As I spun frantically looking for some sign of safety, I saw Henrik still standing above the ruins; Maya was half-way up the ladder and hadn’t finished climbing down yet; Sara and about fifteen other people were safe in the tunnels below.

  The Skybound raised one hand that glowed with symbols representing reality-bending power.

  “Get down!” I screamed at Maya and Henrik.

  The spell struck.

  Henrik’s entire body instantly turned to ice.

  Maya jumped off the ladder but had frozen before she could even land.

  Both of them were forever trapped in a look of terror, preserved in the ice.

  The Skybound shifted its attention to the trap-door.

  With a quick motion of its hand, the wood door slammed shut.

  Then ice materialized to seal the survivors underground.

  At least they’re alive. Trapped, but alive.

  The question was: for how long?

  And then the Skybound looked at me.

  I stood frozen, the only person still moving in the mangled remains of the storehouse. Even my enhanced strength wouldn’t do much good against the Skybound; it could kill me with a thought.

  The robed figure slowly cocked its head, examining me.

  I couldn’t see the face under the hood, but I felt the Skybound’s gaze on me like a physical weight.

  “Fascinating,” it said. “Your soul is remarkably strong for a mortal.”

  The Skybound floated a little above the floor.

  The symbols in the air surrounding it kept shifting and glowing.

  “The majority of the souls here are weak, barely enough to sustain consciousness,” it continued. “However, yours… Yours is incredibly resilient. Potent.”

  I didn’t reply to it. Fear was too tight in my throat to speak.

  “The red sun craves souls like yours,” the Skybound said. “Those souls with the strength to endure the transition without falling apart. You’ll make an excellent Sun-Touched. Far better than those unthinking beasts who can barely follow orders.”

  The Skybound extended a hand toward me.

  “I think I’ll keep you,” it said.

  I tried to run. The incredible strength in my legs propelled me toward the door fast — far faster than Tomas’s body should have ever moved. But it didn’t matter.

  The Skybound seemed to appear in front of me without so much as a twitch. Its hand reached out and clamped onto my throat, and it lifted me off the ground. The grip was a crushing vice, suffocating me. I flailed at the iron-hard fingers, but they didn’t budge.

  “It doesn’t matter how hard you struggle,” it said. “Your soul is already mine.”

  And with that, we were airborne.

  We rose up through the hole in the roof of the storehouse.

  We ascended higher than the tops of the burning homes in the village.

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  We rose into the sky, where the two suns shone down on us.

  Higher.

  Higher.

  The ground disappeared from view. The village became a cluster of tiny structures. The vast expanse of desolate, brown earth stretched out in every direction under the intense light of the red sun.

  Eventually, the Skybound stopped our ascent when we were high enough that the air was thin and cold.

  It held me at arms-length, still gripping my throat.

  “The transformation is agonizing,” it said, almost casually. “Most mortals become insane during the process. Their consciousness shatters under the pressure. However, I believe you just might retain enough of your self-awareness to be useful.”

  It yanked my head back, forcing me to stare at the red sun.

  The light from the sun poured into my eyes, my mind, and my very soul.

  The pain was agonising.

  I'd wanted to absorb otherworldly energy. I'd needed it to complete the Genesis Seed.

  But not like this. This was hell.

  The transformation began with my skin.

  The transformations I’d forced on this body using Soul Essence conversions paled in comparison to this degradation.

  Crimson light began to etch living tattoos on every inch of my body. Bones snapped and reshaped into jagged protrusions that tore through my muscles. My jaw popped out of joint as my teeth elongated into fangs.

  “Master, your soul is separating!” Azure shouted urgently. “Stop resisting! Allow your consciousness to drift upward! The farther your soul separates from your body, the less you’ll experience the transformation!”

  I was aware of the sensation.

  Usually, it came without warning, and I had no control over it.

  But this time I concentrated on the feeling of separation associated with world-walking, allowing my awareness to drift upward while my body continued to undergo its grotesque metamorphosis below.

  My new muscles bulged and twisted to unnatural proportions. Crimson spiritual pathways previously dormant in this world burst forth with the transformative energy of the red sun, which seared my veins like acid.

  And then, with a feeling similar to bursting through the surface of a frozen lake, I was free.

  Not physically. My body continued to transform into something abhorrent.

  But I was free as a disembodied consciousness, watching in horror as the transformation was completed.

  What had once been a miller’s son had now become a grotesque manifestation of burning tattoos and crystalline protrusions, radiating a crimson light that hurt to look at directly. Its eyes glowed with a ravenous mindlessness as it turned to wait for its commands from the Skybound like it was some sort of loyal hound.

  I tried to move my soul away from the scene, worried that the Skybound would sense me.

  I didn’t know if it could harm soul beings, but I didn’t have any intention of finding out.

  Fortunately for me, the Skybound didn’t even glance in my direction.

  Its focus remained solely on the transformed body below it, admiring its work.

  “Excellent,” it said, extending a hand to touch one of the crimson markings on the creature’s arm. “The transformation has taken full effect. You’ll make a great addition to my collection.”

  Reality around me began to blur as my soul was drawn back to the Cultivation World.

  “Now then,” the Skybound said, still addressing my transformed body. “Let’s see how well you follow orders. Go back to the village and kill anyone you see. Leave no survivors behind.”

  These were the last words I heard before the world completely dissolved around me. The light from the red sun faded, and I was enveloped in the familiar sensation of traveling between realities. The last thing I saw was my transformed body racing toward the village, toward the trapdoor sealed over the tunnel entrance where the survivors hid.

  I could only hope they stayed quiet and hidden.

  The transition back to my own reality was smoother this time.

  There was no wrenching gasp for air, no frantic attempt to breathe.

  I simply settled gently back into my body like slipping into a comfortable chair.

  I opened my eyes to find myself right back where I had been when I had left.

  Sitting cross-legged on my meditation mat, afternoon sunlight pouring in through the window.

  My hands were shaking violently.

  The memory of the transformation was still sharp, still vivid.

  The sensation of my bones snapping and reforming, my flesh bubbling and twisting.

  “Master?” Azure whispered softly. “Are you okay?”

  “No,” I admitted. “But I’m alive. And that counts for something.”

  I took a number of slow, deep breaths, trying to calm my racing heart.

  “Did we get what we needed?” I asked.

  “Look inside your inner world,” Azure replied.

  I closed my eyes and focused inward.

  I found Azure waiting for me in the middle of my inner world.

  But he wasn’t alone.

  A small, blood-red sun hovered above him, bathing everything in a warm, crimson glow.

  I stared at it in shock.

  The energy coming off it felt wrong, corrupt and dangerous, but it was exactly what I needed.

  “Will this be enough to awaken the Genesis Seed?”

  “Yes,” Azure confirmed. “The Genesis Seed will be able to use this as a template, a memory of what exists beyond normal reality. It should be enough to complete the First Stage of the World Tree Sutra."

  I couldn’t help but laugh manically. It came out a little hysterical and was tinged with the madness of someone who had just been transformed into a monster and barely avoided losing their soul.

  But I had done it!

  I’d obtained the otherworldly energy needed to awaken the Genesis Seed.

  The World Tree Sutra was finally within reach.