Within the sacred domain of Adarsh's Divine Soul, three lotus petals slowly unfurled from one of the twenty budding lotus stems. As they blossomed, something mysterious began to shift—gradually, the absorption of mysterious chaos energy and rule power from the outer Ice Ruins and the Origin Land came to a halt. Intrigued and slightly alarmed, Adarsh extended his divine sense into the lotus, trying to comprehend its essence. But before he could glean much, he was struck by a sudden and terrifying sensation—his entire soul power, and even fragments of his very soul, were being pulled into the lotus itself.
Panic surged through him.
Frantically, he attempted to halt the process using his soul power, directing every ounce of strength to resist the suction. But it was useless. The lotus's pull was relentless. Seeing no other way, Adarsh turned inward, focusing all his awareness on the sensation of his own soul. What he discovered was astonishing: the parts of his soul being drained were not disappearing—they were being absorbed and merged into the lotus.
And then something even more remarkable occurred.
The more of his soul and soul power fused with the lotus, the more vividly he could feel it. He could sense the texture of its petals, the pulsing life within its stem, the rhythm of its energy—it was as if the lotus had become an extension of his own body. Just as a human can feel each nerve in their flesh, Adarsh began to feel the lotus as if it were his own form.
When the process finally ended, the half-bloomed lotus had absorbed nearly half of his Divine Soul and fused with it entirely. Only then did the energy absorption come to a stop.
Adarsh found himself standing at the threshold of a strange new existence.
His Divine Soul had now split into two distinct parts—yet he was able to control both equally. His consciousness had not fragmented; it remained whole, singular, and all-encompassing. It was as if he now had two bodies, two soul vessels, under the command of one will. When he wished, he could operate them separately, and when needed, he could direct them in unison. The awareness within his soul allowed both versions of himself to remain connected, capable of sharing memories, emotions, and experiences.
He then noticed something else—inside the incomplete lotus, the hollow soul vessel was gradually beginning to heal. The soul power within it was recovering, slowly filling the empty space. In time, it would become complete, a fully formed Divine Soul of its own. However, the original half of his soul—still residing within the Divine Soul Realm—remained damaged. Without access to the chaos energy absorbed by the lotus, it could not recover.
Adarsh made a mental note: he would need to find a way to heal his original soul later. But for now, his focus had to be elsewhere. Above all, he had to figure out how to protect his new body—and his mother—from the wrath of the Realm Tribulation and the dangers lurking within the Hidden Ice Ruins.
Determined, Adarsh directed his divine sense toward the inner power system embedded within his new lotus soul. What he discovered was astonishing. At the core of the lotus-form soul, there floated a tiny speck—a brilliant dot radiating streams of multicolored light. When he merged his consciousness with this glowing point, a system panel appeared before him, ethereal and cryptic.
To his surprise, the lotus was completely hidden within the Divine Soul Realm. If not for the soul fragment residing inside it, he would have never sensed its existence. It was cloaked entirely, like a phantom that revealed itself only through its bond with him. Similarly, the glowing speck within the soul—this strange power source—held no physical presence, yet he could feel it due to his connection with it. That connection was what enabled him to interface with the system panel.
He turned his attention to the panel now floating in his awareness. There were two sets of information displayed:
1. Chaos Blood Lotus Body
2. Dao Human Body
With bated breath, Adarsh selected the Lotus Body to inspect its current status.
[Host: Adarsh]
Race: Chaos
Stage: Chaos Level 1
Skills:
1. Soul Division – Allows the host to divide their soul at each stage. Each divided soul fragment will be gradually healed by the chaos energy within the Chaos Blood Lotus until complete.
2. Mother Lotus Command – With each breakthrough stage, the Chaos Lotus can generate two new seeds. Anyone who fuses with one of these seeds will be able to cultivate within the Chaos Realm. However, their life and death will be bound to the Chaos Blood Lotus.
Status: Soul Damage,,, Healing…
Seed Generation: (0/2)
Adarsh finally understood why his soul had split—it was a result of the first divine skill: Soul Division. His soul was now in the process of healing, assisted by the chaos energy embedded within the lotus.
But it was the second skill that left him stunned.
Through it, he could create two new Chaos Blood Lotus seeds—each powerful enough to allow someone to enter the Chaos Realm and undergo a breakthrough. However, the trade-off was severe: those who used the seeds would become eternally bound to him. Their lives, their deaths, their very existence—would lie in his hands.
Such a skill was beyond anything he had imagined. It was powerful—yes—but dangerous too.
Then realization struck. The evolution of the Chaos Blood Lotus was the cause of the Realm Tribulation. This was no ordinary divine artifact—it was a treasure born in defiance of the realm itself. It absorbed chaos energy from its surroundings, growing in ways that the natural order did not permit. The Realm had responded violently to its presence, attempting to annihilate it before it could mature.
Adarsh realized something else. Other cultivators might have already sensed this abnormality. If they discovered the location of the tribulation, they would surely investigate, searching for the source. And if they found him—if they found his mother—it could be fatal.
He had to create a decoy.
Adarsh decided to leave behind one of the newly generated Chaos Blood Lotus seeds. That way, if any cultivators came searching, they would find the seed and assume it was the origin of the tribulation—an unclaimed treasure of immense power. It would draw their attention away from him and his mother.
With resolve in his heart, Adarsh activated the second divine skill. Instantly, a stream of chaos energy surged from the lotus into his heart. At its center, a black-gold mark began to form, glowing faintly with power. Within moments, chaos blood essence began flowing toward the mark, converging into a single point that began to solidify—the birth of a new seed.
At that moment, Iram Rai, still shielded within the golden barrier, noticed the sudden shift in her child's body. Though the Realm Tribulation had briefly quieted, she had only recovered a fragment of her spiritual energy. Her face, once pale, now held a faint flush of life. But witnessing the transformation in her son stirred fear in her once more.
Then she looked upward—and her breath caught in her throat.
Above the Ice Ruins, the skies once again began to darken. The Realm Tribulation was not yet over. It was only gathering strength.
If it struck again… there might be no escape this time.
But what happened next—left her speechless.