The first thing Selene saw was color.
She nearly bounced on her feet as she pointed across the endless sea of towering bamboo.
"There!" she cried. "Kael, look there—quick!"
Kael turned.
And forgot how to breathe.
Far beyond the green ocean of swaying bamboo rose something so enormous his mind struggled to measure it. A single colossal stalk stood at the heart of the valley like a pillar built to hold up the sky itself. It dwarfed every other bamboo around it. Clouds drifted around its upper reaches.
And beside it—
a rainbow.
Not some faint strip of light after rain.
This was a blazing arc of living color that stretched across half the valley, brilliant enough to hurt the eyes. It curved through the heavens and struck one side of a distant cliff face like a divine bridge.
Kael stared like an idiot.
Hadrian folded his arms behind his back and smiled faintly.
"To be precise," he said, "what you've seen so far is only the outer threshold. The true Great Verdant Vale lies below."
Kael barely heard him.
His gaze remained fixed on the monstrous bamboo.
"That giant stalk..." he muttered. "That has to be the Ancient Reed. One of the nineteen great ley-veins."
Hadrian gave him a cold sideways glance.
"What else would it be?"
His voice sharpened.
"There is nothing else in this world like it."
Selene's eyes glistened as she stared into the distance.
"My mother was right..." she whispered. "She said this was one of the most beautiful places in existence."
Kael slowly looked back toward the tiny stone marker they had used to enter.
That insignificant slab had led them here.
To this.
He frowned.
"A stone marker that small opened the path to a place this vast..." he murmured. "Could it be some kind of pocket realm? A world hidden inside something tiny?"
Hadrian barked a laugh.
"You really do enjoy sounding clever while knowing nothing."
Kael's jaw tightened.
Hadrian continued in that same maddeningly calm tone.
"I already explained that the marker was merely one entrance."
Kael looked at him sharply.
"That makes no sense. If this place isn't hidden inside some artifact, then where the hell is it?"
He gestured toward the endless bamboo sea.
"You can't hide something this large."
Hadrian smirked.
"Who told you that?"
Kael frowned.
Hadrian's eyes gleamed with superiority.
"There are arts capable of concealing mountains. Rivers. Entire kingdoms. Even stars."
He stepped toward the cliff edge and looked down into the valley.
"But this place was not hidden by sorcery."
He paused.
"The Great Verdant Vale exists in a crack between realms."
Kael blinked.
"A crack?"
"Yes."
Hadrian looked almost amused by Kael's confusion.
"A wound between the Mortal Realm and the Fell Realm. A structural fracture where both worlds overlap."
He spread his hands.
"That fracture became this valley."
Kael stared at him.
"A crack is this big?"
Hadrian laughed again.
"And how large is the world, Kael Ashvane?"
Kael opened his mouth.
Then closed it.
Because he had absolutely no answer.
Hadrian leaned closer.
"Exactly."
Then he waved dismissively.
"These matters are beyond you. Explaining them is wasted breath."
Kael's face darkened.
Heat surged into his chest.
He was one insult away from wrapping the Eight-Claw Flamescourge around Hadrian's throat.
Then soft fingers slid into his palm.
He looked down.
Selene.
She gave his hand a tiny squeeze and leaned close enough for only him to hear.
"You deserve that."
Kael blinked.
"What?"
She hid a smile.
"You started this by insulting him inside the carriage."
Kael stared at her.
Then at the dimples appearing in her cheeks.
Then at her lips.
Most of his anger evaporated immediately.
Damn her.
Hadrian watched them from ahead, his smile growing thinner.
Selene quickly stepped between them.
"That rainbow..." she said brightly. "Can we go see it?"
Hadrian instantly recovered.
"Of course."
He offered her his arm.
She ignored it.
His expression twitched.
"I was heading there anyway," he said smoothly. "Follow me."
He walked ahead.
Kael followed beside Selene, grinning like a smug bastard.
Hadrian's shoulders stiffened.
The trail gradually sloped downward.
They crossed winding stone paths carved into cliff walls.
As they descended, the rainbow grew larger.
Brighter.
Stranger.
Until they finally reached the cliff where it landed.
Selene gasped.
The entire cliff face glowed in shifting layers of color.
Red.
Gold.
Violet.
Blue.
It looked like someone had painted the stone with liquid heaven.
Then Selene pointed at the opposite cliff.
"How is that possible?"
Kael narrowed his eyes.
And froze.
The end of the rainbow didn't vanish like ordinary light.
It hung from the cliff.
Flowing downward in strips.
Like silk banners made from liquid color.
They drifted in the wind.
Beautiful.
Impossible.
Hadrian nodded.
"That rainbow has existed here for longer than anyone remembers."
He smiled faintly.
"It never fades."
Selene stared dreamily.
"It looks like fabric..."
Hadrian glanced at her.
"There are stories."
"What stories?"
"That celestial maidens once wore garments woven from clouds and colored light."
Selene laughed softly.
"I would love to see something like that."
Kael stared at the rainbow silk.
Then at Selene.
Then back at the rainbow.
Then at Selene again.
A dangerous idea entered his head.
"If that really is like cloth..." he muttered, "I could grab some."
Selene gave him an amused look.
"You're joking."
Kael grinned.
"Maybe."
Truthfully?
He was already calculating.
Distance.
Wind.
Landing points.
The opposite cliff was roughly forty feet away.
Below them was a drop so deep the bottom disappeared into mist.
One mistake meant death.
Kael wiped suddenly sweaty palms against his robes.
Then another thought struck him.
Peria.
The little peach spirit only had one dress.
If he brought back rainbow silk—
Her reaction would probably be adorable.
He nearly laughed aloud.
Hadrian noticed his expression.
And immediately understood.
A strange light entered his eyes.
He casually said, "It may not be impossible."
Kael turned.
Hadrian shrugged.
"I once saw someone wearing clothing made from rainbow silk."
Selene's eyes widened.
"Really?"
Hadrian nodded.
"The consort of the young lord who governs this valley."
He smirked.
"It was unforgettable."
Selene turned toward the rainbow with unconcealed longing.
Kael's blood heated.
That settled it.
He would get it.
For Selene.
And for Peria.
Because he was apparently insane.
Selene noticed his increasingly deranged expression.
Her eyes narrowed.
"Kael…"
He rolled his shoulders.
"What?"
"What are you thinking?"
"Nothing."
"Kael."
He flashed her a grin.
Then jumped.
Selene screamed.
Kael launched off the cliff like a hunting hawk.
Wind exploded past his ears.
His stomach dropped.
Then exhilaration hit him like strong liquor.
He circulated the Sundering Flame Art.
Heat erupted through his channels.
His body glided through open air.
Behind him—
"KAEL!"
Selene's horrified scream echoed across the valley.
She instantly moved.
Water Vitae exploded from her body as she unleashed the Surging Tide Dance.
A spiraling torrent shot after him—
and missed by inches.
Kael laughed wildly into the wind.
"Wait there!"
His voice carried back to her.
"I'm bringing you a rainbow dress!"
"You idiot!"
Selene nearly collapsed from terror.
Hadrian stood frozen.
Then very slowly—
he smiled.
A vicious, ugly thing.
Die.
Die, you arrogant little bastard.
Kael reached the far cliff just as his momentum failed.
His body dropped.
He slammed one hand against stone—
caught himself—
and with his other hand grabbed the hanging rainbow silk.
It felt real.
Soft.
Cool.
He tore off a massive piece.
It ripped free.
"Yes!"
Then gravity claimed him.
Kael dropped.
Fast.
"KAEL!"
Selene's scream broke into raw panic.
Kael grinned through the fall.
His arm snapped outward.
The Eight-Claw Flamescourge burst from his sleeve like a living serpent of red scales.
The whip shot across the cliffside—
wrapped around a protruding boulder—
tightened.
Kael swung.
Hard.
His body whipped through open air.
He arced back toward Selene's side of the cliff.
Every calculation had worked.
Every movement perfect.
One mistake would have turned him into red paste on the valley floor.
But Kael had always been at his happiest while doing things that sane people would never attempt.
He soared through the air.
Clothes snapping.
Hair wild.
Rainbow silk clutched in one hand.
The colossal rainbow blazing behind him.
For one perfect moment—
he looked less like a reckless idiot and more like something from an old heroic legend.
Selene stared.
Her breathing stopped.
Gods.
When had he become this handsome?
Had he always looked like that?
Her heart pounded so hard it hurt.
She couldn't look away.
He was flying back toward her.
Smiling.
Alive.
And hers—
Her face turned bright red.
Then—
everything changed.
A piercing cry split the sky.
The sound was so sharp and powerful that all three of them staggered.
Their souls trembled.
Selene looked upward.
And all color drained from her face.
Something enormous burst from within the rainbow.
A giant bird made of living flame.
Its feathers burned in seven colors.
Its wingspan stretched nearly thirty feet.
Fire trailed behind it like streaming banners.
Its eyes blazed with ancient fury.
Selene's body went cold.
"No…"
Recognition struck instantly.
"Kael!" she screamed. "Throw the rainbow away!"
Kael was still airborne.
Still facing away.
"What?"
The creature arrived.
Too fast.
Far too fast.
The Seven-Flame Verdant Phoenix slammed its wings forward.
The blast of force hit Kael like a collapsing mountain.
He vomited blood instantly.
His body spun violently through open air.
The rainbow silk ripped from his hand.
Then Kael plummeted into the abyss.
Straight down.
Selene screamed so hard her throat tore.
The wing blast struck her next.
She was ripped off her feet and hurled backward.
Her body hurtled toward a massive bamboo stalk.
At the last second—
someone caught her around the waist.
Hadrian.
He dragged her into his arms.
Above them, the flaming phoenix wheeled through the sky.
A ring of fire spiraled behind it.
Then it shrieked and dove after Kael into the endless depths below.
Its Intimidating Aura exploded across the valley like a tidal wave.
Selene shook violently in Hadrian's arms.
Her eyes remained fixed on the abyss where Kael had vanished.
"No…"
Her voice broke.
"No no no—"
She struggled wildly.
"Let me go!"
Hadrian tightened his grip.
"Stop!"
His voice shook despite himself.
"That's a guardian spirit of the Ancient Reed!"
He stared at the descending phoenix with naked fear.
"We can't fight that thing!"
Selene clawed at him like a madwoman.
"LET ME GO!"
Tears streamed down her face as she stared into the bottomless darkness.
Where Kael had disappeared.
"Let me go!"
Selene sounded less like a noble daughter and more like an animal caught in a trap.
She drove an icy spike of water Vitae backward without warning.
The Ice-Pierce Art punched through Hadrian's sleeve, tore flesh from his forearm, and forced his grip open. Blood sprayed across the bamboo roots.
She ripped free and ran.
Hadrian cursed and chased after her.
Selene reached the cliff edge and collapsed onto her knees so hard stone cracked beneath them. She leaned over the abyss.
Far below—
the Seven-Flame Verdant Phoenix fell like a burning star.
Its colossal body punched into the endless bamboo sea.
A bloom of emerald fire erupted from the impact point.
Then darkness swallowed everything again.
Selene stopped breathing.
Her entire body went numb.
"No…"
The word slipped from her lips in a whisper.
Then her soul seemed to split open.
"NO!"
She slammed both fists against the cliff edge until skin tore from her knuckles.
"He's dead…" she choked. "Even if that monster didn't kill him…"
Her voice collapsed into broken sobs.
"That fall... that fall would've shattered him into meat..."
Hadrian arrived behind her, breathing hard.
He glanced downward and exhaled shakily.
"A guardian spirit that protects sacred treasures..." he muttered. "I'd heard stories. Never thought I'd actually see one."
Selene turned toward him so fast her hair whipped across her face.
Tears streamed freely.
"You knew?" she screamed.
Hadrian froze.
"You knew there was something like that here?"
"I—I didn't know he'd touch the rainbow silk!"
His expression looked wounded. Innocent.
Too innocent.
"That rainbow belongs to the phoenix. It plays there sometimes. I assumed he understood sacred places are guarded by spirit beasts. Who just grabs strange treasures without thinking?"
He spread his hands helplessly.
"I never imagined he'd be that reckless."
Selene stared at him.
For one horrible moment, she didn't know what to believe.
Hadrian looked sincere.
Kael had absolutely been reckless enough to do something idiotic like that.
That made it worse.
The rage drained out of her all at once.
Only helplessness remained.
Then she collapsed against Hadrian's chest and screamed into his shoulder.
Hadrian nearly moaned from sheer delight.
He forced himself to maintain a grieving expression.
His eyes drifted toward Selene's pale neck.
Her soft ear.
Her trembling lips.
For one dangerous moment, he nearly kissed her.
Then Selene suddenly lifted her head.
Her face was ruined by tears.
"I'm going down there."
"What?"
"I'm finding him."
Her voice shook violently.
But her eyes held terrifying determination.
"Hadrian... please."
It was the first time she had ever spoken to him that softly.
"Take me down there."
Hadrian immediately nodded.
"Of course."
His face twisted into practiced sorrow.
Inside—
he laughed like a devil.
Find him?
You'll find bones at best.
That bastard is gone.
---
Kael fell through a forest of spears.
That was what the bamboo felt like.
Massive trunks slammed into him from every direction as he plummeted through the towering bamboo canopy.
He roared and swung the Eight-Claw Flamescourge wildly.
The segmented whip lashed around stalks.
Snapped branches.
Wrapped trunks.
Anything.
Anything to slow him.
Wood exploded everywhere.
Crack.
Snap.
Boom.
His descent slowed—barely.
Then the world ended.
He hit the ground like a dropped corpse.
The impact blasted dead leaves and dirt into the air.
Kael vomited blood.
His vision went black.
Pain flooded everything.
His ribs screamed.
His spine felt shattered.
His organs twisted like they'd been torn loose.
He lay there gasping like a dying dog.
But he was breathing.
Alive.
Still alive.
He nearly cried from relief.
"Thank every god that listens…" he wheezed.
He coughed blood.
"If this forest wasn't thick enough to stop me…"
He looked upward weakly.
"…I'd be decorating the ground."
Then the sky turned green.
Kael's face went white.
"Oh no."
He rolled.
Every ounce of strength he had left went into that desperate movement.
A heartbeat later—
BOOOOOOM.
The phoenix smashed into the bamboo behind him.
Hundreds of massive stalks exploded apart.
Emerald flames devoured the darkness.
The shockwave hurled Kael through the dirt.
He screamed.
Then staggered upright.
Then ran.
He ran like death was kissing his neck.
Because it was.
The phoenix shrieked and shot back into the sky.
Its senses locked onto him instantly.
It glided just above the bamboo canopy.
Hunting.
Waiting.
Then it dove.
Kael sprinted through the bamboo maze, crashing through roots and vines.
The phoenix tore after him.
Its wings flattened forests.
Its claws ripped trenches through the earth.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Each strike missed by inches.
Kael's clothes tore apart.
Blood streamed from fresh wounds.
His lungs burned.
"What kind of insane bird is this?!"
He nearly sobbed.
"Aren't phoenixes supposed to be graceful and wise?!"
He leapt over roots.
Ducked beneath shattered bamboo.
"This one's just a murderous lunatic!"
His foot suddenly caught on something hidden beneath leaves.
"Oh, hell—"
He pitched forward.
Face first.
He smashed into dirt.
Stars exploded behind his eyes.
The phoenix screamed above him.
Kael looked up.
Its enormous claws descended.
Everything went cold.
"Well."
He squeezed his eyes shut.
"This is how Lord Ashvane dies."
Then—
something grabbed him.
Kael shot upward.
The claws struck empty earth.
The phoenix screamed in fury.
Kael opened one eye.
Someone was carrying him.
Fast.
Very fast.
The figure moved through the bamboo forest like lightning.
Even faster than Kael.
Even fast enough to keep ahead of the phoenix.
Kael nearly wept with gratitude.
"I knew fate loved me."
Then his rescuer snarled—
"You little bastard nearly ruined everything."
Kael blinked.
"What?"
"Die."
The man hurled him.
Kael flew through the air.
Then slammed into the ground again.
He screamed until his throat tore.
Every injury he already had erupted with fresh agony.
He curled into himself.
"What in the burning hells is wrong with people today—"
"Everyone ready!"
A woman's voice rang out nearby.
Young.
Smooth.
Strangely familiar.
Kael forced his eyes open.
His blood turned cold.
He was lying in the center of a clearing.
No cover.
No bamboo.
Nowhere to hide.
Above—
wings thundered.
The phoenix had arrived.
Kael nearly cried.
"So that lunatic didn't save me…"
He spat blood.
"He delivered me."
The phoenix descended.
Its body blocked the sky.
Its claws stretched toward him.
Then Kael noticed something carved into the earth.
Lines.
Grooves.
Hundreds of them.
Complex patterns spread beneath him.
A formation.
Understanding flashed through him.
Then confusion followed.
"What—"
"Kael?!"
The female voice screamed in shock.
A ribbon shot through the air.
It wrapped around Kael's waist.
Yanked him sideways.
The phoenix's claws struck empty ground again.
It screamed in pure rage.
Then the carved lines beneath the clearing exploded with light.
A massive Formation activated instantly.
Invisible burning threads erupted through the air.
They wrapped around the phoenix.
Bound it.
Cut it.
Burned it.
The beast thrashed wildly.
Kael crashed near someone's feet.
He looked up.
A woman stood above him.
Beautiful figure.
Long legs.
Masked face.
Only her eyes were visible.
She ignored him completely.
Her arms moved gracefully through the air as though conducting invisible strings.
Kael turned.
Seven or eight masked figures surrounded the clearing.
All of them moved their arms in precise synchronization.
Maintaining the formation.
The phoenix shrieked.
Its terrifying Intimidating Aura exploded outward.
Kael collapsed instantly.
His limbs turned weak.
He could barely breathe.
But the masked cultivators didn't budge.
They stood firm.
The phoenix became increasingly frantic.
Its beak tore through air.
Its claws shredded invisible restraints.
Emerald fire exploded everywhere.
Several masked figures began shaking.
One of them—the bastard who had thrown Kael—shouted:
"Hold!"
Sweat poured down his face.
"It's almost finished!"
He was right.
Slowly—
the phoenix weakened.
Its flames dimmed.
Burned feathers drifted to the ground.
Its shrieks became weaker.
Its aura weakened.
Kael watched in horror.
"What kind of formation does this to a creature like that...?"
Eventually the phoenix's shrieks became pitiful.
Almost mournful.
Its wings slowed.
Its feathers burned away in clumps.
The first man shouted toward the masked woman.
"It's done! Move!"
She nodded.
"When I count to three."
Her voice was calm.
"One."
The phoenix trembled.
"Two."
Its eyes filled with panic.
"Three."
Every cultivator released the formation at once.
The glowing lines dimmed instantly.
The phoenix realized it was free.
It desperately shot upward.
Trying to flee.
The masked woman crossed both arms over her chest.
Then bent forward in one elegant motion.
A streak of green flashed behind her.
Too fast to follow.
The phoenix froze in midair.
Perfectly still.
Then—
BOOOOOOM.
Its massive body crashed to the ground.
The earth shook.
Silence followed.
One masked man spoke.
"Did you get it?"
The woman nodded.
She held up a gray-green bowl.
"Yes."
"Leave. Now."
"I'll follow."
The man nodded.
"Erase everything."
His gaze briefly landed on Kael.
Then he led the others away.
They vanished into the bamboo forest within seconds.
The masked woman reached into a storage pouch.
She withdrew a strange two-pronged jade fork.
Then she moved across the clearing.
Fast.
Precise.
She destroyed every carved line in the earth.
Every trace of the formation vanished.
Only then did she walk toward Kael.
Kael immediately began dragging himself backward.
His entire body trembled.
The masked woman laughed softly.
Then she put away the jade weapon.
"You're still afraid of me?"
Kael froze.
That voice.
He knew that voice.
He stared at her.
"Who are you?"
The woman lifted both hands behind her head.
Untied her veil.
Then slowly removed it.
Moonlit skin.
Dark brows.
Eyes like flowing water.
A dangerously beautiful face.
Kael's jaw dropped.