’I’m going to die.’

That thought appeared in his mind immediately.

Not as fear, but as a realization. As if his body were sending a clear signal that it could not continue.

’My body is going to explode.’

The heat of the Heavenly Bone was far too monstrous. Far beyond what anyone should be able to endure.

But Kyrian did not give up.

He kept screaming.

He kept resisting.

Then...

Memories began to surface in his mind.

They were not memories he had summoned. They emerged on their own, as if the pain were unlocking something he kept buried or something he rarely revisited.

His childhood.

The frozen exiled village. The snowy plains surrounding it. The sky that remained perpetually overcast.

His mother.

Her smile.

And then...

The letter.

The words. The final words she left behind. The words he carried in his heart as his greatest goal in life.

"Become so strong that nothing can bring you down."

"Stronger than any obstacle."

"Stronger than any enemy."

"Strong enough that you never lose to anyone."

Kyrian’s eyes trembled.

The curtain of tears threatening to fall never did.

His fists clenched.

His teeth ground together.

"I won’t die here."

"I can’t."

"Not yet."

Suddenly, Kyrian opened his eyes.

And in that instant...

Something changed.

The Fire Spirit’s eyes widened immediately, instinctively stepping back.

Kyrian’s eyes had transformed.

His irises vanished. His pupils vanished. All color disappeared.

His eyes became completely white.

Not the icy blue of the Eyes of Ice.

Not the deep gray of the Gray Flame Eyes.

It was pure white. Absolute.

The same eyes he had possessed at birth.

Lifeless.

Without humanity.

Without emotion.

Deep as an absolute void.

Kyrian did not know what was happening. He did not know how his eyes had changed. He did not know why.

But he felt that the moment his eyes turned white, the pain lessened.

It did not disappear. It did not cease.

But it became... bearable.

Then... his eyes began to devour the heat.

The fire Qi released by the Heavenly Bone, that monstrous energy threatening to destroy Kyrian from the inside out, began to be violently drawn into his eyes.

It was not a gradual flow.

It was a whirlpool.

A vortex.

The energy that had previously spread chaotically through his body was now being pulled toward his eyes, as if they were the center of a hurricane.

Not only the Qi.

But also the very Law of Fire itself.

The Fire Spirit became completely motionless.

Even his fiery breathing seemed to stop.

"Unbelievable..." he murmured, his voice nearly inaudible.

"Absolutely unbelievable..."

He stared at Kyrian’s eyes, those white, empty, profound eyes, with an expression that mixed shock and something close to reverence.

"What are those eyes?" the Spirit thought.

"I’ve never seen anything like them. Not even during the centuries I spent with Ming Hai. This feeling... are those eyes superior to me?"

The eyes compressed that monstrous energy.

Refined it.

Transformed it.

The raw Qi of the Heavenly Bone, which had previously been too violent for Kyrian’s body, passed through his eyes and emerged transformed, purer, more controlled, more suitable for his body.

Then they returned the energy to Kyrian’s body.

The Heavenly Bone began shining even more intensely within his back.

Through his skin, through burned flesh and exposed muscles, Kyrian could see the spine glowing.

Each vertebra pulsed with red-gold light.

The Heavenly Bone was fusing.

Then...

’BOOOOOOOOM!’

An explosion of pure energy erupted from Kyrian’s body.

But this time...

His body was not destroyed.

On the contrary.

It began to change.

To rebuild itself.

Spiritual veins began forming within his body.

They were not ordinary veins.

They were energy channels, new meridians, forcibly created by the Heavenly Bone and Kyrian’s eyes.

They spread throughout his body like the roots of an ancient tree, connecting to his limbs, organs, and bones.

The pain increased instantly.

Tripled.

Quadrupled.

Kyrian felt as though he were being torn apart and stitched back together at the same time.

Qi flowed through him like rivers of lava.

Not the small streams he was accustomed to manipulating, but torrents, waterfalls, floods.

And he had no choice but to accept it.

Then his heart changed.

’THUMP.’

The first beat was deeper than any heartbeat before it. Kyrian felt the sound reverberate through his chest, through his bones, and through the altar beneath him.

’THUMP.’

The second beat was heavier.

Like the hammer of a divine blacksmith forging something new.

’THUMP.’

The third.

’THUMP.’

The fourth.

Each beat spread heat.

Propelled Qi.

Strengthened muscles and blood.

His heart, once an ordinary mortal organ, was transforming, becoming denser, tougher, and more powerful.

Like a colossal furnace operating within his chest.

His blood began to change.

Kyrian felt the difference immediately.

The hot liquid flowing through his veins became denser.

More viscous.

And hotter.

It became faintly luminous.

A weak, nearly imperceptible glow traveled through his veins whenever light struck them at the proper angle.

The internal injuries that still remained, the damage left by the battle against the lizard and by the use of the Aura of Ice, began regenerating at an absurd speed.

Cracks in his bones closed.

Torn muscles reformed.

Deep burns vanished.

Then his entire skeleton began absorbing traces of the Heavenly Bone.

Not only the spine.

Every bone in his body.

Kyrian felt sharp pain travel through every bone as they absorbed the Heavenly Bone’s energy.

The bones turned reddish, with faint golden veins running across their surfaces.

More durable than spiritual metals.

Purer than cultivated jade.

Kyrian’s mortal body...

Was evolving.

Transforming into something entirely new.

The Spirit observed everything attentively.

His flaming hands were ready, his eyes scanning every inch of Kyrian’s body for any sign of collapse.

He could intervene if necessary.

He could use his own power to stabilize the fusion and prevent Kyrian’s death.

But then he realized something terrifying.

He could no longer see inside Kyrian’s body.

After Kyrian’s eyes became completely white, after that void filled his eye sockets, not even the Spirit’s spiritual senses could penetrate that strange energy.

It was as if Kyrian had become an impossible void to observe.

A hole in perception.

A secret no one could unravel. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

The Spirit stepped back another pace, uncertain.

"What are you?" he thought, watching the sixteen-year-old boy trembling atop the altar, covered in blood and sweat, his white eyes fixed on nothing.

Then...

The transformation continued.

For hours.

The entire chamber vibrated with the released energy.

The magma below bubbled endlessly, illuminating the dome with flashes of red light.

Kyrian did not move.

His body continued changing.

Bones strengthening.

Muscles rebuilding.

Meridians forming.

Blood purifying.

And through all of it, through the pain, through the heat, through the brush with death, Kyrian remained conscious.

He did not faint.

He did not give up.

He simply... endured.

As he always would.

...

The transformation continued.

Minute after minute.

Hour after hour.

Kyrian’s body remained motionless at the center of the altar while waves of fire Qi continuously pulsed around him.

His entire body glowed with red-gold light.

Beneath his skin, something could be seen moving.

Luminous lines ran across his arms, legs, chest, and neck like rivers of magma flowing through newly created channels.

The Heavenly Bone continued shining intensely within his back.

Each vertebra resembled a miniature sun.

The energy radiating from them spread throughout his entire body, fueling the transformation.

The Fire Spirit watched everything in silence.

Even after thousands of years of existence, it remained beyond his comprehension.

That human’s eyes were capable of directly absorbing Qi and even fragments of the Law contained within the Heavenly Bone.

Such a thing simply should not have been possible.

’What kind of existence created those eyes?’

The question lingered in his mind.

Unfortunately, he still could not see inside Kyrian’s body.

It was as though an invisible barrier completely blocked his perception.

Even as an extremely powerful Fire Spirit, he could not pierce that strange protection.

Still...

Judging by the external changes, it was evident that the adaptation was proceeding successfully.

The expression of pain that had once completely distorted Kyrian’s face had disappeared.

His body still trembled occasionally.

But now he appeared focused.

Like someone enduring a storm that was finally beginning to subside.

Time continued to pass.

One hour.

Two hours.

Three hours.

Four hours.

Five hours.

Then...

The red-gold glow began to weaken.

The waves of Qi surrounding Kyrian gradually diminished.

Even the magma beneath the bridge slowly returned to its normal state.

The Spirit immediately noticed.

"It’s ending..."

His voice echoed softly through the dome.

The Heavenly Bone released its final pulse of energy.

An invisible wave spread throughout the chamber.

Soon after...

Silence returned.

Complete.

Absolute.

Kyrian’s completely white eyes slowly closed.

The energy around him vanished.

The luminous lines beneath his skin faded one after another.

And then everything became still.

The Spirit watched carefully.

No explosion.

No collapse.

No sign of rejection.

The implantation was complete.

The Heavenly Bone was now part of Kyrian.

It was no longer an external object.

It was no longer Ming Hai’s inheritance.

It was his spine.

His new foundation.

His new power.

Several seconds passed.

Then Kyrian opened his eyes.

Even while sitting silently, his presence felt different.

Like a dormant volcano hidden beneath a layer of stone.

The Fire Spirit stared at him for several more seconds before finally smiling.

A rare smile of satisfaction.

"It seems you survived, child."

Kyrian took a deep breath.

For the first time in many hours.

Then, slowly, he closed his hand.

Feeling strength flow through his body.

Feeling a heat pulse within his bones.

Feeling the new spine respond as though it had always belonged to him.

And in that moment...

Kyrian understood.

He had changed.

Forever.