The instant the soulbind herb dropped into the crucible, the runes on the Verdant Crucible red to life.


    Golden radiance flooded the entire Council Hall until every corner shone bright.


    Those runes moved as if they hade alive.


    They peeled away from the body of the crucible, spun and danced through the void, then sank into the spirit herbs inside.


    Jared closed his eyes and poured chaotic force into the Verdant Crucible.


    That chaotic force turned into a violet me and began to burn inside the crucible.


    The runes of the Verdant Crucible amplified, purified, and condensed the power of the chaos-me.


    The temperature and intensity of the me were held with exact precision inside the range best suited for refinement.


    Jared sent his spirit sense into the crucible and tracked the changes in every single spirit herb.


    Inside the me, the soulbind herb slowly melted away.


    Its silver-white liquid flowed through the crucible like a narrow silver stream.


    The red liquid of the redme herb, the blue liquid of the frostheart lotus, the purple liquid of the amaranth cloud cap, the golden liquid of the Golden Dragon fment, and the milky white liquid of the millennial spirit milk met inside the crucible.


    They merged, pushed against each other, and drew toward each other all at once. Jared controlled the me with painstaking care.


    Bit by bit, he stripped the impurities from the spirit herbs. Bit by bit, he brought their medicinal properties together.


    Pill refinement was delicate work. It allowed no room for even the slightest mistake.


    If the temperature ran too high, the spirit herbs would scorch.


    If the temperature ran too low, their medicinal properties would never fuse.


    Different spirit herbs needed different temperatures toe together.


    The redme herb needed intense heat to melt. The frostheart lotus needed low heat to preserve its medicinal properties. The amaranth cloud cap needed a gentle me and slow simmering. The Golden Dragon fment needed fierce fire and a fast burn.


    Jared''s spirit sense caught every one of those shifts, and his chaos-me answered every one of those demands.


    He worked like a conductor before an unseen orchestra, directing the spirit herbs inside the Verdant Crucible by a fixed rhythm, by a fixed sequence, guiding them one step at a time toward union.


    One hour passed.


    Then another hour passed.


    Three hours in, the Verdant Crucible suddenly let out a clear, ringing chime.


    The sound was like a bell, and like a dragon''s cry.


    It rolled through the Council Hall and lingered there, refusing to fade.


    At the same moment, the nine holes in the lid shot out nine streams of golden radiance.


    The light wove together in the void, turning, intertwining, until it finally took the shape of a golden lotus.


    The lotus opened slowly.


    Its petals spread one after another.


    At its center, a silver-white healing elixir hung in the air, turning in a slow, steady spin.


    The sense-gathering pill.


    The whole pill was silver-white, and faint golden lines flowed across its surface, like the veins of the earth, and like the tracks of stars across the night sky.


    A quiet medicinal fragrance drifted off it.


    One breath of it cleared the head. A second made the whole body feel washed through. By the third, even the spiritual power inside seemed to surge and answer it. Jared reached out, caught the pill, and let out a long breath.


    "It''s done."


    ric and Lydia stood off to the side, staring so hard they nearly forgot to blink. They knew nothing about pill refinement.


    But they could still tell that the power sealed inside that pill was enough to pull a man on the edge of death back into the world.


    "Mr. Chance... you really made it."


    Jared smiled and put the pill into one of the jade vials.


    "Tomorrow, we go to the Skywolf Tribe."


    The next day, Jared returned to the Skywolf Tribe with the sense-gathering pill.


    Hadrian came to the camp entrance himself to meet him.


    Expectation filled his eyes, with a tight edge underneath it that he couldn''t quite hide.


    He hadn''t slept the whole night.


    He had been waiting for word from Jared the entire time.


    "Jared... you really made it?"


    Jared held out the jade vial to him.


    Hadrian took the jade vial with both hands.


    His hands shook so hard the vial nearly rattled against his fingers.


    He drew in a deep breath, then turned and walked into the tent.


    Jared followed right behind him.


    On the stone bed, the old chieftain still hadn''t woken.


    The Soulkindling me turned slowly above his chest.


    Its golden radiance was warm and soft.


    The old chieftain''s face was pale as paper.


    His breathing was so faint it was almost impossible to catch, and his chest barely rose at all.


    His hands were folded over his abdomen.


    His fingers were little more than skin and bone, and his nails had gone ck.


    Three hundred years of lying unconscious had worn his body down to the brink.


    If the Soulkindling me hadn''t been nourishing his spirit this whole time, he would have fallen into utter soul-ruin long ago.


    Hadrian took the sense-gathering pill from the jade vial and ced it in the old chieftain''s mouth.


    The pill melted the instant it touched his tongue.


    Silver-white medicine slipped down the old chieftain''s throat and flowed into his stomach.


    A momentter, the old chieftain''s brow gave the slightest twitch.


    Then his eyelids began to tremble.


    Hisshes quivered faintly, like a butterfly beating its wings.


    Tears burst out of Hadrian all at once.


    "Father..."


    The old chieftain''s fingers moved.


    Then his eyelids slowly opened.


    They were old eyes, clouded and worn.


    The whites were yellowed, and the pupils looked dim.


    But buried in those eyes was a light that had been smothered for 300 years.


    It was the fire of life. The refusal to let go. Thest deep attachment to this world.


    His gaze drifted around the tent, then finally settled on Hadrian''s face.


    "Hadrian..." His voice came out so hoarse it was barely audible, rough as sandpaper scraping across stone.


    "Father!" Hadrian lunged to the side of the stone bed, grabbed his father''s hand, and the word broke apart in his throat.


    Tears sshed onto the back of his father''s hand, one drop after another, each one burning hot.


    The old chieftain looked at his son, and the corner of his mouth lifted just a little.


    His lips were cracked and peeling,


    ???


    and that faint smile pulled at the wrinkles on his face until he looked


    like a sheet of paper that had been crumpled and smoothed back out


    "Why are you crying... I''m not... awake now..."


    His voice was so light it nearly disappeared, but every wordnded on Hadrian like a


    hammer blow.


    Jared stood off to the side and watched the scene y out, a quiet warmth


    spreading through him.


    He turned and walked out of the tent.


    Hadrian followed him out, wiped his tears clean, stepped in front of Jared, and gave


    him a deep bow.


    "Jared, a debt like this can''t be


    repaid with words. From this day on,


    the Skywolf Tribe owes you a life.


    Not just me The whole Skywolf


    Tribe owes you afe."


    Jared reached out to stop him. "Don''t do this. The Soulkindling me..."


    Hadrian nodded and turned back into the tent.


    A momentter, he came back out holding that golden me in both hands.


    The Soulkindling me turned slowly in his palm, warm and gentle.


    It was gold, but not the kind that stabbed at the eyes. It was a soft, living gold, like


    thest light of sunset, like a mother''s gaze.


    "Take it," Hadrian said. "My father''s soul and sense have already been restored. He doesn''t need it anymore."


    Jared epted the Soulkindling me. It sat warm in his hands, like he was holding


    a piece of sunlight.


    He could feel it clearly. Powerful reincarnation power churned inside the me, and


    that was the key to opening the path of reincarnation.


    "Thanks."


    Hadrian shook his head. "We''re the ones who should be thanking you."


    Hadrian paused, then said, "You


    don''t need to worry about the Tribunal''s ban. The Skywolf Tribe isn''t afraid of them. From here on out your business is the Skywolf Tribe''s business. If anyoneys a hand on you, they''reying a hand on the Skywolf Tribe."


    Jared smiled, then turned and walked away.


    Behind him, Hadrian stood at the camp gate, watching his back for a long time


    without moving.


    "That man is going to be somebody great one day," he murmured.


    Then he turned and went back into the tent to see his father.


    Inside the tent, the old chieftain was already able to sit up.


    He leaned against the head of the bed and looked at Hadrian as he came in, his


    eyes resting on him with quiet tenderness.


    "Hadrian... that man just now... who was he?"


    Hadrian sat down by the bedside and took his father''s hand.


    "His name is Jared. He''s the one who saved you."


    The old chieftain fell quiet for a moment, then gave a small nod.


    "Thank him... for me."


    "I will."


    The old chieftain looked toward the tent entrance as if he could still see the young


    man in azure robes standing there.


    "That man... he''s no ordinary person," he murmured.


    Hadrian said nothing. He only tightened his grip on his father''s hand.


    Outside the tent, the sun was sinking low, staining the whole of the Wastnds gold


    and red.


    In that falling light, the Skywolf Tribe''s camp sat in silence like a sleeping beast.


    But everyone knew that beast had already opened its eyes.


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