The Shamanic Billionaire

SEVEN: Another victory

The trio faded into the spiritual mist, leaving Cai alone in the warped plaza. He glanced down at the jade ring, noticing the silver thread thrumming vigorously, tugging him toward a cluster of skyscrapers that appeared to be decaying from within.

He started walking. Since he was a newcomer to the city, the landmarks didn’t mean much to him, but the Sight illuminated his path.

Everywhere he turned, he could see the city's energy source, the black, oily pipes buried beneath the ghostly streets, draining luck and vitality from the poorer areas and channeling them into some houses which looked very extravagant.

"Disgusting," he muttered under his breath. It was really disgusting that a city like this which looked normal was actually very rotten.

As he entered the darkness, the coldest section of the spiritual veins, the air chilled dramatically. Shadows slithered around his legs like serpents, but when they touched the blue glow of the black bead, they shrieked and vanished.

No scavenger or trickster dared to come near him; that bead was radiating pure energy, a beacon of power in this filthy world.

He approached a ghostly structure that resembled an ancient, gnarled vault. The silver thread slipped inside.

At the entrance, a Corrupted Sentry blocked his way.

Cai stopped.

He had never seen one in person, but he had heard the name whispered in the lower halls of the mountain when the elders thought disciples weren’t listening.

Corrupted Sentries weren’t born like Scavengers. They were made. When too much resentment, hidden transactions, betrayal, and spiritual debt accumulated in one place, the veins condensed that pressure into a guardian.

It wasn't to protect the innocent, but to protect the rot itself. They were enforcers of imbalance, also wardens of secrets.

This one stood nearly twice his height, its body layered in rusted plates fused with black spiritual matter. Cracks glowed faintly between the seams, as if something inside was still burning. In one hand, it carried a corroded blade formed from compressed vein-energy.

So this is what guards the deeper arteries, Cai thought, his pulse tightening.

Unlike Scavengers, a Sentry wouldn’t fear the bead. It had authority here. The creature’s hollow helm tilted toward him.

Cai didn’t have a plan, but he felt a surge of energy. As the Sentry lunged with a massive, rusted blade, he dodged just in time, the cold air of the blade barely missing his neck.

"You're in my way," he gritted out.

This time, he didn’t rely solely on the bead. He recalled how the girl crafted her sigils and tried to replicate the flow, drawing the blue light from the bead and forming it into a jagged spike.

It wasn’t perfect, but it was quick.

The Sentry made the first move.

Instead of charging in recklessly, it took a careful step forward, and the ground beneath Cai cracked like shattered glass.

The rusty blade sliced through the air with a deafening shriek, smashing into the pillar behind him. The impact echoed through the vault entrance, sending cracks racing along the spectral walls.

Cai barely rolled out of the way just in time. The blade skimmed his shoulder, sending a wave of icy pain through him, instantly numbing his arm.

It was fast, way too fast.

The Sentry turned with a stiff grace and kicked him squarely in the ribs. Cai was sent flying backward, slamming into the vault door. The bead flared up violently, absorbing some of the impact, but he still gasped as his lungs emptied.

It wasn’t just armor that this thing had.

The creature moved closer, each step heavy. Vein-like energy pulsed through its cracks, making it all the more formidable.

Cai pulled himself up, focusing on his breathing, just like they’d taught him in the mountain drills. One breath. Two.

The blade came down again.

This time, instead of dodging, he chose to close the distance.

Blue light erupted from the bead as he dragged it along the blade’s edge, just enough to deflect the strike and slip past its guard. Sparks flew as metal met spirit.

He thrust his palm forward, shaping the energy in the rough, jagged way he’d seen the girl do.

The spike struck between the Sentry’s chest plates.

For a moment, there was silence.

Then the creature let out a horrible, metallic scream, before it exploded from within, collapsing into a whirlwind of dark shards and smoky light.

Among the dark shards, Cai noticed something glowing. It was a Spirit Shard. It was a fragment of the Sentry's core, pulsating with a heavy power.

He snatched it up. The moment his skin made contact, the energy surged into him, feeling like a jolt of adrenaline coursing through his very soul.

His vision sharpened, revealing the vulnerable spots in the spectral vault's walls. Stepping into the vault, he found Silas’s soul trapped in a glass jar of frozen shadows.

It looked pitiful as a flickering, gray flame.

Without hesitation, Cai smashed the jar with his fist even more empowered by the Shard's energy.

As the glass shattered, the gray flame surged toward the jade ring, merging back into the stone. The connection was restored.

"Time to wake up, Old Man," he said.

The transition back was a wild rush. Cai felt his consciousness crash back into his physical body.

He gasped, eyes snapping open on the floor of the Master Suite. Beside him, the heart monitor's flatline emitted a long, shrill beep.

Mr. Grant was in a panic, hovering over the emergency button. "Cai! He’s flatlined! I need to call for the doctors—"

"Wait!" Cai shouted.

He scrambled to his feet, his hand still glowing with a fading blue light. He pressed the jade ring back onto the Patriarch’s finger and placed his palm against Silas’s chest, pouring the last remnants of the Shard's energy into the old man's heart.

THUMP.

The heart monitor flickered. Then another beat. And another.

Silas Arrows drew a great, ragged breath, his eyes flying open—not the clouded, dying gaze of a sick man, but eyes filled with sharp, piercing clarity.

Mr. Grant stumbled against the wall, trembling. "He... he's breathing. He’s truly breathing on his own."

Cai stood, wiping the sweat from his brow. He felt different. That Spirit Shard had lingered within him; he sensed a new knot of power in his chest that hadn’t been there before. He had just taken a piece of the city’s heart.

The door burst open. Amelia and Dr. Thane rushed in, expecting to find a corpse. Instead, they saw Silas sitting up, locking eyes with Cai, the so-called “mountain boy.”

Cai couldn’t help but smirk at Amelia’s horrified expression.

"The Patriarch is awake," he said, his voice dripping with cold arrogance. "And I believe he’d like to discuss who’s been 'taking care' of him."

...

Hours later, after the chaos had settled in the Master Suite, Silas Arrows had been stabilized. His breathing was deep and steady, a biological miracle that perplexed the medical monitors.

According to the spiritual veil laws, Silas’s mind was blank; he remembered only the cold, and then nothing. The spirit realm didn’t allow the living to carry its secrets back to the waking world.

Cai, exhausted from the surge of energy and the hunt for the silver thread, had been led to a distant wing of the mansion.

He collapsed into a guest bed draped in silk and fell into a sleep filled with strange, swirling dreams of black threads and golden sigils.

The next morning, a maid timidly knocked, pulling Cai from sleep. He stirred with a jolt of annoyance, but as he sat up, his irritation faded. His soul felt unusually calm, anchored by a new sensation in his chest. He hadn’t eaten since arriving in Lume City, but his stomach wasn’t growling.

Back on the mountain, he had watched his Master go weeks without food while he(Cai) foraged like a beggar. Now, for the first time, he sensed the feeling of a soul thriving on the ambient energy of the world instead of bread.

He stood, ran a hand through his messy mountain hair, and made his way downstairs.

As he descended the grand staircase, the silence of the hallway shattered. The expansive living room below was a sea of tailored suits, silk dresses, and the suffocating scent of expensive perfume.

The extended Arrows family had gathered.

The moment Cai set foot on the first step, the room fell eerily quiet. Every head turned. In his slightly rumpled clothes and wild hair, he looked like a blemish on the mansion’s luxurious interior.

Whispers erupted immediately, buzzing like a swarm of locusts.

"Is that him? Chereen’s son?" a woman whispered, unbothered by the volume of her voice. "The mountain boy?"

"What’s he doing back after fourteen years? I didn't believe it when I was told," another added, her lip curling in disdain. "And I just heard he performed some back-alley ritual on the Patriarch. A ritual? In this day and age? Preposterous."

"It’s just a lie," a man scoffed. "Amelia confirmed that her brother, Doctor Thane, did some last-minute emergency work that saved the Old Master. The boy was just... in the way."

Cai continued down, his gaze icy. Every time someone hissed his mother’s name with that edge of disgust, his eyes narrowed.

At that moment, he felt like a predator stepping into a room full of sheep that thought they were wolves.

At the foot of the stairs, a young man stepped out from the crowd, blocking his path. He wore an outfit likely worth more than anything Cai had ever seen, with a face that blended Grant and Amelia's features… this was probably the 'Genius of Lume,' his stepbrother.

The young man looked Cai over with a sneer of utter contempt. "Who the hell are you?"

Cai halted on the last step, looking slightly down on the boy. He didn’t need an introduction to know who this was; the family resemblance outlined everything he’d been denied.

Tilting his head, a sarcastic smirk on his lips, he replied, "Didn't you already know?"

The young man's expression darkened, his jaw tightening. "Why would I care to know someone like you? Do you actually think you’re significant? Is that why you strolled in here without acknowledging a single elder? Do you have no manners at all?"

Cai slowly shifted his gaze to the relatives surrounding them, the ones who had allowed him to be sent away, now whispering about 'rituals' and 'beggars.' He looked back at his stepbrother, his eyes flashing with a cold, blue light that made the younger man flinch.

"Why should I?" Cai shot back, tilting his head. "I only greet those I fear, and looking around this room, I don’t see anyone who makes me feel the need to blink."