Mystique Soul: A Cultivator's Flame
Chapter 130: A new - unfolds.

Chapter 130: A new Chapter unfolds.

The city rose like a dream from the horizon, its silhouette carved in stone and starlight.

Feng Jiao Xue stood atop the crest of the hill, her pale eyes fixed on the sprawl below. The breeze tugged at her cloak, carrying the faint scent of sea salt, lotus smoke, and something faintly metallic, like magic freshly cast. Beside her, Mo Tianze exhaled quietly, gaze unreadable as ever.

"They weren’t lying," he murmured. "It really does look like the future wrapped in the bones of the past."

The city had been built around the ruins of an ancient mage kingdom, its foundations interwoven with arcane sigils and floating stone platforms. Instead of crumbling, the city had adapted. Towers rose from forgotten temples, etched with glowing veins of spiritstone. Bridges of translucent crystal arced between spires like spider silk caught in moonlight. ships hovered above the tallest peaks, drifting lazily, their hulls trimmed in gold and glimmering script.

Yet beneath all that shimmered an undeniable age, cracked pillars now supporting enchanted lanterns, statues with chipped noses holding spirit wards, roads made of obsidian cobbled with memory runes that pulsed faintly under each step.

It was beautiful.

And alive.

"Come on," Mo Tianze said, slinging his pack over one shoulder. "The outer gate’s up ahead."

As they made their descent, the road grew busier. Pilgrims, warriors, mages, and wanderers from every corner of the continent converged upon the main thoroughfare, young people, mostly, eyes bright with ambition and anxiety. Some wore battle-worn robes and carried blades or staves. Others glided on spirit disks or rode strange beasts that shimmered like illusions.

Everyone steps into the city with a gamble on the future.

The city gates were massive, arched and adorned with inlaid jade depictions of phoenixes and dragons, locked in a celestial spiral. Floating above the entrance was a shimmering sigil, a layered formation woven with living script. Each new arrival passed beneath it as if walking through a veil. Some were stopped. Others allowed to pass. A few... vanished without a trace.

"Magical screening," Mo Tianze said under his breath. "Clever. Probably sorts illusions, false documents, or cloaked identities."

Feng Jiao Xue nodded but said nothing. She let her aura remain carefully neutral, her magic buried deep, the way she always had.

They passed beneath the formation without issue.

Inside, the city exploded into motion.

The Outer Ring was a blend of market chaos and preparatory fervor. Shops and pavilions sold everything from spirit-enhancing teas to enchanted notebooks that recorded lectures on their own. Streets hummed with magical wires that powered communication sigils. Floating lamplights flickered in response to dusk as if recognizing the approach of night.

Children practiced casting simple elemental spells in designated corners. Spirit creatures flitted between rooftops. A silver phoenix clock tower chimed softly, releasing a pulse of mana that swept through the air like a heartbeat.

"Everything here runs on spell-currents," Mo Tianze observed, his eyes flicking to the glowing lines etched beneath the flagstones. "Advanced but stable. Whoever built this city had a clear vision."

A sudden cheer erupted up ahead, they’d reached Trial Square, the central plaza where aspirants were gathering.

A grand stage floated above the plaza, tethered by chains of spelllight. At its center, a single, cloaked examiner sat cross-legged on a rotating dais. Around them, hundreds of hopefuls waited. Some sparred in open circles, showing off martial techniques. Others demonstrated control over magical sigils or summoned minor spirits to impress the scouts watching from the edges.

Banners bearing the crest of the Grand Academy, a blooming flower etched over a celestial wheel, fluttered in the charged air.

An announcement rang out, clear and melodic, broadcast through enchanted amplifiers embedded in the plaza walls:

"The entrance trials begin in three days. Registration closes tomorrow. Prepare well — your future begins now."

Three days.

Feng Jiao Xue glanced around.

Dozens of powerful cultivators. Even more magicians. Some more talented than others, but all dangerous in their own way.

And none of them had any idea what lay beyond the Academy gates.

Neither did she.

But if there was a place in this world where truth, power, and history converged where she might finally find the keys to unlocking her own fragmented soul and the mystery of her existence it would be here.

"Let’s find an inn," she said at last.

Mo Tianze nodded eagerlt. "Somewhere quiet?"

Her eyes flicked toward a dueling circle where two flame-wielders were hurling fireballs like children throwing pebbles.

"Preferably," she replied.

Mo Tianze walked alongside Feng Jiao Xue in contemplative silence, his eyes keen as they moved through the widening thoroughfares of the outer city.

Magic flowed like a silent river beneath the city’s breath. Spirit lines shimmered beneath their feet, pulsing in time with the arcane veins that nourished this metropolis. Magicians, clad in sleek robes interwoven with spellthread, moved through the streets with ease, often floating above the crowd on levitating disks or speaking softly to ethereal familiars made of light or shadow. Cultivators, by contrast, walked with powerful gaits, many of them surrounded by an invisible air of force that pressed against passersby like a wave.

Everyone here seemed to know their place.

Mo Tianze’s gaze scanned them all, not with envy, but with a growing sense of detachment.

He saw dual-arts practitioners, cultivators who had dabbled in magecraft and vice versa. There were even a few with spirit contracts flaring faintly behind their auras. But no matter how many people he quietly studied, one fact became painfully clear.

He was alone.

No other beastkin. No kin with ears like his that flicked in response to distant sounds, or tails hidden beneath enchanted cloaks to avoid the eyes of scorn. He saw only lesser spirit beasts, tame, weak, and obedient. Playthings or status symbols. Not equals. Not free.

His ears flattened at that as he looked down at his feet.

A group of young cultivators passed nearby, laughing loudly as one of them snapped their fingers to summon a small salamander spirit that danced atop his palm. A magician girl nearby summoned water to let it swim. Mo Tianze watched, jaw tightening.

It was subtle, but every gesture, every glance in the streets reminded him, here, his kind were regarded as beasts to be tamed, not minds to be respected.

He said nothing.

Not until a body bumped into his shoulder, hard.

He stumbled back a half step.

The man who had done it wore fine, emerald-embroidered robes, his long hair pinned up with a sigil comb that glinted under the spirit lamps. He looked Mo Tianze up and down with a twisted sneer, brushing off his sleeve as though Mo’s very presence was filth.

"Tch. Disgusting" the man muttered under his breath and was about to berate Mo Tianze but...

A crack of pressure split the air.

Killing intent, sharp and cold as a blade drawn across bare skin, erupted from Feng Jiao Xue.

The atmosphere around her changed in an instant. Her aura, normally locked down like frost upon steel, shimmered with lethal precision. The sigils etched faintly in the air trembled. Several passersby instinctively stepped away, eyes widening.

The man froze.

His face drained of color as his knees buckled faintly, and sweat began to bead on his forehead. He turned, lips parted as if to protest, but no words came. Feng Jiao Xue didn’t speak, didn’t need to. Her eyes alone pinned him like a sword through silk.

He bowed quickly and scurried away.

Mo Tianze stood stiffly, unmoving.

The killing intent vanished as quickly as it had come, like a blade sheathed beneath silk.

She turned to him.

"Are you alright?"

"You didn’t have to do that," he said quietly.

She frowned, her tone cool but soft. "He crossed a line."

"Yes," he admitted. "But that doesn’t mean I want people to be your enemy for my sake."

For a moment, the noise of the city seemed to fade. The crackle of spirit sigils and the chatter of aspirants dimmed beneath the weight of his voice.

She didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she took a step closer, her expression unreadable. And then, in a motion so casual it nearly went unnoticed, her fingers brushed against his hand, not enough to hold, but enough to anchor.

"I dont go out of my way to troubke others" she said, her voice as soft as falling snow. "But I have no qualms going against everyone for hurting my person who didn’t deserve it "

He turned to look at her. Her dark hair caught the light of the floating lamps. Her gaze, cold to others, held a rare gentleness when fixed on him.

"Sister...." he said. "Thank you. Sister is the best to me"

A faint smile ghosted across her lips, not quite a curve, but softer than her usual impassive calm.

"We should rest soon," she said. "We’ll need our strength for the trials."

Mo Tianze nodded, grateful for the shift in topic, though the warmth of her words remained in his chest longer than he cared to admit.

They found a modest inn tucked between two buildings formed from darkstone and glowing crystal. The owner, an old cultivator with dull eyes and a faded robe, handed them keys without much attention.

Their rooms were separated by only a thin wooden wall. Later that night, after the lamps dimmed and the sounds of the city hushed into a soft hum, Mo Tianze found himself lying on his back, staring at the ceiling. Sleep did not come.

He heard the faint rustle of movement next door.

Then, a knock. Gentle.

He opened the door to find Feng Jiao Xue standing barefoot, her cloak wrapped loosely over her nightrobe.

"Couldn’t sleep?" she asked, voice hushed.

He shook his head. "You too?"

"Too many thoughts," she said. "I... just wanted to be sure you were okay."

Mo Tianze hesitated. Then he stepped aside.

She entered without a word, and the two sat at the small round table near the window. The city lights sparkled in the distance, and somewhere above, am airship drifted like a silver whale across the sky.

He broke the silence.

"I just... I guest I shoukd be used to it by now but.... being by sister’s side was nice that... I forgot all the bad things."

She listened.

"But..." he continued. "This morening... what happened... I want to be by your side. To walk the oath you chose, with you..." He clutched his own tail anxiously. "But I don’t know if... if I’m worthy of that."

She reached forward, slowly, and took his hand.

Warm.

Grounding.

"To me" she said, "you are Mo Tianze. My companion. My equal."

He looked at her, golden eyes bright in the dim light.

"Thank you," he said, voice a whisper.

Neither of them said more that night. They sat together until the first bell of morning rang.

And when she returned to her room, and he finally lay down again, Mo Tianze fell asleep with a calm heart.

He was not alone.