THEY SACRIFICED ME, NOW I RULE THE CULTIVATION WORLD

Chapter 5: The Secret Beneath My Skin

The hand reaching for my shoulder belonged to one of the elders.

I kept my eyes closed and let my body remain slack, though every instinct urged me to move away. The formation had stopped pulling at my life, but the energy beneath my ribs was still unsettled. If it escaped now, the people surrounding me would have another reason to keep me in the hall.

“His pulse is weak,” the elder said after checking my wrist. “The backlash may have injured him.”

Lucian crouched beside me. “Then why does he look better than he did before the ritual?”

“Because you are looking for reasons to accuse him,” Elara replied.

Darius raised a hand, silencing them. He stepped closer, and a heavy pressure settled over my body. It was not the force of the formation. This was the deliberate spiritual pressure of an experienced cultivator, directed at me to provoke a reaction.

My chest tightened, but I kept my breathing shallow and even. I remembered Vaelthar's warning and forced the unfamiliar energy deeper inside me. The pressure passed over my body, searching for a response it could recognize.

“His spiritual roots are still damaged,” the elder reported. “I cannot sense any cultivation from him.”

Darius did not move away. “Check again.”

The elder pressed two fingers against my wrist and examined me more carefully. “His condition is strange, but I cannot find a spiritual foundation. He is alive, though barely.”

I felt Darius watching me. He had not accepted the answer, but he had no proof that I was hiding anything. After a long moment, he straightened.

“Take him to his room. Put guards outside the door, and do not allow him to leave the estate.”

Elara stepped forward. “He needs proper treatment. I will oversee his recovery.”

“You have already involved yourself too much,” Darius said. “If he escapes again, you will answer for it.”

“He is my husband. I will not leave him in the hands of servants who have been ordered to watch him like a prisoner.”

Darius studied her for several seconds before giving a nod. “Very well. But remember that I am allowing this because the family needs answers, not because I have forgotten what happened.”

Two servants lifted me from the broken platform. I kept my head turned away as they carried me through the hall. Their voices followed us into the corridor, growing clearer whenever the servants slowed.

“The central stones are ruined,” one elder said. “The energy reversed through the entire array. I have never seen a formation behave that way.”

“Could the preparation have been faulty?” another asked.

“We checked every stone twice. Something interfered with the flow.”

Lucian's voice cut through their discussion. “It was Kael. He was standing in the centre when everything collapsed. What else could have caused it?”

“You saw the same thing we did,” Darius replied. “He was being drained. A man with shattered roots should not have been able to affect the formation.”

“Then question him.”

“I intend to. First, I want the altar examined. Find every damaged stone and trace the direction of the reversed energy. Until we understand what happened, nobody touches the remains.”

The servants carried me into my room and placed me on the bed. Elara followed them inside, ordered them to bring clean water, and waited until the door closed behind them. The guards took their positions outside.

As soon as we were alone, she approached the bed.

“Kael, open your eyes. I know you're awake.”

I looked at her. “You should be more careful. Someone might hear you.”

“I have been careful all evening, and it has nearly cost you your life. Don't ask me to pretend nothing happened.”

She checked the cut above my eyebrow, then examined the bruising along my shoulder. Her expression changed when she found that the injuries were already fading.

“How did you recover so quickly?”

“The cave changed something inside me. The formation tried to drain me, but the energy reacted against it.”

“Can you cultivate now?”

“Not through the methods your family uses. I have found another way, but I still don't understand it.”

I could see the questions gathering in her eyes. I wanted to tell her everything, but Vaelthar's presence remained quiet inside my mind, and I had no idea what revealing our bond might mean for her. For now, she only needed to know that I was no longer completely helpless.

“Grandfather won't stop investigating,” she said. “He has ordered the guards to watch every entrance, and Lucian believes you caused the failure. If they discover that you can cultivate, they will demand to know how.”

“Then they must continue believing I cannot.”

Elara drew a chair beside the bed. “You cannot stay here forever. Darius will question you when he thinks you are strong enough to answer, and the elders may examine you again.”

“I know. But if I run now, they'll chase us both.”

Her expression softened. “I can handle my family.”

“You shouldn't have to handle them alone.”

Elara placed a small bowl of food on the bedside table. “Eat when the servants leave. I'll return later with news.”

Before she reached the door, I caught her wrist gently. “Be careful. Darius is watching you now.”

“I have lived under his roof all my life, Kael. I know how to avoid his attention.”

She slipped out, leaving me alone with the guards beyond the door.

“Explain what happened to the formation,” I said silently.

Vaelthar answered at once. “It was designed to pull life energy through a fixed channel and direct it toward the family's foundation. When it touched the energy inside our bond, the two forces could not follow the same path. The formation tried to contain what it could not process, and its own flow turned against it.”

“So I destroyed it?”

“You triggered the reaction. Do not confuse that with controlling it. If you had released more energy, the backlash might have destroyed your body as well.”

I looked at my hands. “Can the Voss elders sense what I carry?”

“They sensed an irregularity, not its nature. Their methods are built around spiritual roots. They may detect traces left by the reaction, but they cannot easily identify the path you have begun.”

“How long before someone can?”

“That depends on how carelessly you use your power.”

I sat up slowly. My body felt stronger than it had before the ritual, but I could not forget how easily Darius's pressure had pinned me in place. If I remained confined to this room, I would have no chance to improve before the family decided what to do with me.

“I need somewhere to cultivate.”

“Your condition is unstable. Drawing more energy now could reopen the damage caused by the formation.”

“I can't wait until they decide to put me on another altar.”

Vaelthar gave no immediate answer. I considered the estate's layout and remembered an unused storage building near the eastern courtyard. Servants rarely entered it because the roof leaked and the family had stopped storing anything valuable there. It might give me enough privacy to practise without being noticed.

A soft knock interrupted my thoughts. Elara returned carrying a tray, her face composed for anyone watching from the corridor. She placed it on the table and spoke quietly while arranging the bowls.

“The guards change shifts after midnight. There is an old storage building near the eastern courtyard. Nobody uses it, and the servants only pass that way in the morning.”

“You want me to go there?”

“If you need somewhere private, it is safer than trying to leave the estate. But don't take unnecessary risks. If they catch you outside this room, Grandfather will know I helped.”

“I'll be careful.”

She held my gaze, then left before the guards became suspicious.

I waited until the footsteps outside settled into a steady rhythm. Then I placed both feet on the floor and tried to feel the energy beneath my skin. I could suppress most of its presence by controlling my breathing, but the moment I reached toward the energy in the room, the warmth in my chest stirred sharply.

“Stop,” Vaelthar warned.

I withdrew at once. A faint vibration travelled through the floor, followed by the sound of footsteps outside my window. Someone had stopped near the wall.

I held my breath and sealed the energy inside me. A shadow crossed the curtain, paused, then moved away.

“Who was that?” I asked.

“I cannot identify them from here,” Vaelthar replied. “But someone noticed the energy released during the ritual.”

I stared at the window, aware that the Voss family might not be the only danger waiting beyond my door.

“You are not the only one who noticed what happened tonight, Kael,” Vaelthar said. “Someone else is searching for you.”

I slowly closed my hand, forcing the unfamiliar energy beneath my skin to settle. I had survived the altar, but the family was already searching for the reason. Now, someone outside the estate might be doing the same.