POV (Noctis)
The night wind rustled through the peaks of Flame's Crest, carrying a cool breeze and the familiar scent of spices. But for Noctis, tonight felt different. The loneliness that had always accompanied him since Lux's departure two years ago felt more piercing than usual. He stood on the balcony of their residence, gazing north, towards the Burning Sky Sect headquarters that he couldn't even see.
"He must be all grown up," he murmured to the wind.
Memories of the past two years flooded his mind. The first year after Lux left was a year of adjustment. The house, once filled with Lux's cheerful chatter and strange little experiments, now felt silent and vast. As the Senior Manager of Flame's Crest, his responsibilities increased, taking care of everything from logistics and security to diplomacy with the smaller sects in the surrounding area. The work was exhausting, but that's where he found escape from the loneliness.
Lumina was also busy with her position on the City Defense Formation Team. Her expertise in maintaining and strengthening the city's protective formations was highly valued. Noctis often caught her late at night, immersed in complex energy diagrams, her old eyes gleaming with concentration. But behind that busyness, Noctis could see the same longing in his wife's eyes. Her smile was no longer as free as it used to be, as if a part of her had gone with Lux.
They both continued to build their foundations. Noctis with his 7 Pillars and Lumina with her 5 Pillars worked hard. However, their path began to stall. The resources provided by the sect for a Senior Manager and City Formation Expert were not enough to push them beyond the Foundation Establishment realm. They needed more pure Spirit Crystals, quality pills, and rare materials not only to add new Pillars, but also to polish the Compatibility of existing Pillars from the still rough Acquisition level to the Low compatibility level, an important prerequisite before attempting a breakthrough to the Core Forging Realm.
At the beginning of the second year, despair began to creep in. Noctis realized that if they stayed in Flame's Crest, their progress would stagnate. They would fall too far behind, not only by their peers, but one day, perhaps even by their own son.
One night, he conveyed his decision to Lumina.
"Lumina, I'm going to apply for an assignment in Wildfire City."
Lumina, who was brewing tea, froze instantly. The cup in her hand trembled slightly. "What? That's crazy, Noctis! Wildfire City... that's our most dangerous outpost! It borders directly on the Shadow Viper Sect's territory!"
"I know," Noctis replied, his voice heavy but full of conviction. "But that's where the highest contribution points are given. As a member of the guard or scout team there, my contribution in a year could equal five years here. The resources are also more abundant. It's the only way we can gather enough resources to advance."
"No! I won't let you go to that hell alone!" Lumina protested, her eyes welling up.
"I have to, dear. For us. For our future... and for Lux."
"Then I'm coming too!"
"Impossible! It's too dangerous!"
"It's more dangerous for you to go alone!" Lumina retorted, approaching and holding Noctis's hand tightly. "I can't just sit here waiting, not knowing if you're alive or not. I'm also a cultivator, Noctis. My formation skills could be useful there. They must need formation experts to defend the city's fortress. That way, we can be together, watch over each other, and both collect contributions."
The debate lasted almost all night. Tears, anger, and finally, understanding. Noctis knew his wife's determination was as strong as his own. Finally, with a heavy heart, he agreed.
Their application process was quickly approved. Their combined skills were indeed needed at the vulnerable border post. Leaving Flame's Crest felt bittersweet. This was their home, where Lux was raised. However, they set off with burning determination.
~
Wildfire City was a completely different world from Flame's Crest. If Flame's Crest was a well-organized and lively city, Wildfire City was a tense and dusty military fortress. The air here felt hot and dry, filled with aggressive fire energy and a touch of subtle poison from the Shadow Viper territory to the south. The spiritual energy here felt unstable, fluctuating between tension and ever-present danger.
Noctis was assigned to the Elite Scout Team "Fire Hawk". His job was to lead patrols on the border, gather intelligence on enemy movements, and occasionally engage in small firefights with Shadow Viper patrols. Every mission was a dance with death. He watched his colleagues fall to poison that gnawed from within or ambushed in unexpected ambushes. His experience in Flame's Crest as a manager didn't help him much here; what was needed was survival instinct, speed, and raw strength.
His Pillars of Affinity Fire, Sword, Wind, Speed, Perception, Strength, and Vitality were tested to their limits. He learned to use his Wind and Speed not only to attack, but to evade and sneak. His sharp Perception often saved the lives of his team members who did not have a perception pillar from formation traps or invisible poisons. His Vitality allowed him to survive wounds that should have been fatal.
Meanwhile, Lumina worked under the city's Formation Commander. Her job may not have been as frontline as her husband's, but it was no less stressful. Wildfire City's defense formations were attacked and attempts were made to breach them almost every day by Shadow Viper formation experts. Lumina had to rack her brains, helping the team to quickly repair the damage, and even modify the formations in real-time to anticipate new attack patterns. Her initial four Pillars of Fire, Soul, Intelligence, and Perception turned out to be insufficient. She realized she needed a more flexible approach.
With the contributions they collected, they began to invest in themselves. Noctis decided to pursue the Lightning Pillar, convinced that its speed and destructive power would be very useful in lightning battles on the border. He also added the Endurance Pillar, to strengthen his body against poison and physical attacks. The process was agonizing, requiring resources that almost depleted all their savings, and almost caused him Qi Deviation several times.
Lumina, with her deep understanding of energy, chose Pillars that were more subtle but no less vital Wind, to sense energy flows and almost undetectable disturbances Sound, to understand energy vibrations and long-range communication within formations and Light, to purify dirty energy and strengthen the core of the defense formation.
Two years passed like a nightmare filled with vigilance. They barely had time for themselves, let alone to miss Lux. Every day was a fight to survive and become stronger. However, their efforts paid off.
At the beginning of the third year, in a simple meditation room in their barracks, Noctis successfully formed his Lightning Pillar and Endurance Pillar, perfecting 9 Affinity Pillars in the Foundation Establishment Realm. His energy exploded, stable and strong, ready to eventually condense the Core.
Lumina, not wanting to be outdone, also managed to stabilize her 3 new Pillars—Wind, Sound, and Light bringing her to a total of 8 Pillars. Her formation abilities skyrocketed and became a low-earth level formation expert usually possessed by core forging stage cultivators. She even began designing small hybrid defense formations that combined Wind and Light elements, something rarely done before in Wildfire City.
They had both changed. Noctis was now more taciturn, his eyes radiating the vigilance of a predator who had been hunted too often. His movements were economical and full of deadly efficiency. Lumina, on the other hand, radiated an aura of deep calm and wisdom. Her always gentle eyes were now also sharp, able to see weaknesses in the most complex energy patterns.
They were a fairly respected couple in Wildfire City. But behind all that strength and achievement, there was a hole they couldn't fill.
POV (Lumina)
Lumina finished calibrating the early detection formation in the south watchtower. Her nimble fingers danced on the control crystal, aligning each node with perfect precision. Since adding the Sound Pillar, she could "hear" the misalignments in the formation's energy vibrations, making her job easier.
"Finished, Commander," she said to the formation commander standing behind her.
"Excellent, Madam Lumina. As always," the commander praised. "This formation is even more sensitive than the previous one."
Lumina just smiled faintly. The praise was empty. Her mind was already far away.
She left the tower and walked along the sturdy fortress wall. Her eyes stared north, beyond the rocky desert and volcanic mountains that separated Wildfire City from the heart of the sect's territory. Somewhere there, her son was living his life.
It felt like two years already. Two years without his warm hugs, without his cheerful laughter, without the intelligent questions that often left her and Noctis stunned. Was Lux eating well? Was he happy? Had he started cultivation? What did he look like now? Were the silver eye traits he inherited still the same?
The longing came in waves, sometimes gentle like a breeze, sometimes crashing like a storm, making her chest tight. She remembered the nights when Lux was a baby, when he distorted water bubbles or made plates not break. At that time they considered it a small miracle. Now, after understanding more deeply about the world of cultivation, Lumina wondered... was it all related to that gray meteor inheritance? Was it that ability that led him to become a Direct Disciple?
She was worried. The cultivator world was full of competition and danger, even within the sect itself. As a "Star Child", Lux must have attracted a lot of attention, both good and bad. Could he handle it? Was anyone protecting him?
"Noctis," she whispered one night when they were both resting in their barracks. "Do you think... how is Lux?"
Noctis, who was sharpening his sword, stopped. His hands clenched tightly on the sword hilt. "He's strong, Lumina. Stronger than we think. And he's smart. He'll be fine."
But Lumina could hear the doubt hidden behind her husband's firm words. She felt the same way.
They had sacrificed so much leaving home, risking their lives every day all to become stronger. Not just for themselves, but so that one day, when they met Lux again, they could stand beside him not as a burden, but as parents who could protect him, as pillars of his strength.
She took a small green stone amulet from inside her robe the same amulet she had given to Lux. She held it tightly, praying in her heart that her son was safe and healthy.
"Wait, son," she whispered into the night wind that carried the scent of battle from afar. "Mom and Dad will soon be strong enough to take care of you. We promise."
In the depths of her heart, a mother continued to hope that in the distant headquarters to the north, her little son would not forget their faces, and that one day, their family would be reunited, no longer separated by distance and duty.
POV (Noctis)
From a distance, Noctis saw his wife standing alone on the fortress wall, her silhouette etched against the night sky shrouded in toxic energy mist. He knew exactly what was on Lumina's mind. The same longing gnawed at him too.
He sighed, clenching his hands. The Nine Pillars in his Dantian rotated steadily, radiating tremendous power. He was almost there. Just a little more. Once they both stabilized their foundations and increased their Pillar Compatibility to the Low level, they could attempt a breakthrough to Core Forging.
Once they reached Core Forging, their status in the sect would skyrocket. They would have more rights, more freedom, and most importantly, they might be able to apply for a long leave to visit headquarters, to see Lux.
He turned around, his eyes now staring south, towards the dark territory of the Shadow Viper Sect. That's where their challenge was, that's where their test was. Every mission completed, every resource acquired, was one step closer to returning to their son.
"Be patient, Lux," Noctis murmured, with steely determination in his heart. "Mom and Dad will be home soon."
The fire on this border would forge them to be stronger, and with that strength, they would ensure that their family's future would no longer be torn apart by distance or war.