Soulbound: Dual Cultivation

Chapter 347 347: Picking a squad 3

Lucas did not speak immediately after that. Instead, he raised his hand and reached into his storage ring, his movements unhurried yet deliberate, as though what he was about to reveal required the proper weight of silence.

One by one, twelve gauntlets emerged from the ring and hovered briefly in the air before settling gently onto the stone floor between them. Even without touching them, the cultivators could feel a subtle pull in the air, a sensation that made their dantians stir uneasily.

Bartho narrowed his eyes. "Those are not ordinary artifacts."

"No," Lucas replied calmly. "They are far from ordinary."

Jennifer stepped closer, careful not to cross the invisible boundary of the artifacts' influence. "I can feel my Qi responding to them. It is almost instinctive."

"That is because they are linked to the Core of Dominion," Lucas said. "Each of these gauntlets is a conduit. When the core is activated, it will draw all ambient Qi within a massive radius into a single focal point."

Murmurs rippled through the group, controlled yet unmistakable.

One of the cultivators spoke cautiously. "Would that not leave us powerless as well?"

Lucas nodded. "That would be the case if these did not exist."

He gestured toward the gauntlets. "When worn, they redirect the Qi gathered by the core directly into the bodies of those attuned to it. Not only will you retain your ability to cultivate and fight, you will receive more Qi than you could ever draw on your own."

Bartho inhaled sharply. "How much more?"

"Enough to overwhelm an unprepared body," Lucas answered honestly. "That is why I am giving these to you now, before the war truly begins."

Jennifer looked from the gauntlets back to Lucas. "You want us to acclimate to the flow."

"Yes," Lucas said. "In the heat of battle, there will be no time to learn restraint. If you cannot control the surge, the power meant to save you will tear you apart from the inside."

Silence followed, heavy and thoughtful.

Another cultivator finally asked, "And if the enemy realizes what is happening?"

Lucas met his gaze evenly. "Then they will already be losing."

He crouched and picked up one gauntlet, turning it slowly so the runes caught the light. "The Core of Dominion does not merely starve the enemy. It changes the battlefield itself. Their formations will collapse, their techniques will fail, and their confidence will shatter when they realize only one side can still breathe Qi."

Bartho's voice was low, edged with awe. "You are turning war into execution."

Lucas did not deny it. "War is already execution. I am simply choosing who survives it."

Jennifer placed her hand over one of the gauntlets, stopping just short of contact. "When do we begin training with them?"

Lucas straightened, his expression resolute. "Immediately. Tonight you will wear them. You will meditate with them. You will fight simulated battles with them. By the time we march, these will feel like extensions of your own bodies."

He looked at each of them again, his voice firm yet steady. "You will know the Core of Dominion as well as I do, because once the battle begins, your lives will depend on it."

No one hesitated. One by one, the cultivators stepped forward and reached for the gauntlets, their expressions no longer uncertain, but sharpened with grim understanding.

Once each of them had fitted a gauntlet onto their arm and adjusted it properly, Lucas lifted his hand again and reached into his storage ring. The air in the chamber shifted the instant the Core of Dominion emerged, as though space itself had acknowledged its presence. It hovered above his palm, a sphere of intricate layers and glowing veins, calm and restrained, yet carrying a pressure that made every cultivator's breathing grow heavier.

Bartho's eyes widened despite his disciplined composure. "So this is it."

"Yes," Lucas replied quietly. "This is the heart of it all."

Jennifer swallowed and steadied her breath. "It feels like it is watching us."

Lucas nodded faintly. "In a way, it is."

He raised his hand slightly and allowed his Qi to flow into the core. The reaction was immediate. The sphere brightened, its inner veins lighting up one after another, and then the world seemed to tilt. Qi surged violently from every direction, flooding toward the core with terrifying speed. The cultivators gasped as the gauntlets on their arms heated up, runes blazing to life as streams of refined energy poured directly into their meridians.

Several of them staggered, forced to brace themselves as the sheer volume of Qi crashed into their bodies. Jennifer dropped to one knee, her healer instincts screaming as she instinctively guided the energy through her circulation. Bartho planted his feet firmly into the ground, teeth clenched, eyes burning with both strain and exhilaration.

"This is insane," one of the cultivators muttered, his voice shaking with disbelief. "I feel like my cultivation is being force fed."

Lucas kept his expression calm, though his eyes were sharp. "Control it. Do not resist it and do not let it run wild."

Gradually, the chaos stabilized. The gauntlets adjusted their output, synchronizing with each wearer. The Qi stopped feeling like a flood and instead became a roaring river flowing exactly where it was needed. Awe replaced shock on their faces as they realized they were not being overwhelmed anymore. They were being empowered.

Bartho exhaled slowly. "This… this changes everything."

Another cultivator laughed softly, unable to stop himself. "With this, an army of monsters would fall."

Several of them turned toward Lucas at once, their expressions filled with admiration and gratitude.

"Leader, this is beyond anything we imagined," Jennifer said sincerely. "You gave us a weapon that defies common sense."

Lucas immediately raised a hand. "Do not praise me for this."

They hesitated, surprised.

"This is Sage Raph's creation," Lucas continued firmly. "Every principle behind this artifact, every layer of its design, came from him. All I did was finish what he could not stabilize in time."

Bartho lowered his head slightly in respect. "Even so, without you, it would never have existed in this form."

Lucas shook his head. "Remember whose legacy you are wielding. Power like this carries responsibility, and arrogance will get you killed faster than the enemy."

The cultivators straightened at once, the weight of his words settling into them just as deeply as the Qi flowing through their bodies.

Lucas deactivated the core, and the pressure in the room faded, leaving behind only heavy breaths and shining eyes.

"Learn this power," he said calmly. "Respect it. Because when the battlefield opens, this will decide who lives and who never gets the chance to fight back."