She screamed. 

The pain was searing through her body. It lodged itself at the base of her spine and wings and then wandered through her body. Her bones, her veins, and her blood set it aflame.  

"Don't lose consciousness!" Jiang thundered opposite her, his voice filtering like a hollow drum through her struggling mind, and she tried desperately to keep herself present through the burning. Suddenly, she felt all of it concentrating in her head. Her temple was burning like liquid flames. 

Despite still being in water, she felt herself sink as she curled up and wailed. Jiang followed her, not daring to touch her as she sank like a stone. All the air from her lungs was gone. She felt the feeling of suffocation come over her as she tried to rise back to the surface, but still, there was no avail.

It continued burning. The pressure on her lungs was so bad she grugled and felt her sight swimming, her consciousness waning. 

Stay conscious. 

That was what Jiang had been screaming at her. So she clawed her fingers into it and tried to stay conscious somehow. But the burning in her lungs was now the worst. The same way it was in her head. It was suffocating, painful, and burning. There was a voice in her head echoing. 

A Ring for protection and revenge. 

The voice said over and over. 

That is the price for your power. You will understand why our kind is hunted and close to extinction. 

The knowledge in her head was tremendous. In front of her flashed images. 

Tang San, as an adult, Xiao Wu in his arms, tears running down his cheeks as he let out a wail, a bone wreanching scream, around him a crimson ring shone brilliantly.

Then there was Lily, her Scyte gleaming ominously, two rings of red around gleaming with a vicious edge her as she laughed. A more adult Jiang at her own side as she kissed him, the smile on his face sad as his body was envenoped in a red sheen. 

Whispers of words overlapping. Colors melting. Image for for image coiling up, twisting into a tangled mess. 

Then there was something that remained hanging. 

Kill, Kill, Kill. 

The word repeated itself and again and again images of Lucy. Of the past and of her more adult self here repeting in a loop. 

Suddenly it was crystal clear again. Just an image, no movement. 

Ning Feng was kneeling. To her right, Yu Hua his hand on her shoulder, and to her left someone else kneeled, holding her hands his aura a combination of ashen and scarlet with a long curved sword lying next to him. 

The image dissolved. 

Then she was back in the cave, sinking, her lungs burning, her head still feeling like it had been slit open. She opened her mouth, bubbled of air left, and she knew she needed to get up. To get to the air, or she would die soon. Her arms and legs moved as she swam upwards. Jiang took her hand and dragged her upwards. 

When her arms hit the solid ground, the previous feeling of weightlessness was gone; everything was so heavy. Jiang dragged her out of the water, and she collapsed on the ground, on all fours. She was left coughing and gurgling as she spat up the water she had swallowed. Jiang is holding on to her body, keeping her stable. 

"Breathe," He said. "It's over, it's over." 

She took deep breaths, wheezing as the air she so desperately needed hit her lungs and the oxygen filled her body. She looked up at Jiang. As to say. 

I stayed conscious. 

"You did it," Jiang said, and she nodded as she felt a power she had felt similarly before fill her body like a chieme in her head. 

There was no reward, no word of her succeeding, all she knew was. She had her fifth spirit Ring. The first hurdle was taken. With Jiang's help, she settled down on the ground and then released her spirit rings. 

It was now two, two crimson rings that were circling around her. One yellow rinse, one purple, one black, and two crimson. She let out a wheeze. If this were to become public, it would cause an uproar. 

Also, her new spirit ability. She sighed; it was a double-edged blade, but also, somehow, it made her feel like she had become some bug in the system. No wonder millennium carp had been hunted too much that the last remainders had gathered in this small pond and stayed hidden for so long. 

"Yin," Jiang asked her, and she looked up at him. 

"I think I know why millennium carp have been hunted." She said, and he looked at her in surprise. "My new spirit ability. It is called [Harmony]. It enables me to harmonize with another being, a spirit beast, a spirit master, it doesn't matter, but it lets me, for just a moment, predict their next movement, action, or thought, like a prophetic power." 

Jiang leaned forward. "I knew that Millanium Carps had some kind of prophetic power...but that. That is unexpected. Does spirit power matter?" 

"It works within the same limitations as [Lock]. Everything below me, no problem, everything above me with limited accuracy, and only for a fraction of a second," she explained. 

"That is a powerful ability." Jiang agreed. "And it comes with a spirit bone included." 

"What do you mean?" She asked him, and he tapped her temple. "It fused its spirit bone with you; that is why it was so painful. The Carp knew it would help you. It didn't use its arcane bone, though; that is why the pain intensified even compared to when you absorbed your wings and torso spirit bone." 

"You mean." She touched her temple and then meditated for a moment, sending her spirit energy into it. Suddenly, her sight became sharper; it was not significant, but it was as if she could almost sense how Jiang was going to move, such as moving slightly aside as he moved to her left. Then, it was gone, and her spirit power was somewhat drained, despite being more powerful than before. 

"Wow." She muttered, and Jiang looked at her. She gazed at him. "It was like I could sense right now where you were going to move to, but it drains spirit power. Not as bad as when I use Lock on a higher-powered opponent, but still. Wow." 

"What are your spirit power levels now?" Jiang asked, and she smiled slightly at him. 

"Level 52," She told him as he helped her up. Damn, she felt so heavy. Swaying on her feet, she let out a deep breath as she regained her balance with Jiang's hand at her back.

"Better?" He asked, and she nodded. 

"Better." She said and then walked out into the field of moonflowers. The flowers were swaying in a nonexistent wind towards her. In between them, blue silver grass appeared. 

Jiang helped her to the edge. 

She looked into the sky. "I have to do something, though." She told Jiang. "It is part of the price I pay for this ring. Protect this place and take revenge." 

"Revenge," Jiang said, his voice tight. "Against whom?"