---
The smell of scorched fur was thick in the air.
"I said dodge left, damn it!" Eldrod's voice cracked like a whip across the hillside.
Cael barely rolled aside before a claw, thick as a war axe, smashed into the earth where he'd stood a heartbeat ago. Dirt exploded into the sky with a loud BOOM, the shockwave flinging him backwards.
"Bloody hell!" Cael coughed, staggering to his feet. "You said left after it attacked!"
The beast roared—a monstrous creature with obsidian scales and a jagged mane of crimson. Its six golden eyes burned with malevolence as it pounced again.
Bloodfang Ravager, a Rank-4 beast in the Verdant Plains, equal to a mid-tier Iron Vein cultivator. And Cael had only just begun his marrow cleansing.
The Ravager's fangs glinted under the sun, long enough to impale a horse. Its breath hissed with poison, curling like green mist across the field.
"You're not fighting with your head," Eldrod snapped. "Feel the flow. Let the fire guide your movements!"
Fire. That damn fire again. Cael could barely control the warmth that surged in his chest—like coals beneath skin—but Eldrod expected mastery?
Another swipe. Cael jumped, gritting his teeth as his ribs screamed. "Haaah… this is madness!"
"No, this is cultivation."
Cael's fingers dug into the dirt, eyes blazing red-gold. The flames crackled around him, coating his limbs. Heat rolled off him in pulses. Eldrod's voice echoed in his head.
"Flow like fire, but strike like steel."
The Ravager lunged with a guttural growl. Bang! Its claws collided with Cael's braced arms—and flames erupted in retaliation. The beast howled.
"That's it!" Eldrod shouted, leaping onto a nearby rock. "Meld your aura with the fire—don't just unleash it!"
Cael's breath came ragged. Sweat streamed down his face as he circled the beast. "You could help, you know!"
"I am helping. I'm making sure you don't die too quickly."
"Thanks a lot, old man!"
The Ravager leapt again. Cael ducked, slid under its belly, and struck upward—BOOM!—a pillar of flame burst from his palm, searing the Ravager's underbelly.
It snarled, stumbled back, and its tail whipped—WHACK!
"Urgh!" Cael crashed against a tree, bark shattering. His vision blurred, pain like white-hot daggers in his spine. "Damn it..."
"You done crying?" Eldrod asked.
Cael growled, staggering up. His hands were shaking, flames flickering like unstable torches.
"No," he said, teeth clenched. "I'm just getting started."
The Ravager charged, foam at its jaws. Cael gritted his teeth and raised both arms. "Come on then, you ugly bastard!"
He concentrated. The fire no longer surged aimlessly—it coiled in his core, weaving through the channels Eldrod had opened during marrow cleansing. He remembered the words:
"The first path is Body Foundation: refine the marrow, forge the bone, temper the blood."
"Next is Iron Vein, then Flame Pulse, then Core Heart… each a gate. Each a death you survive."
The fire aligned with his breath.
One.
The Ravager's eyes widened.
Two.
His foot slammed into the earth. Fire sparked beneath him.
Three.
He vanished in a blur.
"HRAAAAGHH!"
His fist smashed into the Ravager's jaw—BANG!—followed by a spiraling kick of fire. The creature screeched, reeling.
Cael didn't stop. He leapt, punching again, and again, until flames engulfed them both in a dancing inferno. The beast let out one last defiant HISS before collapsing.
The forest stilled.
Panting, Cael dropped to one knee. Smoke curled from his knuckles.
Eldrod walked over, hands behind his back, gaze impassive. "You're still sloppy."
"Thanks for the praise."
"You lack control."
"I just took down a Rank-4 beast!"
"With raw talent. No finesse. If you relied on that alone against a real cultivator, you'd be dead before the third breath."
Cael looked up, annoyed, but too tired to argue.
Eldrod knelt by the beast, slicing open its chest. He pulled out a glowing crimson crystal, thick with essence. "Blood Core. Useful for strengthening your inner flame."
He tossed it to Cael, who caught it with a groan. The crystal burned slightly in his hand, resonating with the fire inside him.
"Keep it," Eldrod said. "We'll use it during your next tempering."
Cael leaned back, wincing. "Tell me something, master… do all cultivation paths start with this much pain?"
Eldrod smirked. "Pain is the price for stepping into the heavens."
With a wave of his hand, a translucent scroll appeared in the air, glowing faintly.
He pointed at it. "This is the map of the Heaven-Marked Realms, our cultivation hierarchy."
The scroll unfurled, revealing layers:
1. Body Foundation
2. Iron Vein
3. Flame Pulse
4. Core Heart
5. Soul Root
6. Sky Furnace
7. Astral Bridge
8. Divine Ember
"And above this… realms I haven't seen in centuries."
"Each level," Eldrod continued, "requires cultivation essence, physical tempering, and understanding of laws—fire, wind, earth, or rarer elements like void or time."
Cael nodded slowly. "And beasts?"
"Ah." Eldrod waved again. A second scroll appeared—this one showing ranks and monstrous silhouettes.
Feral Stage – Equivalent to Body Foundation
Fang Level – Iron Vein
Howl Class – Flame Pulse
Heartbeast – Core Heart
Soulborn – Soul Root
Primewild – Sky Furnace
Ancestral Fangs – Astral Bridge and above
"Most beasts cultivate instinctively," Eldrod said. "But they are not mindless. Some have lived for centuries—old enough to challenge sects."
Cael looked back at the Bloodfang's body.
"Was this… a Fang-level?"
"Just barely. But the fact you stood against it means your marrow cleansing is nearly complete."
Cael smirked. "About damn time. That stuff hurts."
"Pain sharpens will. And yours, boy, is like unrefined ore—potential, but still soft."
Cael glared at him. "Appreciate the motivational speech."
Suddenly, Eldrod's eyes narrowed. His hand rose, pausing Cael mid-thought.
"What is it?" Cael whispered.
"Trouble."
From the forest edge, dark shapes moved—shadows without sound. A low growl echoed, guttural and unrelenting.
"More beasts?" Cael rose, blood heating again.
"No." Eldrod's voice was a whisper now. "Cultivators."
Cael blinked. "What? Here?"
"They've been watching us." Eldrod's eyes darkened. "And they weren't invited."
The forest rustled—and silence fell.
---
[To be continued in Chapter 12]