Soulbound: Dual Cultivation

Her face was composed, but the tension in her posture gave her away. She stopped just a breath away from him, eyes never leaving his.

Then she dropped the bomb.

"It was Marquess Scott."

The name hit Lucas like a sudden strike to the chest. For a moment, he said nothing, only stared at her, trying to process what she had just said.

"Marquess… Scott?" he echoed at last, voice low, almost disbelieving. "Darius's cousin?"

Henrietta gave a single nod. "He was the one. He poisoned Darius on the night of his birthday celebration. Everything was set up to look natural, clean, untraceable. But I found the truth eventually."

Lucas took a step back, the room spinning slightly. Of all people, Marquess Scott. A member of the royal bloodline. That changed everything. If the cousin had done it, then the treachery wasn't coming from outside the palace walls....it was growing right inside them.

"That bastard…" Lucas muttered, eyes narrowing. His mind flashed back to the restaurant, to that smug smile Scott wore when he had tried to charm Lira. The way he had casually dismissed Lucas's presence, acting entitled, as if everything he wanted was already his. At the time, Lucas had simply brushed it off.

Henrietta exhaled slowly, folding her arms across her chest as she returned to her place by the window. "This betrayal, Lucas... it runs deeper than any of us imagined. If Marquess Scott truly acted alone, this would already be resolved. But someone is shielding him, guiding him, and I intend to uncover every last piece of it before I go to the king."

Lucas furrowed his brows, stepping closer. "You think if we tell the king now, he'll act recklessly?"

She looked at him, her gaze steady. "No, I know he will. He will lose his mind. He's been holding this family together through sheer force of will. If he finds out one of his own poisoned Darius..." she paused, then added with certainty, "...he'll burn the entire court to the ground, and we may never learn the full extent of who's involved. He'll want heads before we uncover the ones truly pulling the strings."

Lucas nodded slowly, understanding her restraint, though the rage still simmered inside him. "Then we go to the grandmaster. The one we captured. If anyone knows what this conspiracy is really about, it's him."

But Henrietta shook her head before he could finish the thought. "No. He won't speak."

Lucas frowned. "You're sure?"

"I've tried everything," she said, voice hardening. "Even the art of heart-wrenching. It tears at the soul directly, he should've broken. Most do. But this man... he welcomes death like an old friend. His will isn't bound by pain or fear. He believes in their cause more than he believes in his own life."

Lucas looked away, jaw clenched. "Then what does that tell you?"

Henrietta's eyes narrowed. "That whoever he serves has followers ready to die without hesitation. That this isn't just a coup… it's a cult of loyalty."

Lucas remained silent for a while.

"The only thing that could make a man like him budge," Lucas said quietly, watching Henrietta as she paced near the tall window, "is if we promise him something he can't refuse.... something more valuable than life itself."

She stopped, her brow lifting with a skeptical tilt. "His cultivation? That's already gone, Lucas. You saw the state we left him in. His Dantian is crippled, his meridians ruined. For a cultivator, that's worse than death. He's already lost everything."

Lucas didn't flinch. "What if I told you I can restore it?"

Henrietta turned around fully then, brows drawn together as if she hadn't heard him correctly. "Restore…? Lucas, no one can do that. Even the most advanced soul physicians in the High Temple wouldn't dare to attempt such a thing."

"I know," Lucas replied calmly, "but I can get it done."

Henrietta stared at him, her expression unreadable now, the warmth in her eyes dimmed by something colder, more calculating. "Are you serious?"

"Deadly," he answered, his gaze never wavering. "We need the truth. If he's as devoted to their cause as you say, then he won't break for pain or fear. But if we offer him a way back to the only thing that mattered to him...his power, his purpose, his pride....then maybe he'll give us what we need."

Henrietta exhaled slowly, walking toward him with deliberate steps. "Lucas… if you're lying, or even mistaken, this could blow everything we're working on. The king, the court, this whole investigation....I'm risking my name for what I've kept hidden already. If I take this to the king, and it turns out to be empty..."

"It won't be," Lucas cut in gently. "But we don't take it to the king. Not yet. Let me talk to him first. Let me prove I can do it."

Henrietta nodded, she was going to let Lucas do his thing.... afterall he had a knack for doing the impossible and Henrietta is starting to get used to him doing so.

Lucas left Henrietta's chamber with quiet urgency, his mind already working, the weight of the revelation she had given him still lingered, but now was not the time to dwell. If he was going to make the prisoner talk, he needed to act quickly and prepare the potion before the trail went cold.

When he returned to his chamber, he found Lira seated cross-legged on the mat, still deep in cultivation. Her aura pulsed softly with Yin energy as she inched closer to the Adept rank. He spared her a glance, a flicker of admiration in his eyes, then silently moved around her, careful not to disturb her focus.

He gathered a few of his tools, a refined essence bowl, an alchemic stirrer, and two small jade vials and placed them on his alchemy table, before stepping out again. Outside, he summoned two servants. To the first, he gave specific instructions: he was to visit the royal physicians and return with a set of stabilized Qi stabilizers, along with dried Moon Lotus petals and a vial of marrow-ice fluid. The second servant was tasked to purchase rare herbs from the stalls in the eastern quarter, Nightshade Bark, Phoenix Root powder, and a sealed scroll of flow alignment ink.

When both servants returned, winded but swift, Lucas took their offerings and dismissed them. He locked the door, placed the ingredients before him, and began his careful preparation.

Each movement he made was precise, deliberate, and without hesitation. The first potion he was crafting was no ordinary elixir, it was an advanced blend designed to temporarily reconstruct meridian channels, if only faintly, allowing even a crippled cultivator to feel a surge of power once more. It wouldn't last long, but it would be enough to ignite hope in the prisoner… enough to make him talk.

He worked slowly, binding the Moon Lotus essence with the marrow-ice fluid to create a stable medium. Then he crushed the Nightshade Bark into fine powder, laced it with Phoenix Root, and began heating the mixture over a controlled spirit flame. As the potion changed color from pale blue to violet, Lucas added drops of Qi stabilizer and whispered the alignment chant he had committed to memory long ago.

After hours of careful mixing, he poured the refined liquid into two separate vials. One was meant to serve as a catalyst and a regulator. The second one is the real deal, it would stabilize the cultivation and bring it back fully to life.

Lucas leaned back slightly, observing the slow swirl of energy within the vials. A faint smile touched his lips. If there was one thing he loved about this era, it was the abundance of untouched, potent resources. In his time, acquiring even a fraction of these herbs would have taken years and cost a fortune. Here, with knowledge and a little effort, he could craft nearly anything.

Thankfully, his mind was sharp. His memory was a vault of secrets, obscure recipes, and knowledge. He rose, tucked the vials into his robes, and prepared to do the impossible once more.