"The clouds are hiding something. I can feel it." Chen Mo stood at the edge of a floating island, the ice coffin strapped to his back, his eyes fixed on the mist ahead. The immortal clouds stretched before him, thick and golden, obscuring everything beyond a few feet. "What are you talking about?" the old miner asked. He had followed Chen Mo from the borderlands, along with a handful of others. They had nowhere else to go. "There's something in there. Something ancient." "Something dangerous?" "I don't know. But I have to find out." He stepped into the mist. The clouds swallowed him whole. --- The stronghold appeared like a ghost from a forgotten age. It was massive, its walls shattered, its towers broken, its gates hanging from their hinges. It had been beautiful once. Now it was ruins. But even in ruins, it radiated power.

"The poison never left. It's still inside me." Chen Mo's voice was hollow, empty, the words falling from his lips like stones into still water. He sat in the ruins of the fallen stronghold, the ice coffin beside him, his scales dim, his eyes fixed on nothing. "What do you mean?" the old miner asked. "What poison?" "The poison that killed my ancestors. The poison that destroyed the Primordial Gods." He looked down at his hands. They were trembling. "It's still in my blood. It's been in my blood since the day I was born. It's the reason my meridians never opened. It's the reason I was cast out. It's the reason I'm dying." "Dying?" "I've been dying my whole life. I just didn't know it." The ghost appeared before him. It was the patriarch again. The last of the Primordial Clan. His golden scales glowed with ancient light. "You've felt it," the ghost said. "The weakness. The pain. The slow decay." "Yes." "That is the poison. The Immortal Emperor's final curse. He cou

"The Pill Pavilion is not a building. It's a maze designed to kill." Chen Mo crouched at the edge of the immortal clouds, the ice coffin hidden in a cave behind him, his eyes fixed on the structure ahead. The Pill Pavilion was massive, a labyrinth of floating platforms, spiraling towers, and rivers of molten elixir that flowed through the air like liquid fire. "Are you sure about this?" the old miner asked. He had followed Chen Mo to the edge of the immortal clouds, his face pale, his hands shaking. "I'm sure." "You could die in there." "I could die anywhere. At least in there, I might save her." The old miner stared at him. His eyes were filled with something that might have been fear. Might have been hope. "You're the bravest man I've ever met." "No. I'm the most desperate." --- Chen Mo moved through the shadows.

The fire didn't stop at the Pavilion. It spread. Chen Mo stood on a floating platform, the Phoenix Fruit clutched to his chest, his scales still smoking from the heat. Behind him, the Pill Pavilion was a tower of flame, its jade walls cracking, its golden roof melting, its ancient treasures turning to ash. "I didn't mean for this," he whispered. But he knew it was a lie. He had meant it. Every moment of it. The fire roared through the immortal clouds, consuming everything in its path. The floating platforms crumbled. The rivers of molten elixir evaporated. And the sky itself seemed to burn. "You've doomed us all!" the Pavilion Elder screamed from somewhere in the flames. "You've doomed the entire realm!" Chen Mo didn't answer. He turned his back on the fire and walked away. --- The immortal clouds parted around him. They were afraid of him now. The clouds that had once been thick and golden now thinned and trembled as he passed. They had felt the fire. They had felt his rage

"The pill requires everything. Your blood. Your power. Your soul." Chen Mo stared at the ancient parchment, the words burning into his memory. The recipe was clear. The instructions were precise. The cost was absolute. "Everything," he whispered. "It wants everything." He looked at the ice coffin beside him. Meng Yao's face was peaceful. Her breath was shallow. But she was alive. "Then everything is what I'll give." --- The cauldron was ancient. Chen Mo had found it in the ruins of the fallen stronghold, hidden beneath a collapsed temple, protected by wards that had long since faded. It was made of black iron, its surface covered in runes that pulsed with forgotten power. "This is it," he said. "This is what I need." He placed the Phoenix Fruit in the cauldron. Its light illuminated the darkness, casting shadows that danced like ghost