatter marrow. He crushed it mid-flight, shards hissing to vapor against his aura.

  Then lightning searing, deafening, a sky splitting apart. He grounded it with a single stomp that tore the earth open.

  And then the storm truly began.

  White fur and black shadow blurred into chaos faster than the eye could follow. Claws raked stone.

  Fists shattered air. Each clash sent shockwaves tearing through the mist until the mountain shook with their war.

  The wolf’s voice thundered between blows, clear as prophecy:

  “So. Dragon’s blood runs in you. That explains the shadow that shields your flesh. But blood is not victory. Do not mistake inheritance for destiny.”

  Flame and frost struck in the same breath. Light and shadow tangled until neither could be told apart.

  And then Daeryon found his chance.

  His roar shook the Peaks. His fist wreathed in every last shred of Black Dragon Chi drove into the wolf’s chest.

  The beast’s cry rang out, not pain but defiance, as its body unraveled into a brilliance that seared the air.

  “Once again… undone by the Dragon’s line!”

  And then silence fell.

  [Daeryon Kang has defeated: Blood-Maiden Wolf]

  [You have gained 2000 experience points]

  [Level progression blocked. Experience stored until F-Rank breakthrough.]

  The surge hit me like a tidal wave, power burning through my incorporeal form. But the system’s message left me cold. Blocked? What the hell was I supposed to do with power I couldn’t use?

  Daeryon stood in the mist, his aura flickering, breath sharp and uneven. A cut above his brow bled freely. His robes were scorched in places, frozen in others, one sleeve torn halfway off.

  "You look like hell," I said, grinning. "Thought you’d kill it in one hit. Guess it kicked your ass a little."

  His eyes narrowed through the exhaustion. "What did you just say, you bastard? I fought a myth. You floated there doing nothing. I think I did pretty damn well."

  "Yeah, yeah… but you still took a lot of hits. That white fur turned red before you finished the job."

  For a moment, the glare held then he laughed. A deep, raw laugh of a man who’d looked death in the eye and walked away.

  "You’ve got a strange sense of humor, ghost."

  He stepped to the rocky outcrop where the Azure Lotus bloomed, its glow almost shy under his shadow.

  As his fingers brushed the petals, the surrounding mist seemed to retreat. For a heartbeat, the flower’s light pulsed in sync with his chi.

  He placed it into an enchanted box, sealing it with a faint hum.

  "Let’s go," he said, voice low but steady. "We don’t have time to waste."

  We left the Peaks in silence, the mist swallowing our footprints almost as soon as they formed.

  The Azure Lotus rested in its enchanted box, glowing faintly like a captured star.

  "You’re quiet," I said.

  "So are you," Daeryon replied without looking at me.

  "I’m a ghost. I’m supposed to be quiet. You, on the other hand, just killed something that’s supposed to be a bedtime story. I figured you’d be bragging."

  He shook his head. "Bragging doesn’t keep her alive."

  I knew what he meant the Lotus wasn’t for glory, or for the sect, or even for him.

  Every step, every drop of blood spilled on that mountain… it was for Saeryun.

  "Do think this’ll be enough?" I asked worried.

  His hand tightened on the box. "It has to be this is the only thing we know could work you said it yourself"