**Chapter 6: The Crucible of Dual Flames**
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### **1. The Storm Within**
Chen Zhen's dantian pulsed like a dying star, the spiritual energy from Julong's stew searing his meridians. Sweat pooled beneath his weighted robes as he knelt on the bamboo floor, each labored breath tasting of charred ozone. Shanggu Julong loomed over him, arms crossed, his expression carved from glacier ice.
*"You glutted yourself on power,"* Julong said, *"now choke on it."*
Chen's vision swam. The energy raged unchecked—dragon lightning crackling in his veins, phoenix fire simmering under his skin. He clawed at his chest, desperate to relieve the pressure, but the souls within him stirred like caged beasts.
**Shanggu Feng's voice** (a thunderclap in his skull): *"Weakling! Crush it! Force the energy into your bones!"*
**Lou Tian's whisper** (embers in his lungs): *"Breathe. Let it flow. Fire cannot be caged."*
Chen gasped, torn between their instincts. His clone in the sea of consciousness watched silently, a flicker of concern in its mirrored eyes.
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### **2. The Mentor's Burden**
Julong turned away, feigning indifference, but memories clawed at his resolve:
*The plane's mangled wreckage. Screams swallowed by Himalayan winds. Chen's body tumbling into the abyss, a wisp of Julong's lightning clinging to his heart.*
Guilt had driven Julong to salvage this *experiment*. Now, watching Chen writhe, he wondered if mercy would have been kinder.
*"Focus, boy!"* Julong barked, masking his doubt. *"You've coddled that clone. Use it or die."*
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### **3. The Mindforge**
Chen plunged into his sea of consciousness—a vast, starless expanse where his clone waited atop a fractured dais. Around them, memories flickered like holograms:
- **Shanggu Feng** chained to a storm-lashed mountain.
- **Lou Tian** circling a molten orb in a nest of ash.
- The **Nexus Amulet**, its cracks bleeding violet light.
*"Show me,"* Chen demanded.
The clone pressed a finger to his brow.
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#### **Flashback: The Dragon's Path**
Chen relived his first day training—the grueling laps, Julong's taunts, the dragon wisp charting energy through his meridians. But now, he *saw* it:
- Lightning arcing along hidden pathways.
- Energy pooling in nodes behind his eyes, palms, heart.
- A flawed pattern—*Shanggu Feng's* pattern, designed for a dragon's body, not a mortal's.
*"Adapt it,"* the clone urged. *"We are not him."*
Chen's mind raced. *Parallel processing. Neural networks. Pathways optimized for efficiency, not brute force.*
He rewrote the circuit.
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### **4. The Breakthrough**
Reality snapped back. Chen's dantian convulsed as he rerouted the energy:
- Lightning split into fractal streams, reinforcing bone.
- Fire wove through muscle, cauterizing microtears.
- Excess energy funneled into the clone, whose form solidified, glowing with stored power.
The shack trembled. Julong staggered as a shockwave of pure yang energy erupted from Chen, incinerating the roof.
*"Impossible…"*
Chen stood, eyes blazing dual hues—storm-blue and sun-gold. The stew's energy now hummed within him, harmonized.
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### **5. The Banquet of Shadows**
Julong masked his awe with scorn. *"Adequate. Now eat."*
He shoved another bowl at Chen. This time, Chen hesitated—then smiled.
*[Let me,]* the clone whispered.
As Chen ate, the clone cycled the energy seamlessly. Julong's teacup cracked in his grip.
*"Dual cultivation… without a split mind? How?"*
Chen shrugged. *"Multitasking. I used to code while attending lectures."*
Julong blinked. *"Code?"*
*"Never mind."*
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### **6. The Weight of Genius**
Training escalated. Julong unleashed spirit beasts—a pack of moonfang wolves, their pelts shimmering with stolen starlight.
**Shanggu Feng**: *"Break their spines!"*
**Lou Tian**: *"Blind them first!"*
Chen danced between their instincts:
- Lightning lassoed a wolf's hind legs (Feng's aggression).
- Fire-daggers streaked for their eyes (Lou's precision).
When the last wolf fell, Julong tossed Chen a pulsating spirit-fruit. *"Eat. Then fight me."*
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### **7. The Nexus's Whisper**
That night, the clone wandered Chen's mindscape, drawn to the Nexus shard.
*"Balance is a lie,"* the shadowed figure hissed again. *"You host a dragon and phoenix—*choose one.*"*
The clone reached for the shard—
**Julong's voice** (echoing through the void): *"Touch it, and your family burns."*
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### **8. The Price of Ambition**
Dawn brought a new horror: Chen's left arm had dragon scales.
*"The souls grow restless,"* Julong said. *"Suppress them, or lose yourself."*
Chen meditated, the clone wrestling Feng's essence back. But with each hour, the scales spread.
*[We need more energy,] the clone warned. *[A greater power to dominate theirs.]*
Julong smiled grimly. *"Time to hunt."*
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As Chen and Julong departed the sanctuary, a Lou Clan scout emerged from the treeline, talismans glowing.
*"Found you,"* she hissed.
Chen's scaled arm crackled. *"No. I found *you*."*
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🐉🔥