Merin sits in the centre of the garden courtyard, his body still and composed while his mind moves with intense precision, weaving together the elements of Poison, Ice, and Wood in countless subtle variations.
Within his consciousness, streams of energy take shape and dissolve repeatedly, as he tests different balances between the three elements, observing how they interact, suppress, or amplify one another.
His understanding of Ice and Wood is already refined and stable, forming a solid foundation, but Poison remains unfamiliar territory, unstable and difficult to control.
Yet this limitation does not trouble him.
With a single thought, the Dragon Totem responds.
From within it, countless fragments of comprehension begin to flow into his mind, drawn from the accumulated understanding of those who have walked the path of poison before him.
He does not absorb everything.
He filters.
Selects only what is necessary.
Because he knows that his Dao is still forming, fragile in its early stage, and absorbing too much foreign understanding would only corrupt its foundation.
So he takes only what he needs.
Level Three.
Enough to stabilise the element.
Enough to build upon.
Then he stops.
Now, the three elements stand within his control.
Ice.
Wood.
Poison.
He begins the true process.
Instead of keeping them separate, he pushes them together.
Slowly at first.
Carefully.
The cold of Ice spreads through Wood, while Poison seeps into both, creating a strange, unstable fusion that pulses with quiet danger.
He refines it further.
Compresses it.
Shapes it.
Time passes unnoticed.
His focus deepens.
So deep,
That he forgets one thing.
Control.
The balance slips.
Inside his mind, the three elements suddenly collide completely.
Not guided.
Not restrained.
They merge violently.
At that exact moment,
Power bursts out of him.
Silently.
Invisibly.
But overwhelmingly.
The garden reacts first.
The grass beneath him turns grey.
Then black.
Withers instantly.
The nearby plants collapse as if their life has been drained in a single breath.
Trees tremble.
Leaves fall.
Branches dry and crack.
The fountain ripples,
Then stills.
The fish within it float upward.
Dead.
A spreading field of decay moves outward from Merin's body.
Cold.
Corrosive.
Life-erasing.
It continues to expand.
Reaching the edges of the courtyard.
Approaching the house.
Only then,
Merin's eyes snap open.
His consciousness returns instantly.
The surge of power halts.
Everything freezes in place.
The spread stops just before touching the building.
Silence follows.
The garden stands half-dead.
Half untouched.
Merin exhales slowly.
His gaze sweeps across the destruction he caused.
Not with shock,
But with understanding, not surprise or regret, as Merin clearly realises that what just occurred was not a mistake, but the birth of something new within his Dao.
He has comprehended a new Law.
Even though it has not yet reached Level One, he can already feel its terrifying nature, and more importantly, he appreciates the quiet devastation it brings.
There is no explosion, no visible destruction, only silent death spreading outward, erasing life at its root.
A faint satisfaction appears in his thoughts.
"This… can become a weapon."
He lets the structure of the Law settle in his mind, carefully observing its nature before refining it further.
The Ice element targets the bonds between cells, weakening the fragile structure that sustains life, while the Poison destabilises that system further, spreading disruption through every layer.
At the same time, the Wood element does not nourish life here, but instead turns against it, attacking the very core that sustains vitality.
Together, they form a quiet, unstoppable process.
Not destruction,
But decay.
Withering.
A slow, inevitable end.
"It acts like withering…"
He pauses briefly, then decides.
"Law of Withering."
The name settles naturally, as if it had always belonged to this power.
Without wasting time, he begins to refine his understanding, stabilising the interactions between the three elements and deepening his control over their balance.
Time passes.
The sun shifts across the sky.
By evening,
The atmosphere has changed.
Merin now sits beside Diexin on a gently swaying chair within the garden, the earlier destruction already cleared away by servants, leaving no trace of what had happened.
Before them, in the open space, Biyun moves energetically, practising sword movements as he fights against a clone of himself.
His strikes are unrefined, yet full of spirit.
He is only four years old.
Too young to begin true cultivation.
His dantian has yet to fully open.
That will happen naturally at the age of six.
With their resources and his constitution, they could force it open now.
Easily.
But they choose not to.
They want his foundation to form naturally, without instability or hidden flaws.
So for now, they guide him.
Prepare him.
Lay the groundwork.
Merin raises his hand slightly.
A book appears.
Its cover depicts a dragon soaring above a dense forest, while behind it stretches a barren land of sand and decay.
The title rests clearly upon it.
Wither Dragon.
Diexin notices it immediately.
Her gaze shifts from the book to Merin, questioning without words.
"For you."
He says simply.
She takes the book.
Opens it.
Her eyes move quickly across the pages.
It is a cultivation technique.
Not purely spiritual refining.
Not purely body cultivation.
But a fusion of both.
Similar in nature to her Winter's Cry technique, yet more complex.
More complete.
She continues reading, skimming through its structure and progression.
It reaches up to the Soul Awakening Stage.
She pauses.
Look at him again.
A trace of confusion appears.
"I already have a half-Saint stage cultivation technique."
Merin responds calmly.
"I created this for you."
"It combines Ice, Poison, and Wood into a new element."
"For now, it supports a breakthrough to the Soul Awakening Stage."
"I will complete the later stages… up to Saint."
Diexin lowers her gaze back to the book.
Her thoughts begin to move carefully.
"I should read it fully first…"
"Then decide."
While Diexin reads quietly beside him, her attention fully absorbed in the pages of the technique, Biyun continues his practice in the field, his small figure moving with determination as he clashes repeatedly against his own clone.
At that moment, Merin's perception shifts slightly, as he senses a fluctuation in the flow of spiritual energy somewhere within the city, sharp and unstable, signalling the beginning of a breakthrough into the Soul Awakening Stage.
His gaze lifts toward the north, settling on the castle built upon the mountain that overlooks Dragon City, and without hesitation, a wisp of his consciousness separates and travels toward it.
He already knows who it is.
Uncle Duan Lei.
He recalls the First Elder mentioning that Duan Lei had entered seclusion to attempt a breakthrough, and now the moment has arrived.
His consciousness passes effortlessly through the defensive formation surrounding the castle, slipping through its layers without resistance before descending into the underground levels where the seclusion chambers are located.
He finds the correct room almost instantly.
Inside,
Duan Lei is breaking through.
Merin observes silently, his awareness expanding as he studies the fluctuations within his uncle's aura, and almost immediately, he recognises the problem.
The aura is unstable.
Violently so.
"He will fail…"
The cause is clear.
Duan Lei's natal object.
An alien purple thunder spirit.
A powerful existence that grants him overwhelming combat strength, far beyond his peers.
But now, that very strength becomes his greatest obstacle.
High-quality spiritual objects provide unmatched foundations and power once refined into a natal object, but the consciousness within them is equally formidable.
They resist.
They fight.
They refuse to be erased.
Within Duan Lei's spirit space, the battle unfolds.
The purple lightning spirit roars, its form crackling with destructive energy as it overwhelms him.
Duan Lei is losing.
His strength falters.
Regret rises within him.
"Why… was I so arrogant…"
"If I had sought help…"
"…this would not have happened."
Despair begins to settle.
He starts to give up.
At that moment,
A dragon's roar echoes through his spirit space.
It shatters the silence.
Shakes the battlefield.
A vast presence descends.
Duan Lei's vision changes instantly.
His perspective rises.
Expands.
He feels an overwhelming sense of clarity.
As if he stands above everything.
Omniscient.
Every flaw.
Every weakness.
The purple thunder spirit becomes visible to him.
Clear.
Unhidden.
Without hesitation, he strikes.
Directly at its core weakness.
The battle turns.
Outside, Merin channels the power of the Dragon Totem, silently blessing and stabilising the process.
Moments later, the chaotic fluctuations begin to settle.
Duan Lei's aura stabilises.
Strengthens.
The danger passes.
The breakthrough continues smoothly.
Merin withdraws his consciousness.
It rises upward, passing through the underground chambers, through the castle walls, and back into the open sky.
Then it returns to his body.
He opens his eyes.
Before him,
Song Xingli stands quietly.
She has been waiting.
The moment his gaze focuses, she speaks.
"I have decided… to stay."
Merin looks at her.
Then nods once.
Simple.
Accepted.
The next day, Merin wakes slowly, his consciousness returning with quiet clarity as he feels a warm presence resting within his arms.
Song Xingli lies beside him, her body relaxed yet faintly tense beneath the surface, as if even in sleep she has not fully come to terms with the decision she made.
She chose to stay.
And with that choice, she has accepted everything that follows.
Merin does not speak.
His gaze rests on her for a brief moment before his thoughts shift toward something more practical.
Without disturbing her, he gently channels his energy into her body, his control precise and subtle as it moves through her meridians without resistance.
He begins to observe.
Her internal structure unfolds clearly before him.
Energy pathways.
Elemental balance.
Foundation.
Everything reveals itself.
Unlike Diexin, Xingli's energy composition carries a different nature, one that reflects her cultivation path and the power she has inherited and refined over time.
Merin studies it carefully, not rushing, not interfering, simply understanding first before shaping anything new.
Because what he intends to create is not just a technique,
But a path suited specifically for her.
A Dragon Transformation Technique that aligns with her foundation, strengthens her body, and allows her to evolve without conflict.
His mind begins to work.
Structures form.
Possibilities branch.
Combinations shift and refine.
All while his energy continues to flow quietly within her, mapping every detail of her existence.
He does not wake her.
He does not hurry.
He only observes,
And begins to create.