Henrietta did not waste a moment. As soon as Lucas’s words settled between them, she began her search. Her consciousness flowed outward in all directions like a web of silken threads.
It moved through the Qi currents that rippled across the city, brushing against the ambient energy of its buildings, the movement of the people, and the thick, almost tangible tension that saturated the land.
Her senses extended far beyond the walls of her chamber. Through her stillness, she became aware of everything
....But there was something wrong.
She tried again, probing deeper this time, pushing her senses into places that are secluded, but the crystal remained elusive. The entire city pulsed with Qi, as expected, but no presence matched the unique signature of a beast core.
It was hidden, buried beneath layers of obfuscation so precise and intricate it startled even her. Whoever had brought the crystal here had gone through immense effort to conceal it. The masking wasn’t simply a clever illusion, it was high-level suppression, cast with expert precision. The kind of technique that only the truly powerful or the exceptionally cunning could perform.
She slowly turned her gaze to Lucas. Her expression did not betray any fear, but in her mind’s voice, there was something colder...frustration edged with reluctant truth.
"I can’t see it," she said. "It’s veiled. Veiled in a way that I cannot pierce without drawing attention or forcing the city’s own energies to retaliate. Whoever is behind this knew what they were doing."
Lucas’s heart sank the moment he heard her say it. He stared at the floor for a long moment, his teeth clenched behind tight lips. He didn’t want to believe it. They were running out of time. With every passing breath, more of those beasts drew closer. He had already exhausted himself once, and it had barely made a dent. He had played his part, thrown himself into the fray, and yet it still wasn’t enough. His fists tightened as a knot of rage curled in his chest.
"That’s not good enough," he said quietly, his voice hoarse. He looked back up at her, and there was no hesitation in his gaze now. "You can’t find it, but I might... if you give me access."
Henrietta’s brows furrowed slightly, her stillness suddenly sharpened. She knew what he meant, and it wasn’t something she could take lightly. To give access to her powers, even temporarily, was not merely a transfer of strength. It was a deep, invasive link.
"You don’t understand what you’re asking," she said, not as a rebuke, but as a warning. "My cultivation is not something to wield like a sword. It’s a river with no bottom, If you touch it carelessly, it will destroy you."
Lucas didn’t look away. His voice was tired, but resolved.
"Then I’ll be careful," he replied.
Henrietta studied him for a long, tense moment. The room had grown impossibly quiet, and for a heartbeat, even the Qi in the air felt as though it held its breath.
Finally, without another word, she placed her hand gently over her chest and extended her other palm toward him.
Lucas stood still for a moment as the searing power of the seer’s cultivation coursed through him in a slow, careful stream.
He didn’t dare attempt to channel the full extent of her essence. He wasn’t arrogant or reckless enough to believe he could bear it. Even the fragment he absorbed felt like a heavy sun pressing against the walls of his soul, hot and volatile, threatening to unravel him if he so much as lost focus for a second. But he steadied himself, gritting his teeth, and allowed the borrowed energy to settle within him like a second breath, deeper and older than his own.
He closed his eyes and at once, his consciousness expanded outward, riding the waves of Qi Henrietta had mastered over decades. His senses sharpened beyond their limits, extending through the walls of the castle and into the heart of the city.
He passed through stone and air, through flowing rivers of spiritual current and into the threads of the ley lines that connected the city’s foundation. It was a sprawling maze of energy, dense and shifting, but as he pushed farther, he began to see the distortions, areas where the flow was not natural, where something heavy disrupted the stream.
He honed in and there it was, a single point beneath layers of sacred enchantments and ancient architecture. It pulsed faintly, not like a living heart, but like a sleeping one. Small and contained, hidden but unmistakable.
The crystal! Buried within the cultivation altar at the heart of the city. A place revered, protected, and above all, overlooked. No one would dare disturb it, which made it the perfect place to hide something so dangerous. It was practically within the city’s spiritual spine, bound so intimately to its energy systems that anyone attempting to track the crystal through Qi alone would be thrown off by the overwhelming flow around it.
Lucas’s eyes opened slowly.
He pulled back from Henrietta’s energy, the severing of the link leaving him light-headed but alive. He exhaled a shaky breath, his skin clammy and his temples damp with sweat. The seer was watching him closely, though her body remained still. There was something in her gaze that almost resembled pride, but she said nothing, she didn’t have to.
"I found it," Lucas said quietly, voice tight but steady. "Thank you."
Without another word, he turned and left her chamber.
The door closed behind him with a soft click, and Nyx, who had been waiting just outside, immediately rose to her feet. Her eyes scanned his face, noting the drawn features, the strain in his posture, but she said nothing yet.
"We need to go," Lucas said, already moving forward. "Now."
"Where?" Nyx asked, already falling into step beside him.
"The cultivation altar," Lucas answered. "The crystal is hidden there. That’s where they placed it."
Nyx stopped only for a fraction of a second, stunned by what he had just said. But she didn’t ask questions. She didn’t demand proof or press him for answers. She simply nodded and moved faster, guiding him toward the stables once more.