Mirror Dream Tree

If this had been a few days earlier, before his breakthrough to the True Core Realm, the pressure would have forced him to his knees.

He opens his eyes as the light fades, and in place of the cocoon, a massive blood-red bat hovers soundlessly over the lake, wings outstretched.

Merin blinks, his heart racing.

He had been expecting to see Chihara Rai, the Holy Blood Master.

Yet here, above the lake, there is no human—only this terrifying, blood-red bat.

As the reddish-black iron moonlight begins to wane and the light of dawn takes its place, the bat gradually shrinks.

A sharp crack rings out, and its right leg reshapes into a human limb.

Mist swirls around its form as more bones snap and shift.

When the mist finally clears, a man floats on the lake's surface.

He looks like Chihara Rai, yet subtly changed—his skin pale white, his eyes a deep blood-red, his hair sleek and black, and his incisors sharp as fangs.

He looks like a vampire straight from one of the movies Merin remembers from his past life on Earth.

Chihara Rai's voice carries across the water as he explains his transformation and why a human body could never bear the full power of an ancestral crystal.

To survive, he created the Holy Blood race.

Only he is a true Holy Blood; the others who emerged alongside him from the surrounding cocoons will be hybrids of human and Holy Blood lineage.

Merin feels the overwhelming pressure emanating from Chihara Rai, estimating him to be at least Rank 5 in vitality.

As Chihara departs, Merin catches sight of Kiyoshi and remarks, "Looks like I'm not the one bringing a new class into the human race. The world is."

Kiyoshi replies, "After we win this war and kill the five ancestors, once the world knows peace again, we'll just fight among ourselves."

Merin chuckles dryly. "When have humans ever not fought one another?"

With that, he turns and walks away, already thinking of the path ahead.

He must prepare to practice the transformation technique.

He has seen Minami's transformation in the past few days; she had completed the transformation up to the cellular level, and no error happened.

He will need to do his own work if he's to succeed.

He settles on the brute lizard as his first subject—it roams these parts and is strong enough to make a worthy trial.

He plans to begin his search as soon as possible, especially now that Chihara Rai has emerged and there's no reason to linger here.

And sure enough, before the next sunrise, Merin's instincts are proven right.

The spiritual masters call a meeting and announce that the war has intensified.

The five ancestors who remain on the world's kill list have begun their counterattack, forcing all three fortress cities on the east coast of the Yao continent to call for reinforcements.

Merin is assigned to support Mugenkai.

Though it's too far for a horse, his giant eagle will make the trip in a single day.

He accepts the task without hesitation.

He spends the next two years in Mugenkai.

And when a letter from his father reaches him—from Saisei, a new city built to replace the vanished seven kingdoms—he knows it's finally time to move on.

Merin stands on the fortress wall, gazing across the battlefield where the war has raged for four years without a decisive end.

The Spiritual Masters on both sides stand evenly matched in strength, each with a formidable lineage behind them.

The beasts have five ancestors commanding them, while humanity—joined by dryads, sea people, and a few beast clans—have four.

Though one ancestor short, the humans fight with greater freedom because the world's curse restrains the five ancestors from entering prolonged conflicts.

Still, the enemy keeps driving endless waves of beasts against the walls, forcing Merin and other Spiritual Masters to hold this section.

He's here because a dharma-realm beast roams the opposing ranks.

As he watches the battle unfold, Merin's sharp senses catch a flash of light.

A massive column of golden flame suddenly erupts across the plain and races straight toward him.

Merin could easily avoid the attack, but that would leave the soldiers behind him to burn.

And judging by its power, it's no ordinary strike—it's a dharma-realm assault.

Before the thought even finishes, Merin reacts.

Broad, scaly wings unfurl from his back, shielding him like a cloak as water floods his body.

"Dragon Wing Shield," he intones calmly.

The scales glimmer as a translucent barrier, matching his wings, take form before him.

The golden fire crashes into it with a deafening explosion.

Without a pause, Merin leaps into the blast, wings folded tight as he soars through the raging fire and bursts out the other side.

On the far end, he sets his gaze on the attacker—a golden-haired woman—and flies straight at her to strike back.

From the strength of her strikes and the ferocity of her flame, Merin instantly recognises her as someone from the golden flame leopard clan.

That clan had long stayed neutral, so seeing one of their dharma-realm warriors fight alongside the enemy only deepens the knot of worry in his chest.

He curses inwardly but keeps his focus sharp as their blows collide in midair, golden fire meeting the shimmering light of his dragon-wing shield.

More and more neutral beast clans had joined the war after the enemy deduced the soul-array that attracted the last blood ancestor into the trap.

That array extracted the soul essence from every soldier who fell, on either side.

And soul essence, as Merin well knew, could extend one's lifespan without pollution—and even more tempting, it could help purify the bloodline and give beasts a chance to ascend to the next realm.

That promise had shattered what neutrality remained.

Half-yao and beast-blooded humans, long stuck on their paths because they could never properly absorb spirituality like pure humans, had defected in droves.

Those fearful of death or desperate to climb past their limits had joined the enemy, too.

And so, humans who bore beast-blood had already been removed from all fortress ranks, their loyalty forever doubted.

With this new reality, the battles had grown fiercer.

As the day dimmed into sunset, Merin and the golden-haired woman finally broke away by silent accord, returning to their respective camps as the armies below eased into an exhausted lull.

Flying back to the command tower, Merin sends a mental message to Zhen Qi: "Finish your work and meet me in my office."

He steps into his office, settles behind the desk, and begins going through the reports as if the day's fight never happened.

He and the golden-haired woman had fought simply to keep one another occupied, making sure neither could interfere in the war below.

Neither had intended to kill the other.

Both of them understood that at their level, unless one was at least twice as strong, it was nearly impossible to kill someone outright.

And the battle had lasted only from dawn to dusk—far too short a time for such a decisive outcome.

The war would continue for years, possibly decades, so it was foolish to take a life-or-death risk this early.

Merin rubs his forehead as he reads one troubling report after another.

One in particular catches his attention: soul essence leaking into the fortress from the enemy's side.

Soul essence is banned in their army because they have sworn to fight against the beast ancestors who feast on mortal souls.

Yet, soul essence is a priceless resource—it can prolong lifespan without side effects.

If Merin ever secured some, he would give it to his parents when they neared the end of their years.

But for now, the matter is a political nightmare waiting to explode.

Thankfully, someone else will inherit that headache tomorrow.

He finishes the reports he can help with and leans back just as familiar steps sound outside his door.

Before Zhen Qi can knock, Merin says calmly, "Come in."

As usual, Zhen Qi enters without surprise, bows slightly, and greets him with a respectful, "Dragon Master."

Zhen Qi doesn't call him Master Kanoru anymore because Merin has already advanced into the Spiritual Master Realm and created his own title.

Merin's breakthrough hadn't come solely from the transformation technique—his dragon form was only at the level of an initial True Core Realm beast.

His advancement was driven by his deep research into lizard-type beasts and vitality-bearing plants, which allowed him to raise his artistic conception of vitality to the next level, evolving it into the Rule of Vitality.

When this Rule of Vitality took shape, the world itself acknowledged him as a pioneer who had improved its order, rewarding him with Original Energy that merged into his spiritual core, producing a single drop of Original Liquid and transforming his body into a Rule Body.

That Original Liquid could, for a short time, allow a Spiritual Master to rival even an Ancestral Realm cultivator.

Six months have passed since Merin broke through to the Spiritual Master Realm, and he now understands that the Original Liquid doesn't reflect one's true cultivation stage, nor can it replenish itself naturally—a new drop can only be earned through further breakthroughs.

The Spiritual Master Realm advances by perfecting one's created Rule and approaching 10% of an innate world Rule.

When the Rule reaches that limit, it signifies the peak of the Spiritual Master Realm, at which point the next step is to merge one's Rule into one of the Nine Innate Rules.

That was why the Holy Blood Ancestor was originally called the Holy Blood Master before reaching Ancestor level—his creation of the Purification Rule had granted him his title.

Merin looks up at Zhen Qi, who is still bowing, and says, "I remember receiving an invitation to transfer to Saisei City, but I declined. Do you still have the letter?"

"Yes, Master," Zhen Qi replies. "It's in my quarters."

"Good," Merin says. "Hand the letter to the City Lord and inform him that I accept the invitation. I'll leave tomorrow."

"Yes, Master," Zhen Qi replies before leaving.

An hour later, Merin also departs his office after reviewing the latest battle report displayed on his wall, delivered as Zhen Qi had left.

He reorganizes the list of units that will participate in tomorrow's rotation and passes the updated deployment order to the garrison commander.

Returning home, Merin is soon visited again by Zhen Qi, who informs him that the City Lord agrees to his request and that he can leave the city in the morning.

Merin begins cooking a simple meal, for taste, mostly.

Since transforming into a Rule Body, hunger and most of his emotions have dulled considerably.

Yet the benefits outweigh the drawbacks; after all, his lifespan has increased by five hundred years.

At just eighteen years old, with a core lifespan of 180 years from true core cultivation realm and adding the extra 500 years rewarded by the world, he will live 662 more years.

As they eat, Zhen Qi asks, "Master, what should I do?"

Merin replies, "You and my men will pack all our experimental materials and instruments for transport to Saisei City."

Zhen Qi tilts his head. "Why Saisei City, Master? Surely it's not just because they want you to establish a branch of the Spiritual Academy there."

Merin looks mildly surprised. "Oh? That was their invitation? To set up the academy branch?"

"Yes," Zhen Qi answers. "They want you to teach the transformation technique and research a method for the half-yao to cultivate the spiritual path."

Merin gives a thoughtful nod and finishes his meal.

"My father also wrote to me," he says, setting his bowl aside. "He wishes for me to come to Saisei City for my wedding."

Zhen Qi acknowledges this with a quiet nod and, after finishing his own food, bows and returns to his quarters inside the compound.

The next morning, as the sun rises, a western dragon with gleaming grey scales takes off from the city and flies northeast.

Saisei City lies where the old Blackwater Swamp once was, at the junction of the former Toro, Di, and Sang Kingdoms.

Now dotted with countless lakes and rich, fertile soil, it is the most prosperous region of the former seven kingdoms—and where Merin's future awaits.