Chapter 23 – The Third Vein: Resonance
By noon, the forest was silent except for the sound of fists striking stone.
Zac moved through the Coiling Fang Form again and again, every motion precise, every breath steady.
Dust rose with each strike, and the boulder before him had long since cracked, its surface webbed with scars.
He'd been cultivating since dawn, pushing his body past exhaustion, forcing every drop of essence through his veins.
The Yellow Amethyst pulsed within his chest, feeding energy through him like a second heart.
No matter how much he released, there was always more — a deep, endless reservoir of strength.
But after hours of motion, the energy within him began to twist — not painfully, but rhythmically, like a drumbeat.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
His breath fell into perfect rhythm with his heartbeat.
Every inhale drew essence inward; every exhale released power outward.
A faint hum filled the air — low, steady, and resonant. The sound didn't come from his mouth or throat.
It came from him.
Zac froze mid-stance, eyes wide.
The veins along his forearms glowed bright yellow, light coursing through them like molten gold. A third vein lit up between them, weaving down from his chest and connecting with the other two like the strings of a harp.
Then—
BOOM!
The air around him trembled. Dust and leaves exploded outward as a wave of invisible force rippled through the clearing.
Zac staggered back, staring at his hands. The air shimmered faintly around his body — the manifestation of his essence, his aura.
He could feel it now. The resonance of his veins echoed with his heartbeat, spreading energy through every muscle and bone.
"The… Third Vein."
His voice trembled with disbelief.
This was the stage where energy and flesh truly became one — where essence no longer flowed silently within but began to echo through the world around the cultivator.
Warriors at this level could crush boulders bare-handed. Some could fight beasts without weapons.
Zac clenched his fists, the faint hum vibrating in his arms.
He could feel the strength now, coiling beneath his skin, waiting to be unleashed.
He laughed softly. "The Yellow Amethyst… it's absurd."
Only days ago, he'd been a weak boy who could barely carry a sack of grain. Now, three veins blazed beneath his flesh.
He could sense their rhythm — three separate currents flowing in harmony, feeding and tempering one another.
It was almost frightening how natural it felt.
"Maybe…" he whispered, gazing at his glowing arms, "…in two months, I could reach the Fifth Vein — Perfection."
It was a wild dream. Normally, such advancement would take years. Even the most gifted warriors spent their youth crawling through the early stages.
But the Yellow Amethyst ignored the world's rules.
It devoured energy like a star and refined it into pure strength.
If he could maintain this pace, Fifth Vein Perfection was not impossible.
He smiled faintly. "Two months… then the Ironfang Dominion's trials. Let's see who stands in whose shadow, Ren Flintclaw."
By late afternoon, Zac's sweat had dried into a thin crust of salt and dust.
The exhaustion was there, but it was clean — the kind that sharpened instead of dulled.
He stood at the edge of the clearing, gazing down at the valley where the tribe lay. Smoke curled upward from the forge, faint and constant.
"It's time," he murmured. "To feed the flames again."
He wrapped his fists in rags, slung his tools over his shoulder, and began the long descent.
The air grew thicker with every step closer to the tribe — a faint metallic tang mixed with the smell of burning coal and medicine.
As he neared the forge, the now-familiar sight greeted him: workers coughing, guards barking orders, and the cauldron's eternal light flickering against the darkening sky.
He took a deep breath, the hum of his newly awakened veins steady under his skin.
Each pulse of essence within him whispered a promise — that the power he gained from this cursed place would one day free him from it.
He stepped into the light of the cauldron once more.
The flames welcomed him, hungry and cold.