THEY SACRIFICED ME, NOW I RULE THE CULTIVATION WORLD

Chapter 3: Back Into the Lion's Den

My shoulder still hurt, and the energy Vaelthar had placed inside me felt like a coal burning beneath my ribs. Each time I pulled myself over another stretch of rock, the warmth shifted through my body, reminding me that whatever had happened below the estate was far from finished.

“Your decision is foolish,” Vaelthar said inside my head. “You have barely begun to cultivate, yet you intend to return to those who want you dead.”

“I know what they want.”

“Then you understand how easily they can kill you.”

“I won't leave Elara there,” I replied. “Perhaps attachment makes humans careless, but it also gives them a reason to keep fighting.”

Vaelthar fell silent, though I could feel its displeasure pressing against the back of my thoughts. My body was still weak, but the world seemed different. I could hear the scrape of boots on gravel from farther away than before in the night air, and the faint movement of leaves no longer disappeared beneath the sounds of the night.

I tested the movement of my fingers and felt the current answer beneath my skin. It was nothing like the spiritual energy I had watched cultivators summon in the training yard. Their power gathered around them in waves, while mine settled quietly inside my muscles. I wondered whether that difference would help me remain unnoticed or make me easier to identify once someone sensed it.

Two guards passed below me, complaining that Lucian had threatened to dismiss anyone who failed to find me. Their voices faded toward the western grounds.

“Your senses have improved, but do not mistake that for strength. You have opened a door, nothing more,” Vaelthar observed.

“How long before I can fight Lucian?”

“If you train properly, perhaps you will survive an encounter with him.”

I waited until the guards had disappeared, then crossed the final stretch toward the estate. The outer wall was higher than it had appeared from the mountain, but a maintenance gate near the old storehouse had been left slightly open. Elara had chosen the route carefully. I slipped through and found myself in a narrow service passage that ran behind the servants' quarters.

Two men passed close enough for me to hear their conversation.

“Lucian says the patriarch wants Mercer found before the ritual,” one muttered.

“He won't get far with those roots. If the fall didn't kill him, the guards will.”

“The patriarch is angry. Anyone who helped him will answer for it.”

I pressed myself against the wall until they passed. Their words confirmed what I feared: Elara was in danger because she had helped me. I had to find her before Lucian could force a confession from her.

A familiar voice stopped me before I reached the sitting room.

“You keep saying you don't know where he went,” Lucian said. “Do you expect me to believe that?”

“I expect you to stop accusing me without proof,” Elara replied.

Lucian stood in front of her, his hands clasped behind his back. Two guards waited near the entrance. Elara's face was pale, but her chin remained raised.

“You were the last person seen with him,” Lucian said. “The guards found the key to the service passage near the courtyard. How do you explain that?”

“Perhaps your guards should learn to keep track of their keys.”

His expression tightened. “You think this is a game?”

“No. I think you are frightened that Grandfather will blame you if the sacrifice is delayed.”

Lucian stepped closer, but Elara did not move. “If Kael is not found, Grandfather will question everyone. You know what the oath can do to you. Don't make him test it.”

“I have nothing to tell you.”

Lucian stared at her before turning toward the guards. “Watch her. She doesn't leave this residence without permission.”

When he had gone, I slipped into the room and closed the door.

Elara spun around, and the colour drained from her face. “Kael? What are you doing here?”

“Making sure you're safe.”

“You should be beyond the city by now. If Lucian finds you, he won't give you another chance.”

“I heard enough to know what happens if I leave you here.”

She moved closer and examined the bruising around my face. “You were beaten badly. How are you standing?”

“I found a way to recover.”

“How?”

I hesitated. I could not tell her about Vaelthar, not yet. “Something happened in the cave,” I said. “I can't explain it properly, but I'm not as helpless as I was before.”

Her eyes searched mine. “You can cultivate?”

“Not the way the Voss family does. I need time to understand it.”

Elara looked toward the door. “Then we have less time than you think. The formation is beneath the ancestral hall. The elders have been preparing it for weeks, and once it is activated, the energy will be drawn toward the centre. Anyone caught inside the boundary will be trapped.”

“Can it be destroyed?”

“I don't know. The formation is tied to the family's foundation. My grandfather keeps the details from most of us, but I know the central stones control the flow. If they are disturbed at the wrong moment, the energy could turn against everyone inside.”

“The elders won't explain the whole process to me,” she continued, “but I have seen the formation tested. It responds to the stones around its boundary, while the central platform draws everything toward the person standing on it. Once the array closes, even an experienced cultivator may struggle to escape.”

“Can you get me close enough to observe it?”

“I can use the eastern passage, but the guards are watching me. Stay hidden until I return.”

“I won't let you take that risk alone.”

“You already made that choice by coming back. If you want to help, listen for once.”

Before I could answer, footsteps sounded in the corridor. Elara pushed me behind a tall folding screen and opened the door. A servant stood outside, carrying a tray.

“The patriarch requests Lady Elara's presence in the ancestral hall,” the servant said. “The elders are waiting.”

Elara took a breath. “Tell them I'll come shortly.”

The servant bowed and left. Elara turned back to me, her expression troubled.

“Stay here. Whatever happens, don't let anyone see you.”

After she left, I slipped through a side entrance and followed the corridor toward the ancestral hall. I needed to understand what I would be facing.

Two senior cultivators guarded the ancestral hall. I hid behind a carved stone pillar and watched through a gap in the entrance. Inside, several elders were placing dark spiritual stones around a circular formation. Thin lines had been carved into the floor, joining the stones to a raised platform in the centre.

The air above it shimmered. Darius entered with Lucian and three elders, calm despite my escape.

“Is the formation ready?” Darius asked.

“The outer array is complete. We only need to activate the centre,” an elder replied.

“Finish before midnight. There will be no more delays.”

Lucian glanced at the platform. “Will the sacrifice really give us the increase you promised?”

“It will strengthen our foundation,” Darius replied. “The energy accumulated through this formation will secure the family's position. We have waited long enough.”

They had calculated what my death would give them, and everyone in that hall was prepared to benefit.

A sudden pressure stirred inside my chest.

“Move away from the entrance,” Vaelthar warned.

I shifted behind the pillar. “What is it?”

“The formation carries an energy I recognize.”

“From where?”

“Do not ask questions while standing so close to it. Its pattern is unstable, and your bond may react if you draw near.”

“You know it?”

“I know enough to warn you away.” An elder turned toward the entrance, and I retreated before he noticed me.

Back in my room, I washed the blood from my face, changed my shirt, and watched the guards take their positions.

I had returned with only the beginning of a new power. I could not defeat Darius directly, so my best chance was to hide my awakening until the ritual gave me an opening.

Vaelthar's voice settled into my thoughts. “When the formation begins, do not release your energy without my instruction. If you disrupt its flow too early, it may tear through your body.”

“Help me find the right moment. I don't have another choice.”

A loud bell rang across the estate. Its deep note rolled through the corridors, followed by the sound of hurried footsteps approaching my door.

The handle turned, and four armed guards entered. Their leader looked me over with open contempt.

“The patriarch wants you at the ancestral hall,” he said. “The ritual begins now.”

They had moved the ceremony forward, leaving me no time to prepare.

For three years, the Voss family had looked at me and seen a worthless son-in-law. Tonight, they would discover that their sacrifice was not going to the altar without a fight.