Soulbound: Dual Cultivation

Chapter 596: Back to life 3

The chamber slowly began to calm.

The initial shock had given way to cautious relief, though disbelief still lingered on every face. Even now, many of the attendants kept glancing at Lucas, half expecting him to vanish like an illusion.

Lucas himself paid little attention to the commotion around him.

Something was… different.

Very different.

He slowly closed his eyes.

Immediately, his consciousness sank inward.

He could feel his meridians.

Every one of them.

They no longer felt familiar.

The pathways through which his Qi flowed had become broader, sturdier, almost as though they had been forged anew. Streams of power coursed through them effortlessly, carrying an energy unlike any Qi he had cultivated before.

Then he sensed his dantian.

His eyes snapped open in surprise.

His dantian had changed.

It was still his own, yet it had become deeper, calmer, and incomparably more vast. His Qi revolved within it with remarkable purity, while beneath that familiar energy rested another power.

Silent.

Ancient.

Patient.

It did not struggle for control.

It simply existed, quietly waiting.

Lucas instinctively knew what it was.

The authority bestowed upon him by the Lord of the Underworld.

No one else in the chamber could truly understand it.

No one…

Except perhaps one person.

The Empress.

Still standing close to him, her hand resting gently upon his shoulder, suddenly frowned.

Her cultivation was among the highest in the mortal world.

The moment Lucas awakened, she had sensed something unusual.

Now that she stood this close…

She felt it clearly.

Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly.

“This…”

she whispered.

Lucas turned toward her.

She gently placed two fingers against his wrist.

A pulse of spiritual energy entered his body.

The instant it did…

Her expression changed completely.

She immediately withdrew her hand.

Her breathing became uneven.

King Highmoor noticed.

“What is it?”

The Empress looked at Lucas in silence.

“I…”

She struggled to find the right words.

“Your Qi…”

She shook her head.

“No.”

“It isn’t merely your Qi.”

“There is something else inside you.”

Everyone in the chamber immediately became attentive.

The Emperor of Rus stepped closer.

“What do you mean?”

The Empress continued staring at Lucas.

“It feels ancient.”

She spoke carefully.

“Not evil.”

“Not holy.”

“Not demonic.”

She slowly exhaled.

“It feels… older than anything I have ever encountered.”

Lucas remained silent.

He had expected this.

The Lord of the Underworld had warned him that he would not return unchanged.

The Empress searched his face.

“What happened?”

Her voice carried no suspicion.

Only concern.

“You died.”

“I watched you die.”

“We all did.”

She swallowed.

“The bond disappeared.”

“Your soul left.”

A long silence settled over the room.

Then she asked the question weighing upon her heart.

“What kind of bargain…”

Her eyes searched his.

“…did you make to return?”

Lucas’s expression softened.

He wanted to answer.

He truly did.

But the Lord’s warning echoed in his mind.

“Reveal them carelessly… and the balance you seek to preserve may itself be endangered.”

He slowly lowered his gaze.

“I’m sorry.”

“I can’t tell you.”

The Empress studied him for several seconds.

She could see the sincerity in his eyes.

She also understood something else.

Whatever had happened…

It was not something he was free to speak about.

She gave a small nod.

“Then I won’t ask again.”

King Highmoor folded his arms.

“If he cannot say it…”

“Then there must be a reason.”

The Emperor of Rus nodded in agreement.

“There are mysteries that even rulers should not force open.”

The King of Blackmare simply looked at Lucas with renewed respect.

Whatever power now rested within the young man…

It had returned someone from death itself.

That alone was beyond their comprehension.

The Empress looked at Lucas once more.

A faint smile appeared through the tears still lingering in her eyes.

“This is the second time…”

she said quietly to herself.

“…that you’ve escaped death.”

Lucas chuckled weakly.

“I suppose it is.”

The memory of his first brush with death surfaced briefly in his mind.

He had survived once before against impossible odds.

Now…

He had crossed into death itself.

And returned.

The Empress shook her head in amazement.

“I don’t know whether to call you fortunate…”

“…or impossible.”

A gentle laugh spread through the chamber.

Not loud.

Not joyful.

But it was the first genuine laughter anyone had shared since the tragedy in the arena.

For a brief moment, hope returned to the palace.

None of them knew that the Lucas sitting before them was no longer merely the champion they had mourned.

Beyond the steady flow of Qi through his meridians and dantian rested an authority that did not belong to the mortal world.

An authority that slept quietly beneath his cultivation.

Waiting.

Watching.

Until the day the Keeper would finally reveal herself.

The room remained filled with astonishment.

The attendants still struggled to comprehend what they had witnessed, while the rulers quietly observed Lucas, each trying to make sense of the impossible miracle that had unfolded before their eyes.

Lucas slowly swung his legs over the side of the stone table.

The girls immediately moved to support him.

“Careful,” Lira said anxiously, wrapping an arm around him. “You just came back… please don’t push yourself.”

“I’m fine,” Lucas replied with a reassuring smile.

“You don’t know that,” Selene protested, gently taking his other arm. “You were dead, Xavier. Dead. You should be lying down, not trying to walk.”

Princess Nyx nodded vigorously.

“She’s right. At least let the royal physicians examine you.”

Henrietta folded her arms, though her eyes were still red from crying.

“For once, stop trying to act invincible.”

Even the Ice Belle, who rarely spoke unnecessarily, gave him a firm look.

“Rest.”

“It is the logical choice.”

Lucas looked at each of them.

Their concern warmed his heart.

For a brief moment, he simply stood there, grateful that he could see them again.

Then he gently freed himself from their support.

“I appreciate all of you.”

His voice was calm.

“But I can’t rest.”

The room became quiet.

King Highmoor frowned.

“What do you mean?”

Lucas slowly clenched his fist.

He could still remember Khan’s laughter.

The blows.

The humiliation.

The sound of his own neck breaking.

He remembered the girls screaming.

The Empress weeping.

He remembered everything.

“There is something I have to do.”

The Empress stepped closer.

“Xavier…”

“You’ve only just returned.”

She looked into his eyes.

“Whatever it is…”

“It can wait.”

Lucas slowly shook his head.

“No.”

“It can’t.”

The determination in his voice immediately caught everyone’s attention.

King Highmoor crossed his arms.

“What is so urgent?”

Lucas lifted his head.

His eyes had changed.

There was no hatred burning within them.

Only unwavering resolve.

“I have unfinished business.”

Silence filled the chamber.

Then Lucas spoke the name.

“Khan.”

The atmosphere instantly became heavy.

The smiles that had begun appearing moments earlier disappeared.

The Empress’s expression hardened.

King Highmoor’s brows knitted together.

The Emperor of Rus exchanged a glance with the King of Blackmare.

Lucas continued.

“He walked out of that arena believing he had won.”

“He believes justice failed.”

“He believes Lechia has lost its champion.”

Lucas took a slow step forward.

“He broke my neck before an entire empire.”

“He mocked every person in this room.”

“He mocked the people of Lechia.”

“He mocked the laws he manipulated.”

Lucas’s voice remained remarkably composed.

“But more importantly…”

“He still breathes.”

The words hung in the air.

The Empress slowly spoke.

“Xavier…”

“Khan is no longer in the palace.”

“He was released after the trial.”

Lucas nodded.

“I know.”

“He’ll still be somewhere within the capital or in Rus.”

King Highmoor immediately shook his head.

“Then all the more reason not to rush.”

“You’ve only just awakened.”

“We don’t even understand what condition your body is in.”

The Emperor of Rus agreed.

“A wise hunter does not sprint after his prey without first ensuring his own strength.”

Lucas smiled faintly.

“I understand.”

“But every moment we delay…”

“…is another moment he gains distance.”

The girls exchanged worried looks.

Lira stepped directly in front of him.

“No.”

She looked him straight in the eyes.

“I’m not letting you leave.”

“You almost died.”

“No…”

Her voice trembled.

“You did die.”

“I can’t watch you walk into danger again.”

Selene nodded immediately.

“Neither can I.”

Henrietta folded her arms stubbornly.

“If you insist on leaving, then we’re coming with you.”

Princess Nyx quickly agreed.

“All of us.”

The Ice Belle simply stepped beside Lucas.

She said nothing.

But her actions made her answer perfectly clear.

Lucas smiled at them all.

“You really don’t make things easy.”

Lira sniffled.

“Good.”

“Because we’re serious.”

Lucas looked around the room.

At the Empress.

At King Highmoor.

At the rulers.

At the five women who refused to leave his side.

He felt fortunate to have people who cared so deeply for him.

Then his expression became resolute once more.

“I’m grateful.”

“More grateful than I can put into words.”

“But this…”

He looked toward the chamber doors.

“…is something I have to face.”

“Khan and I are not finished.”

The room fell silent again.

No one could mistake the conviction in his voice.

The young man who had walked into the arena as Lechia’s champion had died there.

The one now standing before them had returned from the Underworld with a purpose greater than revenge alone.

Yet before he could begin the mission entrusted to him by the Lord of the Underworld…

There was one debt from the world of the living that still remained unpaid.