The battle raged on, both the ed Ghost Prince, Defying Phantom, and Young Master Basilisk g in a relentless fight to the death, their schemes and tricks iwining like a deadly game of wits.

  The nd itself bore the scars of their battle,obliterated beynition, its ohriving spiritual energy now thrown into plete disarray. Everue spiritual essend Heaven's essence had grown chaotic, the very bance of the world disturbed by their prolonged flict. The battlefield had been drained dry, a wastend where not even the heavens could restore what had been lost.

  For years, their battle tinued,every trap, every runiation, every hidden trump card yed.

  One had knowly who his oppo would be from the start, preparing in advahe other had only discovered his adversary upon being attacked, forced to adapt to an unforeseen challenge.

  On one side of the battlefield stood a colossal, six-armed figure tattered white armlowing with a faint, eerie light. Despite its divine presehe armor looked fragile, on the verge of shattering with even the weakest blow.

  The six-armed entity wielded three distinct swords, each radiating a different power,one red, one blue, and one bck. In another of its six hands, it carried a flickering mp, from which a purple fme daninously. The remaining two hands were empty, yet both were covered in half-broken gaus, symbols of a battle-worn warrior who had endured far too much.

  Opposite this spectral warlord was a monstrous, serpentine creature,a titanic azure-scaled dragon, its form battered and bloodied. Two long, azure horended from its head, apanied by two smaller ones curling beside them. Its deep blue, vertical-slit eyes gleamed with both madness and exhaustion, while razor-sharp white fangs protruded from its mouth, dripping with fresh blood.

  Though its magnifit scales shimmered in the flickering battlefield light, many had already been shattered or torn away, exposing the raw flesh beh. The aura of death g heavily to its form, yet even in its battered state, the beast's presence remained as terrifying as it was awe-inspiring.

  The two celestial figures hovered in the sky, locked in a tense, motionless standoff. Eae analyzed the other, waiting,listening to the whispers of the wind, as if the very air had begun to speak.

  Then, a cold, detached voice broke the silence.

  "Basilisk, why do you still resist?" Defying Phantom's emotionless voice carried across the ruined battlefield, her mog nor enraged,simply stating an undeniable truth.

  "You know just as well as I do that I have far more soul essend true qi left. You, oher hand, are ging to the st dregs of your life force. Why prolong the iable? Give up, and I will grant you a painless, swift death."

  For a brief moment, sileurhen, from the great azure dragon, a sed voice rose,calm, yet ced with ruthless determination.

  "Living with only a few drops of soul essend true qi?" Basilisk's voice, though filled with exhaustion, still carried its anding presence.

  "You're right. I have nearly nothi. My body is failing me. I feel the very blood of my true dragon lineage slipping away… Even if I defeat you here, I will not live to see another day."

  A pause.

  Then, his voice ged,no longer cold, but irritated… and almost disappointed.

  "But, Phantom, there's ohing.I still have one final hidden card left."

  With that said, the other voice merely sneered, raising its three swords into a bat stahe massive snake's body tensed slightly, its deep blue eyes log onto the thousands upon thousands of Asura Fme Ghosts before it. There was n baow.

  And then,the snake exploded.

  Basilisk's entire body erupted in a catastrophic detonation, sending a devastating shockwave rippling across the battlefield.

  The six-armed ghost immediately sehe overwhelming danger, its form shuddering as it realized the magnitude of what was happening. Every single Asura Fme Ghost us trol was instantly ao block the iniru,but it was futile.

  The explosion obliterated them in an instant.

  Left aloo ehe devastating attack, the six-armed ghost braced itself, standing firm as the force of Basilisk's ultimate teique ed it.

  And thehing vanished.

  The skies, oorn apart by their battle, returo silehe nd, which had suffered uhe weight of their flict, was erased beynition.

  Days passed.

  Then months.

  Then years.

  For three years, nothing remaihe battlefield had bee a fotten void, a graveyard of two fallen titans.

  Until,a single azure fme flickered ience.

  At first, it was weak, no more than a spark drifting in the air. But then it grew. Expanding. Shifting. Twisting.

  The fme took the shape of a human form, though it had no distinct features. A torso. Arms. A head. A being of pure azure fire now floated in the skies where once a war had been fought.

  Slowly, the fmes pulsed and ged, weaving together ahereal robe of deep azure, its fabric adorned with intricate bd yellow serpent patterns that coiled as if alive.

  The moment its robe took form, the fme being stirred. It lifted its azure hands, flexing its fiesting its e tilted its head, gazed into the empty skies.

  Then,it moved.

  Its body lifted into the air, gliding effortlessly as if flying.

  And then,it ughed.

  A deep, haunting, triumphant ugh.

  "Hehehehehe... Defying Phantom..." The voice of the azure fme-being echoed through the ruined nd. "You have fallen here, and I live! Even if I am now only a soul-fme being, it does not matter! I slowly create a new body, and in a thousand years or so, I shall return to the !"

  Its voice grew darker, filled with twisted amusement.

  "Hehehe... I win."

  With that, the Azure Ghost,onown as Young Master Basilisk,soared across the sky, heading toward the Mirror Pavilion.

  Along the way, his ughter echoed through the desote nd, a melody of victory.

  But as he arrived at the Mirror Pavilion, something ued happened.

  A rune formation,one he had never sensed before,suddenly activated.

  Bck s burst forth from the void, surging toward him.

  The Azure Ghost was caught. Shackled.

  Bound to the Mirror Pavilion by an unknown force.

  From that moment onward, he began plotting his escape. He faked the existence of an iance, using it as a lure for ambitious cultivators. He perfected his mastery of runes and formations, crafting tless schemes to break the s that bound him.

  Years passed.

  Theuries.

  tless cultivators came seeking the so-called iance of the "Fallen ed Ghost Prince."

  A,none of them khe truth.

  None of them knew what had truly transpired in that Dragon-Ghost war.

  None of them even knew if the war had ended.

  But The Azure Ghost did not care. He had only one purpose,one desire.

  Escape.

  For nearly five thousand years, he struggled.

  Attempt after attempt failed.

  Until finally,he found the answer.

  And then, one day,a ten year old boy arrived.

  A perfect host. A perfect opportunity.

  And so,his gra scheme began.

  To steal the boy's body.

  And finally,break free from his prison.

  - - - - - -

  Two years had passed since Yuan fell into the darkness.

  Atop a mountain, a young teenager y motionless, as if trapped in aernal slumber. His body remaiill, untouched by the passing winds, until,his eyes slowly fluttered open.

  His azure-bck eyes gazed at the endless sky above him, yet he made no move to rise. His mind stirred. Memories surged forth, threatening to drown him in the weight of the past.

  His vilge. His grandfather.The Mansion of tless Tombs.The Mirror Pavilion.The Azure Ghost,or as he now khe only True Basilisk.Young Master Basilisk of the True Azure Dragon .The ed Ghost Prince,Defying Phantom, the Heir of the Underworld.

  Everything he had onown, everything he had lear was too much to process.

  Cultivation. The tless, terrifying yers of cultivation.The unfathomable stage Basilisk and Defying Phantom had reached.The vast world beyond,a world that now seemed inprehensibly rge.His owence. His current location.

  For two days, Yuan y there, trapped within his own thoughts.

  But then,his mind stabilized.

  And so, he moved.

  Pushing himself up, he observed his surroundings. Somethi different. As he took in his own form, he realized,he had grown.

  He was taller now.

  His fingers stretched before him, no lohe small, delicate hands of a child. His limbs, leaner but firmer, had lengthened. He estimated his height and came to a simple clusion:

  He should be around twelve years old now.

  But how much time had truly passed? There was no way to be certain.

  Driven by curiosity, Yuan sought his refle. A small pond y nearby, its still waters glistenih the sky. He took a step forward,but then, he paused.

  For the first time, he noticed something that would have startled any other boy his age.

  He was pletely bare.

  Yet, where awelve year old might have felt embarrassment, shame, or fusion, Yuan remained unfazed. His expression did not waver.

  Instead, he calmly raised his hand.

  A gentle azure fme flickered ience, dang at the ter of his palm. The fme swirled, its form shifting slowly, precisely. Before long, it wove itself into a robe,a simple yet perfectly sized azure garment.

  Satisfied, he draped the robe over himself and tioward the pond.

  Upon reag the water's edge, he gazed down.

  His refle stared back at him.

  His expression remained unreadable, her shocked nor disturbed. His once-familiar face was now different.

  His eyes,azure bo lohe same as before.His features,sharper, more refined. His once childish roundness had faded into the early traaturity.

  But then,his expression shifted.

  For the first time since waking up, a flicker of doubt passed through his gaze.

  He looked at himself.

  For the first time since awakening, Yuan spoke, his voice hoarse and cold.

  "Who am I?"

  "Am I the Young Master of the True Azure Dragon , who lived for thirty thousand years? Or am I Yuan, the ten-year-old boy who faced the ed Prince's iance?"

  "No… I ruly faced the ed Prince's iance."

  His azure-bck eyes reflected iill water, flickering with a turmoil beyond his years.

  "I fought against the Azure Ghost… the Young Master of the True Azure Dragon . Or, as he was onown,the only Basilisk."

  A ripple disturbed the pond's surface as he ched his fists.

  "Even his Azure Basilisk Fmes have beine."

  "I know everything about the Basilisk,his deepest fears, his greatest hardships, the burdens he bore that no one else could uand. But… I also remember Yuan,an i boy who sought to defy fate, who longed for freedom from his soul's illness. Now that I uand cultivation…"

  His refle stared back at him, fractured and uain.

  "One of them reme existence,a cold, calg maniputor who schemed against tless beings, a ruthless man who cared nothing for his family or children."

  "The other was a curious, naive child,someone who only wao hear more stories from his grandfather, who unknowingly walked into the Basilisk's trials and traps."

  His lips parted as he whispered to himself, his voice heavy with flict.

  "Now that I know both of them… who am I?"

  "Am I Young Master Basilisk?"

  "Or am I Yuan?"

  The wind carried his question into the vast, indifferent sky.

  Days passed.

  He did not move.

  Day ht, he remai the pond's edge, unshaken by time, staring deep into his own refle, searg for an answer only he could find.

  And then,one day,he found it.

  "I am both."

  A shift in his voio longer as cold. A flicker of satisfa, of realization.

  "I am both Young Master Basilisk and the mortal Yuan."

  "One holds thirty thousand years of life experiehe other merely ten."

  The uainty faded, repced by something closer to acceptance.

  "Because I possess Yuan's body, his emotions, I say I am Yuan. But the memories of Young Master Basilisk… they g my sense of self, threatening to e me,trying to make me believe that I am him and not Yuan at all."

  A small smile crept onto his face,his first in what felt like a lifetime.

  "Yes… I am Yuan. I am the one who devoured the soul of the Basilisk, who ied all of his memories, who now wields his Azure Basilisk Fmes."

  The chaoti in his miled.

  His soul became stable.

  And at st,his gaze lifted toward the endless sky.

  "But none of that matters."

  A newfound crity flickered in his azure-bck eyes, gleaming like cold steel beh the sun.

  "Because today, I have defied the heavens."

  A soft chuckle left his lips, carrying with it a sense of triumph.

  "I was nothing but prey in the grand schemes of a Soul Fusion cultivator… yet I survived."

  His fingers curled, azure fmes flickering at his fiips.

  "Not only did I survive… I devoured Basilisk's entire soul."

  His heartbeat thrummed in his chest, steady and resolute.

  "And in doing so… I healed my soul's affli."

  Yuan exhaled, slow and measured. His once hoarse voice grew stronger, steadier,more human.

  "So this… this is my first act of defiance against fate."

  His smile deepened.

  "Not only that,I have stepped into the Blood Purification Stage."

  The weight of his realizatioled in. He was now a cultivator.

  His smile turned razor-sharp.

  "A Blood Purification Cultivator."

  With the first step taken, the path ahead stretched endlessly before him.

  And so,Yuan's pursuit of cultivation truly began.