Soulbound: Dual Cultivation

Prince Khan hovered proudly in the air, his robes rippling with the surge of his aura, his gaze locked on the three women who had dared defy him. His lips curled in arrogance as he prepared to strike, but before he could unleash a single technique, a sharp, deliberate sound broke the tension.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

The noise carried clearly across the crowded street. All eyes turned toward its source, and there stepped Lucas from the carriage, his movements slow and utterly unshaken by the hostility in the air. He walked forward with the composure of a man who feared nothing, his posture tall and unyielding. His expression was one of calm disdain, and when his hands finished their mocking applause, his smile widened ever so slightly.

"Bravo," Lucas drawled, his voice carrying across the gathering crowd. "Truly, I did not think the heir of mighty Lechia would descend from his golden carriage just to bully women weaker than himself. What a spectacle."

The street grew quiet at his words, the Lechian citizens exchanged uneasy glances. No one had dared speak like that to Prince Khan before.

Khan's brows furrowed, his pride stung by the audacity. "And who," he asked coldly, his voice rumbling with power, "are you to interrupt me?"

Lucas tilted his head slightly, his smirk deepening. "Who am I?" He glanced toward the girls, who still stood in defiance under the shield of his Qi barrier. "I am their lover."

The statement fell like a stone into a still pond, sending ripples of shock through the crowd. Gasps rose from every corner of the street, and then laughter followed....harsh, mocking, disbelieving laughter. Even the nobles chuckled under their breath. To them, Lucas looked no older than his early twenties, and yet he had the gall to claim all three beauties as his?

The girls themselves flushed red instantly. Selene clicked her tongue and glared at him, though her heart raced. Nyx lowered her gaze, a small smile tugged at her lips. Lira covered her mouth, her cheeks burning, though her eyes never left Lucas with admiration.

"You dare to joke at such a time?" Khan's voice rose, his aura flaring hotter as he hovered above them like a storm.

Lucas met his fury with unshaken calm, his smirk unwavering. "A joke? No. What I see here is shamelessness. Is this how you were taught in Lechia? To flaunt title and power against women who cannot match you? If so, I find your kingdom's teachings sorely lacking."

The insult struck deeper than a blade. Murmurs spread through the crowd. Men and women from Lechia bristled, their eyes narrowing in anger. Some shouted back, their voices filled with indignation.

"Who does he think he is?"

"He dares insult the prince of Lechia?"

"This outsider is courting death!"

The crowd thickened, more citizens leaving their errands to witness the unfolding scene. Tension crackled in the air, the weight of hundreds of eyes pressing down upon them.

Khan's face twisted with rage. His voice carried, sharp as a blade, "You insolent cur. I will give you one chance. Beg for your life, and I may yet spare you. Otherwise, you will regret every word you've spoken today."

Lucas tilted his head back, his eyes gleaming like polished steel. His laughter rang out, clear and careless, startling those around him with its confidence. "Beg? I would beg," he said slowly, "if you can manage to touch me with a single attack."

The arrogance in his tone was like oil poured on fire. The crowd erupted in outrage, voices clashing together in disbelief and anger.

"Such madness!"

"He insults not only the prince, but all of Lechia!"

"This boy is finished!"

Selene glanced nervously at Lucas, whispering under her breath, "Xavier, you've stirred a hornet's nest now…"

Nyx, though, watched Lucas with curious intensity, her heart pounding. She had seen this before. That unshakable confidence, that calm amidst chaos...Lucas was at his most dangerous when he looked the most careless.

And Lira, though worried, smiled faintly and murmured almost to herself, "They do not yet understand… he never speaks without reason."

But the crowd, blind to their quiet faith, only grew more hostile. To them, Lucas was nothing more than an arrogant outsider who had spat on their pride. And Prince Khan, seething with insult, trembled with the urge to strike.

Prince Khan's fury erupted like a storm breaking free from its restraints. His eyes gleamed with malice as he raised his hand, and the air itself seemed to quiver under the surge of his aura. The crowd instinctively stepped back, gasps and cries of awe rising among them. Heat flooded the street, and in the next instant, flames burst forth from Khan's palm, a torrent of red and orange that twisted together until they formed a blazing sphere larger than a carriage.

The fireball crackled and roared as if it were alive, the bystanders shielded their faces from the scorching heat, some even stumbling back as sweat formed instantly on their brows. A woman clutched her child and cried out, "He will burn him alive!"

Murmurs spread like wildfire through the gathering:

"That boy is finished!"

"No one can withstand a fire of that size!"

"The prince is merciful no more."

The sheer magnitude of the flame left no doubt in anyone's mind. A single strike from it could obliterate a man, leaving nothing but ash. Even those well-versed in cultivation whispered in disbelief at the ferocity of the prince's conjured fire.

Selene's eyes widened, her usual sharp tongue silenced for once. Though she had seen Lucas perform feats that defied reason, the fire before her was of a magnitude she had never encountered so directly. She whispered hoarsely to herself, "This… this is too much. Even he cannot…"

Lira clutched the edge of her robes, her knuckles white. She looked at Lucas with desperate eyes, her heart pounding as though it sought to break free of her chest. "Master," she murmured under her breath, "please, do not stand there… please, move."

Nyx, though quieter than the other two, could not suppress the quickening of her breath. Her training and discipline as a princess had taught her to remain calm, yet the fire reflected in her eyes betrayed her inner turmoil. "That is no ordinary flame," she muttered. "This is the power of a grandmaster trained in fire cultivation. To take that head-on…" She trailed off, unwilling to voice the dreadful thought.

And yet, amidst the roars of flame and the cries of the crowd, Lucas remained unmoved.

He stood at the center of it all, tall and composed, his hands folded calmly behind his back. His expression had not changed in the slightest. The same easy grin played on his lips, his eyes gleaming with quiet amusement as if the blazing inferno Khan conjured was little more than a bonfire to warm oneself by on a cold night.

The contrast was so stark that it unsettled those who were watching. People looked at one another, unsure whether the boy before them was truly ignorant of the danger or simply so confident in his strength that fear had no place within him.

One man in the crowd leaned to another and whispered nervously, "Does he not see it? That fire could level a building!"

Another answered, his voice tense, "He sees it well enough. But look at him. Look at how calm he is. Either he is mad, or he knows something we do not."

Prince Khan's grin turned cruel as he brandished the swirling fireball above his head for all to see. He let the blazing sphere hover, its flames licking outward and sending waves of heat across the square. His voice carried with pride and fury, "This is the end of your arrogance! No man can stand against the flames of Lechia's heir. Burn, and let your ashes remind all what becomes of those who defy me!"

The crowd erupted in cheers for their prince, their faith rekindled by the terrifying display of his power. And still Lucas never moved.

His grin only widened. His eyes, calm and clear, met Khan's burning glare without so much as a flicker of doubt. It was as though he had already dismissed the fireball as nothing more than a trick.

The girls could hardly believe it. Selene bit her lip until it nearly bled. Lira shook her head in disbelief. Nyx whispered under her breath, "Just what kind of man are you…?"

The fire raged above them, the air thick with heat and tension, but Lucas stood in its shadow, unshaken, a lone figure of serenity in the face of overwhelming destruction.