Soulbound: Dual Cultivation

Chapter 411: Reaching out to the Empress

When Lucas’ vision cleared fully, he sat upright slowly on the reinforced cot.

Every muscle protested.

Bandages wrapped tightly around his torso and left shoulder where the General’s elemental detonation had struck him at close range. His meridians still felt scorched from forcing spatial compression around such dense flame, and the backlash pulsed faintly with each breath he took.

Second stage Sage against third.

He had closed the gap.

But it had nearly broken him.

Lucas swung his legs off the cot and planted his boots firmly against the ground. The healer immediately stepped forward in alarm.

"You should remain seated," Jennifer urged. "Your internal circulation is unstable. If you force movement now..."

"I don’t have the luxury," Lucas said quietly.

His voice was steady, though exhaustion lined it. He couldn’t help but think about Patrick news of Celestial Ken.

If that man chose to intervene personally, everything would change in an instant. No arrangement of terrain, no manipulation of atmosphere, no tactical brilliance would matter. A Celestial realm cultivator stepping onto a battlefield of Sages and below would be akin to a god descending among mortals.

Valerion’s advantage would evaporate.

Lucas pushed himself fully upright despite the tremor running through his limbs. He adjusted the new mask back into place and fastened his cloak over the bandages to conceal the extent of his injuries.

"I need to see the King," he said.

Jennifer hesitated, then stepped aside.

Outside, the late afternoon light filtered across the valley, revealing the aftermath of brutal conflict. Soldiers saluted as he passed, their expressions a mixture of awe and relief. They had seen what he did to the usurper General.

But none of them felt what he felt.

That distant pressure still lingered faintly at the edge of perception.

Lucas approached the royal command enclosure where banners bearing Valerion’s crest fluttered steadily in the wind.

Inside stood the ruler of their realm, waiting.

Lucas did not waste time on ceremony.

"We cannot celebrate yet," he said evenly. "This victory means nothing if he decides to step in."

The King’s gaze sharpened.

"Celestial Ken," he said, not as a question.

Lucas nodded.

"If he intervenes personally, Valerion is doomed."

There was no exaggeration in his tone.

Only fact.

The valley battle had proven they could outmaneuver numbers, suppress stronger Sages, and fracture coordinated assaults. But a Celestial realm cultivator existed on an entirely different plane of power.

One decision from that man could turn triumph into annihilation.

Silence stretched inside the royal enclosure after Lucas spoke.

The King’s expression darkened, not with fear, but with something heavier. Resentment and distrust.

"She will not come," the King said at last, his voice low. "Even if matters reach that stage."

Lucas’ eyes lifted slightly.

The King continued, "You still place hope in her?"

"She betrayed Valerion," the King said flatly. "She vanished into seclusion when we needed her most. If Celestial Ken moves, she will not stand against him for our sake."

Lucas listened without interruption.

Outwardly, he gave nothing away.

Inwardly, however, he knew something the King did not.

If she had truly betrayed them in spirit... if she had severed intent... if she had turned her blade fully against Valerion...

He would have felt it.

The bond between them was not symbolic. It was not political.

It was soul-bound.

A tether forged beyond ordinary contracts, beyond mere allegiance.

If her heart had shifted entirely into hostility, the backlash through that connection would have been unmistakable.

But there had been nothing.

Lucas kept that knowledge to himself.

Revealing the existence of such a bond to the King would create complications far greater than the current war.

"She may be in seclusion," Lucas said carefully, neither agreeing nor contradicting the accusation. "But until we are certain, we cannot assume abandonment."

The King’s gaze sharpened slightly, searching his face.

Lucas did not waver.

After a moment, he inclined his head respectfully.

"With your permission, Your Majesty, I require solitude for a short while."

The King studied him for several seconds longer, then gave a curt nod.

"Do what you must. But understand this," the King said quietly. "If she truly stands with us, now would be the time to prove it."

Lucas turned and left without further words.

The walk back to his tent felt heavier than the march through battle had.

Inside his tent, the noise of the valley dulled once more.

He dismissed the guard at the entrance and sealed the interior with a subtle spatial distortion, ensuring privacy and preventing interruption.

Then he sat cross-legged at the center of the tent.

The pain in his body pulsed faintly, but he forced it into the background.

The soul bond was not something one activated casually. It was not a communication stone or a crude spiritual transmission array. It required intent. Focus. Alignment.

He closed his eyes.

At first there was only darkness.

Then, faintly...A thread.

Not visible to the eye, but felt.

A subtle warmth deep within his spiritual core, distinct from his own Qi circulation. It pulsed softly, steady and intact.

Relief flickered through him, though he did not allow it to show even in solitude.

If she had truly betrayed him, that thread would have grown cold. Fractured. Distorted.

Instead, it remained calm.

Distant.

Very distant.

Lucas extended his consciousness carefully along the tether.

He did not force it.

Forcing would cause backlash. The soul bond responded to resonance, not coercion.

His awareness traveled outward, crossing layers of mental resistance, pushing past the static haze created by great distance and possible spiritual barriers.

He could feel the faint outline of her presence, immense and restrained, like a sun hidden behind layers of clouds.

Still there and connected, Lucas steadied his breathing.

If Celestial Ken chose to descend, Valerion would not survive the confrontation alone.

And if there was even a chance, Even a single chance...That she would answer him...

Then this was the moment to call.

He deepened the resonance and reached for her through the soul-bound connection.

Lucas let his breathing settle first, slow in....slow out.

The noise outside the tent faded into something distant and unimportant. For a few moments, he forgot about the wounded, the dead, the looming threat in the sky. He focused only on the faint warmth inside his chest — that quiet thread that did not belong to him alone.

She was still there.

That much he was certain of.

He reached carefully this time. Not with force. Not with desperation. Just... reaching.

The connection stirred.

It wasn’t dramatic. There were no flashing lights or roaring waves of power. Just a subtle shift, like brushing your fingers against someone’s sleeve in the dark.

Lucas followed the feeling.

He let his consciousness drift along that thin bond, extending himself beyond the tent, beyond the valley, beyond the borders of Valerion. The farther he went, the heavier it became — like walking into deep water where every step demanded more strength than the last.

Then he felt a wall, it wasn’t violent but it was firm.

It was like pressing against a closed door that wasn’t meant to be opened. Dense spiritual energy layered over itself again and again, perfectly controlled, perfectly sealed.

She wasn’t ignoring him...She wasn’t rejecting him.

She simply wasn’t available.

Lucas exhaled slowly, resting his hands on his knees.

He tried again, a little firmer this time — not pushing, but knocking. Letting his presence brush against that barrier in the faintest possible way.

The resistance responded immediately.

The energy around the barrier tightened, as if instinctively protecting whatever lay within. A quiet pulse traveled back through the bond, not painful, but clear.

Not now.

Lucas’ jaw tightened slightly.

"She’s still in seclusion..." he murmured under his breath.

For a second, frustration flared in his chest. Not at her — never at her — but at the timing. Of all moments for her to shut herself away from the world, it had to be now.

He leaned back slightly, staring at the canvas ceiling of the tent.

If she had betrayed them like the King believed, the bond would have felt wrong. Cold. Twisted. Severed.

But it didn’t.

It felt... steady.

Alive.

Just out of reach.

He closed his eyes again, softer this time.

"I don’t need you to break seclusion," he whispered quietly, more to himself than to the bond. "I just need you to know."

He let the connection carry a single thought. Not a demand. Not an order.

A warning.

Celestial Ken might move.

Valerion might fall.

And if that happened, everything would change.

Lucas withdrew gently after that, unwilling to strain the bond further. Forcing it would only create cracks neither of them needed.

When he opened his eyes, the weight of reality settled back onto his shoulders.

If Celestial Ken descended before she emerged...

Valerion would have to survive on its own.

And right now, that thought did not comfort him at all. The thought of them facing a celestial was too dreadful.